[This post contains spoilers for the Severance season 2 finale]
Most television shows are lucky to have one good season finale. Severance is two for two. “Cold Harbor” ends with Innie Mark (played by Adam Scott) and Innie Helly (Britt Lower) running down the hallways of Lumon together, while Outtie Mark’s wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman) is forced to watch after finally escaping the no-good Dr. Mauer. The Graduate-style scene is soundtrack by, of all songs, “The Windmills Of Your Mind” by jazz crooner Mel Tormé.
Severance director Ben Stiller spoke to Vulture about how they landed on that track.
“I don’t know if I’m turning into my parents, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten into this Mel Tormé era. He was amazing. This was obviously the biggest music cue for the show, where it’s like, what are you going to go out on?” he said. “But in this hellish prison of these hallways, where are they going to? I was looking for the juxtaposition of the craziness of that with a hopeful song.”
Stiller considered “I Got You Babe” by Sonny & Cher and “As Tears Go By” by Nancy Sinatra before eventually landing on “The Windmills of Your Mind,” a less obvious — and therefore, better — choice. “It’s like a crazy drug trip,” he said about the 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.'”
It’s not the best use of the song on TV, though.
