The past 10 weeks have been a hell of a journey for Severance fans. After its first season nabbed 14 Emmy nominations, audiences waited three years to see what followed the finale's cliff-hanger, which shattered the streaming-verse. Turns out, Severance's sophomore season is even better than the first. And now that the season 2 finale, titled "Cold Harbor," is out in the world, well, the Lumon loyalists now have another nuclear cliff-hanger to come to terms with. Outie Mark rescues Gemma, only to have his Innie leave her outside the severed floor and choose Helly instead.
Let's rewind. I left season 2, episode 7—aka "Chikhai Bardo", one of Severance's best efforts—feeling like it was a true feat of directing. After watching "Cold Harbor," I can't stop thinking about the writing. You can probably count the last decade's truly satisfying finales on one hand. "Cold Harbor" manages to weave all of Severance's lore, Innie-Outie character arcs, and the mystery fulfilment into one thrilling, cohesive sprint to the finish. Well, who holds the sole writing credit on this episode? The Severance creator himself: Dan Erickson.
I managed to grab some time with the 41-year-old screenwriter and producer on his big finale week. Sorry Redditors, we didn't go theory by theory or plot out the entire course of season 3. I wanted to dig into his thinking behind some of the finale's set-pieces—the ones you'd truly need an imagination like his to even think of. I know you're still reeling from Mark's decision, so without further ado: This is how Erickson wrote the season 2 finale of Severance, in his own words. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
[The conversation between Innie and Outie Mark] is a scene I had always wanted to write. It's funny—I originally titled the episode "First Contact." It's about their first contact. It's also a reference to Adam Scott, who was in Star Trek: First Contact. I always knew that at one point we had to get these two face-to-face to the degree that it is possible—given that they have the same face. But there were a couple of different versions of it that we had talked about. I was like, Well, maybe this is something that happens at Lumon. Maybe this is something where they find some other way to wake him up. But it wasn't until we were writing this season that I realised we had the birthing cabin as something we could use.
Hopefully, you're rooting for Outie Mark to convince him because you want him to find his wife. But at the same time, you understand there's always been this imbalance of power between them—and Innie Mark's whole existence is literally being used by Outie Mark. I really like that Innie Mark has the wherewithal to, to realise, Wait a second, if I do this for you, what's gonna happen? I'm guessing you're never coming back to Lumon. And then of course it culminates with this idiot not even getting Helly's name right.
["Sirius" by The Alan Parsons Project] was Ben's idea. All we knew was that Milchick was coming in to introduce the band, which would show up moments later. I sat down with the earnest intention of writing like a little like three-line scene. But then we had the idea that the Kier statue was already there. I was imagining Milchick standing there next to the statue—and suddenly I thought, What if we did just like just a slight little vaudeville thing? Where it's like two managers at a work event. I wrote one line and was like, Oh, let's do one more. And suddenly it became this whole thing.
We knew that we were gonna have Mark sneak down into the Testing Floor. We had all these elements and weren't quite sure how they were going to fit together. And then, we realised that Drummond would have to come up to get the goat to be used for this sort of ceremony. All these things just came together.
We had cast Gwendolyn [Christie]. She's of course known for playing Brienne of Tarth and having this imposing fighting prowess on Game of Thrones. We had cast her with no intention of putting her in a fight because we just really, really liked her for the role. When she was cast, this scene had not yet been conceived—but it just became undeniable. If she's there and she cares so deeply for this goat—which we've seen that she does earnestly, then this is going to be a bloodbath and she was capable of it. It was fun to shoot.
Outie Mark accidentally shooting Drummond in the elevator started as a joke that I made. We were sitting around a table. I made that joke and Adam Scott pointed [at me] and he was like, "We're doing that. Absolutely."
I thought it was really important [in Severance] that there can be this mutual respect that blooms between the two versions of a person. Both Dylans have every reason to hate each other because they love the same woman, but Innie Dylan has always been very curious about his Outie. He's always thought of him as this cool, awesome, badass guy. And when he finds that his Outie feels the same about him—that his Outie feels like he doesn't really have much going on, but he likes to think of this version of him that has a sense of purpose and is good at his job—that is really meaningful to him.
And so when his Outie tells him, "I'm glad that you exist," he really takes that to heart. On the Outie side, Dylan comes to understand that the Innie is a version of himself that maybe he's lost and has a sense of identity and knowing who he is. A warm relationship unexpectedly appears between these two guys.
I was excited because this is an episode where Outie and Innie Mark have to work together. Until the very last moments of the episode, Innie Mark plays ball and he does everything that is asked of him. But you know, this season starts with Innie Mark coming out of the elevator and almost running to find Ms Casey because he feels that's his responsibility. It's noteworthy that even before he goes back to MDR to see if his friends are okay, he goes to find Ms Casey because that's wha he still feels that he owes that to his Outie.
So it was really important to us that that moment be answered by this final moment in Severance where he makes this really heartbreaking decision to turn his back on Gemma as she is screaming and crying for him to follow her. It's a horrible moment in many ways, but he is doing it because he has come to prioritise his own existence and sees his life as important as his Outie's. It shows growth, but in a really heartbreaking way.
Neither he nor Helly knows exactly what they're running toward. They know they're running away from nonexistence, which is on the other side of that door. But what kind of a life is there for them down here? What Helly went through in MDR after Mark, Dylan showing up—and then being able to rally this marching band crew... That gave her a sense that, you know what, there might be more of a shot for us here than we thought.
In their mind at that moment, it could be they might have two more minutes life ahead of them, or they might have two more years. All they know is that they want to keep existing and stay together for as long as they can.
[Severance] really is both [issues of identity and capitalism] together, and I think they go more hand-in-hand than you might initially think. People who work in a corporate environment—or an environment where they're part of a greater whole—they are often encouraged to diminish their humanity. Leave your baggage at the door, come in, and only bring the parts of yourself that are going to be valuable here.
And we take that to heart. Those of us who can't feel like we're being productive, we end up feeling like we're useless. I think that's heartbreaking because it is tempting to diminish ourselves because it's hard to accept all parts of yourself. It's easier to just be one thing. But then that also lessens you and makes you more susceptible to being used by these powerful entities. And so it's about the challenge of being fully human in a world that often discourages you.
Severance is streaming on Apple TV+.
