Warning: The following article contains major spoilers to Severance season one—continue reading at your own risk…
The work-life balance is a feat employees have strived to achieve since Henry Ford implemented the eight-hour work day.
In AppleTV+’s new Orwellian thriller Severance, this concept is explored under the guise of a totalitarian workplace.
If, like us, you’ve already binged the nine-episode series—and read the accompanying book The Lexington Letters—then you’ll be hankering for the science-fiction, psychological drama to come back on our screens.
In fact, we’ll go as far to say we’d happily undergo the severance procedure to pass the time until the highly-anticipated second season is released.
With some critics calling the nail-biting season finale the best in recent memory, the haunting show examines the near-distant-future of dystopian corporate America and the repercussions technology can have on its workers.
So without further ado, grab your Lumon collateral, prepare to refine some macro data and keep scrolling below for everything we know about Severance’s second season.
Wait… So What Is Severance Actually About?
As per AppleTV+’s official release, Severance follows Adam Scott’s Mark Scout, an employee at draconian tech company Lumon Industries, who elects to undergo the severance procedure. This operation “surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives”.
This means that when Mark is at work, he retains no memories of his personal life, or his ‘outie’. When Mark is out of office, he has no recollection of what he did during the day or of his ‘innie’. Terrifying, right?
Both Mark’s have no concept of what his work as a macro data refiner is, however he knows it’s “mysterious and terribly important”.
The life of Mark’s ‘innie’ is changed forever when his colleague and best friend mysteriously disappears and is replaced by Helly R (Britt Lower), a reluctant ‘innie’ who is constantly striving to leave Lumon, much to Mark’s dismay.
Over the course of the show, Mark finds himself “at the centre of an unravelling mystery that will force him to confront the true nature of his work… and of himself”.
With Ben Stiller directing the anxiety-inducing show and Hollywood heavyweights Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette and Christopher Walken involved, this is one show you’ll be adding straight to the top of your “must watch” list.
What Happens At The End Of Severance Season 1?
While the plot of Severance’s first season leads up to the ‘innies’ of Mark and his fellow co-workers Dylan, Irving and Helly overtaking the consciousness of their ‘outies’ to warn against the detriments of the severance procedure, what the showrunners had in store was much more juicer.
The season finale can be broken down into three mammoth plot twists that no one could have predicted.
It’s revealed that Helly R is actually Helena Egan, heir to Lumon Industries and the company’s future CEO. Throughout the season we saw Helly struggle to get her ‘outtie’ to resign, leading to her to self-harm to make sure she’d never return to Lumon.
Thanks to the big twist, we finally understand why Helly’s outtie was so adamant about her remaining at Lumon, with Helena optionally undergoing the procedure as a political play in an attempt to make severance compulsory.
We see Helly find out the truth about herself in real time, and despite her efforts to tell the truth about the hostile working environment the ‘innie’s’ must endure, she’s cut off at the last minute.
The second big twist is Mark discovering that his boss, Mrs Cobel, is actually the same woman he know’s on the outside world as his elderly neighbour Mrs Selvig. Unfortunately in doing so he unintentionally reveals the ‘innies’ have taken over consciousness from their ‘outies’ leading to Lumon to realise they’re compromised.
The third and final twist is Mark discovering that Lumon wellness coach, Miss Casey, is actually his wife Gemma who he believed to have died in a car crash. Gemma’s death is the catalyst for Mark to undergo the procedure, so him discovering and announcing that Gemma is still alive—but held captive at Lumon—will have major ramifications in Season 2.
All The Unanswered Questions Severance Season 2 Needs To Address
The first season of Severance ends on a huge cliff hanger—the ‘innie’s’ plans are foiled and their ‘outies’ will wake up with no knowledge of what they’ve actually done. So, season 2 will have to cover a lot of ground to keep us satisfied.
As far as unanswered questions are concerned, we’re pretty much as in the dark as when we first started the show.
Will we find out what the numbers the macro data refinement team signify? Are they actually killing people as the ‘innie’s’ speculate? Will we find out what the deal with the random goat room is? Do we ever uncover what the mysterious houses on Petey’s map are? Will Helly R be punished for her insubordination? Are the ‘innie’s’ actually in hell?
Most importantly, what does Lumon Industries actually do?! Ben Stiller, we hope you’re taking notes because the people need answers.
When Is Severance ‘Season 2’ Coming Out?
Thankfully for us, the second season of Severance is coming… eventually.
When can we expect Severance back on our screens? No formal announcement has been made yet so we guess that one’s up to God…er, Kier.
In an interview with Esquire, Ben Stiller revealed that he can say “almost nothing” about the upcoming season.
“We want to reward people for their enthusiasm and for caring so much about where it’s all going to go. There’s an overall plan for the show. I have an end point in mind, and I intentionally didn’t plan it season by season, because I wanted it to be flexible enough that we could get there in two seasons or six seasons,” he continued.
We’re manifesting a 10-season show, plus holiday spin offs.
While we’re waiting for Severance to return, you can check out our guide to the best movies and TV shows to binge watch.
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