Despite filming now being deep into the shooting schedule, with leaks coming in from filming locations across New York State, reports are coming in that key cast and crew members are no longer getting along, and that delays to the long-awaited return of the show may be inevitable due to the ongoing TV writers strike.
It's perhaps a fitting tone for season two of Severance to be produced out of. Stars including Adam Scott and Patricia Arquette, have teased a "darker" look at Lumon's world for Severance season 2, suggesting we'll find out more about how exactly the show's dystopian scenario came to be — perhaps even reflective of the mood on set. Here's everything we know so far...
While we're holding our breath for a full Severance season 2 trailer to release soon (so far only a short teaser clip has been revealed), still images from some outdoor sets for season 2 of Severance are being distributed online, with superfans painstakingly studying their pixels for hints to answers to the show's mysteries, following the heart-stopping season one closer.
There's a lot riding on Severance season 2: it represents the cream of the crop from the Apple TV Plus TV show streaming library, alongside comedy Ted Lasso. The 2023 Golden Globes saw cast and crew walking the red carpets, with awards season bringing lots of interviews with the show's starring members, each beginning to share more details of season 2 of Severance, and giving us a taste of the mood and direction the show is about to take.
Season 2 of Severance will continue the story of the claustrophobic office. Falling somewhere between workplace comedy and sci-fi thriller, Severance's debut episodes had a unique twist, becoming an unlikely streaming hit for 2022. It's now looking to be Apple's leading streaming title for 2023.
Severance's first season ended with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger. Questions about its alternate-reality sci-fi world were left unanswered, and a growing base of hardcore fans were left pulling their hair out as to what would happen to the show's ragtag group of lovable outcasts.
That's where we come in. Apple TV Plus's first big hit rolled credits on the final episode of season one of Severance in April 2022, and now cast and crew are beginning to share details of what to expect when the show makes its inevitable return to our screens, now that season 2 has officially started filming. Over at iMore, we've been carefully curating all the latest goings on surrounding the show, and pulling them into this handy Severance Season 2 preview guide.
So what’s in store for Severance fans? Will the psychologically-trapped employees of Lumon ever find out the full details of their ‘real’ lives? And what the hell were those goats about?
Following news on the show regarding a filming location tip-off, with cast and crew seen shooting scenes in Hudson Valley in New York State — and images from the set leaking to the press — the latest rumors are pointing to a troubled on-set mood at the moment, with key crew falling out, and the Hollywood writers' strike wreaking havoc on the production schedule.
Read on for everything we know so far about Severance season 2, and keep this page bookmarked – we’ll be updating it every time fresh info on the show is released. And be warned: some spoilers may follow.
Let’s get you all up to speed first. For the sake of not wanting to spoil too many of Severance’s excellent secrets, here’s just a top-line overview of the show’s world – a mini Severance recap of the overall concept.
The Apple TV Plus show centers around the employees of Lumon, a biotechnology company that works on a mysterious project so secret that its details are obscured from even the rank and file employees that make up the majority of its staff.
To further protect the company’s secrets, a surgical procedure is in place that most members of staff must agree to – it’s the show’s central hook – where an employee’s memories are split in two, one focussing on their work lives, and the other on the personal lives and memories they’ve had since birth. The two can never come into contact – a Lumon employee turns up at work, enters the workplace, and forgets everything that ever happened during the work day when they leave, meaning that their professional memories effectively constitute a whole other life being lived, that of their so-called ‘innie’, separate and unknown to the personal life.
While some employees believe this separation – this ‘severance – keeps their lives free of the stresses of work, it essentially subjects the other side of their brain to a life of abstract enslavement. However, when new employee Helly (Britt Lower) joins the Lumon Macrodata Refinement team, it sparks a rebellious streak in division head Mark (Adam Scott) and his colleagues Dylan (Zach Cherry) and Irving (John Turturro), leading to startling revelations not only about the company they work for but also the outer lives they cannot access.
Adam Scott (Mark), Britt Lower (Helly), Zach Cherry (Dylan) and John Turturro (Irving) will be returning to the Macrodata department, while Patricia Arquette (Mrs Cobel) and Tramell Tillman (Mr Milcheck) will once again be enforcers. Ms Casey / Gemma, as played by Dichen Lachman will be back, as will our personal favorite character, the kind-hearted Burt, played by the legendary Christopher Walken.
Severance season 2: New cast members
The end of October 2022 saw a giant announcement of new talent joining the show, too.
Getting ready to enter the Lumon offices are Emmy nominee Gwendoline Christie (star of the recent Star Wars movie reboots, and a Game of Thrones fan favorite) Oscar and Emmy nominee Bob Balaban (a regular in such Wes Anderson movies as Moonrise Kingdom and The French Dispatch), Robby Benson (the Beast from Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast – no, seriously!), Stefano Carannante (Mirabilia), John Noble (star of Fringe and the one who really grossly eats tomatoes in Lord of the Rings), Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (The Tourist), Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development and Search Party), and Merritt Wever (Godless).
“We already have an incredible new set of cast members," Britt Lower told The Hollywood Reporter(opens in new tab) at the 2023 Golden Globes. "I’m geeking out about all of them. Honestly that’s all I can think about. They’re really dynamite”.
But could we have some more comedy luminaries join the cast? And even one of the most famous people on the planet – a former president?
“For me there are a lot, people like Christopher Guest [the comedy genius behind Spinal Tap and Best in Show]. I kind of imagine ‘Wow that would be amazing if someday he might be a part of the show,’ ” director / executive producer Ben Stiller said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter(opens in new tab).
“It’s fun when you have a show like this where it allows for people to maybe come in for an episode or two but also fit into the world of Severance.”
In an even more ambitious move, Erickson teased that he was going to pitch a role to Barack Obama. "I think he’d be really good, he’d bring some gravitas,” the creator told The Hollywood Reporter.
Actress Jen Tullock, who plays Devon on the show, had some dream casting desires of her own too – she'd "pretty much give you every American dollar I’ve got in my bank account" to have Barbara Streisand make an appearance.
It's not just the cast that's expanding though, but the production team too. Fifth Season, the production outfit behind Severance (which was previously known as Endeavour Content), has been quietly adding to its ranks in preparation of season 2's kick off. It has added Ben Irving to its roster, who was previously acting as the BBC's acting director of drama. He'll be taking on the newly created position of creative director, UK Television at Fifth Season.
Severance showrunners' frosty relationships?
It may be their baby, but showrunners Dan Erickson and Mark Friedman are reported to not be on the best of terms(opens in new tab) as Severance season 2 production rolls on. According to Puck News(opens in new tab)Erickson and Friedman can barely stand to be in the same room any more, claiming the pair "hate" each other.
Puck News states that the show's return "has been plagued for months by pricey problems, including scrapped scripts and the dreaded showrunners who don’t speak to each other." It goes on to say that the pair "ended up hating each other" while making the first season. Freidman tried to leave the show as a result, but was persuaded to stick around for the next wave of episodes.
That doesn't seem to have worked out. Director Ben Stiller is said to have attempted replace Friedman but couldn't come up with someone he liked. Friedman is still in fold for now, but to make for a smoother long-term production of the show, House of Cards creator Beau Willimon has been hired to help with seasons three and four.
When a company, even a fictional one, has the power to make demands of their employee’s bodies, you can be sure they’ve got deep pockets and an even deeper reach into many aspects of the world they inhabit. Season 1 of Severance showed how many people in its universe actively protest against Lumon and its Severance procedure, and season 2 of the show will delve further into exactly how much influence Lumon has on the wider world.
"There’s definitely going to be some expansion of the world," Erickson said in an interview on season 2 with Esquire. "Within Lumon, we’re going to see more of the building, and we’ll see more of the outside world, too.
"There's an overall plan for the show. I have an end point in mind, and I intentionally didn't plan it season by season, because I wanted it to be flexible enough that we could get there in two seasons or six seasons. I want to allow us to be surprised by where the show goes. There’s a sense of what Lumon is trying to do and the role that our main characters are going to play in that, and where it all will culminate. It's really exciting to think about taking the next step on that trip."
Mark's past — will Severance season 1's mysteries be resolved?
Lots of that will tap into exploring the mystery of Mark and Gemma’s (Dichen Lachman) relationship, too, with the season 1 finale tightly tied to their fates.
"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? And that’s something that we don’t see this season, but we will in subsequent seasons," Erickson told Variety.
"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."
"I think that the biggest thing is how to maintain all those things in terms of the feeling of the show, while at the same time expanding the world since the end of the last episode," said Stiller in an August interview with Variety(opens in new tab).
"We’ve brought Mark and Irving and Helly to the surface, and I think those are storylines that people are going to be interested in. So, it’s going to be figuring out that balance. We’re writing and prepping right now to shoot in October."
“It’s so exciting,” Erickson added in a December 2022 interview with Gold Derby(opens in new tab). “There is an expanding world that I think is teased, and in a way is owed, by the way that we ended season 1. We did suddenly get some glimpses of Helly’s life on the outside. What is Dylan’s life on the outside? What is Irving’s life on the outside? They have stuff going on that we haven’t seen, that we haven’t explored yet. And of course, inside the company, there’s plenty of stuff that we haven’t seen yet. It’s expanding on both sides. That’s both the fun and the challenge.”
Britt Lower wouldn't be pressed on details of the scripts she's worked on for Severance season 2 when talking to The Hollywood Reporter in January 2023, but was excited to continue to explore Helly's Lumon experience:
“I can’t tell you anything! Yes [I was shocked and surprised]. It’s great. There’s just this sense of excitement that we’re getting to revisit this story, to step back into the characters shoes, literally and metaphorically. And to come back with the sense that the fans have received the show with such warmth and curiosity. There’s a lot of integrity with which we’re approaching this season so that we really deliver."