Severance finally returns to TV. Here’s what you need to know

Spare a thought for the employees of mysterious megacorporation Lumon, who have been in forced hibernation for nearly three years – and just emerged in a glass box at Grand Central Terminal.

After a cliffhanger first season finale in 2022, Apple TV+’s hit mystery box drama Severance is finally back. And to promote the series, actors including Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette and John Turturro staged an office scene for commuters at the iconic New York landmark.

Actors Britt Lower and Adam Scott at the Severance pop-up installation in New York.Credit: Marion Curtis/StarPix for Apple TV+

This stunt – particularly remarkable as Apple TV+ is known for dropping big shows without much fuss – is building incredible hype for the second season, which starts on January 17. But don’t feel too bad if you’re out of the loop.

If you never got around to watching season one (despite the great reviews and huge word-of-mouth buzz) or simply can’t remember what happened, here’s a guide to catch you up.

What’s it about?

Severance is sci-fi workplace drama – directed by, but not starring, Ben Stiller – about a group of office workers forced to live in work purgatory thanks to an experimental procedure that split their consciousnesses in two.

Adam Scott stars in Severance as a worker bee who starts having serious doubts about his job and his dual lives.

Our main man is Mark S. (Adam Scott), recently promoted to macrodata refinement chief at Lumon Industries. Mark chose to undergo the severance procedure two years ago to avoid grieving his wife, meaning his consciousness is split into a work self (an “innie”) and a personal self (an “outie”). Mark’s outie has no idea what he does for eight hours Monday through Friday, and his innie only exists at work.

In season one, the arrival of a new employee named Helly (Britt Lower), who’s unable to accept her role inside the company, causes chaos. Before long, Mark and workmates Irving (John Turturro) and Dylan (Zach Cherry) also become curious about the outside world.

Why did season two take so long?

Given the complexity of the Severance world, it’s no small order to punch out scripts. This meant that creator Dan Erickson needed time to ensure season two was up to scratch.

“Sometimes we would come up with something that worked perfectly well on paper, and then it wouldn’t be until we got there and we’re shooting it that we realise: this isn’t quite it,” he said, speaking to Variety. “We were never willing to let that turn it into something that wasn’t perfect.”

Meanwhile, Stiller also told Vanity Fair that the 2023 Hollywood strikes threw a spanner in the release plans. “We started to shoot in October of 2022, and we got shut down by the strike in May [2023]. At that point, we had completed about seven of our 10 episodes, and then we had to regroup,” he said.

“So we didn’t start shooting until January [2024], and then we shot from January to May to finish the last three episodes.”

Helly and Mark in Severance, the hit Apple + TV series.Credit: Apple

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Where did season one finish?

The Severance season one closer could go down as one of the legendary TV finales, complete with a shocking reveal. Having discovered a way to temporarily reverse Lumon’s severance protocol, Mark’s innie learns about his wife Gemma, who has been presumed dead, and desperately tries to let people know that she’s not only alive – she’s also working at Lumon.

Irving (Turturro) discovers that his outie has been collecting information on Lumon and its severed employees. He finds the address of Burt (Christopher Walken) – the man he had an illicit workplace flirtation with before Burt was swiftly sent for retirement – and sees him happily partnered with another man.

Helly finds herself in the middle of a black-tie Lumon gala and discovers her outie to be Helena Egan – the daughter of the controversial company’s CEO and cult-like leader. She uses her keynote address to spectacularly denounce the practice of Severance, telling the crowd “they torture us down there. We’re prisoners!” before the protocol that’s allowing them to get a glimpse at this world is swiftly shut off.

What can we expect from season two?

Judging by the trailer, a lot of fallout from the events of that finale. The four innies are back inside Lumon, being reprimanded by their supervisor Milchick (Tramell Tillman) and comparing notes about what they saw on the other side. Mark is on a quest to get his wife out, and the resistance continues.

But will we get any answers? Why is Ms Cobel (Arquette) so obsessed with Lumon? What does Lumon do? And what does macrodata refinement actually achieve (other than sorting numbers “which feel scary”?) Also, are we ever going to talk about the baby goats again?

We wouldn’t bet on season two lifting the veil completely. As our colleague, Karl Quinn, wrote in a preview, “for every question that’s answered in season two, another one pops up”. But we’re excited for the ride.

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