Severance Season 2 Review
Nearly three years ago, Apple TV+ premiered Severance. Created by Dan Erickson and co-produced and directed by Ben Stiller, the show, as continued in Severance Season 2, follows a group of employees working in the ominous Lumon Industries. The main cast of characters all had the severance procedure, a process that splits the memories of its employees’ work and personal lives, essentially making them two people. But identity isn’t that simple, is it? That’s the first of the many exciting moral and philosophical questions Severance is built on.
The Journey Continues
The first season focused heavily on this idea through the lens of our protagonists. Each of them seeks individual freedom and an identity, though they all take their own paths to finding these answers. There are, of course, other questions that the show offers up: What is going on at Lumon? What’s the deal with Ms. Casey? What does MDR really do? But ultimately, they all come back to that very first question: “Who are you?”
Britt Lower & Adam Scott in Severance Season 2 courtesy of Apple TV+
Expanding Horizons
Severance Season 2 continues asking this question and expands its reach beyond the core team in MDR. While they’re taking more than ever on their plate this season on a thematic level, let us not forget that the season one finale left them with plenty of massive plot beats to return to as well. Lumon’s retaliation efforts serve these arcs, pushing the team to look inward, ask what they truly want, and what lines they are willing to draw in order to get it.
Mark Scout (Adam Scott) is determined to find his outie’s wife, but he’s still dealing with his feelings for Helly Riggs (Britt Lower), who is on her own and particularly interesting path this season. With her having learned of her outie’s identity, Helly’s focus in this second season is used for stellar character growth for both versions of herself. Lower’s performance especially shines as Helena Eagan, making her almost sympathetic as you start to see the cracks under the surface of the heir to Lumon.