What to know:
- Severance’s first season set a high bar with a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score and multiple Emmy nominations.
- The second season has already received early rave reviews with an early 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.
- You can make real money betting on its Rotten Tomatoes score on prediction markets like Kalshi, which are forecasting a near-perfect 97.8% score for the new season.
Apple TV+’s Severance will be returning for its second season on Jan. 17, 2025. The highly anticipated follow-up is arriving almost three years after its first season.
According to current odds on Kalshi’s Rotten Tomatoes score market for the second season, users are expecting it to perform exceptionally well, with a forecasted 97.8%. The market has over $100,000 in trading volume, a number that will surge between now and its Season 2 debut.
Here’s everything you need to know about Severance before betting on it.
What is Apple TV+’s ‘Severance’?
Severance is a sci-fi psychological thriller that premiered on Apple TV+ on Feb. 18, 2022. Actor Ben Stiller executive produced and directed six of the first season’s episodes.
In “Severance,” Mark Scout (Adam Scott) leads a team at Lumon Industries, whose employees have undergone a severance procedure that surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives. This daring experiment in “work-life balance” is called into question as Mark finds himself at the center of an unraveling mystery that will force him to confront the true nature of his work … and of himself. In season two, Mark and his friends learn the dire consequences of trifling with the severance barrier, leading them further down a path of woe.
The series cast is led by Adam Scott and joined by Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Jen Tullock, Dichen Lachman, Michael Chernus, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Patricia Arquette.
Due to multiple strikes, the second season of the show was significantly postponed. Filming was set to wrap on May 12, 2023, but was delayed and completed on April 23, 2024.
Critical reception of ‘Severance’s’ first season
The first season of Severance was very well received. Back in 2022, the freshman season was nominated for 14 Emmys – winning two for Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic Score) and Outstanding Main Title Design.
On Rotten Tomatoes, it was “Certified Fresh” with a score of 97% based on 116 reviews. Rotten Tomatoes’ critical consensus is “Audacious, mysterious, and bringing fresh insight into the perils of corporate drudgery, Severance is the complete package.”
Unsurprisingly, the series was renewed for a second season before the first season’s finale aired.
Past Rotten Tomatoes scores of Ben Stiller-directed projects
Stiller directed six of the first season’s episodes and is set to direct five of the second season’s episodes. Let’s take a look at his directorial track record with Rotten Tomatoes.
| Movie | Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer Score | Number of Reviews |
| Reality Bites (1994) | 62% | 60 |
| The Cable Guy (1996) | 55% | 80 |
| Zoolander (2001) | 64% | 138 |
| Tropic Thunder (2008) | 82% | 43 |
| The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) | 52% | 196 |
| Zoolander 2 (2016) | 22% | 232 |
| Escape at Dannemora (2018) | 89% | 61 |
| Severance Season 1 (2022) | 97% | 116 |
His Rotten Tomatoes score is extremely wide and spans 30 years. From a score as low as 22% to as high as 97%, he has had successful projects and not-so-successful ones. On average, he’s had a 69% Rotten Tomatoes score.
If Severance hadn’t had a first season already, it would have been difficult to know how the show would be received critically. However, with the first season’s positive reception, the second season’s chances are looking good.
Early reviews and reactions
The early reviews have arrived for the second season and it looks to be another critical darling. As of right now, the series has a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes with 43 reviews.
The score may decrease as we get closer to the release date and more reviews come in but it’s unlikely to fall too far. Rotten Tomatoes has released a critical consensus for the sophomore season: “Masterfully managing its two halves of adroit character study and surreal nightmare, Severance’s long-awaited sophomore season makes cognitive dissonance a mind-melting pleasure.”
If you’re betting on a Rotten Tomatoes score, make sure to always keep an eye on how many reviews are out and if there are any large publications that have yet to release their review. They may be able to sway the direction of the critical consensus.
For Entertainment Weekly, Kristen Baldwin says, “In season 2, ‘Severance’ forces both its characters and its viewers to confront our ugly tendency to assess another’s worth based primarily on how that person’s needs and desires align with our own.”
And New York Post’s Lauren Sarner writes, “Each episode is like a meticulously created painting that’s there for us to marvel at its craft and detail — all while wondering if the artist has all their marbles.”
Given the overwhelmingly positive response, a Rotten Tomatoes score in the high 90s seems inevitable for Severance. It’s no surprise that Severance, a show that so acutely examines the complexities of work-life balance, has garnered such critical acclaim and a dedicated following.
