‘Severance’ production designer unpacks ‘mind-blowing’ Season 2 finale — and shocking ‘bloodbath’ death
Spoilers ahead for the “Severance” Season 2 finale.
It ended with a bang.
Emmy-nominated “Severance” production designer Jeremy Hindle is dissecting that wild Season 2 finale — and, yes, he knows it was “mind-blowing.”
“Severance” follows employees of a mysterious biotech company called Lumon, including Mark (Adam Scott), Helly (Britt Lower), Milchick (Tramell Tillman) and Harmony (Patricia Arquette). During the Season 2 finale, “Cold Harbor,” an automaton version of the Lumon founder, Kier, comes out to “talk” to Mark.
Hindle told The Post that the robotic man wasn’t a CGI creation.
“It’s a real life guy that’s animatronic. It’s rudimentary animatronics that they would have,” he said, referring to Lumon.
“The rule is that they make everything themselves. Everything is underground,” Hindle, who is also known for “Top Gun: Maverick,” added. “The world doesn’t know what [Lumon is] doing. It’s basically – if you went to ‘A Small World’ in Disneyland, that’s the idea. I’ve always loved that space. That ride to me, now that I think about it, is ‘Severance.'”
Shortly after the automaton Kier scene, the episode features a more outlandish version of Season 1’s “Music Dance Experience,” as the “Choreography and Merriment” department comes to celebrate Mark’s “historic” completion of his 25th file. This involves an entire marching band doing a dance number.
Hindle said the production didn’t expand the show’s office set to accommodate them.?Since the set has low ceilings, at around seven feet and seven inches tall, this made it more challenging.
“We did a lot of drawings to figure out how many we could fit in [the office set] and how to do the overhead shot,” he explained.
“It’s amazing. It’s a real marching band [there]. That ending is mind blowing, it’s ridiculous. John Turturro hates that set, because he’s the tallest.”
During the Season 2 finale, there’s also a dramatic death, as Lumon higher-up Drummond (Darri ?lafsson) gets into a violent fight with Mark and Lorne (Gwendoline Christie). It ends when Mark accidentally stabs Drummond, leading to him bleeding out all over the show’s signature white hallways. The blood was a mixture of VFX and practical effects.
“We do a lot of VFX blood … But the blood on them and around them – it’s a nightmare, it’s not fun. It wrecks floors and walls — it’s a bloodbath,” he said.
Eagle-eyed “Severance” viewers have noted the show’s frequent color scheme of blues, reds and greens.
“This season, everything’s blue. The only time we see red — I had to really fight for it, red is only when it’s love,” said Hindle.?
“It really is that simple. In the Chinese restaurant, is it love? He’s in love. In the tent, there’s just tiniest bits of [red]. When there’s real love, there can be color now. Or if it’s blood, it’s the same, that lifeline.”
While some have speculated that the show’s use of red and blue is a “red pill / blue pill” reference to “The Matrix,” Hindle said that’s not true.
“No. It’s more internal. It’s more of a feeling [that colors give you]. The funny thing about this show is we all have a lot of ideas, but we don’t discuss them all. We all do our own jobs. And those things start to merge together and then stories come out of them.”
The most challenging part of the show for him is having multiple directors, he said, “and trying to make sure that the look stays the same.”
He explained, “Because a lot of the rules for the aesthetic are in my head.”
“It’s just trying to make sure that those things don’t escape the code of ‘Severance.’ I say it a lot, like ‘that’s not “Severance.”‘ You take a lot of risk and fight a lot, they wonder ‘why does it have to be this?’ and they don’t know until after they’ve seen it.”
The actors often come with their own ideas and they collaborate. For instance, Tillman had the idea to include an iceberg in Milchick’s office decor.
“He was like, ‘I really want an iceberg.’ Those ideas were amazing for his character, and everybody has them,” Hindle told The Post.
Apple TV+ announced a Season 3 renewal on Friday.
“Honestly, I haven’t heard a peep from anyone. I don’t know anything. The whole process is a slow burn, from watching the show to making the show to waiting for scripts,” Hindle said. “There’s a lot [of the Lumon office] that’s unexplored for me. I need scripts. I have a million ideas about where to go, but it’s pretty open to explore.”
