Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for “Severance” season 2.
There’s nothing on television quite like “Severance.”
The dystopian thriller returned for its second season in January, capping off a nearly three-year hiatus that kept fans in suspense after its season 1 finale ended in a tantalizing cliffhanger. The first season wowed audiences with an ingenious premise, an instantly likable cast of characters and a few genuinely shocking twists. Surely season 2 couldn’t surpass its success, right?
These doubts were finally put to rest on Friday, as the final episode of season 2 premiered on Apple TV+. Not only did “Severance” raise the high bar set by season 1, it transformed into an even bigger show, with weightier emotional stakes and more devastating consequences. Unafraid to take major creative risks and stray from its established formula, the sophomore outing of “Severance” is like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
This season returns us to the story right where we left off, on the Severed Floor of Lumon Industries, where brain-chipped employees separate their work identities (“innies”) from their identities outside of work (“outies”). In the final moments of season 1, our protagonist, Mark S. (Adam Scott), learns that the woman he knows as office wellness counselor Ms. Casey is actually his wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman), held captive as a severed Lumon employee since her supposed death two years prior. Now, Mark returns to the office with one objective: to find his wife, if she really is alive.
This season, we meet some new faces, including deputy floor manager Miss Huang (Sarah Bock), a child who inexplicably oversees the adult staff and Mr. Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), the fearsome office security chief who holds some of the secrets to the mysterious work taking place at Lumon. Bock will win you over with her quick wit and precociousness, as will Tramell Tillman, who once again excels as Mr. Milchick, the charismatic middle manager who is forced to weigh his company loyalty against his own personal values.
Along with Scott, Britt Lower, John Turturro and Zach Cherry return as Lumon co-workers Helly, Irving and Dylan, each of whom face new challenges of their own outside of the office. This season, all four actors play not one role but two, pulling double duty as both their innie and outie selves. An impressive feat of acting, this conceit also gives us some fascinating glimpses into the employees’ personal lives. We’re introduced to some new settings as well, including the frozen wilderness of Woe’s Hollow, which provides the backdrop for a bizarre office retreat and a brilliantly executed mid-season twist.
While Scott and Lower continue to anchor the show, the emotional core of the season is Lachman. Lachman is unforgettable in the season’s seventh episode, which dives into both Gemma’s doomed love story with Mark and her imprisonment on Lumon’s mysterious testing floor. Gemma’s episode delivers a remarkable one-two punch, diving deeper into the secrets of Lumon than ever before and taking viewers on a gut-wrenching roller-coaster ride with her emotional backstory. Neither of these would have worked without Lachman’s nuanced performance.
Crucially, this season’s narrative excels by pushing its innie-outie concept to new heights, exploring the morality of the separation process. By bifurcating their consciousness, each Lumon employee has essentially created an entirely new person — one with its own values, goals and priorities. What happens when these two people want different things? And who is really in control? This dilemma comes to a heartbreaking climax in the finale, as Mark’s two selves are forced to choose between Helly and Gemma. To Outie Mark, his innie’s office romance is nothing compared to his love for his wife. To Innie Mark, Helly is his entire life. He doesn’t know anything else.
Like many shows, “Severance” has amassed a following of eagle-eyed viewers who spin every detail into an elaborate theory. However, many of these details, down to the pitch of the elevator ding that welcomes employees into the office, end up being meaningful. You can thank creator and writer Dan Erickson for the show’s elaborately constructed story, which unravels like a puzzle box and answers just enough questions each week to keep viewers’ interest piqued. The fact that a show with a premise so grim also manages to be laugh-out-loud funny is just the cherry on top — “devour feculence” has permanently entered my lexicon.
The series has refined its eerie, corporate aesthetic, thanks to an incredible creative team led by Ben Stiller — yes, that Ben Stiller — who directed half of this season’s episodes. “Severance” remains visually stunning, with highly stylized costumes and sets that keep you grounded in the brutalist office setting, as well as some impressive color grading to accentuate the divide between the characters’ dual lives. Lead cinematographer Jessica Lee Gagné continues to give us a masterclass in camerawork, with a haunting visual style that evokes a sense of unease, allowing the tension to slowly build toward the story’s climax. The masterful visuals are all tied together by Theodore Shapiro’s score, which further disorients audiences with haunting piano melodies and distorted synths. Listen to the theme song, and you’ll be hooked.
There is so much to love about “Severance,” including its stellar cast, its delicately crafted storytelling and its impeccable use of sound and visuals to build tension. But the one thing that makes “Severance” truly special is its thought-provoking nature. At every turn, the show makes you think about the characters, about the world and even about yourself. Lumon may not have captured the minds of its employees, but “Severance” has certainly captured the attention of its viewers.
