Spoiler Warning: Severance Season 1A few days before the season one finale of Apple TV+’s excellent Severance, it was announced that the show would be receiving a second season. Let’s all thank Kier for that, as the episode ended with multiple cliffhangers, so it would’ve been incredibly disappointing if they never got resolved. The show stars Adam Scott as Mark, the leader of a team of “severed” workers (played by Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, and John Turturro) split into two separate personalities, one for inside the Lumen Industries office and another for outside. One personality is the so-called “innie” who is stuck in the office and the other is the “outie” who has no knowledge of the work they do every day.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Rounding out the large ensemble cast are Patricia Arquette as the severed team’s boss, Tramell Tillman as the terrifying office supervisor Milchick, Dichen Lachman as the office wellness counselor, Jen Tullock as Mark’s sister (and Michael Chernus, who plays her husband), and the legendary Christopher Walken as a coworker in the Optics and Design department.
The dark office comedy has proven to be a hit with audiences and critics alike. Creator Dan Erickson and directors Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle have created a surreal yet oddly relatable world. Viewers are dying to know what happens next after an incredibly intense finale where the innies finally get to escape the office and inform the outside world of the torture they experience every day. The sheer magnitude of the show as indicated by its large cast means there’s a lot for the show’s second season to cover, so let’s dive into some of the things we want to see when the show comes back.
The Search for Mark’s Wife
Apple TV+
In the final moments of the explosive last episode of season one, Mark’s innie informs his sister and brother-in-law that his wife is still alive. This is the payoff to the twist at the end of episode seven that Mark’s wife is actually Ms. Casey, the severed employees’ wellness counselor. It was an incredible way to end the season and sets up what will likely be the main throughline for season two. We know that she is trapped on the testing floor of Lumen Industries after getting fired in episode eight, but where that floor is or why she is there remains mysterious. Hopefully, Mark, his family, and his coworkers get a chance to rescue Ms. Casey from whatever she has gotten caught up in.
Expansion of the Procedure
While the first season mainly focuses on the severance of the Lumen employees, it seems like that is only the beginning of the bifurcating medical procedure. It is strongly implied that Gabby, the wife of a pro-severance senator, is severed so she can go through the pain of giving birth without remembering it. This, combined with Lumon CEO Jame Eagan’s declaration to his daughter Helly R. that he wants to give everyone in the world the surgery, makes it clear that the severed floor is only a testing ground for grander plans. This disturbing revelation might get lost behind the wild twist that Helly is an Eagan, but it actually sets up maybe the biggest overarching plot yet in the show. What started as a personal quest for freedom might quickly become an effort to stop Lumen from taking over the world, one severed chip at a time.
More Milchick, Please
One of the most compelling main characters in Severance is one who we know the least about. The office supervisor, Milchick, is largely so memorable because of Tramell Tillman’s excellent performance, which manages to convey a sense of menace even while he is dancing around the office. Little is known about his home life, however, unlike the rest of the main cast. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Tramell says he has “a lot of big questions about Milchick’s upbringing. We don’t see much of anything about his past and how he came to Lumon.” It’s nice to know that even the actor portraying him wants to know what makes the disturbing villain so cruel. Hopefully, Tramell’s and our curiosity will be somewhat satiated with season two.
Who is Regabhi?
One character we know even less about than Milcheck is Regabhi. All we really know is that she can reverse the severance procedure and hates Lumen enough to murder the severed floor’s head of security, Mr. Graner. She is only given a measly amount of screen time compared to the rest of the cast, but there is definitely more going on with her than we get to see. When Deadline asked Ben Stiller point-blank if we would see her again, all he had to say was “[n]o comment,” but it would be a bizarre choice to not include her in season two. The actress who plays her, Karen Aldridge, was one of the bright spots in what was otherwise a lesser season of the generally excellent Fargo. Her return to the show should be hotly anticipated.
These are only a few of the plotlines that will likely be addressed in the upcoming season of Severance. At the very least, Helly R. will also need to contend with the fact that she is an Eagan, Irving will try to reunite with Burt, and Dylan will have to recover from a stab wound inflicted upon him by Milchick. In an interview with Indiewire, Ben Stiller expressed that she and Dan Erickson “feel [a] responsibility…to not have the show be continual unanswered questions,” so hopefully, we’ll get some answers whenever the show comes back to Apple TV+. That day cannot come soon enough.
