That 1 Severance Finale Scene Had a Different Turn Than What You Would Have Expected
After the final 30 minutes of the Severance Season 2 finale, we can honestly say that was the best scenes of streaming to ever come out. In a scheme to reunite outie Mark and his wife Gemma, innie Mark, Helly R., and Dylan conjure up an escape plan, but Mr. Milchek clearly had other plans.
When innie Mark completes programming Cold Harbor, the energy shifts to the wax figure of Kier Eagan. The lifeless animatronic figure congratulates Mark for completing the assignment and changing the future of Lumon. Enter Mr. Milchek. He has pretty awkward banter with the wax figure and slightly offends it for its inaccurate height. When Kier gets dragged out, Mr. Milchek changes the mood with a celebration from Choreography and Merriment. He blows his whistle and a marching band is summoned.
Related: Here’s How to Watch Apple TV Plus for Free to Binge-Watch Severance
Mr. Milchik acts as the drum major with his large conducting stick and the overhead lights flash in different colors a la the Music Dance Experience that we see in Season 1. Innie Mark and Helly R. see it as a perfect opportunity to distract Milchek so that Mark can find Gemma in the Testing Floor, whose life was in danger after he completed Cold Harbor. Helly steals Milchek’s radio and locks him in the bathroom. She blocks the bathroom door but struggles to keep him in, when all of a sudden Dylan barricades the door with one of Lumon’s vending machines.
Amidst all the chaos of Milchik trying his best to escape the bathroom, innie and outie Mark are successful in getting Gemma out of Cold Harbor. Helly R. rallies the Choreography and Merriment to join their rebellion to think about their own co-workers who were disposed of after their duties were done. And after a huge ‘F You’ to Mr. Milchik, the whole Choreography and Merriment had the severance floor’s back.
Which Marching Band Was in Severance?
While there was no specific marching band that was brought on Severance for the sequence, Tramell Tillman revealed that the crew was responsible for finding the people involved in the scene. “We had a gentleman by the name of Teddy who has this group of various actors and musicians who filled in for the band, and I was adamant about working with them to really figure out their flavor,” Tillman told TV Line. “So there were a lot of conversations with Teddy, with Ty and Tyrone. Those were the three guys that were handling all the choreography. They sculpted some moves for me, but allowed me to develop my own taste and my own flavor in it as well, so that it felt organic in the moment.”
He continued about what really went on on the set, with some moods shifting once they got a wind of the show. “There was a big group of people in the band who had never seen the show before, when they signed on to the project. And as we were working on this particular scene, I started to notice that some of the band members were acting differently towards me, and I got wind from one of the members of the drumline. Basically, these people started watching the show and realized that, ‘Oh, Milchick’s kind of an a–hole, and we don’t like you.'”
Tillman, who has extensive knowledge about Marching Band culture, was elated to do the scene once director Ben Stiller told him the news. “I went to two HBCUs, and one of them was Jackson State University, and they housed the Sonic Boom of the South, one of the best marching bands in the country, and I would watch them during my undergrad years with such awe and amazement in the athleticism, the creativity and the passion that these musicians and dancers served with,” he told Variety. “So when Ben told me there was a marching band coming in, I said, ‘OK, hold on. What kind of marching band? Military style, or is it HBCU style? He said he wasn’t sure at the moment. I asked him, ‘How did you want me to participate? Did you want me to be the band director, or did you want me to be the drum major?” And I said to myself, if this is going to be HBCU style, like Jackson State University, I’m gonna be the drum major.”
Tillman reprised his role as a drum major during a Severance event leading USC’s marching band into Los Angeles’ Dolby Theater. The clip went super viral and totally shows the actor’s passion for bringing fun into the real world and Lumon.
Why did “Windmills of Your Mind” play in the finale?
When innie Mark abandons Gemma in the stairwell to run away with Helly R., the two innies run across the hallway with blaring sirens, but the scene slowly shifts into a calmer moment with the music shifting to “Windmills of Your Mind. “It’s like a crazy drug trip, Ben Stiller recalled to Vulture about picking the Mel Tormé song. “It’s so strange. Because, really, that’s what this whole show is about. The circles that you’ll find in the windmills of your mind. When we were editing the episode, we made a clip of the last two minutes. Then, I just played songs at home with my phone over them, just to see what felt right. I thought it might be too crazy, but I put it on and then I sent it to Theodore Shapiro, our composer.”
“Teddy was like, ‘Oh, by the way, I hope you keep that Mel Tormé song.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s kind of great.’ Then we found “Work Song” by Bobby Darin for the end titles. On paper, it was strange to open one song into another song. But I loved how they fit together. ‘The Windmills of Your Mind’ is the craziness of the psychology of the show, the emotion, and the love. And then, it’s back to the guy who goes to work every day with ‘Work Song.'”
