Severance Boss Dan Erickson breaks down Season 2 finale.

***WARNING! The following article contains major plot spoilers for all of Severance! Continue at your own risk!***

All hell broke loose beneath the floorboards of Lumon Industries in the Season 2 finale of Apple TV+’s Severance, as Mark S. (Adam Scott) completed the mysterious MDR file known only as “Cold Harbor,” and set off a bizarre chain of events that could only be pulled by the most audacious television series of the modern age.

Written by series creator/showrunner Dan Erickson and directed by executive producer Ben Stiller, Season 2, Episode 10 (aptly named after the above mentioned MDR file) clocks in at nearly an hour-and-a-half and solves a number of lingering unknowns, while simultaneously raising a few dozen more — in true Severance fashion!

With the chasm between Innies and Outies greater than ever before, I caught up with Mr. Erickson, who was kind enough to walk me through the finale’s biggest moments and lightly tease how they pave the way for a potential third season.

Severance creator & showrunner Dan Erickson breaks down the Season 2 finale’s biggest moments

Outie Mark vs. Innie Mark

In one of the most stunning sequences of the entire show — both narratively and creatively — Mark Scout finally has a face-to-face (sort of) with his Innie over a series of pre-recorded videos. What begins as a tender meeting of the minds, soon devolves into a heated argument over whether Innie Mark should help his Outie free Outie Mark’s wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman), from the bowels of Lumon.

Erickson: That was something I always wanted to do. I think it’s very interesting that it happens at this point on the show. Because Innie Mark is, at this point, in his development where he’s come to realize that he himself is a person. He has value, he has love in his life, he has friends, and he has community. So the fact that this happens to be when his Outie shows up suddenly wanting something from him and, in fact, expecting him to basically give up his life so that the Outie can have his wife back, it’s something that an earlier, less evolved version of Innie Mark might have been willing to do. But this guy has some questions about it, and it was one of my favorite things we’ve ever shot. I had no idea if it would work until it was done. When you’re shooting a scene like that, it doesn’t feel like it’s going to feel [when it’s done]

, because you’re shooting it in pieces, and the editing is so important to it. But the first time I actually saw that scene, I openly wept because I really didn’t know if it was gonna work — and then it did.

Macro Data Refinement exposed

While Severance still hasn’t given us all the pieces of the puzzle, we now know that Innie Mark S’s Macro Data Refinement work has been about creating numerous Innie identities for Gemma this whole time. With that said, we still don’t have a concrete answer for why splitting Gemma’s personality again and again (à la Voldermort and his Horcruxes) is so important to the folks running Lumon.

Erickson: That’s something I think we had built toward, and some people had kind of — at least partially — come to, which is this idea that the different clusters of numbers and the way that they make you feel align with the Four Tempers; and that these are the essential building blocks of a human being. I always thought there was something beautiful in the fact that when Mark was staring at the screen, at this sea of numbers he doesn’t understand, he was [actually] looking into his wife’s soul. These were pieces of her that he was able to skillfully find because he knows her so well and because of their connection. There was something equal parts beautiful and horrible in that, but at the same time, he’s kind of ripping her soul apart and making these other versions of her without realizing what he’s doing. It’s that thing where there’s something sweet and something truly nightmarish. That’s Severance for you, I guess.

Mr. Milchick and Kier’s comedy routine

Seth Milchick has been disrespected by Lumon so many times, one has to wonder why the recently-christened manager of the Severed Floor hasn’t told his superiors to shove it indefinitely (the “devour feculence” comment notwithstanding, of course). The company-sanctioned condescension continues when Milchick engages in a bizarre comedy routine with a wax figure of Lumon founder Kier Eagan once Mark S. completes the “Cold Harbor” file.

Erickson: Getting disrespected by a wax dummy is kind of the last straw — or at least it would be for me. I think I might have decked that thing in the face, to be honest with you. That was one of my favorite scenes we’ve ever shot. It was just so weird. In a way, it reminded me of work events I’ve been to where the bosses get up and do a little banter, and we’re all supposed to sit there and laugh, even though it’s not funny. In this case, Mark and Helly are staring down the barrel of non-existence. I think they kind of understand that they’re not going to necessarily continue to exist now that they’ve done this and yet, they’re expected to watch this little comedy routine. That felt very Lumon to me.

Choreography & Merriment

The completion of “Cold Harbor” warrants more than erasers, Chinese finger traps, a 5-minute dance party, or a stack of delicious waffles drowned in maple syrup. For the really big celebrations, Lumon breaks out an entire marching band, courtesy of the Choreography & Merriment department. Still, it raises two very important questions: 1) Are these musical Innies always on call? and 2) How did they learn to play their instruments?

Erickson: Those guys were incredible. They rehearsed so long on that set. I went down and watched, and just marveled at what they were able to do. I think it’s really funny there’s this marching band that seemingly only exists for very specific moments like this. I love that they hold up the cards to make Mark’s face for the ceiling that’s like two feet above them that clearly nobody can see. Stuff like that tickles me. But I’ve always found something a little bit unsettling about marching bands. There’s such an exuberance and it’s a cool artistic expression, but it’s also a bunch of people moving in unison in this vaguely military way. It’s literally people in uniform meant to look and act and move the same. So again, something about that felt very Lumon to me.

Animal sacrifice

Since Episode 3, fans have wondered why Lumon keeps a herd of goats on the Severed Floor under a department dubbed “Mammalians Nurturable.” Based on the finale, it seems that the animals are born and bred for some kind of cult-like ritual sacrifice seemingly related to the completion of each MDR file.

Erickson: I want people to know I was never going to hurt Emile. That was never a possibility. I said that going in. I was like, “We are not killing this goat.” So we didn’t and Emile ended up being saved. It’s clear that this is a ritualistic thing. It’s clear from Lorne’s line about, “How many more must I give?” that this has happened before. But in terms of what the implications of that are, we still don’t fully know yet as viewers.

Love triangle

At long last, Gemma is finally freed from the clutches of Lumon and able to pick up her life with Mark. Well, half of that statement is correct. After getting Gemma to the exit stairwell, Mark S. is faced with a monumental decision: Allow his Outie to get everything he wants or stay on the Severed Floor with Helly R.? Despite Outie Gemma’s distraught pleas to open the door, Innie Mark ultimately chooses his own needs over his Outie’s. It’s hard to watch, but that’s exactly what Erickson intended.

Erickson: It represents him choosing his own life and his own identity and prioritizing that over the needs of his Outie. I think that it’s been a long journey for him to get there. I think it’s noteworthy that the first thing we see this season is him coming out of the elevator and running straight to Wellness to see if Ms. Casey is there — as opposed to going to MDR to see if Helly and his friends are there. Because I think at that point in his journey, he still sees himself as living for his Outie, which is what he’s always been trained to believe. But this season sees him coming to value himself and his experiences. It’s a horrifying moment, and it should be, because Gemma is blameless in this and she’s having this horrible moment of watching him leave in a moment where it seemed like they were actually going to get away together. But it felt like the only emotionally honest choice for Innie Mark to make, because the fact is he’s looking at this woman and he may sympathize with her, but the the woman that he loves is standing behind him.

The Windmills of Your Mind

After choosing Helly R. over Gemma, Mark S. and his Innie paramour join hands and run in slow-motion through the labyrinthine halls of the Severed Floor to the tune of Noel Harrison’s “The Windmills of Your Mind.” From the music choice to the visual language to the final freeze frame and zoom-in, the conclusion oozes retro influence (think Logan’s Run).

Erickson: I just have to tip my hat to Ben Stiller with that. We have talked a lot about these interesting, paranoid ‘60s/‘70s thrillers and sci-fi pieces that are such an aesthetic inspiration for the show. That moment to me shows a shift in the tone a little bit where this thing that started as a workplace comedy [has become] something that is exploring themes of survival and identity. And so, I think that it’s a way to stylistically show the transition that we’ve made on the show from one thing into another.

All of Severance Season 2 is now streaming on Apple TV+