Were You Crying Over the ‘Severance’ Season 2 Finale? So Was Dichen Lachman

I’m still nervous that the creators behind Severance still don’t know what Lumon is doing. I could be wrong! Things are complex enough that they may have a specific answer the show is leading to. However, as Kaleena recently pointed out, there’s so much going on that the answers we seek could range from robots to theological sorcery. Even with the answers the season 2 finale presented, I left with more questions about the goings on at Lumon. That is where my issues with the finale, which was an emotionally charged and impeccably acted piece of high art, end.

There will be spoilers for Severance season 2 ahead. Continue at your own risk.

Severance ended its sophomore season with a laser-focused finale. There are still many plot threads dangling about (what’s up with Burt and Irving? Is Ricken a goat? Is Natalie severed or just controlled by the board? Seriously, is Ricken a f***ing goat?) but the show focused on Mark (Adam Scott) and his innie as they attempted to work together in freeing his wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman) from Lumon’s clutches with the help of Helly R (Britt Lower) and Dylan G (Zack Cherry). They run into resistance in the form of Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman) and the frightening Mr. Drummond (Darri Ólafsson).

Mark eventually finds Gemma and frees her from being severed. Just as his innie is about to leave with her —effectively killing himself in the process— he changes his mind and returns to Helly R., who he is in love with, much to Gemma’s protestations. She is confused and devastated as Mark S. and Helly R. run through Lumon’s long and winding halls toward an uncertain future. The final moments are incredibly upsetting, and not just for viewers. Dichen Lachman chatted with The Hollywood Reporter, and she also had a difficult time with the emotionally charged finale.

“It was really emotional. It felt so real that I got caught up in the story,” Lachman explained. “Sometimes, as an actor, you really have to use your craft to get to where you need to get to. But on that day, it felt much deeper to me than some of the other things I’ve done in the past where I’ve had to really work hard to get to that place.” Makes sense to me! Gemma’s existence on the show has been filled with inhumane punishment, both to her Innie and her Outtie, this kept that trend going with a vengeance, even playing off of a fear implanted in her by Lumon that her husband had moved on to someone else.

Since Severance has been light on answers and the season ends so abruptly, fans have been left to piece some things together. I didn’t think about how Gemma likely didn’t know that her husband had been severed and maybe thought it was his Outtie who was running away from her. According to Lachman, that is not how she played it. “I decided to make the choice that she doesn’t know [it’s Innie Mark] at first. But the further away he gets from her, she slowly pieces it together, and she still tries to get through to him,” Lachman noted. “When Gemma is banging on the door and calling for Mark, I kept crying that day, which hasn’t really happened to me before.” Again, makes sense!

Every actor on the show brings every bit of their A-game to the finale, so it makes total sense that Lachman’s onscreen tears led to real ones. But it wasn’t all dour moments. “I don’t know how this happened, but for some reason, Adam and I totally butted heads like no one’s butted heads before. It was very awkward,” Lachman told THR. “But overall, it was hard not to laugh in that incredibly heartfelt moment, because, all of a sudden, there’s Ms. Casey with her wide eyes, saying, ‘What’s taking place?’” I’m glad there were moments of levity on set cause hot damn. The finale covered a whole spectrum of emotion, but the end was still a punch to the gut, face, and chest. Someone needed a laugh, and I’m glad Lachman got one.