Apple TV+’s Series ‘Severance’ Is the Show You Need to Watch This Season

Apple TV+ seems to have a huge hit on its hands with Severance, and the season has only just begun. The new psychological thriller premiered on Friday, Feb. 18 and is now airing every week. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you may want to make it a priority.

Severance is created by Dan Erickson, directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle and stars Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Jen Tullock, Dichen Lachman, Michael Chernus, John Turturro, Christopher Walken and Patricia Arquette. It kicked off with a two-episode premiere followed by the third episode on Feb. 25, with new ones slated to come out every Friday through April 8. The show has the rare distinction of claiming “universal acclaim” so far, with 97% positive reviews from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

“Audacious, mysterious, and bringing fresh insight into the perils of corporate drudgery, Severance is the complete package,” reads the certified-fresh critical consensus of the series. So far there are 72 professional reviews of Severance on Rotten Tomatoes and 78 scores from the general audience. It has 91 percent positive reviews from the public.

Metacritic gave the show the honor of “universal acclaim” based on its weighted scoring system. There, Severance has an 83 out of 100 score based on 30 critics’ reviews and an 8.1 out of 10 score based on 12 ratings from users.

Severance is about a fictional tech company called Lumon Industries, where employees undergo a medical procedure called “Severance” that surgically separates their memories. Afterward, they have no memory of their personal lives during work hours in the office and no memory of their work lives during their personal time outside. The trailer tells us this is a voluntary procedure, but it does so quite ominously.

For many people, Severance seems to have come out of nowhere, but the show has been in development since November of 2019. There was some chatter about its all-star cast when it was announced during production, and filming was slow to start due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming wrapped in June of 2021.

For those impressed by Severance so far, it looks like a second season is already confirmed. Although Apple TV+ has not made a flashy announcement yet, the Film & Television Industry Alliance has a listing for Severance Season 2 to begin filming in New York and New Jersey this month. Production will apparently begin on March 14.

The first three episodes of Severance are streaming now on Apple TV+. The next episode premieres on Friday, March 4, with new episodes every Friday afterward through April 8.