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Review

SEVERANCE. The sci-fi thriller returns for a second season

The first season of Severance gained acclaim not only for its unique plot, but also for being a complete, cohesive, and consistent work.

Michalina Peruga

26 January 2025

severance

One of the best series of the last decade is making its long-awaited return on Apple TV+. The platform, which has gained a reputation in recent years for its high-quality TV productions, finally puts an end to our impatient waiting and invites us back to the cold, emotionless, and absurd corporate world. The first two episodes of Severance are already available, with new episodes dropping every Friday.

It was hard to believe that anyone would want to return to Lumon Industries after the events of the final episode of Severance‘s first season. To recap: Mark (Adam Scott) and his team work for a corporation that requires its employees to undergo the titular “severance,” separating their personal memories and thoughts from those of their professional lives. In other words, while at work, they have no idea who they are outside of it—where they live, what hobbies they have, or whether they have partners or children. Likewise, as soon as they leave work, they instantly forget what they do at the office.

severance

This setup is ideal for a corporate giant but far less comfortable for its employees—Mark, Helly (Britt Lower), Irving (John Turturro), and Dylan (Zach Cherry)—who all work on the same data processing team. Suspicious of their employer, they feel trapped in their daily routines, unable to make independent decisions. Caught in a never-ending Groundhog Day of office life, driven by curiosity and rebellion, they decide to take control of the system and fight back.

As their outside selves awaken to their real lives, Mark, Helly, and Irving begin to merge their work and personal memories. Irving obsessively paints images of a black hallway at Lumon. Helly is horrified to discover that she is the CEO’s daughter and is expected to give a speech at a gala promoting the innovative memory-severance technique. Mark finds himself at a party hosted by his sister and brother-in-law, where he meets his boss Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) under a completely different name. He also learns he has a deceased wife—only to recognize her as his coworker, Ms. Casey, in a wedding photo.

The massive cliffhanger at the end of the first season left viewers anxiously awaiting what comes next. Will Mark’s team face the consequences of their rebellion against the company? Will they manage to free themselves from Lumon? Will they solve the growing mysteries and discover the true purpose of their work? The show’s creators, Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller, are in no rush to answer these questions, slowly peeling back the layers of mystery in the second episode. Rather than revealing all the cards at once, they focus on the characters and the shifts in their relationships.

Mark returns to Lumon Industries, along with the other protagonists. Once again, Lumon’s tentacles pull them into the greenish-white office illuminated by cold, hospital-like fluorescent lights. While it’s hard to believe the characters would willingly return to corporate servitude, the excellent writing makes their motivations for returning to Lumon entirely believable.

The company now faces the challenge of managing a PR crisis. Management seems genuinely eager to listen to its employees and fix its mistakes. However, their efforts feel superficial—akin to “Fruit Thursdays.” While it may seem like the leash has been loosened, Mark and his team are fully aware that Big Brother is always watching.

The first season of Severance gained acclaim not only for its unique plot, which resonated with widespread critiques of capitalist exploitation, but also for being a complete, cohesive, and consistent work in terms of visuals, acting, and production design. The second season maintains that high standard and doesn’t falter. The atmosphere is so thick you could cut it with a knife, and the dark corporate horror begins anew. Will you let yourself get pulled in?

Michalina Peruga

Michalina Peruga

Film scholar, art historian and lover of contemporary horror cinema and classic Hollywood cinema, especially film noir and the work of Alfred Hitchcock. In cinema, she loves mixing genres, breaking patterns and looking closely at characters.

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