In February 2022, audiences discovered the mysterious world at Lumon Industries with the premiere of the Apple TV+ sci-fi drama Severance. At Lumon, several employees undergo “severance,” a medical procedure that separates your work memories from your life on the outside (“outies”). Severed employees (“innies”) cannot remember anything about themselves once they enter work. The severed employees essentially live two different lives.
Season 1 follows Mark Scout (Adam Scott) and his co-workers, who all underwent severance. When a new employee named Helly (Britt Lower) joins the company, Mark begins to question Lumon’s motives, which may or may not be sinister. Severance season 1 premiered to universal acclaim from critics and earned 14 Emmy nominations. Season 2 is on the way. Here’s everything we know so far.
Is there a release date for Severance season 2?
1.17.25 pic.twitter.com/JiJTOqebH2
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) July 10, 2024
Severance season 2 finally has a release date, but it’s not coming this year. Severance season 2 premieres on Apple TV+ with the first episode on Friday, January 17, 2025. Subsequent episodes will launch every Friday through March 21. There will be 10 episodes in season 2.
Is there a trailer for Severance season 2?
Yes! With the announcement of Severance‘s 2025 release date, Apple revealed its first teaser trailer for season 2. The 30-second clip shows several Lumon employees entering the elevator, where their work memories turn on.
Additionally, the trailer’s final moments showcase Gwendoline Christie’s mysterious character, who tells Mark and Elly that they should have left Lumon.
Who is in the cast of Severance season 2?
Season 1 cast members returning for season 2 include Adam Scott as Mark Scout, Zach Cherry as Dylan George, Britt Lower as Helly Riggs, John Turturro as Irving Bailiff, Dichen Lachman as Ms. Casey, Tramell Tillman as Seth Milchick, Jen Tullock as Devon Scout-Hale, Michael Chernus as Ricken Hale, Patricia Arquette as Harmony Cobel, and Christopher Walken as Burt Goodman. Sarah Bock has been cast as a series regular in season 2.
Other new cast members joining season 2 include Gwendoline Christie, Alia Shawkat, Merritt Wever, Bob Balaban, Robby Benson, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, and John Noble.
What happened at the end of Severance season 1?
In the riveting Severance season 1 finale, Mark, Helly, Dylan, and Irving initiate Lumon’s “overtime contingency,” allowing “innies” to be woken up in the outside world. Dylan sneaks into the security office and activates the overtime contingency for Mark, Helly, and Irving in the outside world.
At his sister’s house, Mark sees Harmony Cobel, and accidentally tips her off that overtime contingency has been activated. Harmony leaves the house and races to the Lumon Gala to stop Helly from speaking about the dangers of severance. Mark then learns about the death of his wife, Gemma. However, Mark finds a photo of Gemma, who is revealed to be Ms. Casey. Mark screams that Gemma is alive before he returns to his severed state.
Meanwhile, Helly learns she is Helena Eagan, the daughter of Lumon CEO James Eagan. Helly goes onstage at the Lumon Gala and reveals the hazards of severance before she’s tackled at the podium. Irving heads to Burt’s house and learns that Burt’s outie is in a relationship with another man. The episode’s closing moments see Milchick tackling Dylan, which turns off the overtime contingency.
What is the plot of Severance season 2?
Much of the plot details surrounding Severance season 2 are under wraps. The season 2 logline from Apple states: “Mark and his friends learn the dire consequences of trifling with the severance barrier, leading them further down a path of woe.”
However, Stiller told Variety that fans can expect season 2 to explore the budding relationship between Mark and Helly.
“There is this growing connection between Mark and Helly happening during the season, and then on the outside, Mark is trying to get over his wife’s death — and then we’re going to find out that his wife is still alive,” Stiller said. “To put him in this position where the Innie Mark, we’re starting to root for him and Helly, but now we also want to root for Outie Mark to find his wife. That’s an interesting juxtaposition and conflict we’ll explore in the second season.
In that same Variety piece, Erickson teased that season 2 will reveal why Lumon targeted Mark for severance.
“There’s a question of sort of who was targeted first: Was Mark targeted because of his relationship to Gemma, or was it the other way around,” Erickson said. “And that’s something that we don’t see this season, but we will see in subsequent seasons. That’s the big question, what is special about Mark? And is it actually that there’s something special about him, or is it more about Gemma, and he was sort of pulled in? Those are all left unanswered this season, but we will get into it.”
First image from season 2 features Mark at Lumon
Your innie has already seen this image.
A first look at Severance Season 2. pic.twitter.com/qCB5DZPIdl
— Apple TV (@AppleTV) June 10, 2024
On June 10, Apple released the first official look at season 2 with a new image. The photo depcits Mark holding blue balloons as he walks down a Lumon hallway.
Severance season 2 reportedly had a tumultuous production
No one’s going to the break room. We’re on the same really slow schedule we’ve always been on. Same target air date we’ve always had. Love our fans and each other and we all are just working to make the show as good as possible. 💙
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) April 28, 2023
In April 2023, Puck’s Matthew Belloni reported that Severance season 2 was “plagued for months by pricey problems, including scrapped scripts and the dreaded showrunners who don’t speak to each other.” Belloni wrote that Severance creator Dan Erickson and his co-showrunner, Mark Friedman, did not work well together. Friedman was planning to leave the show after season 1, but Ben Stiller, an executive producer and director on Severance, convinced him to stay.
“That didn’t work, scripts were a problem, and Apple — disappointed and embarrassed that they’d gone down the wrong road, but looking at Severance as a hit and an awards magnet — started talking about seasons 3 and 4,” Belloni wrote. Stiller hired House of Cards creator Beau Willimon to work on season 2. Willimon reportedly ended up working on the “back half of season 2.”
Stiller pushed back at the report when he replied to a tweet about season 2’s production problems and delays, saying Severance is on the “same really slow schedule” and “same target air date.”
