Fans have been waiting nearly three years, and season two of the psychological thriller Severance is finally around the corner. At Lumon Industries, employees voluntarily undergo a controversial “severance” procedure that splits their consciousness into two distinct identities: “innies,” who exist only at work and have no memory of their outside life or their past, and “outies,” who live outside in the real world with no memory of their jobs.

At the end of last season, Dylan (Zach Cherry) stays behind at Lumon to help the rest of the team at Macrodata Refinement by activating the Overtime Contingency Protocol, waking their innies in the real world. Each makes game changing discoveries.

During a visit with his sister, Mark (Adam Scott)’s innie begins piecing together the life of his outie, who had been grieving the death of his wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman). When he discovers a photograph of her, he realizes that she is actually Ms. Casey, the wellness counselor at Lumon who is very much alive.

Helly (Britt Lower)’s outie is revealed to be Helena Eagan, a member of the powerful Eagan family that runs Lumon. Her outie, who voluntarily underwent the severance procedure, is about to make a speech at a Lumon gala promoting it, but Helly instead uses it to try to expose the company’s unethical practices.

Irving (John Turturro) discovers that his outie has been obsessively investigating Lumon and finds a room full of disturbing paintings of the black hallway of the mysterious testing floor. Finding a map of Lumon employees, Irving sets out to find the home of his innie love interest, Burt (Christopher Walken), only to discover his outie is living happily with another man.

Meanwhile, Milchick (Tramell Tillman) breaks into the control room where Dylan is manually keeping the switch activated. Mark shouts out to his sister Devon (Jen Tullock) that “she” is alive, but when Milchick forces the protocol to shut down, the innies are abruptly pulled back into their severed states. The episode ends with fans left not knowing the fates of the characters or Lumon’s true motives.

Thank Kier the series is finally back this Friday at midnight. The series, which was created by Dan Erickson, picks back up after the events of the finale, and deals with the fallout. And while I can’t tell you much about what happens (or any answers we get), I can tell you that I absolutely loved it, from the first minute through to the end of the tenth episode.

Severance is its own thing. It feels somewhat familiar in the sense that most of us have lived through drudgery at work and probably at one time or another would love to not have to physically be there in the monotony. Even with the sci-fi bent, the idea of severance doesn’t seem that far out of the realm of possibility, and it keeps the show grounded, but it’s like nothing else on television or streaming, unique in an age of remakes and refurbished ideas.

Honestly, for me, the biggest and best part of Severance is the mystery of what the hell is going on at Lumon, diving into the tiniest of details for clues and guessing what’s next. The sophomore season strikes the right balance of dropping breadcrumbs while also giving enough revelations that you’ll keep coming back for more. If you loved the enigma of season one, get ready to go deeper into the mindf*** that is Lumon Industries and the cult-like followers of Kier.

I love smart puzzle box mysteries, but what keeps myself and viewers coming back is really the characters, who’s dual realities I am invested in, even as I continue to go through them with a fine-toothed comb. The writers do a fantastic job of making you truly care about them, both in their lives at Lumon and that of the outside world. The show only gets better as their two realities start to interwine in new and interesting ways. All of the characters’ stories are compelling, backed by stellar performances across the board.

The series has it’s more serious moments this season as it deals with philosophical questions such as those about identity and what really makes someone who they are, as well as struggles with moral dilemmas, like what happens to an innie if their outie quits: do they die?

That isn’t to say that it doesn’t still have it’s moments of levity, such as Milchick’s dancing or one of Dylan’s one liners.

The series also looks stunning, from the frozen tundra of the corporate retreat of season two, to the sterile labyrinthine hallways and all the details of the past-outdated technology at Lumon, to the new opening credits that are just as bizarre and epic as the original.

From start to finish, season two of Severance does not disappoint. It will pull you in, entertain you, and keep you guessing until you are so far down the rabbit hole you might not ever climb back out – and you won’t want to.

All-new episodes of Severance will premiere globally on Apple TV+ starting on Friday, January 17th.

***If you are a fan of Severance, be sure to check out our new deep dive live stream every Saturday night on our Youtube channel.***