Severance Season 2 Review

The three-year gap between “Severance” season 1 and season 2 left every fan on the edge of their seat because of the phenomenal cliff-hanger at the end of season 1. While no official release date has been confirmed, hopefully it won’t take as long for season 3 to arrive. For those unfamiliar with “Severance,” it is a show on Apple TV about Mark Scout (Adam Scott), an employee at this world’s giant corporation, Lumon. In this story, however, a process known as “severance” has changed the way Lumon treats its employees. “Severance” involves splitting the memories of an individual to essentially create two people in one body. Lumon uses this technology to make an employee who can turn on their work memory while at work (when they are known as “innies”) and turn on their outside memory when they are off the clock (the “outies”). Following Mark’s life (both innie and outie) as he discovers more and more about what Lumon really is and the moral dilemmas created from this hypothetical situation is what created the suspenseful, surreal, and capturing experience that drew people in. Spoilers ahead!

Season 2 continues directly after the finale of Season 1 with Mark’s innie returning to the office after telling his family on the outside that his dead wife, Gemma, is still alive. It keeps the same uniqueness of the original that made people gravitate towards the show but with a new, more serious tone. Where the first season sprinkled in humor, the characters have grown so much to the point where season 2 has no room for as much comedy as the first. The way the show is able to take character like Ms. Cobel (Patricia Arquette) and transforming her from a weird, suspicious manager at Lumon into an indignant person who is bitter about what Lumon did to her childhood is an example of how the season fleshes out the people of Keir. Speaking of Keir, Lumon’s history plays a more major role in this season as seen through the unsettlingly cold personality of Jame Eagan (Michael Siberry) and length of time alluded to by the “Gemma episode,” anybody who has watched the season knows what I’m talking about. 

By far the greatest continuation of season 2 is Gemma (Dichen Lachman), Mark’s allegedly dead wife. Below the Severed Floor at Lumon is where Gemma is, but she needs to go through it to get out. Mark is on the outside and anytime he gets close to Gemma he becomes severed and Mark S (his innie) appears. And the very end of the final episode of Season 2 when Mark’s innie decides to stay with Helly on the Severed Floor over leaving with Gemma left dust on my chin because it was on the floor for so long.

What I’m saying is if you are reading this and you haven’t watched the show, what are you doing? Watch it as soon as you get the chance and get ready for Season 3, whenever it comes out.