Severance Creator Dan Erickson On Season 2 And Finding Humor In A Corporate Hellscape

Severance Creator Dan Erickson On Season 2 And Finding Humor In A Corporate Hellscape
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After a painfully long absence, Severance is finally back for its second season, and the first episode, “Hello, Ms. Cobel,” wastes no time throwing us into the bowels of Lumon HQ. Just like before, the series continues to deliver a sci-fi twist on the underlying anxieties and absurdities of modern work, after Mark (Adam Scott) fought his way through a bureaucratic (and literal) maze to reunite with his buddies. In light of the show’s return, we got a chance to speak with the series’ showrunner and creator, Dan Erickson, about Lumon’s reaction to last season’s rebellion, workplace camaraderie, and why humor is so important to the show’s success.

Paste Magazine: In Season 2’s first episode, there’s a scene where Mark and his co-workers are shown a corporate educational video about their uprising. Can you speak a bit about what inspired that sequence and what that moment says about how companies react to controversies and criticisms?

Dan Erickson: Yeah, we talked a lot about how Lumon would respond to what the Innies did at the end of Season 1. And something that I thought is sort of especially insidious that you notice a lot of big companies do is the way that they’ll co-opt a scandal. If there is a successful rebellion against the status quo, they will try to sort of consume that and weave it into their narrative and say like, “Well, yeah, you know, this is a company where we listen. We listen to our workers and thank God that we have these workers who strengthen us.”

And you know, they pay a lot of lip service to the people who they were trying to quell mere hours ago. And so that felt like the appropriate response from Lumon. They wouldn’t come to the Innies and say, “ Oh, your actions were disgusting, and we hate you.” You know they’re going to try to make them feel like they’re part of the family now and that their concerns have been heard, even if, at the end of the day, nothing has really changed.

Paste: While Severance is very much a critique of modern office culture, it also gets at kind of the type of camaraderie that can form in opposition to those kinds of work conditions, like how at the end of this most recent episode, Mark and his team share a moment together. Can you speak a bit about that element of the show? What inspired it, and why is it important to the story?

Erickson: I mean, at every job I’ve ever had, you’re dehumanized to some extent by your work environment. I mean, that just kind of happens. And so the only thing that can remind you sometimes that you are a human being is other human beings, and you see them going through the same struggles that you’re going through. And sometimes, it can be easier to empathize with the person at the desk next to you than with yourself. And so only through talking to those people do you have that comfort and that warmth.

And I always thought as cynical of a show as this seems to be, I think it’s an optimistic show at the end of the day because it is about this warm beating heart at the center of this cold world, and that heart is shared between these four characters. You know, I’ve had jobs where I really would have lost my mind had I not been able to get lunch with the guy next to me and just be like, “Okay, that was crazy, right?” Because otherwise, you start to lose the thread a little bit.

Paste: This series is a tense thriller, but I think it’s also very funny; there’s a dry humor and absurdity to it. Why do you think it’s important to include comedy in the show, and how do you think that plays into the series’ themes and tone?

Erickson: Well, I’m glad you say that because I think the show is really funny, but I feel like not everybody perceives it the way that I do. I’ve talked to people where I’m like, “Yeah, it’s kind of a thriller, comedy thing.” And they’re like, “What? How is it a comedy?” 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.

But it’s also that the show is about the Innies. At least at the beginning, they’re not fully human; they’re sort of automatons, and it’s the story of them trying to become human. And not to spoil a movie from almost 30 years ago, but I really like the movie Dark City. At that movie’s core, there are these villainous characters, these aliens who are trying to learn how to be human. And they’re really sinister. But I also think those characters are really funny because they’re these scary, pale, gaunt things, but they’re also kind of trying to learn what empathy is, and it’s kind of adorable. And, of course, our Innies aren’t villainous in that way, but they’re going through the same thing where there’s a sweetness to them trying to learn who they are. And that can come across as funny. But at the same time, we’re not laughing at them, we’re laughing at the process. Because I think we sort of know what that feels like.

Paste: I’m curious how you feel about the response to the first season of the show. First of all, what did it feel like to receive such a positive reception? And beyond that, do you think the show potentially changed some people’s opinions about corporate office culture?

Erickson: I like to tell people, “As the person who invented the idea of workers’ rights, you’re welcome.” [Laughter] No, I mean, I don’t want to be too lofty in terms of how much this show affected the conversation. I think, if anything, I’m taking stuff that is already out there, putting it into the show, and putting a little different spin on it. But I do think that we’re at a point, and maybe it was kicked off by the pandemic, or maybe it was always going to happen, but I think we are really reconceiving what work should be and what role it should play in our lives. And we had this idea of the Great Resignation, where a bunch of people were were leaving their jobs, but then the question is what comes after that? What is the new status quo?

And of course, as we were making this season, we had to pause because of these massive industry-wide strikes that were happening amongst the actors and the writers, and that was all stuff that we were very much supportive of. And especially because for me, having been on set and seeing how hard people work, it’s like, it’s a totally valid question to ask how much of myself am I willing to give to a job and what should I reasonably expect back in return? And so, we don’t necessarily go in planning to make something that is directly about a specific event. But COVID, the pandemic, made its way into the show. I think the strikes made their way into the show. All of it makes its way into the show and certainly will affect how people watching will perceive it. Because you never know what environment you’re going to be releasing the show into, but that context will always affect how people see it.

Paste: At the start of Season 2, there are a lot of lingering questions, like what Mark and his co-workers are actually doing at Lumon. As a writer, how do you go about trying to ensure that the answers to these kinds of big questions resonate with audiences and feel satisfying?

Erickson: I think if the show does resonate with people, which I still kind of have to pinch myself about, I think it’s because it came from a personal place for me. I was walking into an office job one day, and I didn’t like it, and I wanted to jump ahead to the end of the day. And then it was just like, “Okay, well, let’s follow that to its logical conclusion. How would that work? What would that mean for me? What would that mean for the version of me stuck in the office?” And so I think that element of it is people see their own struggles in that. But also, I think that the show could have been really depressing if it just followed that.

It’s the fact that it also works a little bit as an escape from reality because we’re in a slightly askew world that’s recognizable, but it’s not quite our world. It’s close enough to our reality that we can recognize it, but it also feels a little bit like we get to go on a fun trip to this other weird place. And I think it’s those qualities augmented by our design team and the people who craft the visual look of the show and the cinematography of the show. It’s there’s a disturbing sort of basic human truth at the middle of it, but it’s also, it’s wrapped up in something that is strange and fun. And I think that if we hadn’t gotten that balance just right, I don’t think people would have tuned in.


Elijah Gonzalez is an assistant Games and TV Editor for Paste Magazine. In addition to playing and watching the latest on the small screen, he also loves film, creating large lists of media he’ll probably never actually get to, and dreaming of the day he finally gets through all the Like a Dragon games. You can follow him on Twitter @eli_gonzalez11 and on Bluesky @elijahgonzalez.bsky.social.

 
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