It Took Four Directors to Make ‘Severance Season 2’ As Opposed to Ben Stiller’s Tight Reign in Season 1

Severance is back for a second season after 3 long years, but the wait is definitely worth it as fans are beyond enthralled with what the first episode of this brand-new season had to offer. While Ben Stiller is one of the masterminds behind the show, he is not the only one who directs the episodes.

In fact, Stiller seems to have loosened the reins this season, with three other directors joining him to helm the new episodes, unlike the first season. While there’s no doubt Stiller is fully capable of managing it solo, given his impressive track record, all four directors deserve recognition for their contributions to Season 2.

3 other directors besides Ben Stiller worked on Severance Season 2

For those unversed or in need of a memory refresher, Severance follows Mark Scout (Adam Scott) in the role of the employee of a creepily mysterious fictional corporation Lumon Industries who agrees to have his work self (known as an Innie) and his off-hour self (known as an Outie) to be artificially separated or severed. This severance has a disturbing and disorienting effect on him and his co-workers.

The first season of the show had 9 episodes. Out of those 9 episodes, Ben Stiller directed 6 episodes, that is episodes 1 to 3 and then 7 to 9. The middle episodes (4 to 6) were directed by award-winning Irish director Aoife McArdle. However, she has not returned as a director for any of the episodes in Season 2.

Stiller has directed five episodes (1,3, 4, 8, and 10) of this new season. Episodes 2 and 5 have been directed by Sam Donovan, while episodes 6 and 9 have been directed by Uta Briesewitz. Jessica Lee Gagné, known for her work in Escape at Dannemora and Despite the Night, is the director of episode 7.

The first episode, directed by the Zoolander star, premiered recently and picked up where it left the audience at the end of last season with a huge cliffhanger. The second episode is still a week away from release. In the meantime, fans can read a review of the first one here.

Severance creator Dan Erickson thinks the show is more than just a thriller

Severance is known to be a sci-fi psychological thriller, but show creator Dan Erickson believes it is also funny. Although it is not funny like other office comedy sitcoms such as Parks & Recreation or The Office. However, upon closer introspection, there is a dry humor to the absurdity of it all.

In an interview with Paste magazine, Erickson was delighted when he was asked about this aspect of the show. He said:

But, to me, humor is an important pathway to sanity. And similar to having those office friendships, sometimes the only thing that can keep you from going nuts is being able to to perceive things through comedy and through identifying absurdities and being able to laugh at them. And so I think it was, it was absolutely baked into the premise for me.

In an interview with The New York Times, Ben Stiller also weighed in on this as he stated that the show has “its basis in the workplace comedy.” He also went on to say that this new season is a little stranger than the last one so there might be a little less comedy. Regardless, it is still in the vein of a workplace comedy.

Severance Season 1 is available for streaming on Apple TV+. The next episode of Season 2 will be released on January 24.