‘Severance’ Season 2 finale review: “Cold Harbor”

It’s basically impossible to not think about Lost when watching the Severance season 2 finale. Lost pioneered introducing more mystery to its speculative science fiction at the end of every season as a means to keep viewers speculating and coming back. The “mystery box” has been a compelling tool for television ever since, and Severance’s iconic season 1 finale is one such finale. However, unlike Lost, Severance actually pays off the mystery and story arc its first season promises. That just also may have come at the cost of now becoming Lost. 

Time to finish “Cold Harbor.”

The mission Severance laid out going into season 2 was straightforward: Lumon faked the death of Mark’s wife Gemma and kidnapped her. Getting her out was obviously going to be the next step. True to its word, the Severance season 2 finale sees Gemma out of Lumon and some answers as to what the hell is going on in this company. Getting there requires an extra length episode that packs in so much chaos it almost buckles under the weight. 

Almost. 

Instead, “Cold Harbor” embraces the challenge. Every thread that season 2 has pulled on, from Gwendoline Christie’s guest appearance to the question of why Jame Eagan has a birthing cabin, weaves together with satisfaction. That isn’t to say that the radical theorizing of fans is all confirmed, but that what answers we do get actually are answers. Those answers beg more questions of course, but they also give Severance license to escalate in some truly astonishing ways. 

Things get bloody.

Waffle parties are replaced by a complete marching band. Innie Mark and Dylan each have a conversation of sorts with their respective outies. Jame Eagan decides to treat Helly as a confessional. Lumon transitions from uncomfortable blending religiosity and corporate culture to full on animal sacrifice – because that’s the point of the goats, obviously. All of these events sound almost unbelievable if you said them out loud to someone who hasn’t caught up. But it’s the moment where the violence visited upon the Innies becomes physical that really is the pivot point. 

There’s really no way to go back from the look of glee on Drummond’s face as he chokes out Mark. Even less so from the sort of hilarious and gruesome way Mark accidentally murders him mid-transition from Innie to Outie. “Cold Harbor” is significantly more visceral than everything before it; like a pressure cooker exploding. This is paralleled with the unknown fate of season MVP Milchick as he’s faced down with an entire department’s worth of Innies rebelling. Whatever happens next, this is no longer a series about going to work. 

In way, Severance is over.

Which is where the ending of the Severance season 2 finale finds itself. Innie Mark decides that he’s in control now, abandoning Gemma at the fire escape. The possibilities for what happens next are kind of endless – so much so that there’s a small part of me that wants that final moment of Mark and Helly running down the hall covered in film grain to be the last we ever see. It won’t be, which leaves us with the tantalizing and worrying complication that Severance’s exploration of the human condition is going into a very new direction. 

The Severance that sympathizes with unsettling and cold corporate culture, that has a firm understanding of how much it can suck to go to work, ended with “Cold Harbor.” The Severance we get next simply must be different. My theories are only as good as the average Redditor, but it looks like the Macrodat Uprising has become real and the Innies are just not going to leave. It’s there in the talk of turning a building into a continent, in Helly’s fiery speech, and even in the truth of what Cold Harbor actually is. Now that the violence enacted on the Innies has become tangible (and possibly even reciprocal), it seems like a full on occupation is in the cards. 

What the hell happens now?

But can a series bankrolled by a fortune raised off that same violence resonate? Can Severance really reflect a worker’s revolt without compromise? And even when it almost certainly does capitulate to Tim Cook, will this shift into the metaphors of personhood that now pits Innies against not only Lumon but their own Outies hold steady? Can the show sustain such a structural shift? This time, the future feels much more abstract than season 1’s finale, even with many lore questions answered. 

Yet, I find myself already eager to try to cash the check Severance just handed us. Much like those early seasons of Lost, there’s still so many layers to pull back to not be excited. That’s largely because this finale and the season that it closes is just so damn good. Every week, Severance took swings that didn’t always seem to be hits, all to get to a truly great conclusion. There’s confidence oozing from every frame – cinematographer and producer Jessica Lee Gagné is this show’s secret weapon – and even if I can’t rationalize that this check is ever gonna clear, I can’t help but feel like it just might. 

Severance season 1 and 2 are available on Apple TV+

Featured images © Apple 

Travis Hymas

Travis Hymas is a freelance writer and self appointed Pokémon historian out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Known to be regularly obessive over pop culture topics, gaming discourse, and trading card games, he is a published critic featured on sites such as Uppercut and The Young Folks.