After more than two years — and a wildly suspenseful Season 1 cliffhanger — “Severance” is finally back.
Apple TV+ released a teaser for Season 2 of the workplace thriller, which will debut on the streamer on Friday, Jan. 17. The 10-episode season will drop weekly episodes on Fridays after that.
Adam Scott stars as Mark Scout, who works a desk job at a mysterious biotech company known as Lumon. The controversial corporation performs procedures in which employees’ psyches are bifurcated to separate work memories from personal memories, creating Innies (employees’ at-work personas) and Outties (their selves outside of the office). Patricia Arquette stars as the manager of the severed employees, as well as Mark’s next-door neighbor. As the show progresses, Mark makes curious discoveries that call into question the intentions of the company.
The Season 2 logline says, “Mark (Scott) and his friends learn the dire consequences of trifling with the severance barrier, leading them further down a path of woe.”
In addition to Scott and Arquette, the rest of the main cast includes Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Jen Tullock, Dichen Lachman, Michael Chernus, John Turturro and Christopher Walken. Eight more joined the cast of Season 2, including “Search Party” star Alia Shawkat, “Game of Thrones” alum Gwendoline Christie, Merritt Wever, Bob Balaban, Robby Benson, Stefano Carannate, John Noble and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson.
The new teaser doesn’t show much, other than the main cast of characters returning to the halls of Lumon. There’s also a quick look at Christie’s mysterious character, who cryptically tells them “You should’ve left.”
Season 1 of “Severance” premiered on the streamer on Feb. 18, 2022, to critical acclaim. Executive producer Ben Stiller directed six episodes of the first season, and Aoife McArdle helmed the fourth, fifth and six episodes. Stiller announced in January that production for Season 2 had resumed, posting on social media a photo of Scott dashing down a hallway with the caption: “Back to work.” Shooting had paused in May 2023 when the WGA strike began.
Following the finale of Season 1, Variety spoke with the creator and stars of “Severance” to unpack the twist and discuss what could come for Season 2.
Creator Dan Erickson executive produces in addition to Mark Friedman, Chris Black, John Cameron and Andrew Colville. Additional executive producers include Stiller, Nicky Weinstock and Jackie Cohn for Red Hour Productions. Arquette and Scott produce as well.
Watch the trailer below.