The best cliffhangers are the ones that leave us wanting, the endings that leave more than just the characters of the story in a sudden, but temporary, impossible circumstance. When Season One came to an end with its incredibly sharp nail-biting finale there were a lot of questions on the table. What was going to happen to Mark, Helly, Irving, and Dylan, and what possible future awaited them after what they had done? The ending came so quickly, cutting itself off in the middle of its action, wearing hope to mask the desperation, with the fear of terrible repercussions lingering in the credits.
The story in the first season came along methodically, largely simmering as it built up its tension. The finale was the result of that slow boil that used its eight episodes to build a foundation for its character and plot, but I get the feeling that what was most important for the creators of the show was that everyone was on the same page. It was important that its viewers had a good understanding of what Severance was, as a concept, before they played around with it.
The second season dives directly into the deep end of the pool. Despite the troubles stirred up at the end of season one Mark S, Helly R, Irving B, and Dylan G are all back on the severed floor. Mark is back to work and he wants things to be the same, a return to normal, but Lumon is hardly a normal company and they’ve all seen things on their own respective trips outside. This time around there’s also more time for the non-severed employees, most notably the Deputy Manager Seth Milchick (portrayed in an absolutely perfect performance from Tramell Tillman). Patricia Arquette is still there, lingering in the background as Harmony Cobel, along with new faces on the severed floor and higher in the company ladder. As always, their work is mysterious and important.
The first season focused almost entirely on Mark S (Mark’s innie, his personality inside Lumon) and Mark Scout (Mark’s outie, his personality outside of Lumon), while the second season spends its time developing the outies of the other severed employees. Mark had all of season one to develop why he would choose to become a severed employee. Season Two moves on to Helly, Dylan, and Irving, establishing who they are outside of Lumon, and why they would make the same choice.
It’s a move that helps add depth to the main characters, but also makes the story of the second season into a sprawling set of subplots. The second season wants to develop eight main characters, each with their own unique personalities and goals. Their stories are interesting, don’t get me wrong, but they’re often highly separated from each other, sometimes feeling unfocused in comparison to the first season.
The mysteries are developed, but don’t expect most of the mysteries to be solved. Cobel goes on her own investigation in an episode that dives deep into the cult mentality of Lumon’s foundation while suffering from a lengthy MacGuffin search. Milchick’s character arc works wonders in establishing office culture for upper corporate Lumon, as the front facing office gives way to the cultish higher management. The severed employees find themselves, and their outies, all on their own subplots, and it’s not long before that hopeful normality that Mark wanted is gone. Season One had presented the idea that these employees could have their innies and their outies as separate lives, but here the expectation that separation brings trouble and horror in equal amounts. This is the end of the pool, and it is deep, and it is dark.
Where the first season was so focused on what severance was, the second season builds on what severance can be, playing around with the idea in ways that expand on its inherent horror. This leads to a season that’s less of a build and more of a constant tension, entangled with a deepening sense of the bizarre. There’s a timer ticking this time around, an end goal just around the corner, and before you know it the timer’s done and we’re still far off from understanding exactly what Lumon was building.
The ending comes so quickly, yet again, cutting itself off in the middle of its action, wearing hope to mask the desperation, with fear of terrible repercussions lurking in the credits. What is going to happen to Mark, Helly, Irving, and Dylan, and what possible future will await them after what they have done? Season Two comes to an end in an incredible finale, strange and suspenseful, still leaving many questions on the table. It’s an ending that stands out among the best of cliffhangers, leaving us wanting more, wondering what could happen next beyond just the sudden, but temporary, impossible circumstance.
9/10