A advertising stunt for AppleTV+’s Severance Season 2 shook up New York Metropolis’s Grand Central Station on Jan. 14. And I witnessed it in all its surreal glory.
The pop-up started when a big glass field appeared in Grand Central’s Vanderbilt Corridor, containing a duplicate of the four-seated desk from Lumon’s Macrodata Refinement division. Employed actors enjoying Lumon staff sat at their desks, doing Lumon issues (by which I imply, sorting numbers without having a clue what mentioned numbers imply).
The stunt kicked it into excessive gear when Severance‘s actors themselves entered the dice. Adam Scott, Britt Decrease, and Zach Cherry arrived first, enjoying Mark S., Helly R., and Dylan G. Additionally current have been Patricia Arquette as Concord Cobel and Tramell Tillman as Mr. Milchick. The one MDR worker lacking was Irving B. (John Turturro). I can solely presume he was off within the Perpetuity Wing, admiring the Eagans.
In the meantime, creator and showrunner Dan Erickson seemed on from the sidelines, whereas director and govt producer Ben Stiller gave interviews and took pictures of the dice like a proud father.
As soon as contained in the dice, the actors performed out what a day at Lumon may appear like. Whereas onlookers could not hear what any of them have been saying, there was no denying the present was enthralling. It was like a whole episode of Severance was taking form earlier than us, and I actually reacted accordingly. I jolted when Ms. Cobel smacked the desk with a Lumon-brand ruler. I chuckled when Helly playfully threw a cleansing rag at Mr. Milchick. (She did so a number of occasions.) And, like the numerous Severance viewers who get pleasure from choosing the present aside for clues, I examined the set for hints about Season 2.
Severance Season 1 Recap: Every part it is advisable bear in mind earlier than watching season 2
The Severance pop-up was filled with particulars for followers
The board will hear you now.
Credit score: Belen Edwards
Whereas the pop-up did not give us any plot hints about what to anticipate from Season 2 — there was tragically no Publish-It notice studying, “Here’s what Lumon is doing with Mark’s wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman)” — it was filled with thrilling particulars sure to make any Severance fan lose their thoughts.
The desks, for instance, have been painstaking recreations of these we see within the present. Dylan’s desk featured a number of caricature portraits, that are among the many perks MDR staff obtain for finishing their recordsdata. (At one level, Cherry additionally pulled out two finger traps, one other Lumon perk.) Mark’s desk additionally featured the crystal head dice he obtained for finishing the Allentown file. Plus, everybody had the MDR group image on their desk.
Mashable High Tales
The actors introduced in props from the present as properly. Mr. Milchick carried across the purple ball utilized in an icebreaker scene from Season 1. He additionally held Dr. Ricken Hale’s (Michael Chernus) e-book The You You Are behind his again. You should definitely preserve that away from these Innies, Milchick, you don’t need them gaining a way of self! However The You You Are wasn’t the one Severance e-book within the dice. At one level, Mark learn aloud from what seemed like Lumon’s Compliance Handbook. And sure, I did freak out and level at every prop. When else am I going to be within the presence of the nice Ricken Hale’s writings?
The enjoyable did not keep within the dice, although. Outdoors the dice, a white pedestal bore the speaker from Ms. Cobel’s workplace that the Lumon Board makes use of to speak with workers. “Communicate” could also be a robust phrase for what is definitely simply “menacing static noices,” which was all I might hear from the speaker in Grand Central.
Issues took a flip for the unusual because the Innies started to clock out of the dice at round 7 p.m. (I can not stress sufficient that the forged have been in there for over an hour.) Ms. Cobel compelled Mark to face in a single nook of the dice like he was on a timeout, then proceeded to berate him. Or perhaps sing the Kier anthem at him like she did in Season 1? We could not hear. However we might see the Publish-It notice that Scott and Arquette wrote on, then taped to the wall of the dice. Upon their exit, the viewers rushed over to see what it mentioned. It simply mentioned, “human,” with a small drawing of a triangle subsequent to it. Fan theorists, do your factor and inform me what it means!
The Severance pop-up was a joyful (and unusual) fan expertise
Lumon takes NYC.
Credit score: Marion Curtis / StarPix for Apple TV+
Unsurprisingly, the Severance pop-up lit up social media. A bizarro advertising stunt with the precise Severance forged current? That is excellent fodder for virality.
However the pop-up lit up Grand Central as properly. Throughout me, I heard individuals freaking out concerning the actors, and about Severance normally. Followers described their pleasure for Season 2, discussing every thing from their theories about Lumon’s child goats to the watch events they have been planning. (May I counsel a cursed menu of eggs, waffles, and melon?)
Better of all have been individuals utilizing the presence of the Lumon dice to promote Severance to their pals. I heard a lot of variations on, “have you watched this show? You need to watch this show.” I agree!
Even the placement enhanced the unusual Severance drama we have been watching play out. Grand Central Station at rush hour is peak work commute time, when everyone seems to be successfully switching from their work selves to their non-work selves. (One might even say… going from their Innies to their Outies.) I used to be on the way in which dwelling from work myself after I obtained wind of the pop-up and switched my complete commute to see the nice Lumon dice in particular person.
If something, watching the Innies in motion as everybody bustled dwelling to work round them highlighted their in-show plight much more. We are able to all go away work behind, however for them, it is all they know. Plus, they’re all underneath commentary by Lumon’s higher-ups, identical to the actors have been underneath commentary of their glass field. In taking footage and gawking on the Innies, have been we no higher than Lumon? The layers! The questions of work-life steadiness!
Did this pop-up give me a tiny existential disaster? Perhaps. Did it make me extra excited for Severance Season 2? Most positively.
Severance Season 2 premieres Jan. 17 on Apple TV+, with a brand new episode each week.
