'Severance' Season 2 Review

Ben Stiller's sophomore effort proves that the magic of Season 1 was no fluke

Note: I will try my best to avoid MAJOR spoilers but will need to talk about some aspects of the plot of this season and stuff that happened in Season One. If you are interested in the show but haven't yet watched any of it check out my piece on Season One here.

It’s funny to think back three years ago to 2022 when the first season of Severance quietly dropped on Apple TV+, a streaming service not known for its quality unless you’re a Ted Lasso fan. The first season was met with glowing reviews but it still flew under the radar, and for a while there with all the creative behind-the-scenes drama and the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes it wasn’t looking we’d ever get the second season of this show.

Now it seems like EVERYONE is talking about Severance, complete with their own theories about the show and its many mysteries.

And rightly so, because Season Two of Severance knocks it out of the park. And it’s impressive, because making any sort of second season of the show is hard: the drama that plagued this season is really only par for the course for many shows, and can lead to key personnel changes that have drastic affects. However, it is clear that showrunners Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson have clear visions for where this show is going, and although many questions from Season 1 finally get answered, there definitely is still a lot beneath the surface that gets alluded to with certain characters- namely John Turturro’s Irving- that will continue to keep the show as intriguing down the line.

Adam Scott is going full-throttle this season for the Emmy as both Mark Scout and Mark S., giving powerful and distinct performances as two sides of the same severed, troubled character we’ve come to care for. Most of this season revolves around the reveal right at the end of the first season, where Mark learns that his dead wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman) is actually alive and is none other than the severed wellness specialist, Miss Casey. Every choice that both Mark Scout and Mark S. make throughout the season is in some way related to this revelation, but seeing as Gemma means two different things to Mark’s two personalities, this leads to some interesting dramatic conflict. Especially in regard to Mark S’s relationship with Helly R. (Britt Lower), which was briefly set up at the end of last season with a quick elevator kiss.

Also complicating matters is the fact that Helly is now revealed to be Helena Eagan, the leader-in-waiting at Lumon Industries and the daughter of Jame Eagan (Michael Siberry). All eyes from Lumon leadership are turned on Mark toward the completion of the “Cold Harbor” file he has been working on, and it is up to newly promoted floor manager Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman, who manages to steal the show at every appearance) to ensure that that gets done, even if that means bringing back recently fired Irving and Dylan (Zach Cherry). All four of the main characters go through journeys of discovery this season that not only illuminate the goings-on at Lumon but also about their own characters. We learn more about Dylan’s home life and his alluded-to family, as well as more about Mark and Gemma’s life before her apparent “death”.

Ben Stiller directs four out of ten of the episodes this season and absolutely none of them miss, but the directing and writing crew he has assembled also did a remarkable job keeping the episode quality consistent throughout. This season also features some interesting character-focused episodes that are different from the usual fare of juggling multiple character threads, and although some complained of this being “filler” I found it to be refreshing. All I will say about the eventual finale is that it is quite gripping and exciting, but expect a whole lot of new questions in addition to those that will be answered.

Overall, Severance continues to be the best show currently streaming, and it’s been rewarding to find so many more people becoming fans in the past few months. Fingers crossed that Season Three can keep it going, there were some showrunner changes announced but Stiller and Erickson will be just as present as ever. This really should have been a three season show- as Season Two very much felt like a proper second act- but you know with this allegedly being the biggest Apple show ever that that’s not going to happen. Enjoy the run while it lasts!