Ben Stiller didn’t exactly expect the expensive Severance to be a major hit, to the point where audiences have been not-so-patiently waiting for more. At least, that’s the sentiment that can be gleaned from Stiller’s latest updates on the status of the show’s arguably overdue return to Apple TV+. The Lumon Industries-illuminating series first premiered in January 2022, and although viewers would have been accustomed to a standard-ish two-year wait, that mark has clearly passed, but do not fear. The team of Mark, Irving, Helly, and Dylan will be back in action after that cliffhanger ending where the first three in that group took an illicit trip as Innies In The Outie world.
The quartet is gearing up to return to their desks, where they will hopefully figure out what they have really been doing while sorting numbers on a computer screen. In the meantime, Apple TV+ is also working on more Silo and Presumed Innocent, so there’s plenty of good stuff coming, from sci-fi to legal thriller, for those who are hanging tight for other second seasons to bingeworthy shows. Sometimes it can be rough to be a TV fan, but let’s get down to business on what Lumon has in store for us next.
Plot
First, director Ben Stiller would like a word. Following prominent inquiries on social media, he’s well aware that that has perhaps taken too long, and he explained to Variety that this thing (TV success) is rather new to him: “I’ve never been through it before — a second season of anything,” he admitted. “Everything I’ve done has gotten canceled back in the day. But, you know, I feel like there’s an expectation that the audience has — that they should have if they love something. For us, it’s just been the process of trying to live up to our expectation of what we think the show should be and commit to that.”
With that said, he empathizes on why people might be “frustrated,” and “I understand that feeling of the expectation.” However, he and creator Dan Erickson are treating this process painstakingly, to the point “where the characters really start to have a life and the actors understand the characters so well, and it grows into something more.”
This takes a bit of pressure off Adam Scott, who could previously really only tell People that the second season would be “great.” (Poor Adam Scott.)
Next up, Apple TV+ provided the tiniest of synopses:
“In season two, Mark and his friends learn the dire consequences of trifling with the severance barrier, leading them further down a path of woe.”
So, we can gather that Mark (Adam Scott), Helly (Britt Lower), and Irving (John Turturro) will probably not be made to forget their exploratory trip to the Outie realm. And this will not go unpunished after Dylan (Zach Cherry) got tackled by Milchick (Tramell Tillman) in the control room, but we don’t know the ramifications of Mark learning that his “dead” spouse was actually the Lumon wellness counselor, Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachmen), who is in trouble, too.
Well, we do know that the story will at least be complicated by Innie Mark beginning a romance with Innie Helly, which spawns an unofficial love triangle. As a result, Stiller has suggested that Mark’s desire to leave severance is now bogged down by multiple wrinkles.
Finally, John Turturro, who portrays Irving, has further promised that “[w]e are delving into the unknown that the audience is waiting for, and then doing it incrementally.” Well, the pressure is on when the buildup has been so long, and we can only hope that we’ll be surprised by a tiny flashback from Petey (Yul Vasquez), even though Lumon presumably took him out.
Cast
New recruits are aboard, or perhaps they are Lumon veterans who we are meeting now, but there are eight additions including the generally imposing (in roles) Gwendoline Christie and Alia Shawkat (a wildcard in a cast if there ever was one). Additionally, Merritt Wever, John Noble, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Stefano Carannante, and Robby Benson are onboarding.
The core quartet — Adam Scott, John Turturro, Britt Lower, and Zach Cherry — are back on the work schedule. We will also see Dichen Lachman, Patricia Arquette, Christopher Walken, Michael Chernus, Tramell Tillman, and Jen Tullock back in the office.
Release Date
January 17, 2025. It’s officially happening, people. Get ready for 10 new weekly episodes.
Trailer
Gwendoline Christie has arrived, and you know what it means when Lucifer from The Sandman shows up and tells the core characters that they “should have left.” (Nothing good.)
Glitchy Mark is also shown here with beautiful blue balloons that unfortunately resemble his Lumon Industries paperweight.