Calling all Innies and Outies! We’ve finally got a full trailer for Severance Season 2 — and it gives us some much-needed answers about what happened following Season 1’s cliffhanger ending.
To recap: Season 1 ended with severed Lumon employees Mark S. (Adam Scott), Helly R. (Britt Lower), Irving B. (John Turturro), and Dylan G. (Zach Cherry) staging a daring escape from Lumon. Lumon caught on and switched them back, but not before Mark revealed that his Outie’s late wife Gemma is still alive as Lumon wellness counselor Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman). I’m screaming just thinking about it (and I’ve been thinking about it for the past two and a half years).
So what are the Innies’ next steps, now that they’ve been found out? And how will Lumon retaliate?
According to the trailer, they won’t. Instead, severed floor manager Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman) claims the Innies have become famous in the outside world, sparking severance reforms across Lumon. Like with all things at Lumon, this sounds fishy as can be — but at least there’s no major punishment for the Innies. (At least, not yet.)
With that direct threat out of the way, Mark’s Innie turns to his new mission: Getting Ms. Casey out of Lumon. Oh, and if he and his fellow macrodata refiners can find out just what it is they’re working on along the way, that would be great. According to a newly introduced Lumon higher-up (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), “their work will be remembered as one of the greatest moments of this planet.” So that means it’s either very good, or very sinister. Since it’s Lumon, let’s go with the latter.
On the outside, Mark and his sister Devon (Jen Tullock) try to unravel the Gemma mystery themselves, along with why Ms. Cobel/Mrs. Selvig (Patricia Arquette) is so obsessed with their family. Rooting for them! Not just because I like them, but because I, too, need to know.
But Mark isn’t the only Outie getting the spotlight this season. We also see Irving’s Outie making some mysterious calls from a phone booth — and maybe even meeting up with Burt’s (Christopher Walken) Outie. Meanwhile, Helly’s Outie, aka Helena Eagan, heir to Lumon, is in full damage control mode. There are no signs of Dylan’s Outie yet, but I’m sure Severance won’t leave him out.
All of this is already a lot to take in, and I haven’t even touched on Lumon’s new severed employees, played by Alia Shawkat, Bob Balaban, and Stefano Carannante; the revamped goat room; or Ms. Huang (Sarah Bock), the literal child serving as the severed floor’s deputy manager.
The questions keep piling up, so praise Kier Severance Season 2 is almost here to (hopefully) answer them.
Severance Season 2 premieres Jan. 17 on AppleTV+.