TAGGED AS: Apple TV+, streaming, TV
After a three-year hiatus, Mark S., Helly R., Dylan G., and Irving B. are back at Lumon Industries for a second season of Severance, and the first reviews say the follow-up lives up to expectations. While not necessarily an improvement on the first season, most critics say it’s as good and maybe even weirder. Fans of the show will again enjoy the mystery box storytelling and performances by leads Adam Scott and Britt Lower. Just don’t expect everything to be neatly explained until Severance (hopefully) continues down its long hallway toward an exit.
Here’s what critics are saying about Severance: Season 2:
For those concerned about the long wait, Severance hasn’t lost a single step since its debut in early 2022.
— Jeremy Mathai, Slashfilm
For anyone worried that Severance could have a sophomore slump — especially since the wait between seasons was three years long — put aside your woes.
— Lauren Sarner, New York Post
Season 2 should silence any lingering concerns viewers might have through its stunning direction, outstanding performances, and sinuous, compelling mysteries.
— Carly Lane, Collider
Expectations are high. Does it live up to those expectations? The answer is yes and no.
— Lisa Weidenfeld, Boston Globe
(Photo by Apple TV+)
Season 2 is just as phenomenal as Season 1.
— Lauren Sarner, New York Post
It’s difficult to overstate how good Season 1 is, which makes the fact that its follow-up season is nearly as perfect all the more astonishing.
— Graeme Guttmann, Screen Rant
Dan Erickson’s compulsively bingeable series is even more baffling and entrancing than before.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
Season 2 is more concerned with mood, expanding on the first season’s evocative imagery, and emotion.
— Alison Herman, Variety
Season 2 amplifies some of the intrinsic horror elements of the show… There’s an element of creeping dread as you begin to understand the depth of their predicament.
— Lisa Weidenfeld, Boston Globe
Frequently darker, less frequently amusing, and not necessarily more satisfying — but [it’s a season] that hits, if anything, even more chillingly close to home.
— Angie Han, Hollywood Reporter
Severance fails to live up to its excellent first season.
— Samantha Nelson, IGN Movies
In this age where too much entertainment feels “made by committee” or “made by algorithm,” this is a rare show that feels like a singular creative vision.
— Lauren Sarner, New York Post
(Photo by Apple TV+)
In Season 2, the show gets weirder and wilder… Viewers who found Season 1 too strange likely won’t be won over as Season 2 goes further.
— Lauren Sarner, New York Post
Not only has the series retained its beguiling, head-spinning power — it’s upped the mindf—ery to astronomical levels.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
Just as you fret that this profoundly intelligent show is heading the way of The X-Files, Lost, and countless other WTF series that crawl so far into world-building fantasy they lose sight of any point (or resolution), an episode will go deeper rather than just weirder.
— Bob Strauss, The Wrap
Like Lost, Severance strings viewers along by stacking enigmas on top of inscrutabilities.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
Each scene crackles with tension since you never know what will happen next, and anything is possible.
— Lauren Sarner, New York Post
It deftly unspools an even greater and more thrilling sci-fi mystery, forcing you to realize just how deep the rabbit hole that is Lumon Industries truly goes.
— Carly Lane, Collider
(Photo by Apple TV+)
This is a show where one elevator closes and another opens. Just when one question is answered, there’s a dozen more waiting in the wings.
— Katie Doll, CBR
The more Severance reveals, the less it conclusively explains, with Erickson and [Ben] Stiller scattering myriad breadcrumbs that lead to places unknown—or, in some cases, to new (literal and figurative) mazes designed to confuse and ensnare.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
Those looking for immediate answers to their most burning asks won’t see all of them resolved over the course of Season 2 — but that’s precisely what makes Severance such a good show in the first place.
— Carly Lane, Collider
Season 2 can feel ungainly. I found myself belatedly realizing many episodes in that we weren’t any closer to resolving various mysteries.
— Lisa Weidenfeld, Boston Globe
There are still so many mysteries about Lumon’s goals and the lives of the characters outside of the office that it feels like the writers are being needlessly stingy with their reveals.
— Samantha Nelson, IGN Movies
The most pressing matter is addressed: after watching Season 2, I finally get what the deal is with the goats.
— Alison Herman, Variety
There’s more biting humor, even if it’s often so blunt the jokes barely register as something meant to coax out a chuckle.
— Ben Travers, IndieWire
The twisted humor isn’t entirely gone, but the jokes and quirky details mostly take a backseat to the drama.
— Angie Han, Hollywood Reporter
(Photo by Apple TV+)
While it’s not an especially sexy or romantic show overall, those qualities are increased in Season 2. Since this is Severance, its version of romance is unsettling, screwed-up, sometimes heartbreaking, and oddly sweet all at once.
— Lauren Sarner, New York Post
The bonds most central to season one (particularly the romance between Mark S. and Helly R.) remain the show’s beating heart.
— Angie Han, Hollywood Reporter
All four members of the MDR unit get mired in love triangles, even quadrangles, in and out of the office space. Each is heart-wrenching in its unique way.
— Bob Strauss, The Wrap
The new season explores profound ideas about what having one’s consciousness split inside and out of the office means for the individuals who agreed to let a corporation surgically bifurcate their memories — and, as a result, their growingly divergent personalities… The latest batch of episodes boasts fairly relentless spoofing of corporate culture… The metaphors lean more toward expanding weird lore than satirizing worker abuse.
— Bob Strauss, The Wrap
This second season doubles down on its ever-present corporate commentary, highlighting how companies seek to divide workers and undercut their ability to organize and partake in collective action.
— Elijah Gonzaliez, Paste Magazine
Severance is a masterclass in exploring highly complicated philosophical questions that show the world isn’t black or white.
— Katie Doll, CBR
It felt all but inevitable that the idea of control would have to be broached at some point, a war in the mind for ownership over the body, but how Severance explores this is both gut-wrenching and thrilling.
— Graeme Guttmann, Screen Rant
(Photo by Apple TV+)
Adam Scott and Britt Lower elevate the story with dual performances as their Innies and Outies, along with the sensible romance between their work personalities.
— Katie Doll, CBR
Season 2 is a testament to this cast’s strengths — chiefly Lower, who is tasked with portraying Helly R.’s open defiance right alongside Helena Eagan’s crafted composure, as well as Scott, as the lines between Mark’s innie and outie become more blurred than they ever have before.
— Carly Lane, Collider
It’s hard to say whether Scott is at his complex best when trying to work out Mark’s feelings for Helly on the spot or manipulating and arguing among his various selves. Either way, it’s the most powerful portrayal since Bill Hader’s Barry of a disoriented soul by an actor who’s also the show’s key comedian.
— Bob Strauss, The Wrap
Lower, a breakout in a cast that’s otherwise stacked with established stars, does even more excellent work playing Helly’s unease that her love interest has another woman in his life he might feel some obligation to, even though he has no memory of being with her.
— Alison Herman, Variety
Turturro is a highlight of everything he’s in and he continues to shine in season 2.
— Samantha Nelson, IGN Movies
Turturro has never had a better role or given a stronger performance, suggesting the fire beneath the apparently bland Irv.
— Caryn James, BBC.com
Beyond our core group, Tramell Tillman steals the show as Mr. Milchick, who receives well-earned additional screen time as the narrative conjures up some unexpected sympathy for this middle manager.
— Elijah Gonzaliez, Paste Magazine
Tillman, as the devout middle manager Mr. Milchick, delivers an impeccable performance defined by nuanced moments of silent decision-making.
— Ben Travers, IndieWire
The ones to watch of the newer cast members are undoubtedly Merritt Wever (a given) and Sarah Bock, the latter of whom is a younger actor who keeps up with her mature co-stars like a pro.
— Katie Doll, CBR
The new faces are welcome, but it’s the core characters who gain added depth.
— Alison Herman, Variety
(Photo by Apple TV+)
Each episode is like a meticulously created painting that’s there for us to marvel at its craft and detail — all while wondering if the artist has all their marbles.
— Lauren Sarner, New York Post
It feels like an Escher painting come to life.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
Severance remains one of the most visually stunning shows on television.
— Carly Lane, Collider
The scattered focus can be a bit of a drag to sit through — not enough to inspire an invested viewer to quit, but enough to inspire groans of frustration when a cliffhanger takes an extra week or two to resolve, or grumbles of skepticism about whether the series might ever fully clarify its biggest mysteries.
— Angie Han, Hollywood Reporter
There are times you might find yourself wishing someone had pushed back on some of the tangents in favor of more efficient storytelling.
— Lisa Weidenfeld, Boston Globe
Severance falters by holding too tightly to its secrets, leaning too heavily on vibes, and getting its 10-episode second season off to an agonizingly slow start.
— Samantha Nelson, IGN Movies
Even though 2025 is young, there’s no doubt that Severance will end up on most “best shows of the year” lists and be a serious awards contender again.
— Lauren Sarner, New York Post
It immediately announces itself as the series to beat in 2025.
— Jeremy Mathai, Slashfilm
It males an incredibly strong case for itself as one of the best shows of the year, again.
— Carly Lane, Collider
100%
Severance: Season 2
(2025)
premieres on Apple TV+ on January 17, 2025.
