Overview
When you've just made the best new TV show of 2022 so far, how do you respond? If you're Apple TV+ and you've had the streaming world obsessing over Severance for the past two months, you double down, thankfully. In waffle party-worthy news, the instantly addictive Adam Scott-starring thriller has just been renewed for a second season. No one needs to be listening to defiant jazz today, clearly.
If you've missed the series so far, there's no better time to catch up — it drops its ninth and final season one episode this week, on Friday, April 8, and it's as phenomenal as everything in the show so far. The setup: a hellish office that'll feel familiar to anyone whose spent the nine-to-five grind sat at a desk, and yet is even more unnerving than your worst nightmare. And if you're wondering why the latter is the case, that's because Lumon Industries, the company as the series' centre, uses the futuristic technology that gives the program its title.
#Severance has been renewed for Season 2. https://t.co/SbEtvE1yj1
— Apple TV (@AppleTV) April 6, 2022
What is severance? It's a drastic work-life balance solution — the kind that Black Mirror might've dreamed up, or could've been used if Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was about punching the clock instead of romance. To be specific, it's a brain implant that separates parts of your mind, leaving one section to solely focus on work and the other to live the rest of your life free from knowing what you get up to in business hours.
That's the situation that Macrodata Refinement division employee Mark S (Scott, Big Little Lies) has willingly signed up for, all to help process his grief over the death of his wife. And he's happy with the scenario until his work BFF Petey (Yul Vazquez, The Outsider) leaves suddenly without saying goodbye, and new staff member Helly (Britt Lower, Future Man) comes in to replace him — and instantly starts questioning the insidious setup, the rules and restrictions needed to keep it in place, and why on earth her "outie" (as the outside versions of Lumon employees are known) agreed to this in the first place.
Taking cues from the likes of Devs, The Truman Show, The Matrix, The Office and Office Space — and serving up a surreal workplace that often feels like the green-hued employment-focused version of Twin Peaks' red room — Severance has constantly delivered both intrigue and surprises throughout its first season so far. That remains the case in its final season episode as well.
And, while this largely Ben Stiller-directed show has been diving deep into a mind-warping mystery that sounds like heaven but quickly proves anything but, it has also been smartly and savagely probing what it means to be a slave to the wage in 2022 — and what employers expect in return for a paycheque.
Exactly when Severance will return for season two hasn't yet been revealed, but the fact that it is coming back is worth celebrating with a music/dance experience.
Apple TV+ usually brings its hits back quickly, though — Ted Lasso backed up its first season the following year, for instance — so fingers crossed that Severance will be the best show of 2023 as well.
Check out the trailer for Severance below:
The first eight episodes of Severance's first season are available to stream via Apple TV+, with the ninth dropping on Friday, April 8. Season two doesn't yet have a release date, but we'll update you when it does.
While you're waiting, you can also read our full review of Severance season one.