Severance Season 2: How do Helly and Helena shape the whole story? Explored

Severance Season 2 takes its weird idea and goes all-in with it, especially when it comes to the characters. The two that have got everyone talking are Helly and Helena, both played by actress Britt Lower. Their stories show us the messed-up deal with the show's whole "severing".

Helly is the rebel stuck in the office part of the brain and wants to bring down the big bad company, Lumon Industries. Then there's Helena, who's got it good in the outside world and is all about making more people get their brains split. It's the main reason we're all trying to figure out who's in control here.

Britt Lower talked to ScreenRant about playing both parts and said:

“Two sides of the same coin.”

She pointed out that both characters are stuck in Lumon's grasp but in very different ways.

“Helena’s stuck within this family she didn’t choose, while Helly is oppressed by the severance program she didn’t consent to.”

Lower's performance builds up the tension between these two opposing sides, which is what makes Severance's story so eerie.

Let's explore how Helly and Helena give the show its twist.

Hellie and Helena are two sides of the same coin in Severance's corporate showdown

The showdown between Helly and Helena captures the main idea of Severance, which is about who's in control versus who's fighting against it. In the first season, we see Helly's desperate tries to break free, and it gets intense when she tries to end her life in the Lumon elevator. Then there's Helena, who turns out to be the boss's daughter, and that's a surprise for everyone.

In season 2, things get even more complicated. Helena is the poster girl for the severance, telling everyone how amazing it is to keep work and personal life separate. But Helly, her inner self, shows the real horror behind it.

They're two sides of the same coin, one's all about the ego, and the other about the id, as Lower says. And Lower's acting is spot on. She makes the characters feel so real. Caryn James from the BBC loved her performance. She says it's got just the right amount of subtlety.

We're all waiting to see how things will go down between Helly and Helena.

Britt Lower's acting in Severance

Britt Lower had her work cut out for her playing two different characters, but she nailed it. When she talked to ScreenRant, she said that she thought of Helly and Helena as "different music in my head," which is a cool way to think about it.

She put in a ton of effort to make sure each one felt like a separate person, which you can tell when you're watching her. What's interesting about the show is that Helly wants to tear down this whole "severance" thing, while Helena is all about spreading it around the world.

Even though they're on opposite sides, Britt plays them in a way that makes you feel for them. It's like she gives them a heart or something. Critics have noticed how good she is at making you care about what's happening to them, which is important in a story with so much drama.

From the BBC, Caryn James said that in season 2, Britt's acting gets better and more complex. She's one of the main reasons the show is so good to watch.

What do we discover about Lumon's dark side in Severance Season 2?

In season 2 of Severance, viewers get to peek into the weird and unsettling stuff that goes down at Lumon Industries. It's a new level of weirdness. They treat their founder, Kier Eagan, like a god, and the way they mess with their employees' heads is just... eerie.

The show's getting darker, and it's all about how people are controlled in this messed-up world. The main thing this season is looking at is through the eyes of Helly and Helena, who are like two sides of the same coin. What one does outside work, the other feels inside her brain.

It's about how we're in charge of ourselves and whether we are. It's intense, and Britt Lower playing Helly makes you feel for her. You can see how hard it is for her, to deal with all this. There are also guest stars like Gwendoline Christie and Merritt Wever. Plus, Ben Stiller's directing again.