The article contains spoilers for Severance season 2, episode 8,”Sweet Vitriol.”One of the Severance season 2 directors teases an epic season 2 finale. The Apple TV+ show has been heating up as Mark, Dylan, Helly, and Irving go through turmoil after returning to the severed floor. The latest episodes have been some of the most talked about, garnering high user ratings on IMDb week after week. Severance‘s season 2 cast includes the return of Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, Tramell Tillman, Dichen Lachman, and Jen Tullock and features new characters played by Sarah Bock, Gwendoline Christie, and Merritt Wever.
In an interview with ScreenRant to promote American Sweatshop during SXSW, director Uta Briesewitz teases the season finale. When asked about the season 2 finale, she answered simply that “It will blow your mind.” The director wrapped this into a wider explanation of how Severance operates on a creative and stylistic level. She noted how important the “body language” between the characters is to the storytelling and filmmaking choices. Check out the full quote from Briesewitz below:
I feel like there’s a certain language for Severance. It’s not just, “Let’s just make something extreme. Let’s put them in the lower corner of the frame, and that’s a Severance frame.” That’s not how it is. There’s a little bit more to it. And in a certain way, without sounding too cheesy, every shot should always connect [emotionally] as a creative. But with Severance, what I learned and what I’m so excited about, it’s so much about the details of what the actors do. Because if you were in a vacuum, if you were in the MDR, if you are in these hallways, it’s a completely empty stage and very often you just have one person, maybe sometimes two.
So the body language towards each other is very important [and] how they are staged. If you have one person – for instance, Helly, when she walks away from Mark after he said that they shared vessels, which that’s a great line. We just basically workshopped it and she found all these beautiful things – walking along the wall and taking off her shoes and the details of just looking at her feet, because everything becomes so important. And that really informs how you shoot something. You look at every detail of the body down to the small finger when Mark gets his nosebleed dealt with. And we had this split focused diopter lens, and I wanted to show the little bloody finger because everything has so much backstory. And you wonder, what did you do with this finger? Did she wipe off the blood on his cheek? Everything has a story.
So I just love that you were able to look at each character like a piece of art in itself, and that’s how you shoot them and portrait them so you really dig deeper. And you really think a lot about how these people, these characters almost look like statues of art when you see them just by themselves. Even if it’s just sitting or standing somewhere, because the spaces are just so unique and incredible.
What This Means For The Rest Of Severance Season 2
Severance Season 1 Set A High Bar
The Severance season 1 ending will be hard to top. With quick cuts and a frenetic energy as Mark, Dylan, Helly, and Irving concoct a plan to disrupt Lumon, “The We We Are” was an extremely memorable segment of television that stunned audiences at the time. As such, this sets the bar high for the season 2 finale, which Stiller directs. Briesewitz directed the well-rated Severance season 2, episode 6, “Attila,” so she knows what she’s talking about when it comes to the Lumonverse, giving her high praise weight.
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IMDb Ratings of Severance Season 2 Episodes |
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Episode |
Average Rating (out of 10 stars) |
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S2E1, “Hello, Mrs. Cobel” |
8.2 |
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S2E2, “Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig” |
8.4 |
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S2E3, “Who Is Alive?” |
8.7 |
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S2E4, “Woe’s Hollow” |
9.1 |
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S2E5, “Trojan’s Horse” |
8.2 |
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S2E6, “Attila” |
8.5 |
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S2E7, “Chikhai Bardo” |
9.5 |
In addition to the finale tease, Briesewitz provides insight into the creative choices behind Severance. Scott and Stiller have spoken before about the importance of Mark’s physical reaction to his innie-outie transition. This comes as Mark is slowly undergoing his reintegration process. Briesewitz suggests that this physicality is ubiquitously vital to the series. The emphasis on “body language” has already been evident early on in the season, particularly with the way Heather Egan pretended to be innie Helly before being caught by innie Irving.
Related
What Harmony Cobel Was Looking For In Severance Season 2 Episode 8 & What It Means For The Eagan Family
Cobel returns to her roots in Severance season 2’s episode 8 to look for something important, which seems to reveal some dark truths about the Eagans.
In addition, the series has already unraveled big mysteries about the characters, including the relationship between Mark and Gemma. “Chikhai Bardo” became the breakthrough episode that unraveled the circumstances of Gemma’s involvement with Lumon and what led to the events up to this point. In addition, the most recent episode, “Sweet Vitriol,” provided more insight into Harmony’s backstory, including the fact that she was the main inventor of the severance process. With Harmony now looking for evidence, it appears that she could be key in attempts to take down Lumon.
Our Take On The Severance Season Finale Tease
This Season Has Shown Hope Of Matching Season 2’s Energy
Severance season 2 has built incredible momentum over the past few episodes. I would argue that the beautifully shot “Chikhai Bardo” rivals “The We We Are” in its gravitas, with a performance from Lachman that is certainly Emmy-worthy. Though Ms. Casey fails to reach the severed floor despite her escape attempt, the episode hints at the arc to come, which could include a finale of surprise and shocking meetups between characters. Whatever happens, Briesewitz has instilled me with more confidence that the Severance season 2 finale will be one for the ages.
Severance
8/10
- Release Date
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February 18, 2022
- Showrunner
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Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman