Severance fans should have a lot of patience. It’s been three years since the workplace drama premiered, inviting viewers into its strange, brain-bending world. Season 1 earned ardent admirers for its slick storytelling, its dynamic visuals, and its many mysteries, leaving its audience with questions and cliffhangers that have been dangling since the spring of 2022. So yes, Severance fans have had practice being patient, but there’s a chance that Season 2 may test that patience just as much as the wait.
As a quick refresher, the series takes place in a mildly dystopian world where the mysterious and seemingly omnipotent Lumon Industries has pioneered a procedure known as “severance.” Individuals who undergo the surgery split themselves in two, having an “innie” do work while they live life normally as an “outie”—an idealized version of work-life balance. Season 1 ended with a quasi coup led by Macrodata Refinement department chief Mark (Adam Scott), who was able to make contact with the outside world and reveal that his outie’s late wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman) was actually alive on the severed floor of Lumon. Mark’s coworkers also tried to make noise through their outies, with Helly (Britt Lower) discovering that she’s Helena Eagan, daughter of Lumon’s CEO, and Irving (John Turturro) finding his beloved Burt (Christopher Walken) on the outside. But before they could ensure that progress would be made, their colleague Dylan (Zach Cherry) got busted, and the operation ended early.
Season 2 picks up with the innies not knowing how much of an impact their actions had, though middle manager Milchick (Tramell Tillman) has much to say about the reforms that Lumon has instituted since. The corporate timeline—and just about everything a Lumon suit says—provokes suspicion, so before long MDR is back on their investigative grind to try to figure out just what is going on in this company. Lumon’s higher-ups are fine with this recreational poking around—as long as Mark finishes his 25th data file, Cold Harbor, which may just be connected to the whole Gemma mystery. Each MDR member’s outie factors into this plot to a different extent, though Mark wrestles with his dual existence the most, seeking help from his sister Devon (Jen Tullock) and answers from Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette).
This second season is an exercise in worldbuilding. We learn more about Lumon and the cult around it, though writer-creator Dan Erickson and director-producer Ben Stiller make sure to only release information a little at a time. Unnerving details, like Milchick’s teen apprentice Ms. Huang (Sarah Bock) or the mythology behind company founder Kier Eagan, are never explained in full, leaving you wanting more. As such, the series raises plenty of questions—some profoundly philosophical, others merely plot-based.
A few reveals throughout the season feel unnecessarily complicated, and Severance begins to call to mind another show that invokes a sci-fi capitalist hellscape: Westworld. It’s beautifully conceived of and filmed, with a rich story and an engaging ensemble, but it’s simultaneously a dense and scattered watch. The themes of personhood and autonomy are all interesting and weighty, and certain beats certainly stick with you, but it isn’t always the most satisfying viewing experience.
It’s great that something as weird and intricately crafted as Severance has found a significant audience, and it’s difficult to be critical of its complexity in a time where simplicity is the priority of so many television companies. But the series gets convoluted in its second season; certain elements invite repeat viewing, others all but demand it, and some aspects remain vague regardless. To that end, I can’t help but wonder how Season 2 will fare for viewers who have to wait for weekly episode premieres. Glowing reviews have come from critics who have access to all 10 episodes at once—will the show’s mysteries be as engaging week to week? Will audiences get frustrated when questions go purposefully unanswered for over a month? The series presents a puzzle that you can’t help but want to solve, yes, but you can only get so far when you’re missing the pieces.
Somewhat stilted storytelling aside, this season does open up the discussion of innies versus outies in fascinating, sometimes revelatory ways. Dylan’s innie learned of his family last season, and his need to know more only increases as the episodes progress; in a similar vein, Irving’s outie has to get to the bottom of his innie’s interests in Burt. Are their emotions severed like their consciousness, or does feeling bleed through? Meanwhile, Helly has to contend with her true identity as an Eagan, struggling with her bodily autonomy while her outie all but guarantees her eternal captivity on the severed floor. Even Milchick, though not severed, has to deal with external Lumon pressures that threaten his internal sense of self. The show’s main metaphor still holds strong.
Again, Severance Season 2 raises plenty of questions. It’s a show designed to get you to think, to puzzle, to theorize. But at some points, it asks more than it’s willing to answer. While that makes for a bigger, more complex and more intriguing conspiracy at the center of the series, it doesn’t always make for must-watch television.
The first episode of season two of Severance debuts Jan. 17 on Apple TV+.
