‘Severance’ Journeys Deeper Into Its Surreal Corporate Labyrinth With a Stranger and Stronger Second Season

Alci Rengifo

It has been almost three years since Apple TV’s “Severance” premiered as a surreal mystery that is more of a dark commentary on corporate workplaces. Nothing much has changed since then and this second season arrives with a wilder, trippier spirit. For those who didn’t tune in the first time, the plot is a Kafkaesque slow burner set within the sterile halls of Lumon Industries. Data inputter Mark (Adam Scott) became our main guide through the strange plot in which the office workers have chips implanted into their brains. This would make them into two different people: The “Innie” who spends the day inside the corporate office and “Outie” who lives life outside of work, both having their memories erased of their time inside and outside. The season ended with the cliffhanger of Mark leading some co-workers on a virtual breakout by getting hold of a key card that could activate their Innies in the Outie world. 

This is where the new season picks up. Mark is now more of an undercover operative, going back to work at Lumon’s macrodata refinement department with the mission of finding his wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman), who was presumed dead before Mark discovered she’s trapped at Lumon. Instead of being punished, Mark is received as a hero by colleagues like Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman). The “Macrodata Uprising,” as the breakout is being called, apparently inspired reforms in the office which include fresh perks and even new vending machines. After being told none of his co-workers wished to return, Mark panics and demands their return. He ends up back at the Severed Floor where indeed, his usual gang is back including Helly (Britt Lower), Irving (John Turturro) and Dylan (Zach Cherry).  Now they have to deal with the emotional aftershocks of what they learned about their Outies. There is also a new manager, Miss Huang (Sarah Bock), who is basically a child with mysterious origins.

Ben Stiller returns as executive producer and director of several episodes, overseeing the expansion of the show’s style into something even more rich and edgy. Visually “Severance” grows eerier and unnervingly polished, like a corporate commercial turned into a nightmare. Hallways and offices feel even more claustrophobic. There’s a surrealist touch in a large conference room with pasture grazed by goats. There’s more scale to the storytelling as the writing begins to explore Lumon’s international reach. Yet, it’s inherent, uneasy effect comes from the performances and questions raised. Since Mark is technically someone else when he leaves Lumon, does that make him a cheater because of his relationship with Helly? Can Innie Mark trust the Outie? As for Helly’s character, Britt Lower gives her edges of dark comedy and tragedy. Her Outie turned out to be the daughter of the company’s CEO, so she concocts a lie for her co-workers when they try to share their experiences. She assures them her awakening was a total bore involving a mysterious “night gardener.” The fact that her romance is still going on with Mark makes the whole situation doubly complicated. Patricia Arquette is also fantastic in her role as Ms. Cobel into a person at war with herself, as if unable to process the knowledge of her reality. 

These performances and character developments are essential considering “Severance” is never about easy explanations. We still don’t even know what Macrodata Refinement even does. We are in the dark with Mark as he looks for clues and demands answers. When he finds that giant pasture full of goats, his questions are only answered by more cryptic dialogue from the woman who seems to be the goat keeper (Gwendoline Christie of “Game of Thrones” fame). Clearly, this not just surrealism for its own sake and with each episode, more is revealed about this company having an agenda that goes beyond basic corporate goals. How corporations hijack and manipulate history is brilliantly captured in an early scene where Mark and team are shown an animated film produced by Lumon (with narration by Keanu Reeves) celebrating their uprising as a positive event that led to great reforms and better snacks. The suspense is balanced with more existential questions that prove quite moving. Dylan (Zach Cherry) is now aware his Outie self is married with children, which inspires envy from the innie laboring away in a soulless office space. Irving grapples with the feelings of his affair with the now-retired Burt (Christopher Walken) last season, who he discovered is in a relationship in the Outie world. The emotional scars run deep and Irving can’t even initially share his story with the group without breaking down.

“Severance” works like a hallucination of late stage capitalism’s offices. Everyone is a slave to unknown forces, or to superiors who can be cruel without even thinking about it. Dylan is granted 18 minutes to spend with his outie’s wife, because he’s been so well-behaved at work. Bureaucratic lingo is used to cover up truth. Mark is certain Gemma is somewhere in the company headquarters, which seems so vast and endless, but only comes across one surreal challenge after another. In the Outie world, there is human suspense with his sister, Devon (Jen Tullock) becoming increasingly suspicious of the nature of Lumon, despite her husband Ricken (Michael Chernus) being a total sucker for what the idea of the company promises. Instead of becoming frustrating, the cryptic nature of “Severance” makes it addictive. Some slow burner series get so pretentious they turn into a slog. Stiller and team have made an enrapturing critique of the very environment of corporate life, if not our entire economic order. This show understands what we mean when we think about our jobs, hierarchies and the system itself and can’t think of any more apt term than unreal.

“Severance” season two begins streaming Jan. 17 with new episodes premiering Fridays on Apple TV+.