The first Severance season premiered in January 2022, and although multi-year gaps are nothing unusual in the streaming age, audiences have reasonably grown antsy for this Adam Scott series’ comeback over two years later. Presumably, the wait for more can partially be explained by the second season’s budget, which suggests an expansive season and reportedly runs $20 million per episode, so hopefully, that money will go toward providing satisfying answers about those who have been severed. To that end, multiple cliffhangers require resolution, so it’s understandable why a certain artist has been quizzing director Ben Stiller on Twitter/X.
The good news is Apple TV+ has a wealth of other stellar series to gobble up right now, and but the better news is that the Innies Who Became Outies will resume their onscreen stories on Jan. 17, 2025, so let’s talk about what we can expect, beginning with new Lumon Industries employees.
Cast
Let’s just say that the Lumon workforce appears to be expanding. Eight debuting cast members will include Gwendoline Christie, Alia Shawkat (who is absolutely everywhere these days, including on FX’s The Old Man), Bob Balaban, Merrit Wever, Robby Benson, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Stefano Carannante, and John Noble.
Do you want returning cast members? Naturally, Adam Scott is back, and he will be joined by Britt Lower, John Turturro, Zach Cherry, Dichen Lachman, Patricia Arquette, Christopher Walken, Tramell Tillman, Jen Tullock, and Michael Chernus. Unless Yul Vasquez appears as a clone (you never know with Lumon) or via flashback, we can count him out for the second season.
Plot
If it’s any consolation to those who have been waiting for more Severance, Adam Scott has also been eagerly awaiting the same. He also suggests that the wait will have been worth it because the second season scripts are “great,” and he “couldn’t wait to get there, and get the cameras rolling and film it.” Scott added that Ben Stiller has brought it with his casting “superpowers” for the second season: “Bob Balaban, Alia Shawkat, Gwendoline Christie, great. Robby Benson, incredible.” Additionally, “There’s a young woman, Sarah Bach, who’s coming in for season 2, that is a really exciting young actor.”
Ideally, the second season will pick up where the first one left off, so that we find out whether Innie Mark (Adam Scott), Helly (Britt Lower), and Irving (John Turturro) will remember what happened to them in the Outie world. Helly had ended the season by telling a gala crowd how Innie life is not the work-paradise that it’s sold to be, and Mark had discovered that his “dead” wife (Dichen Lachman) was in fact alive and working inside Lumon as a wellness counselor. Ms. Casey, in turn, looked to be headed either to the break room or another ominous department, so it remains to be seen whether she’s still “at work.” Additionally, Irving had realized that his Outie was researching Lumon, and Dylan (Zach Cherry) had been unable to continue fending off Milchick (Tramell Tillman) from ending the Innies’ Outie adventure.
Then there’s the issue of romance between Innies Mark and Helly, which Adam Scott addressed to Variety as “a confusing cocktail of feeling.” Ben Stiller had more to offer on that note, which complicates his apparent desire to leave severance behind:
“There is this growing connection between Mark and Helly happening during the season, and then on the outside, Mark is trying to get over his wife’s death — and then we’re going to find out that his wife is still alive. To put him in this position where the Innie Mark, we’re starting to root for him and Helly, but now we also want to root for Outie Mark to find his wife. That’s an interesting juxtaposition and conflict we’ll explore in the second season.”
Will we see any more flashbacks from Yul Vasquez’s character? Although he was Mark’s “best friend,” we haven’t heard any clues from Apple TV+ or Stiller on whether Petey’s wisdom will figure into this second season.
Release Date
Nearly three years after the first season debuted, Severance will return on January 17, 2025 with 10 weekly episodes.
Trailer
A teaser has thus far unveiled Gwendoline Christie’s foreboding character telling Mark, Dylan, and Helly that they “should have left.”
Next up, here’s Mark carrying Lumon Industries-created balloons that resemble his paperweight before he is shown glitching and going on the run: