After a long wait for a new season, Ben Stiller’s mysterious thriller is back and better than ever. Here’s our Severance season 2 episode 1 review.
Warning! These reviews will be spoiler-free for the week in question (unless stated otherwise) but will discuss plot points from previous episodes and seasons.
It really feels like we’re living through a new golden age of television with series like True Detective, Silo and The Last Of Us knocking it out the park recently. We’ve come a long way since the 90s when there was a clearer distinction between TV and films; now, the line between the two is almost non-existent.
This new golden age does come with some downsides, however. The wait between seasons is almost unbearably long, and that certainly has been the case with AppleTV+’s Severance. The series, which follows a group of Lumon employees as they discover the disturbing truth about their company, gets its name from a procedure our characters have gone through. A severance procedure separates your work self (an innie) from your outside self (an outie), which sounds like a great idea – though if that were the case, then Severance would be a much less interesting show.
Episode 1 of Severance season 2 picks up with Mark (Adam Scott) waking up rather panicked after the events of the season 1 finale. You can’t really blame him; not only did Mark and his team manage to take control over their outies, but he also found out the workplace’s wellness officer Ms. Casey is outie Mark’s dead wife.
Mark finds his entire team having been replaced with new people. Instead of Dylan, Irving and Helly R, Mark is greeted by Mark W, Gwendolyn and Dario R at their little cubicle, and Ms Huang, the new and very young deputy manager. She informs Mark that five months have passed since their little stunt in the outside world. Mark and his old team have also become the face of a new movement seeking more rights for innies.
Episode 1 introduces a lot of new characters while also bringing back fan favourites like Mr Milchick, but overall, it’s a lot to take in. It’s not a criticism, just a friendly piece of advice to go into Severance with your full focus and attention. The first episode of the season throws us into the deep end straight away and offers no answers. Unlike Silo, which gave us an immediate relief by dedicating the entire first episode to Juliette, Severance aims to test your patience and ability to withstand such tension.
There are some really nice, quieter character moments in the episode, too. As Mark is finally reunited with his old team, they’re all over the place emotionally. Dylan (Zack Cherry) has a whole family on the outside and Helly (Britt Lower) is actually Helena Eagan, the daughter of the company’s CEO. But it’s Irving (John Turturro) who perhaps had the most tragic visit outside, learning that Burt (Christopher Walken) was already in a relationship. Dylan and Irving have a really lovely moment where Dylan comforts the latter, assuring that there is still purpose for him.
Episode 1 throws a lot at you, but it also promises much for the season. Ben Stiller is in the director’s chair for the premiere and will also be directing the majority of the episodes. There is, and always has been, a slight edge of comedy to Severance, maybe thanks to just how unbelievable it all gets. The series never takes itself too seriously, even though it fully commits to its logic-defying plot. Season 2 promises to be even wilder than season 1. We can’t wait to see how it unfolds.
Severance season 2 episode 1 is now streaming on AppleTV+.
