One of the most anticipated second seasons in recent memory has got to be Severance: not only has it been excruciatingly long since season one premiered (February 2022) and became an instant fan favorite, but that season-finale cliffhanger was epic. With the usual wait for more episodes compounded by the 2023 Hollywood strikes, we learned in July that the Emmy-winning show would finally return to Apple TV+ in early 2025. Now, one of the show’s writers is teasing a third season is already in the works.
To be clear, Apple TV+ has yet to officially greenlight Severance season three, but if season two is as successful as its debut season, it’s not hard to imagine the streamer giving the go-ahead eventually. Speaking to IndieWire, Severance writer and season two co-executive producer Mohamad El Masri teased that Dan Erickson (Severance‘s creator) and exec producer-director Ben Stiller have already brainstormed the series’ full arc, including its ending.
“There was always a thinking ahead to future seasons,” El Masri told IndieWire, noting that Erickson, who he calls “very meticulous and very detailed,” is very focused and aware of what’s coming next for the show’s mystery-box plot; season two was already being written while season one was being made.
“Even in season two, we were talking about, what is the end game and how does this show end? A lot of work was talking about that. I think there’s a natural overlap that happens, especially with the second season of a show, that you’ve got to keep [the momentum] going,” El Masri continued. “People are interested, people are watching, and now with season two, you really have to sort of think about, not just what is season two going to deliver in a satisfying way, but how does this set up season three and beyond?”
In other words, there’s a careful purpose behind even the show’s most offbeat moments—those baby goats included—and the creative minds behind it are placing the puzzle pieces with great deliberation. As IndieWire notes, Erickson gave El Masri a “really massive series Bible” when he came aboard, drawn from the the five years he devoted to Severance‘s world building before it made it to Apple TV+.
While season three might just be a hypothetical at the moment, season two is locked in: it’ll premiere January 17, 2025 on Apple TV+. It will run 10 episodes (five directed by Stiller). Here’s the official logline, with an extremely vague suggestion of what will happen in season two:
“In Severance, Mark Scout (Adam Scott) leads a team at Lumon Industries, whose employees have undergone a severance procedure, which surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives. This daring experiment in ‘work-life balance’ is called into question as Mark finds himself at the center of an unraveling mystery that will force him to confront the true nature of his work… and of himself. In season two, Mark and his friends learn the dire consequences of trifling with the severance barrier, leading them further down a path of woe.”
Season two’s cast, led by Scott, also includes Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, Dichen Lachman, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Patricia Arquette; Sarah Bock joins as a new series regular, and other new faces will include Gwendoline Christie, Merritt Wever, John Noble, Alia Shawkat, Bob Balaban, Robby Benson, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, and more.
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