A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

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Mystery runs deep in the second season of "Severance"

The series returns to AppleTV+

Mystery runs deep in the second season of Severance The series returns to AppleTV+

There are those who were eagerly waiting for the second season of Severance, and those who are lying. A gem within the vast and often overlooked catalog of AppleTV+, it's one of those titles that managed to transcend the streaming platform and become known to a wider audience beyond its subscribers. The dystopian show, starring Adam Scott, returns to immerse us once again in the white and sterile corridors of Lumon, with its eerie and mystical greeting of «Praise Kier». The ten-episode series, created by Dan Erickson and wonderfully directed by Ben Stiller, brings Mark S. back with his colleagues into the disorienting nightmare where it all began, delving even deeper to uncover what lies behind the pristine façade of a corporation hiding unspeakable secrets.

Alongside Scott, his co-stars also reappear: Zach Cherry returns as Dylan, John Turturro as Irving, and Britt Lower's Helly navigates the boundary between her "Outies" and "Innies" personas even more than in the first season. This time, the employees of Lumon, who once underwent a procedure to sever their brains, becoming completely different people at work compared to their lives outside, have had a taste of the outside world but still choose to clock in on Monday mornings. This decision is driven by the many mysteries surrounding the return of Severance, particularly the death of Mark's wife, who appears to be alive yet lost within the hidden depths of Lumon's secretive rooms.

The second season primarily focuses on a mystery-driven plot. Not that the first lacked intrigue, but there's a sense that the unease and oppression that characterized the series' arrival on the platform now take a backseat to a narrative that is more investigative and less reliant solely on atmosphere. While the characters still seem trapped in an enigmatic cage, constantly watched and pawns in a larger, more terrifying scheme, the added goals for the protagonists—from Mark’s search for his wife to Irving’s painted and pursued intuitions—have expanded the story, maintaining its intriguing and frustrating impenetrability for both characters and viewers. The second season maintains the same detail that kept viewers glued to their screens throughout the first season: the feeling of never truly progressing because the mystery behind Lumon remains too inscrutable.

Severance manages to evoke in its audience a sense of unease that is never disconnected from engagement and wonder. Alongside these conflicting feelings is a growing anticipation, scene after scene, spurred by the desire to see where creator Erickson’s ideas and experiments will lead next. While the first season explored identity between the outside and the inside, and who is a real person and who is not, the second season shifts focus more on Lumon as a faith-based entity, portraying the work community as a cult and religion. After all, the incomprehensible has always been tied to the sacred and unfathomable, which precisely mirrors the perception of the company’s activities and the dogmas preached in the name of its founder, Kier.

When Severance premiered in 2022, it reflected on the alienation of individuals, awakening minds, and, like a contained 1984, on the backlash of rebellion from those constantly oppressed and surveilled. With its return, the series broadens its horizons while keeping us glued to the white-walled, green-floored room where the characters sit. The labyrinth becomes a paradigm in the opening sequence of the first episode of the second season, with Mark S. running breathlessly through every corner of the immaculate office, only to end up in the same place. Watching Severance feels the same way: disoriented, intrigued, stimulated. Eager to learn more and more.