Severance Season 2: All About the Sci-Fi Thriller Starring Adam Scott and Patricia Arquette

With the secrets of Lumon Industries rapidly unraveling, Severance fans were hit with a major cliffhanger at the end of season 1. Apple TV+’s workplace thriller centers around a group of employees who have undergone “severance,” a procedure that separates their work personas (or “innies”) from who they are in the real world (known as their “outies”).

Parks and Recreation’s Adam Scott stars as Mark Scout, a Lumon worker who agrees to severance as a way to cope with the death of his wife. After the mysterious disappearance of his best friend and former Lumon employee Petey, he teams up with new hire Helly (Britt Lower) and other coworkers Dylan (Zach Cherry) and Irving (John Turturro) to uncover the company’s web of conspiracies.

Created and written by Dan Erickson, Severance was an instant success among viewers and critics. The series received 14 nominations at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022, and won two awards for main title design and musical score.

Days before the season 1 finale aired in April 2022, Apple TV+ announced that the series had been renewed for a second season.

​​“It’s really exciting to see the response from people who are loving the show — and the level of fan engagement,” director and executive producer Ben Stiller said in a press release. “It has been a long road bringing Severance to television. I first read Dan’s pilot over five years ago. It has always been a multi-season story, and I’m really happy we get to continue it.”

Scott confirmed to PEOPLE in April 2024 that filming on the second season had wrapped and teased what was to come. "Our core cast is unbelievable already, but we have some just great people coming in for season two, that I can't wait for everyone to see," he said.

Here's everything to know about Severance season 2, including the release date, cast, plot and more news.

Warning: Season 1 spoilers ahead!

How did Severance season 1 leave off?

At the end of Severance’s first season, Mark and his coworkers are on a mission to expose Lumon’s conspiracies. They hatch a plan to activate Lumon’s "overtime contingency,” which can “wake up” employees’ “innies” in the outside world. Dylan stays behind after hours and sneaks into the security office, where he wakes up Mark, Helly and Irving.

The finale episode, “The We We Are,” shows Helly waking up at Lumon gala where she is about to give a speech. It’s then revealed that her real name is Helena Eagan and she is the daughter of Lumon CEO James Eagan.

Mark wakes up at a gathering in his sister Devon’s home, where he sees his former boss at Lumon, Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette), whose outtie poses as his neighbor Mrs. Selvig. When he accidentally calls Cobel by her innie name, she realizes that overtime contingency has been activated and attempts to stop Helly from exposing Lumon at the gala, but it’s too late.

After being woken up, Irving goes to the home of Burt Goodman (Christopher Walken), Lumon’s retired head of Optics and Design with whom his innie has had romantic involvement. There, he discovers that Burt’s outie is in a relationship with another man.

Meanwhile, at his sister’s house, Mark reveals himself to Devon and tells her what he has been experiencing at Lumon. He learns about the death of his outie’s wife, Gemma, before finding a photo that reveals that Ms. Casey, Lumon’s wellness counselor, is actually Gemma and she is, in fact, alive.

After Mark shouts, “She’s alive!” to everyone at the party, Lumon supervisor Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman) tackles Dylan in the Lumon security office, reverting Mark, Helly and Irving back to their severed states, and the episode ends.

What is Severance season 2 about?

Severance season 1 left fans with more questions than answers, and according to show creators, season 2 plans to tackle some of the major ones.

In April 2022, Stiller told Variety that the show will continue to explore the budding and complicated romance between Mark and Helly.

"There is this growing connection between Mark and Helly happening during the season, and then on the outside, Mark is trying to get over his wife’s death — and then we’re going to find out that his wife is still alive," he said.

Stiller continued, “To put him in this position where the Innie Mark, we’re starting to root for him and Helly, but now we also want to root for Outie Mark to find his wife. That’s an interesting juxtaposition and conflict we’ll explore in the second season.”

Erickson shared that season 2 will also offer insight into why Lumon faked Ms. Casey’s death.

“There’s a question of sort of who was targeted first: Was Mark targeted because of his relationship to Gemma, or was it the other way around?” he told Variety. “And that’s something that we don’t see this season, but we will see in subsequent seasons."

Erickson added, "That’s the big question, what is special about Mark? And is it actually that there’s something special about him or is it more about Gemma, and he was sort of pulled in? Those are all left unanswered this season, but we will get into it.”

Presumably, Severance season 2 will also explore the many other mysteries of Lumon and its employees, including the room of goats that appeared in season 1 and sparked numerous fan theories. In an April 2022 interview with Thrillist, Erickson confirmed that the goats are “part of a bigger thing” and hinted that their meaning will be revealed in season 2.

Is there a trailer for Severance season 2?

Apple TV+ released an official teaser for Severance season 2 in July 2024. The brief 30-second clip shows Mark Scout and his coworkers taking the elevator down one by one to the severed floor. It ends with Gwendoline Christie's unknown character saying, "You should have left."

A month prior, the streaming service shared a few short clips from the season in their "coming to Apple TV+" teaser video.

One snippet featured Scout being greeted by Seth Milchick — the supervisor on the severed floor at Lumon Industries. While holding a bouquet of blue balloons, he says, "Welcome back! Been a minute!" The next snippet sees Scout running frantically down a Lumon hallway.

The first full-length trailer arrived in October 2024, revealing that the new episodes will pick up right where the first season's finale left off.

The new clip shows Mark in the elevator, hearing voices as he makes his descent. Once he makes it to the lobby, he finds it empty as a voice says, “Anything they told you about severance is a lie."

After noticing three new people in his coworkers' places, he's greeted by Milchick, who is holding balloons. Just as the trailer ends, Milchick says, "Welcome back, Marcus. Been a minute."

Which cast members are returning for Severance season 2?

Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette, John Tuturro, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, Dichen Lachman, Jen Tullock, Tramell Tillman, Michael Chernus and Christopher Walken will all be returning for Severance’s sophomore season, per Variety.

Which new cast members are joining Severance season 2?

In October 2022, Deadline reported that eight new cast members would appear in season 2, including English actress Gwendoline Christie, best known for Game of Thrones and Wednesday, and Merritt Wever of Nurse Jackie and Godless.

Actor and writer Bob Balaban (Waiting for Guffman, The French Dispatch), Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development, Search Party), Robby Benson (Ice Castles, Beauty and the Beast), Stefano Carannante (Mirabilia), Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (The Tourist, Trapped) and John Noble (Fringe, Elementary) will also appear.

What has Adam Scott said about returning to Severance?

During a February 2023 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Scott shared how the public’s strong reaction to the show has impacted the production process for season 2.

“When we were making season 1 we were like, ‘This is so weird. Is anyone gonna like this or is everyone just gonna think this is stupid?” he said. “Like, we couldn't tell. We loved it and everything but you never know and it just seemed so strange that we didn’t know."

Scott continued, "And now we have secret scripts and we have to use code words when we’re on email and it’s so secret. It’s crazy. It feels ridiculous but it’s also great because people want to know.”

In April 2024, the lead actor told PEOPLE that he thought the scripts for the new season were "great" before filming had even begun.

"I was thrilled and couldn't wait to get there, and get the cameras rolling and film it," he said.

When was Severance season 2 filmed?

Following the now-resolved SAG and WAG strikes, filming for season 2 officially commenced in January 2024. The cast wrapped production in April 2024, Scott confirmed to PEOPLE.

When will Severance season 2 be released?

Season 2 will premiere on Jan. 17, 2025.

In the meantime, Severance fans can fill the void with Severance: The Lexington Letter, a 43-page companion book that tells the story of Lumon Industries employee Margaret “Peg” Kincaid.

Where can I watch and stream Severance?

Season 1 of Severance is available to stream on Apple TV+.