Innies! Outties! Balloons? Severance season 2 looks set to be just as mind-bending as ever, as Apple has revealed brand new footage of its hit Apple TV Plus sci-fi show.
Aired as part of a sizzle reel for the company’s upcoming slate of streaming shows and movies at WWDC 2024, it’s the first time we’ve had a glimpse at the next season of Severance since the very first seconds-long teaser that aired at the end of the iPhone 14 event back in September 2022.
It’s just a short glimpse of the show still — ten or so seconds interspersed with other upcoming Apple TV Plus originals — but there are still a few interesting things to note. And hey, when you’re talking about the Severance season 2 info desert we’ve been living in over the past two years, we’ll take anything we can get, right? See the new footage for yourself in the embed below:
Severance season 2 trailer breakdown
OK, obvious warning here but SPOILER ALERT: there’s a good chance the following might include spoilers for Severance season 1 if you haven’t finished it. So go do that first before reading on.
The trailer kicks off with Mark (Adam Scott) re-entering the Lumon workplace. Season 1 ended with Mark’s innie’s growing awareness of the outside world beyond his ‘severed’ Lumon Industries work life. He’s taking a deep breath here, suggesting he’s drumming up the courage to return to the office – fully aware of his other life outside it.
The first key Easter egg appears here. What’s that around his neck? A blue lanyard? We see Mark wearing it through the rest of the footage, and it seems a match for the one his old colleague Peter “Petey” Kilmer was wearing.
Remember Petey? He’s the guy who first makes Mark’s outtie aware that a severed life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
A little further in and we see office supervisor Milchick (Tramell Tillman), holding a bunch of blue balloons with Mark’s face on them — hopefully a new office perk to rival ‘Defiant Jazz’. “Welcome back. Been a minute,” he says. It’s unclear who to, but if we assume it’s to Mark as the edit suggests, could we assume that Mark’s taking a leave of absence? There’s more to suggest that as we get further into the trailer. (Side note… “Been a minute?” Yeah right! Rub it in Apple, we’ve waited forever for this show to return!)
Could that potential leave of absence be a result of Mark attempting a reintegration, same as what eventually appeared to kill Petey? The next shot shows a close-up of Mark’s face, rapid cutting between him in his office shows and with his head hooked up to lots of wires.
My theory? Outtie Mark might have found a way to infiltrate Lumon as his innie sees it. A couple of final easter eggs add weight to that theory. We see Mark again on the ‘awakening’ table, where we first met Helly (Britt Lower) in season 1 as she joined as a new employee, as if he’s joining anew in some way, too. But the scene again flickers through some rapid cuts. Look around that desk room as it changes — there’s the laundry and drying machines found in Mark’s basement along with the makeshift bed where he let Petey lie low in season one, episode 2. And Mark’s clothing changes to a reader sweater and blue pants — mirroring the red and blue striped bathrobe that Petey was wearing for much of season 1.
Coincidence? Nothing in Severance ever happens by coincidence, I’d say. This feels much like Petey’s re-integration sickness, now being experienced by Mark.
There’s a couple of inconsequential scenes dotted in there too — Mark spinning and running around the labyrinthine corridors of the office, and him shutting “Wait!” through the closing doors of the Lumon elevator. But it’s very difficult to ascertain what they’re pointing towards.
What looks certain to me? Outtie Mark is going undercover inside innie Mark’s Lumon world. And that’s a VERY exciting prospect for season 2, and sure to prop up the very best Apple TV Plus shows on the service.
As ever, we’ll keep you posted on all the Severance season 2 release date news, trailers, leaks and rumors as they land.
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