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Severance season two is finally here and we can’t shut up about it. That we have two-plus months of new episodes on the way is certainly one of the best things a very bad 2025 has delivered so far, and things started with a bang in the premiere. We got to spend all sorts of time with the innies on the severed floor of Lumon and saw some very enticing new mysteries unfold.
Last month, we spoke with showrunner Dan Erickson about the episode because we knew you’d want to know what he had to say about a few things. Here are the spoilers we originally cut from our full interview.
Germain Lussier, io9: I was shocked when Helly lied about what she saw as her outtie and then it kind of set in motion so many questions of who is this person, what do they want, etc. How big a part of the season is that and where did the idea come from?
Dan Erickson: Well, it’s a pretty big part of it. Something that we talked about in that scene is, would each character be honest and how honest would they be? We talked about “Would Helly tell the truth?” or “Would she hide it?” I think even if there’s nothing else going on, Helly would be kind of ashamed about what she learned. So there’s definitely a reason why each character would want to maybe be dishonest to the others. Mark, too. I think there’s some question of would he want Helly to know this thing that he learned, or would he feel that he needed to take his time to admit that and present that to her? So we had that conversation for each of the three characters who had made their way up to the top.
Dan Erickson is the creator and showrunner of Severance – Apple TV+ io9: Another big surprise is Miss Huang, who is just the most interesting, weird character. What can you tell me about her?
Erickson: Yeah, there was always something interesting about the idea of having a child in that role and there’s this big question of why? Why is Lumon is doing that? What is it? What are the greater implications of it? But I think her presence really throws off the characters. I mean, they’re certainly all weirded out by her presence because the fact that she’s this child [and] she has this disarming quality to her where it’s hard to hate a child, you know? But at the same time, she is filling that management role and she is also, at least experientially, older than them because each of the innies has only had, at most, two years of life and even that’s only eight hours a day. So it was a very strange power dynamic that you could only really have on this show. And we were fortunate to find an actor who just could really play up the smiling corporate thing and then also suddenly that passes and you see this weird darkness underneath her. And so in a way she’s Lumon incarnate. She’s both of those things at once.
io9: Another fascinating twist this season is the “outtie family visitation suite.” How crucial is that this season and, again, where did that idea come from?
Erickson: The thing about Lumon and part of their evil brilliance is that they will incentivize that which is most important to you. And for Dylan in season one he was very happy with this sort of artificially created meaning of the pencil erasers and the finger traps and these little prizes that represented achievement. The moment that he finds out he has a family, a finger trap is just a finger trap. All of a sudden, it completely reshapes his sense of importance in life. And so what’s Lumon going to do? They’re going to incentivize that. They’re going to tell him you can see your wife if you get your work done and you sort of toe the line because that is the most important thing to him. He’s willing to do it even at the expense of his work family. And that’s the predicament that he finds myself in.
The first episode of Severance season two is now on Apple TV+. New episodes drop each Friday.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
