Apple TV+ Releases First Eight Minutes of Severance Season 2 Weeks Before Premiere

The Apple TV+ mystery-drama series Severance is finally about to return for Season 2, and now you can watch the first 8 minutes of ht new season here! Severance became a breakout hit with Season 1 back in 2022. Like so many other TV series that premiered in the post-pandemic era, the show’s potential to rise to greater heights of popularity has been severely hampered by production delays caused by the Hollywood strikes and other factors, resulting in a much more muted level of hype heading into Season 2.

lApple TV+ is confident that they can get both old and new fans hooked on what’s coming in Severance Season 2 – and they are tossing a proverbial line out into the online waters to bait them!

[WATCH: Severance Season 2 Opening Scene]

Severance Season 2 Opening Scene Description

The sneak-peek footage of Severance Season 2 opens with a collage of voice-over dialogue from the end of Season 1, from each of the main characters at the Lumon corporation. Mark Scout (Adam Scott) “woke up” long enough to try to inform his sister Devon (Jen Tullock) that he remembered his “dead” wife Gemma is alive, and is actually now living under the “severed” identity of workplace wellness counselor Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman). Irving Bailiff (John Turturro) discovered his workplace crush Burt (Christopher Walken) is no fellow lonely soul, but is a married man already living in seeming domestic bliss. Finally, new employee Helly Riggs (Britt Lower) finds out to her horror that she is “Helena Eagan,” the shark-hearted daughter of Lumon’s CEO who is the main proponent of the severance process. “Helly” tried to betray “Helena” by confessing the dark truths about severance to a gala full of Lumon executives.

Well, Severance Season 2 won’t be answering any of those massive cliffhangers directly, because the footage begins with Mark in the familiar Lumon elevator traveling down to his “severed” work floor, looking like his mind is being put through a brainwashing mixer. When the elevator doors open a musical sequence/montage begins, which sees Mark desperately running through the halls like a rat in a maze, to the tune of some funky jazz music. The mad dash ends with Mark reaching a lounge of sorts (decorated green against the endless white walls), and as he’s lost in thought standing inside the room, there’s a spooky horror-style shot of a blurred figure standing behind him outside the doorway – only to be gone when Mark turns around to look. Mark leaves the lounge and walks pensively back into the maze of hallways, finally coming to his assigned workspace, “Macrodata Refinement.”

Inside the MR section Mark (and the audience) is greeted by three unfamiliar faces sitting at the familiar work cubicle Mark shares with Burt, Helly, and Dylan (Zach Cherry). The three co-workers greet him, with one, an older man, saying “You must be Mark S.” The older man introduces himself as “Mark W.,” (Bob Balaban); a Latino man, “Dario R.” (Stefano Carannante) says something in Spanish to a girl, “Gwendolyn Y.” (Alia Shawkat), and Mark W. tries to inquire if Mark S. wants to go by a different nickname to avoid any logistical confusion. The strange meet-and-greet is interrupted by supervisor Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman), who strodes in looking pleasant and serene – a far cry from when we last saw him. Milchick greets Mark S. and welcomes him back with a collection of blue balloons, saying “It’s been a minute.”

[RELATED: WATCH – Severance Season 2 Trailer]

The Severance title logo appears on a white screen.

The scene returns to Milchick and Mark walking the halls (Mark has taken the balloons) and Milchick batting down all of Mark’s (and our) questions about the fates of his former co-workers. It’s made clear through Milchick’s dialogue that Mark’s minor “rebellion” at the end of Season 1 was five months prior – and Mark has no idea what’s happened in that time Milchick takes him to meet some new personnel, secretary Miss Huang, who is the admin assistant to Milchick in his new role – as replacement manager for Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette).

Milchick reveals that Helly and Irving achieved their goals of getting their “inny” personas into the outside world; Dylan’s “outie” persona learned of the rebellion only later; and the team from MR is now famous as the “face of Severance reform.” Milchick apologizes to Mark for his role in controlling him, but blames Harmony for the real poison in the company’s veins. He frames the story as Cobel becoming obsessed with Mark in both his inny and outie personas, serving as his boss at work, while positioning herself as his kindly neighbor Mrs. Selvig on the outside.

Mark discerns that no answers about his team are being revealed, and Milchick reveals that none of the former team members opted to return to work – but Mark’s outie persona did. Mark isn’t convinced and wants to hear from the team members firsthand – but Milchick ominously replies that it’s “not possible” and dismisses Mark by encouraging him to “enjoy your balloons.”

With that, the mystery of Severance Season 2 is already unfolding – and this teaser preview certainly does the job of pulling us back in!

Severance Season 2 premieres on Apple TV+ on January 17th.