Editor’s note: The below interview contains spoilers for the Severance Season 2 finale.
The Season 2 finale of Severance has finally arrived, and with the premiere of “Cold Harbor” comes the resolution of several questions that have been hanging over everything since, arguably, the beginning of the show. Most importantly, we learn what the members of Macrodata Refinement have been “refining” in those files, and how Mark S.’s (Adam Scott) “mysterious and important” work on Cold Harbor — as well as all his other files — pertains to his wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman).
While the finale starts with Mark’s innie and outie being at odds over the mission to rescue Gemma from Lumon’s clutches, Innie Mark does decide to do the right thing and save his outie’s wife, with the two of them making a less-than-clean getaway as sirens blare and red lights flash. In the closing minutes of the episode, Mark S. sends Gemma through the exit door, but instead of going with her and surrendering however many minutes of existence he might have left, he chooses to stay behind with Helly R. (Britt Lower), leaving Gemma to beat on the now-locked door in vain.
Ahead of the Season 2 finale dropping on Apple TV+ (and the news that Severance had been renewed for a third season), Collider had the opportunity to speak with Lachman about some of her character’s biggest moments in the episode. Over the course of the interview, which you can read below, Lachman discusses where she was intimidated by this season’s Gemma-centric episode, “Chikhai Bardo,” before diving into more details from the finale, from juggling multiple innies to accidentally headbutting Adam Scott during a pivotal moment to what Gemma is thinking in that last scene.
COLLIDER: I have so many questions about the finale and only so much time, but before we talk about that, there’s another episode this season that is such a stunning showcase for you as an actor and Gemma, the character. “Chikhai Bardo” finally shines a light on what’s been happening to Gemma inside Lumon and what she’s been going through — not just with these tests, but on a personal level long before even ending up there. As an actor, how valuable is an episode like that in getting to play through so much of Gemma’s past and present, and were you intimidated at all when you got the script and saw that this was going to be such a Gemma-centric episode?
DICHEN LACHMAN: Only intimidated in the sense that if I didn’t hit those notes, the fans would be incredibly disappointed. [Laughs] Gemma’s so fragmented throughout the series, and I had a very short time to really create this emotional anchor for everyone. Adam has obviously done such a wonderful job with the ghost of her haunting his decisions and everything that he does. The way he talks about her in his grief, that really helped set up an emotional anchor for the audience. To have one episode to really ground their relationship and who she was was exciting, but it was intimidating only in the sense that the audience has spent so much time with all these other characters that they’ve grown to love, and I just had this one moment, so I hope I didn’t let anyone down.
Dichen Lachman Has Nothing But Love for Her ‘Severance’ Co-Stars Robby Benson and Sandra Bernhard

No, no. I think for a lot of people, myself included, it was one of our favorite episodes this season. On the show, Gemma has some very fraught relationships at Lumon, between Dr. Mauer and Nurse Cecily. Behind the scenes, did you and Robby [Benson] and Sandra [Bernhard] do anything to keep things light, or did you really try to maintain the distance that Gemma’s really supposed to have with these people between takes?
LACHMAN: Robby and Sandra are just such extraordinary human beings, and so forged in this business. They were so gracious and kind. We kept it lowkey, but we did get to know each other a little bit. It wasn’t like we created a distance between ourselves in the takes, because I was just fascinated to talk to them both about their experiences and hear stories. Robby could not be more antithetical… he’s the nicest, warmest, kindest man [compared] to his character, Dr. Mauer. So the mood was serious because we wanted to hit the right notes, and we really pushed ourselves, but we did it together as a team, and I feel so grateful that I got to work with both of them.
The finale has so many emotional moments for Gemma, starting with the reunion scene that we finally get between her and Mark. They step out of the Cold Harbor room, and the switch flips for Gemma, and she finally recognizes him. How did you get yourself into the mindset of gearing up for that switch, where you have to turn it on and then be in the moment of reuniting with someone that Gemma loves?
LACHMAN: That was not the easiest task, because usually, you’re in a scene, and you’re building up to an emotional point or dialogue, and the story is taking you into that moment. But to be a totally different person and then wake up and have this flood of emotion, it was tricky, and I really did have to bury it through that threshold of changing from Cold Harbor into Gemma.
Perhaps it’s because I’ve been living with this character for so long and just meditating on her and her desires and her love for her husband, [but] once she went through the threshold, it felt really real, it just came out. But it was a very technically tricky thing to do, and this show has a lot of technical things that are mixed with emotional things that you’re constantly juggling for all of us, and it’s spectacular to see when they cut everything together. It’s just wonderful.

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“They Don’t Want To Stop Existing”: ‘Severance’ Creator Dan Erickson Breaks Down the Season 2 Finale and the Meaning of That Ending

Erickson also discusses the significance of Choreography & Merriment and which scene he’s wanted to write since the very first episode.

You have to flip the switch and go to that emotionally heightened place, but then in this same sequence, you have to flip back because Mark and Gemma get on the elevator to the severed floor. You’re then switching to Ms. Casey and Mark’s innie — mid-kiss, I might add, which is maybe one of the worst times for something like that to happen. Was that more difficult than having to turn on the emotion?
LACHMAN: Yeah, that day actually became quite funny, because Ms. Casey, she’s different, and her face sits differently to Gemma, and she’s so innocent and wide-eyed. She’s like, “What is happening?” So we actually had a lot of fun that day. Adam and I did butt heads, though, at one point. I had a little shiner on my face, but we had fun with that. But, again, it’s always tricky to go from one emotional extreme to something completely different, and [I’m] just so fortunate to have incredible directors on this show and crew stewarding all of us through the process.
Dichen Lachman Explains Why All That Running in ‘Severance’ Is Easier Than the Emotional Scenes

Image via Apple TV+

There was a lot of talk at the beginning of the season when Adam got to have his big running moment, and we see that bookended here in the finale, but now he’s running through Lumon with Gemma. It looks very physically intense, so I can only imagine what it was like to film.
LACHMAN: Even in [Episode] 7, the running scene, when Gemma’s trying to escape, a lot of it was done in one take with a rickshaw, and it was just going again and again just to get those shots exactly right to tell the story in the best possible way. Sometimes those days are a bit easier because it’s just a physical thing that you have to do, and that’s just something related to endurance. It’s always been the emotional transitions and that stuff that gets more complicated. But like I said, incredible crew and directors on this show taking us through the process. It feels like a lot when you’re watching it, but, as you know, actors, we have breaks when they’re setting up the lights, so you get a chance to catch your breath and rehydrate.
The very end of the episode culminates in Mark’s innie freeing Gemma, but then choosing not to go through the door with her and instead returning to Helly. What do you feel is going through her head in that moment, and do you think her own experience of being severed maybe allows her to understand why this Mark is different than the one she knows?
LACHMAN: Yes, in the moment, there’s so many ways to interpret how she might be thinking or feeling. I think there’s a second where there’s a realization that maybe he’s done this to himself as he walks away, but she is just trying to get through to him. Initially, she’s just gathering herself, but maybe Mark broke in there and went to save her. That’s what she thinks when they walk out of the Cold Harbor room, but then she’s Ms. Casey and then they’re outside again. She’s initially like, “Wait, what’s happening?” She realizes, and then she’s just hoping that maybe she can get through to him by banging on that door.
All episodes of Severance Seasons 1 & 2 are now streaming on Apple TV+. Season 3 is set to premiere at a date yet to be announced.

Severance

Release Date

February 18, 2022

Showrunner

Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman

Writers

Dan Erickson