Severance season 2: What’s the deal with the marching bands and Lumon’s strange celebrations?
Severance season 2 has ended its 10-episode run with a finale, titled Cold Harbor, which aired on March 20, 2025. The episode offers answers to several long-standing mysteries, while raising new questions about the fate of the show's central characters.
One of the strangest moments in the episode involves a full-scale marching band stomping into the MDR office to celebrate Mark's completion of the Cold Harbor file, a historic moment for Lumon.
The second chapter of the award-winning series, which premiered on January 17, 2025, sees Mark and his MDR co-workers determined to expose Lumon's sinister activities. This season's central plot involve rescuing Mark's wife Gemma, whose fate is tied to the mysterious Cold Harbor file.
The official synopsis of Severance season 2, as per Apple TV, reads:
"Mark and his friends learn the dire consequences of trifling with the severance barrier, leading them further down a path of woe."
Everything to know about the marching band from Severance season 2 episode 10
Lumon Industries is reputed for organizing entertaining Music Dance Experiences (MDE) for its macrodata refiners as a reward for completing 75% of their files. In episode 7 from season 1, the newly recruited Helly is treated to a fun dance party with jazz and maracas where she dances with Milchick to Joe McPhee’’s Shakey Jake.
Furthermore, Severance season 2 raises the stakes as Mark completes the Cold Harbor file, which Drummond once described as "one of the greatest moments in the history of the planet." Naturally, Lumon goes all out for the occasion and invites a marching band of trumpeters and trombonists inside the MDR floor.
The marching band comprises severed musicians working for the company's Choreography and Merriment division. Milchick takes charge as the drum major and shows off his dance moves as the band performs the Kier hymn, followed by the Ballad of Ambrose and Gunnel.
During their performance, Helly locks Milchick in the restroom to help Mark escape. She compels the musicians to join her and Dylan in their fight against Lumon by telling them to fight for more than the half-life they have been handed. When Milchick breaks free in the episode's end, he finds himself confronted by Dylan and the entire marching band standing in unison.
On March 21, 2025, the show's creator and showrunner, Dan Erickson, told Den of Geek that the dance scene is inspired by the classic film Citizen Kane. He added:
"It just felt right. Part of it was that it was funny to us. Usually, if you’re watching a marching band, you’re up in bleachers and looking down. The fact that Lumon would bring them in to perform in a building that has a ceiling that’s barely tall enough to fit them, we just thought that that was fun."
Also read: Severance season 2 soundtrack: Complete list of songs featured in this series
What happened in the Severance season 2 finale episode?
The Severance season 2 finale episode begins with the innie and outie Mark grappling with each other to save their loved ones. Mark S. agrees to rescue Gemma and completes the Cold Harbor file, after which he is treated to a dance performance. However, he uses this moment to sneak out and search for Gemma in the exports hall with directions left behind by Irving.
Throughout his rescue mission, Mark switches between his innie and outie several times as he walks in and out of the severed floor. Similarly Gemma, whose consciousness is split into 25 innies, switches between her outie (Gemma) and innie (Ms. Casey) while making a run for it with Mark. In the episode's climax, innie Mark asks Ms. Casey to walk alone to the exit stairwell, which activates her outie.
Gemma pleads with her husband to join her, but innie Mark chooses to go with Helly waiting at the other end of the hallway. The love between innie Mark and Helly prevails despite them knowing they don't have a future together outside of Lumon. They enjoy their momentary bliss by running across the hallways, while Noel Harrison's Windmills of Your Mind plays in the background.
The workplace thriller series has been renewed for season 3 right after the premiere of the season 2 finale. Until then, fans can watch all episodes of Severance season 2 exclusively on Apple TV+.
