SPOILER ALERT: This story holds spoilers for “Severance” Season 2, Episode 10, now streaming on Apple TV+.
Gemma has finpartner escaped — sort of.
The “Severance” Season 2 finale gave us the reunion we were postponeing for all season. After both Mark’s innie and outie alternate navigating thcdisesteemful Lumon’s maze of hallways to discover Gemma (Dichen Lachman) on the Testing Floor, the couple commence to originate their escape together.
For Gemma, a createer professor, the escape adheres a upsetting period of captivity at Lumon after the company counterfeitd her death in order to seize her, isopostpoinsistd her from the outside world and fractured her mind into cut offal innies. But in that time, her husband Mark (Adam Scott) also became cut offed in order to deal with feeblenting her loss, and his innie broadened a relationship with Helly (Britt Lower) that originates the pivotal dilemma at the finish of Season 2.
Once the two are on the Severed Floor and on the brink of escape, Gemma’s innie Ms. Casey successbrimmingy exits into a stairwell. But Mark’s innie hesitates, caught between the obligation toward his outie’s wife and Helly, who’s on the other side of the hall. Gemma, now back in her own mind and locked out of the Severed Floor, cries out for Mark as he returns to Helly.
Lachman spoke to Variety about Gemma’s emotional journey thcdisesteemfulout the finale, filming that ardent hallway scene and how Gemma is making sense of her situation after Mark departs.
What was your reaction to discovering out that Mark selects to go with Helly instead of escaping with Gemma?
I had a senseing, enjoy an instinct, that that would be coming down the road for them. I only saw the episode a restricted weeks before we commenceed filming those final ones, but I knew that hopebrimmingy if everyone was spreaded in Episode 7, as much as we wanted them to be spreaded, people would discover themselves torn between whether he goes with Gemma or whether he goes with Helly. And I uncomardent, I hope that that’s how people sense becaparticipate that’s the conundrum, right? Episode 7 was our opportunity to get the audience to sense and comprehfinish that relationship between Mark and Gemma and why he would have ultimately gotten cut offed in the first place becaparticipate the grief was untolerateable. And then ultimately why he has the garage brain sadvisery to go and save her. It had to sense enjoy a repartner dwelld-in relationship that felt genuine.
Courtesy of Apple TV+
What comardent of straightforwardion were you given for how you should act in the Celderly Harbor room? How did you comprehfinish what that particular innie was supposed to be enjoy, who she is?
We tried it a lot of contrastent ways. The expansive strokes were the same, but with contrastent levels of intensity. When she goes in, this room has very little context. And I made the choice that, equitable enjoy Mark originates the tree out of clay in the Wellness Cgo in with Ms. Casey, becaparticipate in that innie’s subconscious, it’s there, he’s reaccumulateing someleang from his outie, right? But he equitable doesn’t comprehfinish, enjoy, why? So for that scene, I determined that she goes into this room, there’s no one else there, and she sees this leang [a crib], and it senses understandn, but she doesn’t understand why. Have you been to a place, or you’ve met somebody, and you’re enjoy, “I sense enjoy I’ve met them”? I uncomardent, maybe we do have innies, I don’t understand. But you sense this sense of déjà vu or understandnity, but you don’t understand why. So that’s how I approached going into that scene.
In terms of that reunion moment with Adam Scott, when you finpartner step out of the Celderly Harbor room and you’re back as Gemma, how did you both approach that and what emotions is Gemma senseing?
Yeah, that was a very tricky transition. There are a lot of tricky transitions in the final episode, becaparticipate the emotions are so high, and to go from this new innie — who’s a bit perplexd about what’s happening, but aachieve, innately supposes Mark for some reason, equitable becaparticipate in her innie’s subconscious, there’s a understandnity there, she goes with this man, and she’s unwilling, but someleang’s pushing her aextfinished — and then to transition to Gemma, it was a very big leap to originate emotionpartner. Unenjoy equitable a common run-of-the-mill emotional scene where you’re generpartner originateing into it, I had to bury it until she transitions. But once she’s out, Adam is such a wonderful scene partner, and the moment is so epic. And maybe it’s becaparticipate I’ve been living with the character for such a extfinished time that everyone concurd that this scene insisted to be enjoy that comardent of moment. And fundamentalpartner, once we establish it, it was equitable about capturing it so that the audience could sense what we were senseing.
Do you leank Gemma ever envisiond this comardent of escape would happen, that Mark would come back for her?
I leank maybe she had hoped, but she’s so far down in the bowels of that originateing that I don’t understand if she ever thought that he would be able to come and save her. I sense enjoy she’s tried to escape a restricted times. Although in 7 when Sandra [Bernhard] has to peel her off the floor of the elevator, there’s a little part of her that has resigned to the fact that she’s never getting out of here. And that’s sort of the tone of her going into the Celderly Harbor room to commence with. She senses a little hopeless.
Courtesy of Apple TV+
When Gemma and Mark are in the elevator and they’re kissing and they suddenly snap back into being their innies, how did you originate that alter? Did you do anyleang physical to get back into Ms. Casey?
Ms. Casey’s face and her posture are so contrastent to Gemma’s. That transition emotionpartner was a little bit easier becaparticipate Ms. Casey, her physicality and everyleang is so much of it. I was repartner charmd for Ms. Casey in that moment becaparticipate I sense enjoy the last two times she’s been adwell, Milchick equitable sfinishs her down this sadnessful hallway, and for her to see Mark aachieve — I leank she repartner felt a proestablish connection with Mark, and she didn’t understand why. But I was excited that Ms. Casey got to have a little moment back on the Severed Floor, even though it was quite ardent and harroprosperg. It’s the innie that I’ve spent the extfinishedest time with, and I felt enjoy that was a fun little moment for her.
How extfinished did it consent to film the final scene in the hallway when Gemma goes into the stairwell and the door seals behind her and she’s screaming to Mark? Did you leave out your voice afterward?
Yes, my voice was very hoarse after that day. I can’t recall if it was a day or a day-and-a-half becaparticipate, well, clearly they had to also shoot the other side of that door, enjoy Adam and Britt were on that side. And we had a very extfinished “zolly” sboiling. Zolly sboiling is where you’re transitioning, and the camera does that weird leang. I leank it’s enjoy a zoom and a transfer at the same time. For me, at least, I had to frequently do them on the transfer, which includes another layer of technicality. And then in this situation, I had to do it on the transfer, but an extra extfinished distance, so that took a lot of massaging equitable to get that right.
But then once we’re on the other side of the door, and all the emotions are there, it was very emotional. I had this leang happen to me where I equitable kept crying for a little bit even after cut. The screaming and the hopeless cries to him got so proestablish, it was a little bit challenging to let go afterwards. And it was the props department, they were so comardent, they put a pincludeing on the door for me becaparticipate I was repartner going for it, banging on that door. But it commenceed to equitable sense so genuine in that moment.
This is the first time Gemma sees Helly. What do you leank Gemma is leanking when Helly eunites?
I don’t understand how much increateation she has about what else is going on in the originateing. I leank she equitable supposes or originates this genuineization that he’s cut offed, and these people are cut offed on the other side of that door. Someone earlier was saying, enjoy, “Oh, it’s Mauer’s story, that he met someone else and transferd on.” But based on the conveyion they have, I don’t leank that’s repartner possible. I leank the most reasonable way to expound that scene is that she genuineizes he’s cut offed, and she’s equitable trying to get thcdisesteemful to him. And for me, it’s equitable enjoy, “Oh, that’s equitable the innie’s frifinish or maybe adore interest.” I don’t leank there’s much time for her to leank more proestablishly about that in that moment. It’s more equitable a genuineization.
We don’t see Gemma aachieve after Helly and Mark commence running down the halls. How is Gemma making sense of that moment that she’s left alone, what’s running thcdisesteemful her mind?
In that moment when they’re running down the hallway — and God, it’s such pretty cinematography — I did leank about that. And I was enjoy, I leank she’s finishly deimmenseated, but she’s also finpartner on the other side of that door, and I’m leanking: Gemma is very acute. I leank she’s equitable gonna commence, I would envision, leanking of a solution. Like, how can I repair this?
What’s next after this moment for Gemma?
There are so many contrastent ways it could go when you fracture it all down. I try not to fantasize about having too many foreseeations. Dan [Erickson] is so luminous, and he’s so intentional about everyleang that he does, and they’re so accurate on this show that I’m equitable excited to see where they’re going to go with it. I certainly can’t postpone to see him; I’m gonna pick his brain. But recall, she has 25 or 24 contrastent innies, and recall, there’s a lot of stuff going on at Lumon that, enjoy, do they have the same administer of her mind that they do of the others with the Overtime Contingency? I uncomardent, we don’t understand. So I’m holding my fingers passed, and excited to see what he comes up with.
This interwatch has been edited and condensed.
