A second season of Severance is on the way

Apple

The Apple TV Plus drama about workers who find work-life balance by altering their brains has been renewed for a second season. The show starring Adam Scott as Mark S., a widower who forgets who he is for the entire of his workday, has found an audience with its portrayal of the horrors of capitalism in a large but claustrophobic office.

Mark and his coworkers are trying to figure out what they are really doing in the macro data department at Lumon. They are constantly monitored by the deeply unnerving Harmony Cobel, the mysterious Ms.Casey, and the steely-eyed Seth Milchick. Mark's real family includes his pregnant sister, who is also his wife, and the always reliably funny Michael Chernus as Ricken, the husband of her.

The first season finale of the show will be aired this Friday.

Severance explores what it means to have a work persona separate from your real identity, where one can never leave the office, and the other doesn't remember anything they did at work. We don't really have a sense of when we are, but it's set in an antiseptically clean, labyrinthine building with decor and computers that recall the 1970s and 1980s.

A good performance at Lumon might earn workers a handshake, a melon party, a music dance experience, or even a waffle party, all of which are as weird and awesome as they sound. The workers start to figure out what's going on with the cult-like Egan family and Lumon. The opening credits is an absolutely spectacular animated feature that sets the tone for the show.

The second season's introductory video shows the words "You will feel like you never left" on a vintage computer screen. I just shuddered.