'Severance' package: Dark comedy returns for season two on Apple TV+

Dan Erickson was in uncharted territory when he wrote his spec script for “Severance.”

He had never set foot on a soundstage before, but he knew the world of soul-crushing corporate jobs.

“I got to exercise a feeling I’d had for a long time, this feeling of discomfort and strangeness in the corporate world, and in the sad place that society seemed to be moving,” he says. “That I could put it out there and discover that people felt the same way was really cathartic.”

Erickson wouldn’t have known just how the series would resonate with audiences.

“I was pretty sure there was something special about it, but I didn’t know if anybody would agree with me,” Erickson says. “Up until the actual premiere, there was always the possibility that maybe it was a little too strange. But when it came out, it was the absolute best possible scenario.”

In “Severance,” Mark Scout, played by Adam Scott, leads a team at Lumon Industries, whose employees have undergone a severance procedure, which surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives. This daring experiment in “work-life balance” is called into question as Mark finds himself at the center of an unraveling mystery that will force him to confront the true nature of his work … and of himself.

In season two, Mark and his friends learn the dire consequences of trifling with the severance barrier, leading them further down a path of woe.

Season one of the workplace drama received worldwide acclaim from fans and critics alike, as the American Film Institute Award winner landed 14 Emmy Award nominations. The series also took home a Peabody Award, as well as Emmy Awards for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series and Outstanding Main Title Design, two Writers Guild of America Awards for Best New Series and Best Drama Series, two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, and nominations for the Producers Guild of America and Directors Guild of America awards.

The second season is currently airing a new episode each Friday through March 21 on Apple TV+.

Ben Stiller is the series director and jumped at the chance to work on the project.

“When I first read Dan’s script, it reminded me of these great workplace comedies that have emerged in the last 20 years, both in movies and television,” Stiller says. “I was excited by the show because the concept and idea was something I hadn’t seen before. There was such a fun challenge of exploring all of these different situations created by Dan’s premise, and the tone of the show had the ability to have weirdness and humor, and tension within it. And as we made the show, it’s obviously not really a comedy, but there is humor within it because there’s a weird, ironic nature to Dan’s writing and to the world he created. So these characters are basically in this workplace comedy, but yet they don’t know who they are, what they’re doing, or why they’re there.”

The returning cast includes Britt Lower as Helly R/Helena Eagan; Patricia Arquette as Harmony Cobel/Mrs. Selvig; John Turturro as Irving B; Zach Cherry as Dylan G; Tramell Tillman as Seth Milchick; Dichen Lachman as Gemma/Ms. Casey; Jen Tullock as Devon Scout-Hale; Michael Chernus as Ricken Hale; Sydney Cole Alexander as Natalie; and Christopher Walken as Burt Goodman.

New series regular Sarah Bock portrays Miss Huang, Milchick’s teenage assistant on the Severed Floor, and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as security chief Drummond.

Scott says in season one, Mark is losing faith in Lumon.

“In season two, it’s become ‘This company has been deceiving you. What are you going to do about it?’ Innie and Outie Mark are on similar tracks but dealing with it in completely different ways. And sometimes they’re on a collision course with each other.”

Stiller reveals that what this character goes through over the course of the season can get pretty extreme.

“Adam was stretched even more this season with the events that happened,” he shares. “He dug into that and explored it in a deep way because he has such a good understanding of the character and he knows Mark so well. Working with him, we were constantly talking about choices and the options of which way to go. He is having to live through a lot of high stakes experiences and emotionally charged situations that no person has ever had to go through. From the beginning, Adam made such a clear choice on how his innie was different from his outie and he built on that this season.”

'Severance' package: Dark comedy returns for season two on Apple TV+