HOW’S ANNIE? SHE’S ALIVE!
CAUTION - This review contains spoilers to the Severance Season 2 Finale
REVIEW
22.03.2025
REVIEW 22.03.2025
25 Years on from Twin Peaks, the end of Severance S2 finally broke the Season Two finale curse.
How’s Annie? Twin Peaks Season 2 Finale, 1991
My parents waited 25 years for an answer to that question. I remember seeing Special Agent Dale Cooper slamming his head against the bathroom mirror and turning to my mother and father as the names of Mark Frost and David Lynch appeared on the screen, gutted by the realisation that this was how the story would end. My face was knotted in frustration and confusion; their expressions were soft with understanding. They had lived it 25 years ago, the greatest cliffhanger in television history. I couldn't believe they had put me through all that for such an ending. All they said was "We showed you because it was still a great story."
The OA, unintended Series Finale, 2019
I would repeat this back to them at the end of The OA season two, after I broke the news the show had not been renewed for a third season. It didn't feel as satisfying. Twin Peaks did return. I knew The OA would not. It would be one of the last new shows I committed to, knowing the likelihood of a cancelation after season two. The end of the second season is a volatile place for a show to be. After losing so many "great stories" to cliffhangers, I was tired of watching shows with no conclusion. I couldn't keep justifying the emotional investment only to have it pulled away by a business model designed to draw in new subscribers. I almost exclusively watched complete series 20 years my senior after that, their chapters were etched eternally onto DVD's and packed into physical box sets for me. The series finale waiting patiently, ready to deliver satisfaction.
She’s alive! Severance, S109, 2022
The years-long cliffhanger between S109 and S201 was enough to trigger my anxiety about a Severance cancellation. I was reticent to discuss the Season 1 ending with my partner as the credits rolled. His limit for the cliffhanger episodic is less than mine, we were both frustrated. "But it's such a great story, right?" I barely believed myself as the words came out of my mouth; it wasn’t enough. Would any questions be answered? Or would we be stuck in an endless hook and loop until the seemingly inevitable news rolled through that there would be no third season?
Still, we waited and watched weekly for the last ten weeks as the cliffs in each episode reached new altitudes. I wasn't going to be able to handle it if Apple decided to pull the plug. The disappointment of too many shows lost was all riding on this.
Severance, Season 209, 2025
Last night we faced the final stretch. Mark S. spoke with Mark Scout. Dylan G received an apology from Dylan George. Mr Milchick put on a Marching Band. Gwendoline Christie's Lorne gave Gwendoline Christie's Brienne of Tarth a run for her money. Gemma Scout was freed, and Mark S. chose Helly.
“For a moment there I thought we were in trouble” Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
In a freeze frame rivalling the likes of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) & Thelma and Louise (1991), Mark S. and Helly R. grasp what could be their final moments together. In a true act of love for each other and rebellion to their creators and captors, they run away from known, immediate oblivion towards their last minutes before a likely death. The end.
This freeze-to-zoom-to-fade-to-red gives us an unambiguous, clear cut ending to the story of Severance. At its core, it’s a love story. Mark Scout & Gemma get their long-awaited reunion that truly tests your loyalty to any other coupling. But Severance has always rooted in favour of the innies. Their humanity, their deserving of the half-life they’ve been given, is what we finish the show on. It’s Mark S. and Helly R. who get to run off into the sunset.
Production designer Jeremy Hindle notes the use of red, especially the final fade to red; “This season, everything’s blue. The only time we see red — I had to really fight for it, red is only when there’s real love.”
Netflix is still canceling shows, news from 22 March 2025
Whether he intended to or not, David Lynch wrote the blueprint for the two season cliffhanger, and I would argue that he never truly concluded the original show with The Return. Everything is different, and why would we ever think it would be the same as it used to be? We’ll never truly get Dale back. There will be no honeymoon ending for Dale C. and Annie B.
Netflix has built a business model around leaving you hanging, what scales a subscriber base like a new show? A customer subscribed to tune into season 5 was already subscribed at season 1, and audience retention isn't enough. TV today is designed to get you to get your direct debit details and stay subscribed long enough to forget you signed up. Severance broke this curse. Maybe under the protective budget of iPhone money over subscriber money. Maybe just trust in the show’s creators. For whatever reason, it was allowed to end.
“Let’s keep going.” Thelma and Louise (1991)
I’ve never been more confident and happy to say that if Severance got canceled now, I'd be fine. If there’s never a season 3, there didn’t need to be.The true story at the heart of the show came to a natural conclusion. We found out what was truly happening on the severed floor, we found out what the macrodata was, and what refining it meant. Gemma Scout was freed from her prison and reunited with Mark Scout, and Mark S. chose life with the woman he loved instead of stepping into the void for the person who created him. Even for 30 more seconds, Mark S. chose his own life after two seasons of slavery.
Severance, S210, 2025 (Source: Apple TV)
I tell people that Severance was created in a lab for me specifically, and it’s ending has placed it in the category of one of my favourite shows of all time. While I’ll always happily spend more time in the Severance universe, I won't be waiting for Season 3. I’ll just enjoy clocking in whenever it’s back. To me, anything that happens after this is essentially a spin off, an extension to an already perfect conclusion. More to enjoy, but nothing necessary to achieve the satisfaction this finale delivered. Somewhere the writers room, someone spoke up and said “We have to give them and ending.” For Mark S. and Helly R. For all the shows out there that never got one, and never will. How's Annie? She's alive.
Severance, S210, 2025 (Source: Apple TV)
Apple has announced Severance will be returning for Season 3.
