Britt Lower unpacks an unscripted and particularly vulnerable moment involving her character, Helly R, in the latest episode ofSeverance.Throughout season 2 of the hit Apple TV+ original, Helly’s journey has been marked by her struggle to assert autonomy over her own body, especially after discovering her outie, Helena Eagan, spent some time on the severed floor masquerading as Helly. This internal conflict reaches apivotal moment inSeveranceseason 2, episode 6, after Helly learns that Mark S. unwittingly slept with Helena.
In an interview withCollider, Lower revealsthe moment where Helly removes her shoes in the hallways of Lumon was not originally in the script.After she learns that Mark slept with her outie at ORTBO, Helly walks through the sprawling hallways of the severed floor—barefoot—as a small yet significant act of reclamation over her body. Here’s what she had to say:
I just did it, and [director Uta Briesewitz]… I think we tried it in a wide shot. We were just doing a wide shot, andI’ve always felt like Helly has had a hate relationship with her heels. She didn’t put them on in the morning. She’d probably rather be wearing boots or something.
Just to be able to feel her feet on the tile, I thought, was…she gets to reclaim that, at least, and then it leads to the next action that she takes. It was like, ‘Oh, I like that.’ And we really hadn’t seen Helly take off her shoes, I don’t think, in the series. The detectives will go to work.
What Helly’s Improvised Moment Means
A Step Toward Reclaiming Her Body
Helly removing her shoes may seem like a small act, but it marked an important moment where she decided to reclaim her sense of self. In the latest episode, titled “Attila,” after discoveringHelena Eagan’s deception of Mark S, Helly chooses to forge her own intimate connection with Mark rather than dwelling on her outie’s actions. The improvised moment of Helly removing her shoes, then, represents something much bigger than just personal comfort—it is a symbol of rebellion, self-determination, and the blurring lines between these fractured identities.
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It also foreshadows the complicated entanglements to come inSeveranceseason 2, especially for Mark. With Mark now unconscious following another step deeper into the reintegration process, his memories and emotions from both his innie and outie selves will likely merge together entirely,creating an even more tangled web of relationships between Mark/Mark S., Helly R., Helena, and Gemma—and now that Mark has slept with Helly/Helena twice, a baby plot line looks more possible than ever before.
A Barefoot Rebellion
Image via Apple TV+
Lower’s improvisation perfectly captures Helly’s defiant spirit. From the moment she wakes up in a vacant meeting room on Lumon’s severed floor, Helly has resisted control with fiery determination. Helly makes a quiet but powerful rejection of the identity forced upon her as the innie sheds her heels. The fact that it was an unscripted moment shows the kind of depth and discussion behindSeverance’s storytelling. Lower’s instinct makes Helly’s rebellion feel even more authentic, proving how even the smallest details in the show carry weight and meaning.
Cast
Severance is a psychological thriller series featuring Adam Scott as Mark Scout, an employee at Lumon Industries who undergoes a “severance” procedure to separate his work and personal memories. However, as work and life personas mysteriously begin to collide, it quickly becomes clear that not all is as it seems. Created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle.
