Dylan G. stands cautiously next to Mr. Milchik. What he sees before him looks strange, wonderful, and yet…impossible?
The only thing Dylan G. can think suddenly fights it way out loud. “Holy sh*t.”
Mr. Milchik’s response is, per usual, as smooth as it is immediate. “The holiest.”
And dear reader, after the long wait (April 8, 2022 to January 17, 2025), we’re all feeling a little like Dylan G. Now, the first episode of Severance’s sophomore might not be an action-packed slug-fest filled with subterfuge, explosions, and infant theft like the first season’s finale could leave you to believe.
But finally seeing Mark S. and the MDR squad back in the severed floor should hopefully cause you to quietly utter your own “holiest sh*t.”
Now, there’s much to be said, and much we *can’t* say for the sake of spoilers. Let’s first kick it off with the trailer in case you haven’t seen that, or need a brief sneak peek at what the second season is bringing to table.
Can I just leave the video there and you go watch before reading the rest? Please?
Okay, FINE. A review is a review, and a short review is what we’ll leave you with after watching the first episode.
Mark S., played by Adam Scott, opens the episode with one of the most intriguing, technically wild, and jarring sequences. Ben Stiller spoke about it recently, saying it took about 5 months to film, so we can see why we’ve had to wait all this time for a new season.
As Mark S. runs frantically through the halls of the severed floor, looking for the answers he uncovered at the end of Season 1, he’s hit with a shock at the MDR room. Instead of his team, with Zach Cherry’s Dylan G., Britt Lower’s Helly R., and John Turturro’s Irving (Irv) B., we see a new group of coworkers. Alia Shawkat plays the inquisitive Gwendolyn Y., Stefano Carannate fumbles his English and slips into Italian as Dario R., and Bob Balaban mourns the expected name mix-ups as Mark W.
These new characters fit perfectly into the world, and while onscreen, you feel the same frustrated confusion that Mark S. portrays as he’s in a familiarly unfamiliar situation.
It’s not long before he defies, schemes, and causes issues for the new group, ultimately leading to being reunited with his old team. Again, this is a spoiler-free review, you saw the old crew in the trailer, you were warned!
Now, what follows is an emotional, interior look at the characters that we know, their relationships, and the bond that they share. Or did share. Is it the same? Has their experience from the finale changed things forever? Will their altered understandings of Lumon, its practices, and the lives of their outies make the severed floor a living hell?
The ending of the episode, in true Severance fashion, leaves the audience with more questions than answers, but it also ends on a comforting note. The diligent workers of MDR may not have all the tools they need, all the answers they seek, or the wisdom to know what questions are better left unanswered, but they have each other.
And for now…that’s going to have to work. And they will have to work. They return to their desks, metaphorically crack their knuckles, and the mouse trackballs and keyboards begin to move and clack with their familiar paths and sounds.
Well, until those final few frames. Join us each week for more spoiler-free reviews, and questions that’ll go answered, and some stills from the show. Like you, we’re here to discover the truth, no matter the consequence.
Welcome back to Lumon!
SEVERANCE – SEASON 2
The highly anticipated second season of Apple’s Emmy and Peabody Award-winning workplace thriller “Severance” has made its global debut! From the unsevered minds of director and executive producer Ben Stiller and creator, writer and executive producer Dan Erickson, the first episode of “Severance” season two debuted on Apple TV+ Friday, January 17th, 2025, and one new episode will drop every Friday through March 21.
From AppleTV+:
“Severance” Season Two
In “Severance,” Mark Scout (Adam Scott) leads a team at Lumon Industries, whose employees have undergone a severance procedure, which surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives. This daring experiment in “work-life balance” is called into question as Mark finds himself at the center of an unraveling mystery that will force him to confront the true nature of his work… and of himself. In season two, Mark and his friends learn the dire consequences of trifling with the severance barrier, leading them further down a path of woe.
Season two of the broadly acclaimed workplace thriller from director and executive producer Ben Stiller, and creator Dan Erickson, reunites its ensemble cast of stars including Emmy Award nominee Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, Dichen Lachman, Emmy Award winner John Turturro, Academy Award winner Christopher Walken and Academy and Emmy Award winner Patricia Arquette, and welcomes new series regular Sarah Bock.
“Severance” is executive produced by Ben Stiller, who also directs five episodes this season in addition to directors Uta Bresiewitz, Sam Donovan and Jessica Lee Gagné. The series is written, created and executive produced by Dan Erickson. “Severance” season two is also executive produced by John Lesher, Jackie Cohn, Mark Friedman, Beau Willimon, Jordan Tappis, Sam Donovan, Caroline Baron, Richard Schwartz, Nicholas Weinstock. In addition to starring, Adam Scott and Patricia Arquette serve as executive producers. Fifth Season is the studio.
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