Review: 'Severance' season 2 will blow your mind

The first season of “Severance,” set back in 2022, put a new spin on the concept of being your own boss.

We were taken inside the mysterious, dazzling white offices of Lumon Industries. There, employees in the “Macro Data Improvement Department” have chips implanted in their brains to distinguish between their at-work selves (“innies”) and their out-of-office selves. yourself (“outie”). Outside workers get paid, enjoy personal time, and outsource work to outside contractors. A mobile worker's identity is only valid when they enter the office. They see reality, but the moment they time out, they time back in again.

We, the viewers of Uncut Reality, have had to consciously endure nearly three full years since his heart attack in the season 1 finale. A group of Lumon's friends, led by Mark (Adam Scott), orchestrate a virtual escape and activate their consciousness in the outside world to expose Lumon's abuses and uncover his secrets. The film ends with a cliffhanger reveal by Mark's supposedly dead wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman). ), was captured alive as a Lumon employee. Oh, and for the fast-forward brain chip!

Luckily, “Severance” returns to Apple TV+ on Friday, and it looks like its creator has put all his time away productively to good use. The season marks a new twist on TV's most ambitious, aggressive and all-out fun show. It's MC Escher's maze, and the complexity of its plot never gets in the way of its voice, heart, or sense of humor.

I watched all 10 episodes and there's very little I can say in good conscience about what happened in them. Innie Mark returns to work with the vague goal of freeing Outie's wife, but his quest is complicated by his own romance with co-worker Helly R. (Britt Lauer). . Of course, there are more complications in the outie world. Helena Egan, scion of the cult family that founded Lumon.

Mark, fearing punishment for Innie's escape, is instead welcomed into the office as a hero. A “macrodata uprising” prompted fundamental changes at the company, he said. There are new freedoms, new perks, and new vending machine snacks. Now let's get back to work!

I have to question this story. There are many questions to ask about “disconnection.'' Created by Dan Erickson and executive produced by Ben Stiller (he also directed some episodes), the series will explore whether all the teases will pay off and whether all the threads will succeed. It's the kind of show that invites you to parse, rewatch, and look for clues. Whether the ultimate outcome is to “stick to the landing” will be tied in a bow.

Certainly, there are many more surprising and confusing details this season. Even more disturbing Egan family lore. A meadow where a herd of goats grazes and also serves as a huge conference room. And Miss Fan (Sarah Bock) is the new manager, who happens to be a young kid and seems to have wandered off the set of a Wes Anderson movie.

But the important thing in continuing these types of puzzle box mysteries is to maintain the momentum of the series. And in this regard, Severance stands at the top of the heap of series that have tried to recreate the Rubik's Cube fun of Lost. It feels weird and unsettling, but it never feels boring or like homework. We understand that tension and comedy are partners, and that both come from the unexpected.

We also understand that shows like this need to grow or die. Unlike the recent “Squid Game,” which mostly added stylish variations on the first season's bloodletting, the new season of “Severance” has a few knockout episodes that change the format and setting of the series. They are increasing their stakes and scale. (Tighten your straps for Episode 4.)

The cast includes several familiar character actors (Gwendoline Christie, Merritt Wever, John Noble), and their appearances are well-chosen and more than just flex from a highly rated show. I can feel it.

It's about Lemon's staff, including Harmony Korbel (Patricia Arquette) and Seth Milczyk (charismatic Trammell Tillman), a cheerful and intimidating manager who has his own struggles with the pressures and humiliations of the job. Expand your knowledge. It delves deeper into the loneliness and self-doubt of Mark's coworkers Irving (John Turturro) and Dylan (Zack Cherry).

Most importantly, Severance expands on ideas, particularly around the premise of double consciousness, which is the source of several surprising twists and a fountain of questions about the nature of existence. . To what extent does the environment determine personality? Can an innie betray an outie's spouse? To borrow the title of a self-help book cleverly developed throughout the series, what makes you “the person you are?”

These mind games require skillful acting to be believable. The lower row shows how the same impulses that appear as ruthlessness in the foreign Helena become rebellious ferocity in the shy Helly. Switching between the moody and sarcastic Mark and the chipper and naive Inny, Scott has the same core personality and launders it like a freshly pressed work shirt.

In the first season, the idea of ​​separating your at-work and out-of-office selves is presented as a fascinating life hack. The second season explores more of the emotional reasons for wanting to disconnect from a new consciousness, such as loneliness, guilt, and fear of failure. For some, one's innie is not just a second self, but a second chance, an opportunity to create a spin-off that might become happier, better, and kinder. (The recurring theme of twins and doppelgangers emphasizes this concept.)

But innies may not want to think of themselves as someone else's undoing. The season picks up momentum as we confront the power imbalance between these bifurcated selves.

Outie Mark Scout and Innie “Mark S”. They may have fallen into an alliance (they don't even have custody of their full names), but do they really have the same goals? As the season hurtles towards its finale, which could serve as both a fascinating cliffhanger and an unforgettable ending, you'll be left wondering if they can truly be evenly matched. .

Understanding what “Severance” has to say about work culture, the dehumanization of workers, and how capitalism deems workers living full, messy lives as inconvenient It's not difficult. Rather, companies invent sophisticated surgical infrastructure to produce more productive workers, when real companies could soon use AI to do the same job cheaper. It's strange to imagine being deaf.

But Season 2 involves a different phenomenon. It is the alienation of the self from the self. That version of yourself in your brain is simply more extreme than the different versions of yourself you've already created on LinkedIn and Instagram, for example. In this way, “Severance” can also be compared to “The Substance”. “The Substance” depicts how modern pressures drive people to create optimized versions of themselves, with devastating consequences. We have met the enemy, says Disconnect, and they are us.