The three-year wait is over as Severance returns to Apple TV+ for its sophomore season later this month. While many shows would suffer from a long hiatus, Severance Season 2 is not one of those programs, judging by its overwhelmingly positive reception in the initial reviews.
Severance follows a group of employees at Lumon Industries who sign up for a special procedure to divide their memories between their work and personal lives. By the end of Season 1, the severed employees begin questioning the mysterious Lumon and their intentions with his program.
Per Apple’s synopsis, “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.”
Severance stars Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, Tramell Tillman, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, Dichen Lachman, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Patricia Arquette. Severance is written, created, and executive produced by Dan Erickson. Ben Stiller is a director and executive producer.
What do Severance Season 2 reviews say about the show’s return?
With the review embargo lifted, critics have been raving about Severance Season 2.
Variety’s Alison Herman described the new season as “surreal, stylish, and worth the wait.” In her review, Herman wrote: “Whatever the destination Severance is aiming for, the journey dramatizes the arbitrary rules and compartmentalized nature of modern work better than anything else on air.”
Rolling Stone’s Alan Sepinwall called Season 2 “fantastic” and just as “thrillingly twisted as before.” Even with the long layoff, Sepinwall wrote, “Severance has earned the right to go in whatever wild, seemingly unsustainable direction its creative team wants.”
Decider’s Nicole Gallucci labeled the second season a “masterpiece” that is “more complex than the first.” Gallucci also touched on the multi-year gap and how “the wait was well worth it.”
Indiewire’s Ben Travers gave a grade of A- to Severance Season 2. “Even as Severance adds more to its plate in Season 2, the series never feels overstuffed, bogged down, or in too deep,” Travers wrote. Travers also highlighted the show’s “relatable premise, its talented cast and crew, as well as its zeitgeist-clinching popularity.”
Severance Season 2 premieres on Apple TV+ with the first episode on Friday, January 17, 2025. Season 2 will consist of 10 episodes, with one episode releasing every Friday through March 21.
