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Spoilers follow forSeveranceseason two,episode three, Who Is Alive?
Goats have been central to Lumon lore since theearly days ofSeveranceseason one.
You cant take them yet, the man says frantically.
But it seemed fair to assume they would show up again.
The season-two episode Who Is Alive?
delivers on that hunch in spectacularly weird fashion.
The name of this odd, presumably heinous-smelling place: the Department of Mammalian Nurturability.
I dont think there was anything in the world that looked like the goat room, saysSeverancecreator Dan Erickson.
We had to make it out of whole cloth.
Here, he and his colleagues answer our most urgent questions about goat central.
I kept saying, Guys, its going to be massive, Hindle says.
Hindle also felt strongly about having real fields of grass on set, which presented some challenges.
We knew we didnt have the resources to build that on a stage, Stiller adds.
It would be too expensive, especially for the scale we felt that we needed.
The team had to come up with another solution.
How exactly did they build the goat room?
The crew explored multiple locations, eventually landing on the Marine Park course in Brooklyn.
That set honestly took months, says Lindle.
Thats really the biggest reason we went to ILM, was to do sets like that.
We change their direction.
We change their color.
We paint them out, says Hindle.
Half the goats are in different places by the time were done.
But we need them there to interact with Gwendoline.
You need them with the other actors.
Just how many live goats were on set?
These particular goats were brought to Brooklyn from Pittsburgh, and production had to coordinate around their schedules.
We need baby goats, and baby goats are not born that often, Hindle says.
A lot of its timed out to when they will have access to baby goats.
Didnt you just say goats are difficult to film with?
How did they manage that?
They had handlers who chased them around, but basically, goats go where they go, Stiller says.
It was really funny.
Gwendoline had a goat nipping at her.
There were definitely moments where one of them would just wander into frame, Erickson says.
Sometimes, that would ruin a shot.
Other times, it would absolutely make the shot better.
The ecstasy only intensified when she entered the set for the Department of Mammalian Nurturability.
The goats were jumping up on me and jumping onto my lap and climbing up on me.
One goat jumped into my arms, so I was carrying the goat around.
It was so deliciously bizarre.
Okay, enough with the goats.
Whats the deal with the Department of Mammalian Nurturability?
They might not be talking or chatting all the time because its somehow deeper than that.
Do with that last detail what you will, Reddit.
Theres always the potential for other animals, he says.
But as to whether there actually are or not, I cant quite say.
Why does Lorne feel so threatened by Helly and Mark at first?
A lot of the character grew up around that.
Paranoia and hypervigilance is apparently all in a days work for the people who work in this department.
Theres this built-in animosity and distrust between the departments, says Erickson.
What is Lornes deal, anyway?
A lot of actors will create a backstory for themselves as foundational aid for any scene, says Christie.
I ran my ideas past Dan.
It was the most entertaining game.
Ive read about goats, and Ive been to visit goats.
She brings a lot of credibility in the belief that she could come from another place, Stiller says.
How did Marks speech manage to get through to the DMN employees?
They know an individual is stronger when theyre whole and a workforce is stronger when its whole.
That was a story I really wanted to tell.
We knew that we were going to be releasing this season in the midst of those conversations.
We wanted to use this specific conceit to be part of that conversation.
Whats more important is that the pouch rumor managed to travel.
Which implies theres been communication between these different departments, he adds.
Will we see the goats again this season?
This writerused to knowthe answer to that question.
