In the newest episode of Severance, Mark S. (Adam Scott) and Helly R. (Britt Lower) explore the bowels of the Lumon basement and solve a mystery that's been plaguing fans since the first season: why is there a roomful of goats in the basement of his tech company? After crawling through a long liminal duct full of poop, they found themselves in a huge, windowless room where rolling green hills were bathed in florescent light, possibly the strangest image this show has produced yet, and that's saying something.
Naturally, those hills were crawling with goats. This is the Mammalians Nurturable department, managed by the intimating Lorne (Gwendoline Christie). Christie revealed to Entertainment Weekly that she's been "obsessed with the goats" ever since watching the first season of Severance, and was "thrilled" when she found out she would get to be in charge of them in season 2. "I was actually in the highlands of Scotland when we had the Zoom when we talked about this, and we were moving through endless moors with mountains and it was dotted with sheep. And in my mind, I just transfigured them into goats, and I'd sort of transcended into a goat Severance abstract heaven with the news that I would be in charge of the goats."
So how do you prepare to play a character like Lorne, who has only ever existed in the Lumon basement and who is one of the world's only indoor goat herders? Christie found a way. "I have a couple of friends that are sheep farmers, so I'd had, in a very covert fashion, asked them a lot of questions about goats, and they knew about goats," she said. "And I read books about goats and I would spend a lot of time in the country with goats I located. I'd spend as much time as I could with them in fields, because that was as close as I could get."
"I was in ecstasy to be around the goats and to be transplanted into my favorite show on television, and with Mark S. and with Helly. I was surrounded by goats, and surrounded by my people who I take care of, and it was a kind of total bliss to me. And so bizarre and strange, and it felt completely right."
Clearly, Christie is someone who appreciates goats, Severance, and the offbeat. "The environment of when we shot episode 3 was heaven!" she continued. "I mean, you've seen it. Seeing those sheep spread out across those rolling hills in Scotland was somewhat similar to the set I found myself in. They built this incredible set, and I believe it was actually on a golf course, and it was an enormous thing with the goats just roaming around."
"When we were in the scene together, it was completely joyful to work with them both and try different things out," she says. "And the strange magnetism that Helly has and the childlike enigma that is Mark S, I can't really convey what a delight this was. I enjoyed my surreal — I don't know, like if Fellini had a David Cronenberg dream, I don't know, or if David Cronenberg had a Fellini dream, I'm not sure. It was just sublime, and it felt like something quite terrifying came out."
As an person, Christie has always radiated joy, and I can definitely feel it rolling off her as she describes how great a freaking time she had playing this character. But as an actor, she often plays very serious people, whether it's Brienne of Tarth on Game of Thrones or Lorne on Severance. Lorne nearly comes to blows with Mark and Helly, whom she thinks are here to invade the Mammalians Nurturable department; remember that Lumon spreads propaganda among all the severed workers that make all the departments mistrust each other. Happily, Mark talks everyone down, and by the end of the scene the two departments have established a shaky friendship...at least after Lorne confirms that Mark and Helly don't have pouches, like she and her colleagues have been told.
All in all, the scene in the Mammalians Nurturable department was one of the most memorable of the third season so far, although we're still no closer to learning what it is they do or why they do it. The severed employees, or Innies, are all at the mercy of their managers at Lumon, and we're finding out the answers along with them.
I don't know if Lorne is going to return, but Christie makes it sound like there's more ahead, and I'd hate for this to be her only appearance. We'll find out as new episodes of Severance air on Apple TV+ on Fridays.
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