The ‘Severance’ finale hurt my heart

Good finales don’t have to tie everything up in a nice little bow. Sometimes, they can hurt. Which is what happened with Severance.

The season 2 finale was setting us up for pain and I could tell right from the start. But I didn’t expect to feel as upset as I was by the end of it. Mark S. (Adam Scott) went back to work on Cold Harbor, finishing the program and knowing (thanks to Ms. Cobel) that once the program is done, Lumon will kill Gemma (Dichen Lachman).

Mark S. is giving the impossible choice to either do what his outie says or fight for his rights as an innie. Throughout the episode, you never know what Mark is going to do and he still allows Mark Scout to try his best to save Gemma but at the last moment when they finally are moments away from freedom, Mark S. allows Helly (Britt Lower) to keep him stuck in Lumon.

The finale, titled “Cold Harbor,” changes the power dynamics of the show. Is season 3 going to have Gemma trying to save Mark? Was that Helly R. or was Helena yet again taking over her body? All these questions are now setting us up for a heartbreaking but pretty amazing season 3. That doesn’t mean that my heart still doesn’t hurt at what happened in those final moments.

Gemma has to watch her husband, who she was finally reunited with, choose to stay with another woman. It hurts!

The thing about good television is that sometimes, it hurts. Think about all your favorite shows. There is probably some point in their run when they hurt you and it stays with you. With Severance, that might be this finale and how it made me feel.

Why must my Mark/Gemma heart suffer?

The best ships that we have are ones that make us wait for it. And Severance is really making that the case with Gemma and Mark. We knew from the jump that Mark loved her enough that he could not even go on with his life. He had to work at Lumon because he was so heartbroken.

So when the two were reunited at last, it felt like we finally had a moment where things were looking up for Mark Scout and Gemma. Two seasons of being separated without the other knowing what was going on in their lives, we could see the light between these two characters. That should have been my first clue that it wouldn’t end well but alas.

The set up at the end of the episode really does give us hope that things will work out for Gemma and Mark in the end. The Graduate esque ending to Mark S. and Helly R.’s run doesn’t exactly bode well for them but that doesn’t mean this doesn’t hurt to see. Who knows what Gemma will go through in the real world while Mark is stuck in Lumon because of his innie.

And now….we just have to wait until season 3 for answers.