Britt Lower On 'Severance' Season 2 Finale, Fan Theories & Helly's Future at Lumon

Major spoilers for Severance season two finale, “Cold Harbor,” below.

When Severance first premiered in 2022, the world was just beginning to grapple with the paradigm-shifting changes the pandemic had wrought. The sci-fi series’ unique mix of dystopian corporate satire and heart-warming workplace comedy made it a fitting hit for the times. For Britt Lower, who plays Helena, heir to the mysterious Eagan family (and her rebellious, severed ‘innie,’ Helly R.), shooting that season under the confines of Covid protocols “fit nicely with the sterile world that we were building.” By the time season two came around, Lower notes, the show had become “actual conversation television,” with higher expectations and higher stakes. “There was a lot of pressure to create something as nuanced and exciting,” she told W. “There’s a dialogue with the audience now. But we were buoyed by the season one response and the fact that people think our strange little office is as interesting as we do.”

And they certainly do; the Ben Stiller-executive produced and directed drama has reportedly broken Apple TV+’s streaming records and, in the process, amassed a dedicated fanbase of eagle-eyed sleuths. Its mystery-style setup lends itself to that kind of close-read watching, where every piece of dialogue, costume choice, and set design detail might mean something significant for the future of its core characters. Even among a tight, talented ensemble cast—including Adam Scott, John Turturro, Zach Cherry, Tramell Tillman, and Patricia Arquette—Lower stands out for her subtle portrayals of the coldly refined Helena and the boldly spirited Helly.

Below, Lower breaks down the season two finale, her approach to playing the two characters, and what the future of Severance (which has just been renewed for a third season) might hold:

How much did you know about the end of season two before you started filming?

We all knew the major arcs of the season. We filmed out of order, so it was important that we understood where things were going. Of course, there are script edits as we go along, but I was always aware of that major arc with Helly and Helena.

How do you prepare to play Helly versus Helena? Is the process different?

A lot of this show, we’re working in the subconscious. We think about what the characters share across their innie and outies, what bleeds through in these different consciousnesses. I often use the analogy of two different songs or albums by the same musician—Helly and Helena sound differently inside my head. They have different pacing and rhythm.

Your hairstyle also subtly changes depending on who you are.

The incredible [costume designer] Sarah Edwards and our hair and makeup team all worked really closely to differentiate the look. I was inspired by Tilda Swinton's performance in Orlando—I felt Helena had a similar kind of trapped, isolated, princely quality. As the CEO of the company, she’s allowed to dress a little differently than the other women in the corporation, who are all in dresses and skirts. You’ll often see Helena in a pantsuit, whereas Helly is in the sanctioned, acceptable Lumon attire.

What was Helly’s mindset going into the finale?

Helly’s feeling like she’s lost everything. She hasn’t seen the love of her life, Mark, in two days. She’s confronted by her very weird biological father, who she has no emotional connection to. But then, she’s standing on top of that desk. Dylan has shown up and is fighting with her; she’s remembering Irving and what his life meant to her. She’s seeing the humanity in all these marching band innies. She realizes that if Mark gets out, all these peoples’ consciousnesses, including her own, will get turned off. So her mission becomes to fight for the sentience of all these innies. Compared to season one Helly, who had nothing to live for, now she has her chosen family, and the stakes are different. I think she runs to see Mark to make sure Gemma gets out, but also because there’s a fighting chance that maybe they can live.

How did you feel about that final shot, as Mark and Helly run away together?

I keep thinking of them as these wild horses that have been set free. They're still inside a labyrinth they don't know how to get out of, but they're together. Gemma is free, so they accomplished that. And Helly knows there's all of these other innies that might be on their side. I can't speak to what happens next, but that's where the characters are, too. Innie Mark made a choice to live in his full consciousness as opposed to the possibility of a reintegration. So the two of them are just running. I love that it's the second time we've seen Helly barefoot, and both times are a reclamation of herself.

Will Helly and Helena ever reintegrate? Where do they stand?

They’ve already done an organic reintegration, in a way. Helly experienced the world through Helena’s eyes at the gala, and Helena felt how Helly walks through the world on the severed floor. I think they think of each other as different people, even though they're in the same body. For me, the moment when Jame Eagan tells Helly that he doesn't love his daughter is the first time she has any inkling of what it must be like to be Helena Eagan. That’s a point of curiosity and possibly empathy. Posing as Helly in the first four episodes, Helena got to see the connections that Helly has earned and how much the innies love and respect her. That’s a curiosity point and one that really rattled Helena’s upbringing and her ideas of what innies even are.

Do you think it's fair to say Helena underestimated Helly?

Yes, but I also think she had a notion that this kind of spirit was inside her. I think of these parts of the same person as the inner child versus the inner critic, which we all have access to. For Helena, that spirit of curiosity and rebellion has been conditioned out of her. She’s had to compose herself with a lot of different masks inside this high-control company she's grown up in.

There are so many allusions to classic psychological concepts on the show. Is that something you talk about as a cast and crew?

What's so amazing about what Dan [Erickson] wrote and what Ben has helped bring to life is that everyone has a different point of view and allegory for themselves. For me, the show feels like a deep inquiry into who am I, really? Who am I in relation to my work and to the people I love? The very first question that's asked in the series is, who are you? Identity is a big theme.

Severance fans rival Swifties in their dedication to finding clues and Easter eggs. What’s it like to be on a show with that kind of fanbase?

It’s the greatest gift to see the artwork that has come out of our show and to inspire other people to be creative. It's such a compliment, and it's really not lost on all of us. I’m very grateful.