Severance season 2 episode 9 sets up a huge finale, but is it too little too late? Our thoughts on the new episode…
Happy Friday and welcome to another chapter of “Maria is frustrated and confused by the new episode of Severance.” If you were hoping that things would become clearer as we inched closer to the season finale, as I was, then you may be disappointed by today’s episode.
After two superb episodes, the penultimate instalment is a huge letdown. Its only purpose is to set up a huge finale with (presumably) lots of revelations, but Severance season 2 episode 9 feels like an unfortunate filler episode with nothing to really add to the story or themes. For me, despite some excellent moments, season 2 has felt a little lost. It appears to have a clear end in mind, but getting there seems to be rather laborious.
Last week’s episode included the huge revelation that Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) was in fact the real inventor of the severance procedure. It’s not mentioned once in the new episode and part of me started wondering if I had dreamt it all. We do get a brief glimpse of Gemma on a monitor, though, who’s still alive and still being experimented on.
We’ll presumably find out next week what this mysterious Project Cold Harbor is. It’s currently 96 percent complete, but Lumon needs Mark (Adam Scott) back at work in order to complete it. Mark, however, has been a little busy getting literal brain surgery in his own basement to complete the reintegration procedure, allowing for his Innie to experience life outside of Lumon.
Episode 9 is all about exits, it seems. Firstly, Mr Milchick relieves Ms Huang of her duties as she has completed her fellowship and will be moved on. Mr Milchick also makes her destroy her beloved game, which just seems cruel and simply a show of power.
Dylan is also devastated to hear that his wife kissed his Innie, leading him to consider quitting his job, and Burt encourages Irv to leave town for his own safety. In episode 6, Burt’s husband was heavily implied to be evil, but we haven’t seen him since. Is he still evil? Will we ever see him again? Who knows. Severance has so many different plot threads going, it’s becoming hard to decipher what is actual useful information and what is there just to tease us.
Read more: Severance season 2 episode 8 review | Child labour
The episode is at its best when it has time to stop for a minute. Burt and Irv share a lovely moment together as they wonder what could have been. “I want to have this,” Irv tells Burt, saying he’s now ready for something real with Burt. Severance desperately needs more moments like this. The series has constantly been tip-toeing the line of becoming as cold as the hallways of Lumon and lately it’s been tipping over to becoming emotionless. Irv and Burt’s relationship has provided a lot of warmth to Severance, but I’m not sure there’s enough of it.
The finale, then. Season three is already being planned, so I’m not sure we’ll be getting many answers. It worked well for season 1, which built up to the Innies taking control over their Outies, but can Severance pull it off twice? I suppose we’ll find out next week, but my worry is we won’t get any actual answers. Just more questions – which we’ll then have to wait years to find out where they lead.
New episodes of Severance are available on AppleTV+ every Friday. You can find our reviews of previous season 2 episodes at this address.
