Severance fans have had a weekend to let the season finale of Apple TV’s dystopian workplace thriller sink in, and some are not handling it well. Make no mistake, “Cold Harbor” was a thrilling hour and change of television that ended the season on an incredible note. Some might argue it could have served as an uncomfortable and tragic series finale, but Apple has other plans. While we wait for season three, fans are left to ruminate on the end of season two and they’re very divided, particularly on the finale’s unforgettable last five minutes. The moral conundrum Mark S. (Adam Scott) deals with in those final moments is fascinating to debate, but the reactions to it may also indicate that some people aren’t engaging with the show’s themes, and are instead viewing it through a tunnel-visioned “ship wars” lens.
If you’re just tuning in and want a quick recap as to why your timeline is yelling about some asshole named Mark and him not going home with his wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman), let’s break down the basics of Severance. In this show, people who work at a company called Lumon have their brains bisected so that they have two distinct memory banks. Their “innie” only has memories of their time within their office on the severed floor, while their “outie” doesn’t remember anything from their work day and goes about their life without a care in the world. The show sometimes explores questions about whether or not certain parts of one’s personality or inclinations are innate, but as far as the world of Severance is concerned, these are two individuals who share a body. Innies are only allowed to see or know about the outside world in controlled environments, and the show’s biggest mysteries are born out of this division. When those walls come down and Mark’s innie and outie are able to communicate in “Cold Harbor,” it becomes clear that the two share a body and little else.
Outie Mark asks his innie to save his wife from the depths of the severed floor’s testing facility, likely leading to the exposure of Lumon’s corruption, the dissolution of the company, and the “deaths” of every innie who works there. Mark tries to soothe his innie self into a sense of security by explaining that he’s in the process of “reintegrating” and combining both their memories, but not only does this sound like a half-measure to someone who wants to be more than a tagalong on someone else’s life, he doesn’t even know if he can trust his outie to finish the process. Throughout their conversation, it’s clear Mark views his innie as a means to an end, rather than as a complete person with his own hopes, dreams, and desires. So when it comes to carrying out the plan, which requires cooperation from both Marks as they move across floors, the innie is conflicted as he weighs whether or not he’s willing to essentially commit suicide, along with killing the rest of the innies, in order to save his outie’s wife and give them a happily ever after.
All of this builds up to the final moment, in which Gemma has been successfully escorted outside of Lumon and all innie Mark has to do is leave with her and give control back to his outie. But then he hears Helly (Britt Lower) call his name. This is the woman he loves, the one whose name his outie couldn’t even be bothered to get right in their conversation. Why should he give up even a few more moments with her so his outie can have the life he wants? His decision made, Innie Mark goes to Helly and takes her by the hand, and together they run into the depths of the severed floor with no plan beyond fighting for every second they have left with each other. Meanwhile, Gemma cries out to her husband, seemingly unaware that he’s been severed, and begs him to join her on the other side. It is a brutal, tragic, and romantic declaration of the innies’ personhood, separate from their outside world selves.
It is a tough scenario, and it’s got Severance fans split down the middle. Did Mark S. do the right thing? It’s certainly not the most satisfying conclusion for those who wanted Mark and Gemma to live happily ever after, but it is the most thematically appropriate conclusion for a season focusing on innie autonomy and how outies view their workplace selves as second-class citizens.
Debating the morality of everyone involved is worthwhile, but what’s surprising is that discussing Mark’s decision has somehow boiled down to a shipping war, with some Severance fans putting on their Team Helly or Team Gemma t-shirts and pitting two women against each other. Friends, it feels like we’ve lost the plot once more. Severance has spent two seasons establishing that innies and outies are different people with separate identities, goals, and lived experiences. The Mark we see make this decision isn’t picking Helly over Gemma, he’s choosing himself over his outie. Gemma is collateral damage, but the Mark who exists inside Lumon isn’t her husband, and she is not his wife. Mark’s inner turmoil is illustrated by these two women on the opposite ends of an office hall, but he’s not literally deciding between them. That hasn’t stopped the debates from becoming ship war fodder, filled with fans who are missing the forest for the trees.
Yes, Gemma will likely have some more trauma to work through, having watched her long-lost husband walk away with another woman, but boiling down Mark’s decision to “picking one woman over the other” or “abandoning his wife” is both missing the point and shows that some viewers don’t see innies as individuals, but merely parts of someone else. The whole season finale shows innies declaring their autonomy over Lumon and their outies’ wishes. It’s not even subtext. Helly stands on a table and rallies a group of severed workers by saying that they’re only given half a life but it’s one worth fighting for. The notion that Mark is choosing Helly over Gemma is a frustrating reading both because it’s deeply unsympathetic to the plight of an oppressed class, and because it dilutes the season’s complex thesis into a petty love triangle.
Severance’s season finale is not the satisfying conclusion some fans were likely hoping for, one that ended with Mark and Gemma reunited and his outie making a noble sacrifice to ensure it happened. But it was one consistent with everything Severance has ever said about how innies have only ever been tools in the eyes of their outies. You can only be treated as an afterthought by those who brought you into the world for so long before you fight back. And sometimes fighting back is choosing yourself, even for a few moments. That’s a much more interesting lens through which to debate the ending than one that erases all the nuance of the show just to pit two women against each other.