Severance ends season 1 with a pitch-perfect adrenaline rush

[Editor’s note: In anticipation of Severance’s upcoming second season, The A.V. Club is recapping season one of the show for the first time.]  

At the time of writing this recap, it’s been two years and almost five months since Severance wrapped its debut run. And it’s criminal that we’ve had to wait this long since this phenomenal finale to see what happens after Mark screams “She’s alive!” with gusto (more on what he means in a minute, of course). “The We We Are” is a rush of pure adrenaline interspersed with moments of angst and dark humor. Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller’s writer-director combination works wonders here. This is a satisfying finale because it sprinkles answers throughout at a digestible pace. And then bam: Those last 10 minutes don’t hold back. Raise your hand if you also watched those final few scenes with your heart in your mouth. 

The episode is bookended with a visual treat, thanks to the camera’s Vertigo shot and Theodore Shapiro’s score that alerts us when an innie or outie is awakened. Mark, Helly, and Irving spring to life as their Lumon selves at the beginning, with Dylan pulling both levers and holding on tight for the next 40 minutes. (Can I please get his workout routine? Those arms must be strong.) It closes with their outies coming back once Milchick breaks into the security room and pushes Dylan away from the switchboard. During that time, our three refiners learn a few important details about their real lives—and oh boy, they’re going to cause problems. 

Let’s start with Irving. When his innie opens his eyes after riding up the elevator, he’s holding a paintbrush. But Irv doesn’t spend time trying to decode what his outie has been aggressively painting or why. He walks around his apartment to absorb the details of his dimly lit-living space, including a photo of his father and his Navy medals. (Or are they Irv’s?) He also finds a chest with anti-Lumon newspaper clippings, a map of the Kier town he lives in, and a long list of severed employees. 

This aligns with why his innie might’ve been sent to the testing floor. Maybe Outie Irving was investigating Lumon at some point, and they drilled it out of him repeatedly? For now, Innie Irv decides to gun it immediately to Burt’s address when he sees it on the list. (Love conquers all.) Burt is also the only person Innie Irv trusts to tell the truth because the outie lives a solitary existence. Curiously, Burt’s home is already marked on the map with an X. Do they know each other? It’s TBD because by the time Irv figures out how to drive and reaches there, he sees Burt through a window with another man. He still bangs on his door anyway, don’t worry. Isn’t it incredible that all this occurs without John Turturro having any lines? Severance trusts him completely to display Irving’s gamut of emotions: shock, awe, strangeness, hope, and heartbreak. 

Turturro, Britt Lower, and Adam Scott are equally fantastic as they maneuver their characters’ innies in the outside world, where they’re strangers in a strange land. Through visages (a stiff smile, a confused look, wide eyes) and rigid body movements, they tell us exactly what we need to know about what they’re feeling. Take Helly, for instance. After kissing Mark and heading up in the elevator, her innie wakes up to find a brutal truth: She’s at the Eagan family gala because she’s Helena Eagan, the daughter of Jame Eagen (Michael Sibbery), Lumon’s current CEO. For Helly’s innie, this crushes her identity. 

Identity is at the forefront of Severance. The show literally opens with the phrase “Who are you?” which Ricken repeats at one point in the finale while reading from his book. It’s weighed heavy on everyone, but especially the innies who strive to find out what makes them who they are. Helly is her own enemy; we already knew that based on how badly her outie spoke to her innie. “The We We Are” reveals Helena underwent severance to prove its merits to the board, investors, politicians, and public. Lumon is selling it as the next big technological breakthrough, and Helena is the spokesperson. What a great goddamn twist. 

Helly also meets Jame, who expresses disgust towards her innie for the suicide attempt. He also thanks Helly for her service, remembering how delighted she was by the beauty of the severance chip prototype as a child. Now, because of her, everyone will get one. It’s Innie Helly’s worst nightmare, and she’s genuinely sorry for the part she’s played in it. Lower’s spectacular, tearful performance conveys regret. I love the throwback to the break-room apology speech. Innie Helly was made to recite it more than 1,000 times and didn’t mean it once. She means it now when she says, “Forgive me for the harm I have caused this world. None may atone for my actions but me and only in me shall their stain live on.” 

What does this mean for Helly’s friendship with the MDR crew or her budding relationship with Mark? He will have to deal with it too because he goes through a massive crisis when his innie wakes up to find he’s hugging Harmony Cobel. Why is she with him outside? Mark doesn’t have time to find out because he needs to find someone he trusts and tell them about Lumon’s corruption. But it’s only natural for this mission to slow down as he processes new things like seeing a baby for the first time, bonding with his sister, and meeting his “savior” Ricken (and his weirdo friends). Eventually, he tells Devon everything, although, sadly, we don’t get to hear exactly how he says it. I appreciate that Devon believes him without question though, suggesting they go to journalists instead of “inspectors” for recourse. 

Their talk is interrupted when they realize Cobel, posing as Mrs. Selvig, has Devon’s baby. They can’t find either of them because Cobel has left Eleanor in a room alone and made a run for Lumon’s offices. She realizes Mark is in Overtime-Contingency mode. (He casually calls her Ms. Cobel in a moment that made me utterly frightened for him.) She rushes out to stop Helly at the gala, while Milchick runs to stop Dylan in the security room. Does no one care about what poor Irv might be up to? 

Anyway, by the time Milchick tackles Dylan to the ground, the damage has been done. Helly takes the stage as Helena despite Cobel’s warnings that they’ll torture her friends. She confidently rattles off the truth about how innies are unhappy prisoners and Lumon is lying. As the gala attendees gasp, she’s dragged off by bodyguards. Meanwhile, after finding baby Eleanor, Mark spots a wedding photo of him and Gemma. Adam Scott is acting his ass off, going from stupefied to full-on sobbing. Ms. Casey is Mark’s wife! And he knows it, so he rushes out to Devon and yells, “She’s alive!!!” just as Dylan’s hands break free of the OTC switches. And just like that, the innies are asleep, and the outies are back.

If I remember correctly, my jaw was on the floor for several minutes as the credits rolled on “The We We Are” the first time I saw it. This time around was no different because even during a rewatch, Severance is so great that it’s easy to get sucked in. Does the finale answer questions about baby goats, what the numbers are, what the remaining protocols can do, or where Regabhi went? No. But I’m alright to store them away for later because in writing these recaps, I’ve gotten a newfound appreciation of the show. Might I be as bold to declare it’s one of the most evocative new TV shows of the past few years? It’s a masterfully crafted mystery with a rewarding payoff in terms of character development and world-building, and we’re just getting started because, for a change, it hasn’t been abruptly canceled. In about 100 days, we will find ourselves back in the Severance universe. And I’m ready for it.  

Stray observations 

• • Color theory: Jame says the prototype chip had blue and green lights, as reflected throughout Severance, including in the sparkled stones that adorn Helly’s black dress at the gala. 
• • We have to talk about Ricken’s friends. They’re eccentric in the wrong way, right? One of them tells Mark they don’t want Devon to “introduce the baby” yet and later rushes to claim credit for finding a missing Eleanor. Are they trying to appease Ricken and, if so, for what purpose?
• • Helly is friends with the board intermediary Natalie (she’s the one who fires Cobel) and she also meets Gabby and Angelo Arteta, the couple Devon bumped into at the park. Gabby all but confirms a severed version gave birth to her three kids.
• • When Helly walks into the gala, the entrance is full of photos of the MDR team that Milchick kept clicking. It paints a woefully wrong picture of them having fun. How odd to see your reality twisted like that.
• • The real Helena Eagan alludes to Lumon being established all over the globe because she was raised to treat all employees as her brothers and sisters. The family, obviously, also functions like a cult.
• • I assume Harmony realizing the OTC is active and warning Milchick so he could end it is what gets her back on good graces. But who else was surprised she let Helly go on stage so easily?
• • See you all again for season two.