The “Severance” team is hard at work writing Season 2 of the critically acclaimed Apple TV+ drama — so hard at work that they need to avoid fan theories in order to properly carry out the task of telling the Innies and Outies of the second season as they envision them.
“I was warned not to go on Reddit, on the subreddit for this show, at all. And I held off for about six minutes and then I went on and I was just on it every day. It’s kind of addicting,” “Severance” creator Dan Erickson said during the show’s Comic-Con panel Thursday.
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“Sometimes they have ideas that are better than what I thought of,” he added with a laugh. “But eventually I had to pull back from that, because as we’ve gotten more into writing Season 2 in recent weeks, it’s that thing of infinite options.” Erickson loves “Severance” fans’ takes, but says they “can be counterproductive to have all these other voices in your head — as great as they may be.”
Also in attendance at the “Severance” Comic-Con panel in Ballroom 20 at the San Diego Convention Center were executive producer and director Ben Stiller and stars Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Dichen Lachman and Jen Tullock. The series also stars Patricia Arquette, John Turturro, Zach Cherry, Michael Chernus and Christopher Walken, who were not present at the panel.
Despite the Reddit distraction, Erickson says he does have his own answers to your burning questions — even though he won’t give them away yet. For example, Erickson simply said, “Yeah,” in response to a fan question during the Q&A about the infamous goats inside Lumon Industries’ severed floor and whether or not there is a “significance” to them that will be revealed.
Another con attendee asked if the show will continue to explore the PTSD that characters like Adam Scott’s Mark are experiencing, and Erickson confirmed there will be more to come on that in Season 2.
“We’ve always talked about ‘Severance’ as sort of a stand-in for disconnecting from pain and disconnecting from trauma,” Erickson said. “So I think using that to explore different things, especially something like PTSD. Again, I don’t want to get into specifics of where things are going in Season 2, but I think the story lends itself to that kind of examination, for sure.”
“Severance” is created by Erickson, who serves as showrunner and executive produces alongside Mark Friedman, Chris Black, John Cameron and Andrew Colville, as well as Stiller (who directed the majority of Season 1). Nicky Weinstock and Jackie Cohn executive produce through Red Hour Productions alongside Arquette and Scott. The drama hails from Endeavor Content.
Apple TV+ renewed “Severance” for Season 2 back in April ahead of its Season 1 finale. Earlier this month, the first season garnered 14 Emmy nominations, including outstanding drama series, and writing and directing for a drama series, as well as acting nods for Scott, Arquette, Turturro and Walken. “Severance” will be up for those awards during the 74th annual Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 12.
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