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Spoilers follow forSeveranceseason two episode seven, Chikhai Bardo.
No, Chikhai Bardo isnt abottle episode.
Instead,Severancegave us something even better: answers.
Tragic but legitimate answers.
Lachman believes her character still has hope of being released and reuniting with her husband when the experiment concludes.
But theyre always changing the rules of the game for her, she says.
They just keep moving the goalposts.
I didnt quite understand what was happening.
I was like,Has her brain been affected and theyre trying to rebuild her?
As the scripts for season two started coming in, I was like,Oh, okay.
Im not in this episode, and Im not in the next one.
Did I do something wrong?Then Dan Erickson talked me through how it was going to play out.
It was really exciting.
At the same time, I felt a lot of pressure.
I didnt want to let the fans down.
This is obviously something theyve been waiting for.
I was really scared.
Knowing wed have a very limited time to do it and then doing the flashbacks on film.
I know Jessica Lee Gagne, the director, had always envisioned using film and it was her goal.
With film, theres only so much; you could run out in the middle of a scene.
Not the first time!Im so glad.
Shes phenomenally talented and has such a unique eye, but shes really good at doing things subtly.
That scene had a lot of technical stuff.
I just remember focusing on what Gemma was feeling and us talking about the mood and temperament.
I suppose its the perfect place to zone in on a target.
The whole world they live in is filled with Lumon employees, businesses, and stuff like that.
The other person Gemma interacts with is Sandra Bernhards nurse.
How would you define their relationship?
Are there any sympathies there?In my mind, her nurse has been there for a while.
Sandra brought an incredible warmth to that role, even in playing a captor.
Maybe its just her eyes.
I think she has compassion for Gemma.
Shes just doing her job, but theres a humanity to her.
The doctor inquired if Gemma felt despair after leaving any of them.
To some degree, I totally understand.
In season one, you have the birthing center.
Thats one of the most painful things you could experience in your whole life I would know.
What if you could delegate that experience to someone so you didnt have to go through the pain?
Even though, as a human being, theres some ownership of that.
Going through it and having a connection to the child is so beautiful.
But we kind of want to get on a prescription of not having to suffer.
You hate going to the dentist?
Well send somebody else, but youll still be going to the dentist.
Or having the fear of flying.
It says the same thing.
So you dont view this technology as being strictly malicious in intent?Yeah.
It could go further, of course.
Thats the thing with technology: The intention is always to make someones life a little bit easier.
Then it becomes integrated into our life.
Everything is a double-edged sword.
Its our job as human beings to try and find the balance.
Were in a world where we have AI and robots.
Were creating a world where we dont even need to exist, in a way.
When youre severed, you dont have contrast.
The weekend isnt as good because youre perpetually experiencing only the good things.
Those good feelings just become feelings and are not special anymore.
Shes saying what viewers are thinking, and it made me laugh.The whole language is a bit culty.
They have their own way of communicating.
The words they use are so bizarre.
I tried reading that line in many different ways and played with intensity.
It was stretching me as an artist.
Ive never had the opportunity to explore and collaborate as much as I did on this show.
I could have said Can you kindly just talk like a normal person?
15 or 16 times, maybe more, and every time it wouldve been a little different.
Did you get the sense Gemma had tried to escape before?
It struck me as very fight-or-flight.Yes.
I picked up on that same line when I was reading the script.
Jessica and I talked about it a lot.
I think every now and then, Gemma has been like,Screw it.
Im going to go for it.
Shell never be able to escape.
Her tolerance level will go back to baseline, and itll build up and shell take another crack.
How many takes did you get to whack Robby with a chair?
Was it oddly satisfying?You know what?
Thats something we didnt do as many times as some of the other scenes.
It wasnt too complicated.
Robby is such an amazing person.
He was lying on the floor for hours, just so dedicated to this role he was playing.
The man is a machine.
I felt really bad.
Im like, Oh, Robby, Im sorry.
Thats what she wants.
Ultimately, toward the end, she resigns herself to being there.
Theres nothing else I can do.
You previously portrayed a multiverse-programmed character inDollhouse, which shares a few creative parallels toSeverance.
Your work inAltered Carbonalso explored how consciousness can be resleeved into different bodies.
Its quite strange and weird.
