‘Severance’ Season 2, Episode 1 Review

‘Severance’, one of AppleTV+’s most popular shows, is back for its second season, with an opening episode that does justice to it’s reputation. 

The show follows a group of office workers in the Lumon Corporation, whose work selves have been separated from their normal selves through a process called “severance”, so they now have two different personalities when in or out of the office.

This season picks up more or less where the last one left off. There’s been a five month time jump, but to the “Innies” it seems to be no time at all. Regardless, Lumon has been busy with the time, implementing major changes. Milchek is now in charge, replacing Kobel, and he’s altered the way things work, getting rid of the sinister Break Room, and apparently removing all cameras and surveillance equipment, with the view to making a more pleasant work environment.

In the last episode of season one, Mark, Helly and Irving all managed to awake their Innies while outside the Lumon building, and tried to find out what their real lives were like, while also revealing some of the strange things happening at the company,

There were some big revelations about what was really going on, which unfolded over the course of the season, and a lot of them are still to be uncovered, while some others have also been added to the list. What is the company really doing? Why do they sever workers? Why is the founder Keir Eagan treated like a god by devoted workers?

Now we also need to know why Mark wasn’t fired, when all the other workers in his department weren’t brought back too until he insisted on it? Why did it take the company five months to bring him back? And most importantly, why does it seem like his Outie’s wife died, yet she was apparently employed by the company until recently?

These are all questions that will hopefully get answers, in full or in part, this season, as more is unravelled. I just hope that the eventual answer will be as satisfying as the unravelling.

This was a good opening to the season, establishing the changes that have been made since the last, without giving us any new major developments, or even new characters, but just easing us back into the world after such a long time away. It certainly looks like the standard of writing is on par with season one, and Ben Stiller’s directing is still eye-catching. Let’s hope it stays as high-quality as the first.