#severance season finale

[notdanerickson]

On the Severance podcast, they talked about this scene.

Adam and Britt were emotionally wrecked during the filming, which lasted most of the day. They couldn’t stop crying. When Ben Stiller walked over to give Britt notes, his eyes were full of tears while watching them.

Britt: “I remember it being an emotional day. The lights were low. It created a mood. It felt like there was an ending coming. It felt like we were working on this show for 4-5 years. I couldn’t stop crying. This was a goodbye scene.”

Adam: “I remember looking at the computer screen, and then I finally look over at you, Britt, and you were just a wreck — I felt very connected to you. We were just really in it. We were just really in the show. And it was our whole lives. This really meant a lot, this moment, we had to fucking… say goodbye. It was so sad.”

Britt: “It felt like time travelling to me. It was time travelling back in time and forward in time. At the same time. Imagining the first scene we ever shot at MDR. And then time travelling and imagining the last scene. And then it’s like I’m sixteen, now I’m my age, now I’m seventy…”

[amateurenjoyer]

I know the infertility stuff with Gemma has rubbed some folks the wrong way, and that's fair. These types of stories are not always handled with care and can feel as hollow as using a dead wife in order to give a man depth as a character. That said, I fear that criticism of the infertility story in Severance, or indeed criticism of the breadth of themes of fertility and parenthood in the series, has suffered as a result of gendering these ideas as being primarily explored through the women in the show. There was plenty of eye rolling when we met Gemma for real and her great trauma turned out to be the loss of her unborn child—"oh great, another woman defined by her inability to produce children!"—but this didn't come out of left field in a show that has put expectant parents, midwives, fraudulent lactation specialists, couples struggling to make ends meet for their kids, dads garage jamming with their daughters, and child laborers all on screen, not to mention the cult of Kier the Grandfather/Founder that props up the central mysteries of the show.

Parenthood, birth, and the power dynamics of progenitors and progeny all exist at the heart of Severance (right alongside love, agency, personhood, and capitalist critique), but I don't know that enough people look through this lens when thinking about the men in this show. Even when their stories explicitly touch on these themes, severed men like Petey and Irving and Mark—who, by the way, has every right to claim the same grief over the loss of their child as Gemma, though his experience is radically different as the parent who didn't carry the child—get kind of left out of the conversation.

They should not get left out of the conversation and the mpreg Kier statue in the birthing cabin was there to remind you of that.

Check under the cut for Mark Scout world's worst dad thoughts with lots more spoilers for the finale.

I don't know how many folks on Tumblr have Boomer parents, and I don't know how many of these ideas have filtered through to each generation of parents following, but I know that my Boomer mother and many (many) of my friend's parents had a whole litany of witticisms that they'd use to disempower and belittle the personhood of their kids, and they used these phrases with extreme regularity. "Because I said so," "My house, my rules," "If I were you (and thank God I'm not)," "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it," etc. Depending on tone and context, these could vary from pretty benign to legitimately threatening, but they all betrayed the same basic attitude: right now, you are not a person, and I make your decisions for you, until I say otherwise.

Boomers may have excelled at expressing this sentiment through phrasing that is worthy of shitty gas station hats and little else, but it feels as though it has been a dominant mode of parenting thought for a long time. The idea that it is the position of being a parent that confers power to someone, no matter how unearned that power truly is, is also extremely present in the outie-innie dynamic.

Mark S was straight up born from his outie's inability to actually grieve the death of his wife, his unwillingness to move forward through despair, and his complacency with his self-destructive coping mechanisms. Having lost his ability to work due to his alcoholism, Mark Scout created a whole new person who could do the work for him. He "hoped that [Mark S] would be spared the pain," but for much of the show thus far, he hasn't taken a single step to move away from that pain, be it in an effort to spare himself or his innie. This a couple in a dysfunctional marriage having a child to try and save it, only to absolutely fuck that kid up by refusing to acknowledge the reality of the situation or do anything to change it for the better. Only in this scenario the marriage is between Mark and the ghost of his wife.

Like the kid brought into such a marriage, Mark S doesn't need to know the details of his outie's life to carry his burdens. Their shared body is the exposure that ensures every hangover, every sleepless night, every pre-work weeping session, every fight with a rebound (sorry Alexa you deserve more than this title) or a family member worms its way into the innie's life. A life that is already deeply infantilized by Lumon's workplace culture more broadly, and doubly so because MDR is being babysat by step-dad Milchick while the literal Mother of the Severance Procedure goes rogue.

When he does learn the reason for his outie's severance, Mark S is compassionate, curious, and instantly willing to search for Miss Casey—not out of some deeply rooted love of Gemma that has somehow transcended the severance barrier, but out of recognition of his progenitor's personhood and pain and his desire to help a fellow innie with an unexpected connection to his own outie. How often do children make an effort to help and humanize their parents, even when they've been given very little reason to? Be it out of a sense of obligation or a misunderstanding that a parent naturally looks out for their child's best interests and so a child should do the same, many of us will go out of our way to try and understand our parents as people, at least once. Mark S does that readily, even when Helena-as-Helly pushes against the idea.

When we finally get a conversation between Mark Scout and Mark S, it begins on a disarmingly hopeful note. Mark Scout apologizes, willing to admit the world he brought Mark S into is not a sane or safe one. Things go off the rails quick when Mark Scout fails to recognize his innie has a separate person with his own motivations, and from there the conversation is steeped in patriarchal condescension and a fundamental sense of ownership. Mark Scout dismisses his innie's relationship with Helly R as an inferior, juvenile "experience," that naturally pales in comparison to the more.real, more adult life he had with Gemma, simply because the outies came first. He cannot fathom any resistance to the idea of saving Gemma, because he does not think Mark S is deserving of his own identity, desires, or agency. What claim can an innie have to such things when he doesn't even have his own body? "My house, my rules."

Mark Scout then drops the bomb that he's already started the process of reintegrating. Though he himself is not fully aware of how reintegration will actually impact their separate consciousnesses (or has seemingly forgotten what little he learned about it from Petey), Mark Scout positions it as a solution that benefits them both. Mark S challenges that assumption, and the outie is aghast that the innie fails to extend any trust his way. The trust was assumed to be there, because Mark Scout assumes authority over Mark S. "Because I said so." In the absence of more information about what reintegration really means, it sounds like Mark S will sit as a passenger in Mark Scout's life. Reintegration for the innie is not a solution, but a threat. "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it."

This whole conversation happens inside a cabin at a birthing retreat, where a statue of a pregnant man (presumably an Eagan and presumably Kier himself) watches with it's mate, wearing a sort of cartoon grimace. The camera lingers on this icon as a moment of scene setting, signalling that the audience should be seeing this as a conversation between parent and child, the elder lording their power over the younger, and the progeny rebelling against the progenitor by asserting their own humanity.

[tolerateit]

In Perpetuity (1x03) // Cold Harbor (2x10)

Severance x

[my-arms-are-noodles]

pathetic wet cat drenched in blood at its finest

[dana-scullys-gf]

Choreography & Merriment department is so fucking funny to me. Possibly even funnier than Mammalians Nurturable. Like imagine waking up on the severance table with no memories and someone comes in like “who are you? …..you don’t know? Perfect! Now here’s your tuba, you’re on in 10.”

[starbell0]

For those who keep saying that Gemma had 25 Innies... does she?? cause I'm pretty sure there might be more.

Dylan, Irv, and Helly (and previously Petey) were all working on the data too. And Cobel made a blanket statement. They are refining tempers.

So either there are a LOT more Gemma's. Or there are more people like Gemma.

[queeries-book]

The finale according to Lorne

Today, Emile was condemned. I supposed I should be grateful that he got one day more than was planned.

I gathered him his favorite vegetables to eat. Twice. Both yesterday and today, I wept in a corner as he played with little Clothilde and Berthe. I made sure not to let him see. For him, let it be a happy day, for as long as it can be.

Yesterday, I sat by the telephone, waiting for the fateful ring. At 5 o'clock, I fell to my knees, sobbing.

Perhaps he would be spared.

But today, the call came. It was that brute Drummond. Last time, when it was Henri who must be given, he had dared to impugn the goat's character. When little Henri had sacrificed more for Kier than Drummond ever would.

And he sneered at me when I mourned his passing. He said I should tame my woe. As if one could nurture a mammal if one had no heart.

I gathered up little Emile, stroking his sides and kissing his little face. If only you had less verve, I thought.

Blasphemous weakness. I know the mystery and importance of the work. I know it is my honor and Emile's to serve Kier. But could he not have one more quarter? He was hardly grown, and yet he was wily beyond his years.

I donned the ceremonial dress and counted my steps to the Sacrifice Room.

Drummond was callous as ever.

But as I raised the pistol to Emile's forehead, a sound came from without. Emile blinked his innocent eyes, and my heart twisted with hope. A moment longer.

I pushed it aside. Prolonging the loss would be beyond bearing. I stood frozen, pistol aimed, while Drummond dealt with somebody outside. Through tear-filled eyes, I watched Emile looking about the room and whispered my goodbyes to him. I tried to tame my woe for his sake. He must not know. He must not fear.

The sounds outside grew more alarming: crashes and grunts and screams. Fie upon Drummond, I thought. The man defiled our sacrifice with his tempers, spending lives like they were worthless.

Emile's curiosity brought a daring thought. Perhaps we could escape. Under the cover of this disruption. Perhaps I could conceal the kid and bring back some blood and fur to make it seem … Kier forgive me.

I stuck out my head and my blood ran hot. Drummond had his hands around the throat of a human, a small male who thrashed and struggled under Drummond's bulk. In his victim's eyes, I saw Henri in his last moments.

I drew my gun. No more killing.

Drummond was as a fiend. A fight ensued and we felled him. The little human fellow proved to have some verve of his own. Perhaps he will be an ally to Mammalians Nurturable.

He stopped me from firing the pistol into Drummond's head, and I am glad. I prefer not to kill at all. Then he wrangled the brute we had subdued and dragged him away, for his own ends. I wished him well.

I ran, battered, bloodied, little Emile clutched to my chest. He tells me we were right to do as we did.

[ink-ghoul]

Mark.

[pitzki]

severance finale be like:

[k1tae]

Say what you want about MarkHelly or MarkGemma or even MarkHelena (I'm personally intrigued/love all three); at the end of the day my love for this show stems from a want, a NEED for the people working in that building to recognise their own agency and take power from anyone that belittles or tries to strip them of that

So the S2 finale is my Roman empire basically

[crazycatmilo]

Just finished Severance season 2, I feel so fucking bad for Gemma bro 😭 girl did NOTHING to deserve this. I absolutely get Mark S was genuinely just not thinking things through past not wanting to essentially die and just wanting more time with Helly, even if it’s only a few minutes. It’s fucked that he’s basically been forced to sacrifice himself and the people he cares about to save a woman he doesn’t know. And his outie doesn’t treat him like his own person, it makes sense he would want to defy against that. He deserves to get to live his own life.

But man. Gemma went through two years of isolation and testing, being severed 25 TIMES. All she wants is to go back to her life with Mark. She finally sees her husband again, they’re finally going to escape together. But she turns around to see her husband choose some other woman over her. She doesn’t know he’s severed, she doesn’t know ANYTHING about him from the past two years, outside of the lie that he has moved on with someone new and had a child (🚶). Gemma rightly didn’t believe that at the time, but like man fuck. The man she has been thinking about getting back to during two years of torture finally shows up and then she watches him leave her for someone else.

[notdanerickson]

Severance Season 2 finale screening, tonight at Paleyfest

Britt Lower arrived on the carpet and Patricia was like “look what the cat dragged in.” Adam was like “ahhh… you look so great.”

I love this cast. They’re wholesome. Lol.

As they should. She ate her fit. 👀

[msphoenixfromdaflames]

If I couldn't be more attracted to this man, they do this:

[trappedgoose]

wait i’m on the season finale of severance i have to livetumblr this

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SEVERANCE SEASON 2. THIS IS THE SEASON FINALE. I REPEAT, MAJOR SPOILERS.

(still gonna out everything under read more’s though bc ik it’s not feasible to scroll past without reading anything) now that that’s out of the way,

55:30

mark is so fucked. (drummond sees him trying to get in the room w the elevator)

FUCK YEAH THE SCENE IN THE TRAILER WHERE HE’S PUSHED TO THE WALL

“…wrong door. i’m leaving, ok?” he looks scared and disheveled <3 SUCKER PUNCH LMAO SO FUCKING FUNNY. HE TRIES TO RUN AFTER BUT GETS PINNED TO THE WALL. such a good fucking fight scene holy shit. yeahhh mark crawl away yeahhhhh get kicked down yeahhhhh get dragged and slammed into a wall. …he’s outie’s going to have so many fucking questions

YEAHHHH GOAT LADY BEAT HIM IN THAT FUCKING FIGHT also 10/10 i love when characters don’t hold back against women

[aunteutis]

ok so i started reading mixed opinions and, what do you guys mean with "idk where they are going to go". like. there's nowhere to go. that's the point. innie mark and helly ran off just to get more time (however little that might be) together.

of course lumon is going to get them!! it's a closed building and they're only able to exist in a single floor!!! everybody knows where they are!!!! and it's pretty clear they both know that!!!!!!

like. they spend more than half of the show making it absolutely helena-waterboarding-lake levels of crystalline they know they can't exist outside the severed floor, so of course they're not getting in any elevator!!!! hell, they spend half OF THE EPISODE arguing the innies' case of only being able to exist inside lumon. they literally explain the innies' concerns!!!!

for them any sort of life is worth it. remember ms casey?? she treasured going to the office to watch helly because she was alive a grand total of 107 hours. that's not even 5 complete days worth of hours!!!!!!

so, the innies don't care. they just want to be alive for as long as they can, even if it doesn't make a lot of sense from a practical perspective. their lives, however limited or horrible or strange they might seem to their outies, are worth living and fighting for.

and innie mark exists in that reality: he knows that with cold harbor finished and gemma out and conscious, they serve no further purpose to lumon, and to be completely honest, outie mark. in any possible case the MDR innie team are all going to be effectively killed anyways, so he's ready to steal every second he can get.

[benwyattforcongress]

Severance spent two seasons (and Lumon spent literally years) proving that innies have their own unique memories, thoughts, morals, beliefs, and opinions, and there's still internet discourse about whether or not any of the innies have the right to prioritize themselves in any way.