Severance’s Penultimate Episode Is Way Darker Than It Seems

This article contains spoilers for Severance Season 2’s penultimate episode. Yes, it is actually the penultimate episode this week, we triple checked.

It’s always impressive when an episode tailor-made to make viewers ask “what comes next” has something in it, a singular moment that makes you stop and revel in a singular moment. Theorizing about Severance is, of course, half of the fun of the series, especially as the mystery gets deeper and richer with time. But, as we head into the Season 2 finale, Dylan G. managed to stop me in my tracks.

It was a hard episode for Dylan (Zach Cherry) both in Lumon and outside of it. His wife Gretchen (Merritt Wever) revealed to his outie that she kissed his innie, admitting that she saw the spark there that Dylan used to have when they were first married. Dylan takes this information poorly, noting that maybe he’ll just quit, before storming out of the house. At first it seems like an innocuous threat from a man who’s learned that he’s been cheated on — even if the logistics of the infidelity are a bit complicated — but it quickly becomes more after Gretchen ignores his wishes and goes to see his innie one last time.

During her visit, Gretchen tells Dylan G. that she can’t see him anymore and that she needs to save their marriage. Little does she know that her husband’s innie had been prepared to propose to her before he knew anything of what transpired outside of Lumon earlier that day. She declines his proposal and his handmade paper ring, apologizing as she runs out of the room and leaves her severed husband for good.

That “for good” isn’t because Gretchen is stalwart in her decision, though. It’s much, much worse than that.

After a brief and slightly hostile conversation with Helly R. (Britt Lower) — who is, by the way, the only person staying on mission when it comes to sticking it to Lumon and finding Gemma despite losing more of her autonomy than anyone on the team after what happened between Helena and Mark (Adam Scott) in the forest — Dylan G. marches to Mr. Milchick’s (Tramell Tillman) office and quits on the spot.

It’s such an innocuous thing to say, that Dylan G. quit. But for the purposes of the show and most certainly from Dylan G’s perspective, he didn’t just quit his job. He chose death by suicide, with the doors of the severed floor elevator closing decisively in Dylan G's final moment in the episode.

He watched his best friend be fired (murdered), and was, in his eyes, spurned by the woman he wanted to be his wife, but ultimately was his wife… but also really wasn’t. He had the mystery Irving (John Turturro) left behind still waiting to be solved, but it wasn’t enough to keep him going. Nor was Helly’s friendship, as Dylan G. made it clear that he would never be able to trust that it wasn’t Helena walking among them. It feels unlikely that Mark’s presence (who is currently on a side quest) would have made much of a difference, either.

Dylan G’s choice feels like a crescendo in Severance’s song about autonomy. This season has approached the idea of multiple souls, expanded on Season 1’s question of consent between innies and outies and featured the deaths of multiple characters (Irving's innie this season and Burt's innie before him). The show is constantly forcing us to grapple with questions not just surrounding its central mystery, but of what autonomy really means if part of you doesn’t have it at all. It’s often compelling and sometimes, like this week, deeply sad. On his last day, Dylan G. simply decided that enough was enough. Work is nothing to live for, so he chose removing himself from existence instead.