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"The We We Are" is the ninth episode and first season finale of the American science fiction psychological thriller television series Severance. The episode was written by series creator Dan Erickson, and directed by executive producer Ben Stiller. It was released on Apple TV+ on April 8, 2022.

The series follows employees of Lumon Industries, a biotechnology corporation that uses a medical procedure called "severance" to separate the memories of their employees depending spatially on whether they are at work or not. When severed workers are at work, they are dubbed "innies" and cannot remember anything of their lives or the world outside. When outside work, they are dubbed "outies" and cannot remember their time at work. Due to this, innie and outie experience two different lives, with distinct personalities and agendas. In the episode, Dylan activates the overtime contingency, allowing Mark, Irving and Helly to wake up in the outside world as their outies.

The episode received universal acclaim, with critics praising the writing, performances, directing, score, tension, reveals and cliffhanger. Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson received nominations for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards

Plot

The innies wake up in the outside world. Mark (Adam Scott) finds himself confused, as he does not know a single person, expressing shock that he has a sister. Irving (John Turturro) is surprised to see that he is a painter at his apartment. Helly (Britt Lower) finds herself at a gala, meeting Natalie (Sydney Cole Alexander) and finding that her name is Helena Eagan.

Mark meets Devon (Jen Tullock) for the first time, and is surprised to learn that the book reading is for the book he found in Lumon. While talking with Ricken (Michael Chernus), Mark learns that he took the severance process after losing his wife Gemma. When Cobel asks Mark if he is fine, he leaves referring to her as "Ms. Cobel", making her realize he is in his innie form. Irving finds a chest, which reveals his background in the U.S. Navy, and finds a map and employee directory. This includes Burt (Christopher Walken), prompting Irving to leave to find him.

At the gala, Helly finds that she was part of an experiment in which Helena wanted to prove the viability of the severance program. By undergoing severance herself, the program would obtain bigger support in legislation. She has a conversation with her father Jame (Michael Siberry), who congratulates her for her actions and surviving her innie's sabotage. Mark privately talks with Devon, revealing he is in his innie form. He once again asks why his outie would take part on the severance program, and she reiterates it was Gemma's death. He wants her to contact authorities to stop Lumon, but she believes their influence will prevent it and they should go with the press instead. When Mark mentions Cobel, Devon realizes that "Mrs. Selvig" is actually Cobel.

Cobel leaves the party, and calls Milchick (Tramell Tillman), informing him about the overtime contingency. Milchick is unable to stop Dylan (Zach Cherry), as he has locked himself in the security room. Irving locates Burt in his house, but is heartbroken to find that he is with another man. Cobel arrives at the gala, exposing Helly on stage. Helly uses it as an opportunity to declare her intentions in destroying Lumon, exposing the severance process as a torturous experience for innies, for which she is tackled. Mark discovers a picture of his wedding day, recognizing Gemma as Ms. Casey. He then shouts "She's alive!" to Devon. At the exact moment, Milchick finally breaks into the security room and tackles Dylan, stopping the overtime contingency.

Development

Production

The episode was written by series creator Dan Erickson, and directed by executive producer Ben Stiller. This marked Erickson's third writing credit, and Stiller's sixth directing credit.

Writing

On Helly's character arc, Britt Lower said, "For me it was a real pleasure to envision Helly's arc. I'm a visual artist, so I drew out 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. She's constantly moving, so being able to look at that wall and pinpoint where we were in the filming process was super helpful." Regarding her speech on stage, Lower explained, "For me, it was a moment of her reckoning with herself and taking responsibility. I think that's the moment when she realizes she's connected, whether she likes it or not, to the behaviors of herself on the outside. She takes matters into her own hands. If it's effective, I don't know, we'll have to see. Helly is not one to not move forward when she's made a decision."

Erickson and Stiller considered different ways to end the episode, with Stiller suggesting that the end of the overtime contingency should be the last scene. While Erickson felt viewers would be upset, he deemed it "by far the most effective point where we could have ended this part of the story, storytelling-wise and for the characters." Stiller added, "Originally, we were going to go further and answer more questions, but I felt really strongly that there's something about the mystery of the show that you want to live in. It is that balance of answering enough questions, but not too many. We settled on this because, in a way, it was the most emotionally resonant idea."

Filming

Stiller considered filming the episode in one shot, but scrapped the idea because the structure would prove impossible to achieve it. He said, "I knew from the very first shot of the episode on Mark that we wanted to keep it as continuous as possible. It almost felt like the camera was attached to the front of face."

Critical reviews

"The We We Are" received universal acclaim. Matt Schimkowitz of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A" and wrote, "“The We We Are” is a rush of pure adrenaline interspersed with moments of angst and dark humor. Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller's writer-director combination works wonders here. This is a satisfying finale because it sprinkles answers throughout at a digestible pace. And then bam: Those last 10 minutes don't hold back."

Erin Qualey of Vulture gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "I understand if there's viewer frustration over the lack of answers in this finale episode. Personally? I'm going to love thinking about this show for months to come. For me, the best shows are the ones that tease my brain with possibility. Given how stellar the first season was, I fully trust the Severance creative team will capably steer this ship, and I will follow wherever they lead." Oliver VanDervoort of Game Rant wrote, "In what is a master class in how to really dial ratchet up the drama in the final moments of the season finale, the episode ends with all three Innies trying one desperate act as they appear to feel their time is almost up. However, Severance also handles this well because it's not a plot hole that they seem to know things are coming to an end, it's much more about getting the information out there they know is important. Now it's going to be a long wait until Season 2."

Myles McNutt of Episodic Medium wrote, "Skeptical as I am of the 7-hour pilot, though, I left the first season of Severance feeling like this is the best possible execution of it, and the limitations placed on “The We We Are” nonetheless create something that lifts the stories that came before it." Breeze Riley of Telltale TV gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Despite these loose ends, there is still satisfaction in seeing the innies' breakthrough. It diminishes the frustration you might usually feel about a cliffhanger ending."

Mary Littlejohn of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Though it may not feel like it, Severance Season 1 Episode 9 was the most satisfying episode so far." Caemeron Crain of TV Obsessive wrote, "Severance Season 2 is reportedly in production, so hopefully we won't have to wait too terribly long for this story to continue. In the meantime, I suggest contemplating Lumon's nine core values and studying the Eagan family line."

Awards and accolades

TVLine named Britt Lower as an honorable mention for the "Performer of the Week" for the week of April 9, 2022, for her performance in the episode. The site wrote, "Apple TV+'s dystopian workplace thriller Severance just blew our minds with a roller coaster of a season finale, and it wouldn't have worked without Britt Lower's fiery, complex work as Helly. Always the most rebellious of the Lumon employees, Helly discovered that in the outside world, she's actually the CEO's daughter and the heir to Lumon's family legacy. Lower played the stunning reveal with remarkable precision, with Helly slowly putting together the pieces while not betraying the truth to her corporate peers. When Helly uncorked the truth about Lumon's severance procedure in a torrent of rage, Lower finally let a season's worth of frustration and despair come spilling out to the surface. We can't wait to see what Season 2 has in store for us, especially with Lower uncovering new layers to Helly like this."

Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson received nominations for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, respectively. Stiller would lose to Hwang Dong-hyuk for the episode "Red Light, Green Light" in Squid Game, while Erickson would lose to Jesse Armstrong for the episode "All the Bells Say" in Succession.

References

1. "Severance - WGA Directory". Writers Guild of America West. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
2. Webb Mitovich, Matt (April 9, 2022). "Severance's Britt Lower Weighs In on Big Finale Reveal, a Scene That's Now 'Creepier' and Data-Refining on Set". TVLine. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
3. Hadadi, Roxana (April 8, 2022). "Severance's Britt Lower on Helly's 'Worst Nightmare'". Vulture. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
4. Aquilina, Tyler (April 8, 2022). "Severance creator answers (some of) our burning questions about that mind-blowing finale". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
5. Sepinwall, Alan (April 8, 2022). "'I Figured We Were All In': Ben Stiller on That Crazy 'Severance' Season 1 Ending". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
6. Woerner, Meredith; Mass, Jennifer (April 8, 2022). "'Severance' Cast and Crew Break Down the Cliffhanger Finale". Variety. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
7. Gajjar, Saloni (September 2, 2024). "Severance ends season 1 with a pitch-perfect adrenaline rush". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
8. Qualey, Erin (April 8, 2022). "Severance Season-Finale Recap: A Tale of 3 Innies". Vulture. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
9. VanDervoort, Oliver (April 8, 2022). "Severance Episode 9 Review". Game Rant. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
10. McNutt, Myles (April 7, 2022). "Finale Review: Severance, "The We We Are"". Episodic Medium. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
11. Riley, Breeze (April 8, 2022). "Severance Review: The We We Are (Season 1 Episode 9)". Telltale TV. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
12. Littlejohn, Mary (April 8, 2022). "Severance Season 1 Episode 9 Review: The We We Are". TV Fanatic. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
13. Crain, Caemeron (April 8, 2022). "Severance S1E9: "The We We Are" (Season 1 Finale)". TV Obsessive. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
14. "The TVLine Performer of the Week: Amanda Seyfried". TVLine. April 9, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
15. Moreau, Jordan; Schneider, Michael (July 12, 2022). "Emmys 2022: The Complete Nominations List". Variety. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
16. Hipes, Patrick (September 12, 2022). "'Squid Game' Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk Adds Directing Emmy To Show's Historic Haul". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
17. Yossman, K.J. (September 13, 2022). "'Succession' Showrunner Jesse Armstrong Makes Dig at King Charles III During Emmy Win Speech". Variety. Retrieved December 6, 2024.

External links

• "The We We Are" at IMDb

• 2022 American television episodes
• Severance (TV series) episodes
• Television episodes directed by Ben Stiller
• Television episodes written by Dan Erickson