The following contains spoilers from the Season 1 finale of Apple TV+’s Severance.
Talk about a rude awakening.
As the Season 1 finale of “Severance” began and Dylan triggered the overtime emergency protocol in the Lumon control room, “waking up” his colleagues while they were in their outie worlds, Helly R. found himself at a corporate gala where she was, glamorously, about to give an awaited testimony again. Because Helly R., as she and we found out, is actually Helena Eagan, the daughter of Lumon Industries CEO Jame Eagan and therefore a descendant of the company founder Kier Eagan! Additionally, her speech was meant to defuse the big “severance pay” debate by vouching for her own first-hand experience.
Helly was self-aware but hid this and did not shy away from the spotlight, instead planning to seize it by outing Lumon’s torturous incarceration practice. But she barely got out a few angry words before Dylan lost control of the OT protocol and the Innies presumably went “to sleep” again.
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TVLine spoke to Britt Lower (rhymes with flower) about Helly’s bow, playing Innie-as-Outie, what Season 2 could look like and the very enjoyable “Defiant Jazz” dance experience.
TVLINE | Viewers had to wait a long week to find out what happened when Dylan flipped the “Overtime Contingency” switches. How long did you have to wait after reading episode 8 to get your hands on the final script?
We actually had all the scripts when we started filming because we were supposed to start filming in March 2020 and of course the pandemic came and we closed for seven months. During that time, the writers were able to finish all nine scripts, so we had a really rare circumstance on television where we had everything set up for us before we even started. It was a really nice way of feeling super prepared in terms of the basics, but also having plenty of time to do the internal work, sculpt the character’s inner workings, and also do a lot of nerdy, esoteric research. [Laughs] I’ve done a lot of research on memory loss and how waking up and not knowing who you are affects the way you behave… I’ve seen a lot of documentaries.
TVLINE | Now, some actors will tell you, “If you give me all nine scripts, I won’t read them!” I won’t let the ending affect my arc, I can’t know what my character doesn’t know.” But you fell into the other camp?
Well we had to because we were filming out of order most of the time. It was almost like filming a nine hour film as we were filming in a certain progression but to learn the basics of understanding your text we had to have read all nine.
It was a real pleasure for me to imagine Helly’s bow. I’m a visual artist so I drew all of the action sequences that Helly goes through and put them on my wall and it almost looks like a graphic novel. I mean Helly is so dynamic. It’s constantly moving, so being able to look at that wall and pinpoint exactly where we were in the filming process was super helpful. I could see, “Oh, that’s where she threw the speaker at Mark’s head” and “Here’s where she burst through a window.” I could see the progress of their escape attempts and how they escalated visually and emotionally.
TVLINE | What was the hardest part about playing Helly’s Innie as an outie in the finale?
It’s so funny – Adam Scott had way more experience than Zach [Cherry] and John [Turturro] and me to play the innie in the outside world, so we had this running gag that he was our “acting teacher”. As we approached filming [the finale]he would give us mock lessons on how to do it. [Laughs]
TVLINE | Helly impressively keeps her ish together as she “Wakes Up” at the Lumon Gala. Some people might lash out a bit and be like, “What’s up, where am I?” But she was a cool pickle and embraced the situation.
Helly has a composure about her, but I can tell you there was a lot more going on inside than she was letting on!
TVLINE | We saw that in your eyes, the wheels were turning and a lot was processed.
Yes, because she wakes up surrounded by people and it’s impossible to tell who she can trust or not. I think Helly has had a poker face all season, but she’s certainly putting on a stronger one for this episode.
TVLINE | If we rewatched the previous eight episodes, would we find any clues as to Helly’s identity, her family connections?
Hmmm…. There are some Easter eggs in there. However, I’d rather the fans find them than I show them. There are definitely Easter eggs in Scripture. I would like to hear from someone other than myself.
TVLINE | Were you surprised that at the end of the season we still don’t know exactly what the macro data refinement department is doing by sorting out those floating number screens?
You know, I purposely keep myself in the dark about this. Naturally [series creator] Dan Erickson, the author, has all the answers in his head, but I asked them not to tell me because it felt better for me, for Helly inside, to be in the dark too.
TVLINE | Were these working CRT monitors before you, or were the screens inserted in post-production?
That was super cool – the engineering team designed all the computer animations. They were all handy. We learned how to “refine” these numbers and it was really fun, like learning this cool little video game. Zach Cherry, who plays Dylan, was the smartest of us to “refine” in my opinion. He came up with all these cool ways to move the numbers around that none of us could figure out. He is great.
TVLINE | Given what happens in the finale – specifically Helly’s outburst and the fact that Cobell knows Mark “woke up” – have we seen the final macro data refinement room? Can these people ever go back to the office?
That’s a great question…to which I have absolutely no answer. I’m really looking forward to Season 2 to find out for myself! What do you think?
TVLINE | For a hot second, I speculated that Lumon might have a separate “Mind Wipe” product to kind of “reset” everyone — but would they really send them back to the company knowing they were Jokers? So maybe Season 2 is a road trip movie and you’re all on the run!
You never know!
TVLINE | Give me a Defiant Jazz dance anecdote because that sequence was ridiculously fun.
Oh my god it was super fun….
TVLINE | Tramell Tillman playing Milchick…. Wow, he went all in.
Tramell is the opposite of his character in real life, being incredibly warm and lovable and not scary at all. I loved seeing him step into this dancer mode because he is absolutely brilliant at dancing.
TVLINE | Each of you had to decide, “How good is my character as a dancer?” Because we all saw what Adam Scott did, um.
Adam and I have a sort of “junior high dance” moment in this scene, kind of shyly looking at each other from across the room. We did a whole comedy on the side, like, “Oh yeah, Helly and Mark are going through puberty.”
TVLINE | What do you think of the scene where Helly gives him that kiss? “If we don’t come back… and if we do?”
Helly is an impulsive person and I love that she agreed to the kiss after holding back for at least one episode because you don’t see much holding back from her otherwise. I think it showed how much she cared for Mark and how much she cared for the others. You see that when she says goodbye to Irving and offers to stay for Dylan instead. What’s so poignant about this whole sequence is that up to this point, Helly has only thought about escaping to get herself out, but once she starts thinking of the other Refiners as family, it complicates her desire to escape.
TVLINE | I think I’d most like to revisit the team’s visit to the Perpetuity Wing because it was just to joke with Helly about the statues – and now we know they’re her ancestors.
Mmm-hmmm. Which could make it even scarier.
TVLINE | She had some great lines there, at least two of which made our quotes of the week.
My god, writing on this show is a real pleasure to speak of. It’s very quotable!