After almost three years of waiting, Apple TV+’s hit series “Severance” returned for its second season on Jan. 17. Following the premiere of its first season in February 2022, the series, created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller, was immediately a critical darling and a hit among viewers.
“Severance” takes the idea of “work-life balance” literally. Lumon Industries employee Mark Scout (Adam Scott) and his coworkers have undergone a procedure colloquially known as “severance,” which splits a person’s mind and memories into two different personalities: a work self (their “innie”) and a personal life or home self (their “outie”). Nothing seems amiss until Mark’s two selves start to overlap and bleed together, setting off a chain of events that causes him to start questioning the same thing every viewer wants to know: What is Lumon up to?
Season one ended on quite the cliffhanger, and after a nearly three-year wait, delayed due to the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes, the excitement for the second season was palpable. The season has received rave reviews and seems to be keeping up the tension of last season’s finale.
“Severance” is more than just a typical mystery-box show. Despite the gripping plot, it is undoubtedly a character-driven story. The character study is unexpectedly compelling, delving into the characters’ grief, love, familial relationships and more. Perhaps even more impressive is how the writers juggle each “severed” worker as essentially two different characters. Other standout characters include floor supervisor Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman) and the head of Lumon’s severed floor Ms. Cobel (Patricia Arquette).
“Severance” has achieved a level of discussion and theorization hearkening back to the early days of “Lost” (a significant source of inspiration for the show) that few new shows achieve nowadays.
In theory, watching a two-minute long shot of Adam Scott running through a series of blank hallways should be dreadfully dull, but the “Severance” team manages to make it simultaneously exciting and anxiety-inducing. This season has a notable opener that focuses on the innies following the events of the season one finale. The second episode is slightly less intense, and gives viewers the outies’ perspectives of episode one’s events. As the season progresses, the show answers a few questions from the first season but raises even more, continuing the slow-burn mystery.
Between the first and second seasons, the show has amassed a huge online following. Fanart, memes and analysis abound, but given the mysterious nature of the show, it’s no surprise that wild fan theories are by far the most popular content. There are countless YouTube videos, Reddit threads and more, discussing everything from the meaning of the numbers that Mark and the rest of the Macrodata Refinement department spend their days sorting to who makes up the mysterious company “Board.” “Severance” has achieved a level of discussion and theorization hearkening back to the early days of “Lost” (a significant source of inspiration for the show) that few new shows achieve nowadays.
While season one was released with minimal fanfare, the massive popularity boom had the Apple TV+ advertising team pulling out all the stops. The season two press tour made its mark in New York City on Jan. 14 with a pop-up at Grand Central, featuring several members of the cast in a glass box with a recreation of the characters’ office space. The setup was available again for viewing the next day with “generic” actors, drawing a large crowd of die-hard fans and curious commuters. If watching people inside a glass box pretend to work sounds a bit dystopian it fits the tone of “Severance” perfectly and raises similar questions as the show — mainly on topics of work-life balance and surveillance.
Even as season two veers a bit more into the absurd, the series is so chilling that, while “Severance” is fictional, the themes remain all too real and unsettling. Unethical work environments, constant surveillance, religious devotion to corporations and worker exploitation are not just fixtures of dystopia — these issues are a reality that “Severance” reflects, which is precisely what makes it so terrifying and so relevant.
The new “Severance” season two episodes air every Friday on Apple TV+. And remember, in proper Lumon fashion, please try to enjoy each episode equally.