"Severance" Season 2 episode 10 review

As “Severance” reaches its season finale, fans are having a hard time keeping their jaws off the floor. Episode 10 of Season 2 gives the audience an angelic performance that no one was ready for.

So much was resolved, and yet so much is still on the board. The best part, Ben Stiller revealed in an interview that fans won't have to wait three years for a new season.

The conflict of this week’s episode continues directly from the end of last week. Innie Mark, Outie Mark, Ms. Cobel and Devon gather what they collectively know in order to infiltrate the severed floor.

Mark’s internal conflict raises more moral gray areas in the process of rescuing Gemma. Mark’s innie is given much to think about. It all comes down to trust and the lives of all the innies that have ever been created.

After a series of heated exchanges, the group puts all their trust in Mark’s innie. As the “Cold Harbor” file comes closer to an end, a decision must be made. For the first time, Mark will embark below the severed floor. The Lumon executives eagerly await for the completion of “Cold Harbor”, yet both sides have something up their sleeves.

What makes this episode so great is what made this show so great: the writing. The writers are experts at sneaking in dialogue that calls back to the past or hints at the future.

On paper, the innies and outies seem to be written adjacent to one another and yet each version is another person. Mark’s dialogue to the recorder perfectly sums up how each version comes from the same brain, but has had clear differences that shape their personalities.

Mark refers to his innie as a child, which is fair due to the fact that his consciousness is around two years old. This leads into how the writers are able to make the audience love Helly and hate Hellena.

In all fairness, the actors do a fantastic performance every episode to also create such strong feelings towards each character. The combination of writing and Britt Lower’s performance as Helena Eagan creates a conflict for the fans.

The audience has been burnt before, but the love developed for Helly gives hope for the character.

The other integral piece to the success of this show is the set design. Fans of the show have analyzed this show frame by frame, because there are scenes with so many hidden details.

Even when the scene requires a neutral background. The symmetry and color choice is almost distracting how crisp and unique they appear.

The show made an artistic choice with innies being represented by blue and outies being red. The sooner this is realized, the more levels this show reveals as it interacts with these colors.

This episode is everything a fan could dream of and more. The mysteries of Lumon have been dangling for years. Now, the audience received the biggest piece to this puzzle so far.

The show is so clever and well thought out. All the ideas seemed fresh. From the symbolic colors, to the curated music selection. Even the title sequence was entertaining to piece what each bit pertained to. To be as simple as possible: This was peak television.

Rating- 5/5

Scott Moorhead is a fifth-year majoring in telecommunications. To contact him, email srm5943@psu.edu.