Severance stars have hinted that season 1 could feel different upon rewatching due to new developments in season 2. The series, created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle, premiered in 2022 and quickly earned critical praise. Starring Adam Scott as Mark, Severance revolves around employees at Lumon Industries who undergo a procedure that separates their work memories from their personal memories. Severance has won awards for Best Drama Series at the Critics’ Choice Awards, along with multiple Emmy nominations. Severance season 2 is set to premiere on January 17, 2025, on Apple TV+.
During an exclusive interview with Screen Rant‘s Liam Crowley, series stars John Turturro, Zach Cherry, and Britt Lower discuss how season 2 promises to expand on the ‘Outies,’ the versions of the characters that exist outside the workplace. The stars emphasize how exploring the Outies could reframe season 1, making rewatching essential to grasp the connections between the characters’ dual lives fully. Turturro compares the show to a vinyl, while Cherry teased that Season 2 may reveal far more about Dylan’s Outie. Lower described the series as a puzzle with the set design constructed to reward engagement. Check out their interview below:
Turturro: It depends on how curious and obsessive or perverse you are, but I don’t know. I think there is a connection. It’s like when you used to buy a record. There was the A-side, there was the B-side. If you think of it that way, there is a connection, but maybe not. I’m not sure about that. I think that’s one of the mysteries of the show and one of its strengths is that we do have the capacity to be ignorant. They say ignorance is bliss about where we come from or our past, our baggage. So the show plays with that and it plays with our separation for our work life and our personal life.
Cherry: I mean, I think there are, certainly, in Season 1 we learned very, very little about Dylan’s outie and then near the end we start to learn about it and then we learn a lot more this season. I think there are definitely things that if I were to think back or watch moments from Season 1 that take on a new color based on that new information. Your mileage may vary on that. It depends how perverse you are, as John said.
Turturro: You can watch it backwards, forwards.
Lower: I think there’s something to be found in a rewatch for sure. Every prop and line of dialogue has been really cared for by the cast and the crew. It’s this giant puzzle that we’ve built and we all enjoy detailing each of the puzzle pieces for the audience to then kind of be in conversation with us about.
What This Means For Understanding Severance’s Characters
The Second Season Promises To Develop The Characters’ Outies & Innies
Exploring more of the ‘Outies’ in season 2 could provide a more complete understanding of the dual lives depicted in Severance. In season 1, the audience was primarily introduced to the severed work personas at Lumon Industries, with only glimpses of their ‘Outie’ counterparts, the ‘Innies’. With season 2, this dynamic may shift toward examining the ‘Innies’ and offering insights that could clarify or even further complicate Severance’s narrative.
Moreover, Lower’s comments regarding the production design suggest that every prop, line of dialogue, and visual detail holds potential significance to the plot. As she noted, season 2 might encourage rewatching season 1 with a deeper understanding of the connections between the characters’ work and personal lives.
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Also, the production team and cast have accentuated the deliberate choices behind Severance’s development. Cherry noted that the limited information about the ‘Outies’ in season 1 was intentional, designed to foreshadow upcoming developments for the characters, along with capturing the audience’s attention. Season 2’s expanded focus on the ‘Outies’ could recontextualize scenes from season 1.
Our Take on How Severance’s Season 2 Could Redefine Season 1
Season 1 Could Challenge What We Know In Season 2
Season 2 including new dimensions to the characters’ ‘Outies’ is an exciting prospect for viewers. It’s infrequent for a show to make rewatching feel essential, but Severance’s attention to detail makes it uniquely suited for this. Whether rewatching from beginning to end or even backward, as Turturro suggests, nuanced insights about the characters are likely to emerge. By examining the ‘Outies’ more closely, the series could challenge assumptions formed in season 1. These revelations have the potential to enrich Severance’s narrative and deepen the audience’s understanding of the characters’ already fractured lives.
Severance is a psychological thriller series featuring Adam Scott as Mark Scout, an employee at Lumon Industries who undergoes a “severance” procedure to separate his work and personal memories. However, as work and life personas mysteriously begin to collide, it quickly becomes clear that not all is as it seems. Created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle, Severance is one of the biggest hits on Apple TV+.
- Release Date
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February 18, 2022
- Cast
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Adam Scott
, Britt Lower
, Zach Cherry
, Tramell Tillman
, Jen Tullock
, Dichen Lachman
, Michael Chernus
, John Turturro
, Christopher Walken
, Patricia Arquette
, Sarah Bock
, Marc Geller
, Michael Cumpsty - Character(s)
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Mark Scout
, Helly Riggs
, Dylan George
, Seth Milchick
, Devon
, Ms. Casey
, Ricken Hale
, Irving Bailiff
, Burt Goodman
, Harmony Cobel
, Miss Huang
, Kier Eagan
, Doug Graner - Seasons
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2
- Story By
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dan erickson
- Writers
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Dan Erickson
- Showrunner
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Dan Erickson
, Mark Friedman