By Rachel Rusker, for ABC Entertainment
Adam Scott returns as Mark S in Severance season two. ( Photo: Apple TV+
Almost three years since its initial release, the Apple TV+ hit Severance is finally returning to our screens.
With Ben Stiller at the helm and an all-star cast, including Parks and Recreation's Adam Scott and Medium's Patricia Arquette, the 2022 drama was nominated for a stack of Golden Globes and Emmys.
It also became a cult sensation: its fan page is in the top 1 percent of communities on Reddit; it has its own wiki; and season two's trailer has almost 10 million views.
The darkly comedic thriller was one of the series hardest hit by the Hollywood strikes, with its production halted for months throughout the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA industrial action.
But fans used the show's lengthy hiatus to comb through the first season for Easter eggs and hidden clues.
For those of us who haven't spent years debating the various fan theories, there's a lot to remember ahead of the new season dropping on Friday. So, here's everything you need to know before diving in.
Warning: Season one spoilers ahead.
Catch me up on season 1. What's this show all about?
In the show's first series, we meet our protagonist, Mark, an office worker at the mysterious Lumon Industries. Mark's undergone a procedure known as severance, which separates his memories between his work and home life.
In the office, he has no knowledge of who he is in the outside world, and at home, he has no memory of his day at work.
Essentially, Mark's 'outie' clocks in at 9am, and then it's instantly 5pm and home time. Meanwhile his 'innie' is forever trapped in a depressing office, complete with fluorescent lighting and identical hallways.
The Microdata Refinement team includes from left, Mark, Dylan, Irving and Helly. Photo: Apple TV+
Mark is the head of the Microdata Refinement department, who are tasked with sorting numbers into seemingly random groups, based on how they make the worker feel emotionally.
His team includes the wise-cracking Dylan (Zach Cherry) and the sensitive and sweet Irving (John Turturro).
When newbie Helly arrives, the team is thrown into disarray as she launches a full-scale revolt against her new reality.
Their bosses, Milchick (Tramell Tillman) and Ms Cobel (Arquette), attempt to keep things under control, while mysterious wellness counsellor Ms Casey (Dichen Lachman) is tasked with bringing the calm.
Ms Cobel (foreground) takes her role as Severed Floor Manager extremely seriously, with middle management Milchick (background) doling out both punishment and reward. Photo: Apple TV+
Why was season 1 so popular?
Severance hit a nerve not only for its compelling characters and unanswered mysteries, but also for its Black-Mirror-esque resemblance to our real world.
Critics lauded Severance's first season as "visually gorgeous ... sci-fi for the soul", praising it as an "intelligent comedy-drama" that "might make your mind explode".
But its creator, Dan Erickson, had never stepped foot in a TV studio prior to the show's success.
He had, however, experienced plenty of soul-crushing office jobs, where he wished he could simply fast forward to the end of the day. And it's perhaps this grounding in truth that makes the show so special.
How did Severance season 1 end?
The finale of Severance's first season saw the Microdata Refinement team's rebellion in action.
The plan? Activate their innie selves in the outside world, and tell the public what being an innie is really like.
Irving wakes to find his 'outie' has a room full of creepy paintings of a dark hallway with an elevator that only goes down. He sets out to find his love, Burt (Christopher Walken), who recently retired, effectively ending his life as an innie. Irving is heartbroken when he spots Burt's outie through a window, happily partnered with another man.
Helly discovers she's actually Helena Eagan, the daughter of current Lumon chief executive Jame Eagan (Michael Siberry), and a descendant of the legendary Lumon founder, Kier Eagan. Helena is next in line for the Lumon leadership, and essentially severed herself as a publicity stunt.
When Mark wakes up, he manages to tell his sister, Devon (Jen Tullock), a little about what it's like inside Lumon. But he's in for some shocking revelations. Firstly, his outie knows Ms Cobel. While she's recently been fired from Lumon, she's still in Mark's life, posing as his oddball neighbour, Mrs Selvig.
Secondly, he discovers the truth about his outie's wife, Gemma. She is supposed to have died, but he now recognises her as wellness counsellor Ms Casey.
"She's alive!" he screams, before everyone is yanked back to consciousness as their usual outie selves, and the season ends.
What can we expect from season 2?
So lots happened last season! And we didn't even go into everything.
There was the discovery of a woman who seemingly severed herself to avoid the pain of childbirth - are there other severed people outside of Lumon?
Then there's Reghabi (Karen Aldridge), a former Lumon surgeon who disappeared after killing the company's head of security.
There will also be some new faces this season, with the expanded cast including Game of Thrones' Gwendoline Christie, Gosford Park's Bob Balaban and Arrested Development's Alia Shawkat.
And now that Mark knows Ms Casey/Gemma's true identity, he seems set to track her down.
What are critics saying about season 2?
Severance's second season is currently at an impressive 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and critics have, for the most part, given it rave reviews.
The BBC labelled the new season "magic" and "even more mind-bending" than the first. The Hollywood Reporter called it "frustrating but fascinating", with its critique of corporate capitalism "chillingly close to home".
Indie Wire said the new series was "deeper" and "darker" than its precursor, but added that it never felt "overstuffed [or] bogged down".
Empire Magazine put the consensus simply: "The wait was worth it."
Stream Severance season two on Apple TV+ from Friday 17 January .
-ABC
