Well, Severance fans, we made it. With racing pulses, shock, and a lot of screaming at our TVs — but we made it. The hit Apple TV+ show’s mega-anticipated Season 2 finale, Cold Harbor, just detonated in our faces, leaving the show’s fandom collectively wrecked, spiraling, and already bracing for what we hope (and what executive producer Ben Stiller is promising) won’t be a long wait for Season 3. Not that that stopped distraught Redditors from leaving post-finale comments like “See you all in 2031, I guess.”
The obligatory warning, before I go any further: Massive, heartbreaking spoilers ahead.
My own verdict on the finale: I’m angry at Mark S. and so happy for Mark S. To briefly summarize, before getting into some of the best reactions from the Internet: Mark S. went full action hero to save Gemma, Mr. Drummond got un-alived in the process, and the reveal about MDR’s true work was somehow even more dystopian than many of us expected.
Meanwhile, we also got a chilling look at the existential nightmare of reintegration, with Mark S. and Outie Mark both essentially fighting over who is actually real. Or, rather, which one is more real than the other. That is to say, which one deserves primacy over the other.
I should add that the finale also, unfortunately, lived up to the overtones of Greek mythology it was giving off earlier in the season that I talked about in a previous post. Innie Mark saved Gemma, but he then ended the episode by “turning back” — and also racing back into Lumon hand-in-hand with Helly, which echoed the mistake that Orpheus made in trying to save Eurydice (he looked back).
Honestly, it also felt, by the end, a little like Stiller personally came to our homes and punched us in the gut. For proof, just look at how Redditors got both funny and a little feral over the season finale:
- “You know what? F*ck that. I get setting season three up but f*ck off. Ben Stiller is a war criminal.”
- “I am physically sick.”
- “Severance really mixes crack and magic into their season finales.”
- “Me: I hate everything about this episode. Garbage. Also me: How long until next season, do we think?”
On Threads, meanwhile, someone called it Breaking Bad’s Ozymandias and Game of Thrones’ The Rains of Castamere-level TV. And honestly, as crushed as we all feel, it’s hard to disagree there. “This is one of those finales we’ll be talking about for years.”
My favorite reaction of the night, though, comes from X, where one user summed up my feelings to the Season 2 finale the best: “THAT #SEVERANCE FINALE OH MY GOD??? An insane fever dream that answers so many questions while asking even more, yet still delivers such an emotional ending. Beautiful chaos that I’ll need a week to process. I’m not the same person I was 75 minutes ago.”
You know what? Neither are we. All that’s left, now, is the arduous wait for Season 3. And as for anyone who thought the finale, or Season 2 for that matter, was anything short of an absolute home run — to quote our favorite dancing severed floor manager, you can devour feculence.
