It’s been almost three years since Dan Erickson’s mind-splitting sci-fi series “Severance” blew audiences away and left them begging for more with a cliffhanger ending. Season 2 is finally almost here, and Apple TV+ has dropped a trailer that reveals some unexpected consequences of the rebellion.
A quick recap, since it’s been a while. “Severance” centers on a biotech company called Lumon Industries that has found an innovative new approach to work-life balance (and, more importantly, protecting company secrets). Employees voluntarily have their minds divided into an “Outie,” who experiences and remembers everything outside the office, and an “Innie,” who only experiences and remembers life at work. For the Outties, it’s a great deal: all their waking hours are leisure hours. But for the Innies, work is an inescapable prison.
Well, almost inescapable. At the end of “Severance” season 1, Mark S. (Adam Scott), Helly R. (Britt Lower), and Irving B. (John Turturro) were able to temporarily wake up on the outside, thanks to the diligent efforts of their coworker, Dylan G. (Zach Cherry). During the escape, Helly used a speech that her Outie was supposed to deliver as an opportunity to blow the whistle on the suffering of Lumon’s Innies. Meanwhile, Mark realized that their wellness counsel Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman) is actually his Outie’s supposedly deceased wife, but only managed to deliver the ambiguous message “she’s alive!” before being pulled back under.
Check out the “Severance” season 2 trailer above for a taste of what comes next.