The Severance showrunner breaks down some of the premiere’s biggest questions

Dismissal season two is finally here and we can’t keep quiet about it. Having more than two months of new episodes on the way is certainly one of the best things that a very bad 2025. has delivered so far, and things kicked off with a bang at the premiere. We need to spend a lot of time with young people on Lumon’s cut floor and saw some very tantalizing new mysteries unfold.

last month, we spoke to the showrunner Dan Erickson for the episode because we knew you would I want to know what he has to say about a few things. Here are the spoilers we originally cut from our full interview.

Germain Lussier, io9: I was shocked when Heli lied about what she saw as her top dress and then it kind of opened up so many questions about who this guy is, what he wants, etc. How big a part of the season is this and where did the idea come from?

Dan Erickson: Well, that’s a pretty big part of it. Something we talked about in that scene is whether each character would be honest and how honest would they be? We talked about, “Would Heli tell the truth?” or “Would she hide it?” I think even if nothing else was going on, Heli would be ashamed of what she learned. So there’s definitely a reason why each character would want to maybe be dishonest with others. Mark too. I think there’s some question of whether he’s going to want Hayley to know this thing that he’s learned, or if he’s going to feel like he needs to take the time to admit it and bring it up to her? So we had this conversation about each of the three heroes who had risen to the top.

io9: Another big surprise is Miss Huang, who is the most interesting and quirky character. What can you tell me about her?

Erickson: Yeah, there was always something interesting about the idea of ​​having a child in that role, and there’s this big question of why? Why does Lumon do this? what is it What are the larger implications of this? But I think her presence really pushes the characters away. I mean, everyone is certainly weirded out by her presence because the fact that she’s this kid(s) has this disarming quality about her that it’s hard to hate a kid, you know? But at the same time she fulfills this managerial role and is also, at least in terms of experience, older than them, because each of the young ones has had at most two years to live, and even that is only eight hours a day. So it was a very weird power dynamic that you could really only have on this show. And we were lucky enough to find an actor who could really play the smiling corporate game and then all of a sudden that goes away and you see this strange darkness underneath. So in a sense she is Lumon incarnate. She is both at the same time.

io9: Another fascinating twist this season is the “outtie family visit package.” How important is that this season and again where did that idea come from?

Erickson: The thing about Lumon, and part of their evil brilliance, is that they will stimulate what matters most to you. And for Dylan in season one, he was very happy with this kind of contrived meaning of pencil erasers and finger traps and these little rewards that represented achievement. The moment he finds out he has a family, the finger trap is just a finger trap. Suddenly, it completely changes his sense of significance in life. So what will Lumon do? They will encourage this. They’ll tell him you can see your wife if you do your job and kind of toe the line because that’s the most important thing to him. He is ready to do it even at the expense of his working family. And that’s the predicament he finds himself in.

The first episode of Dismissal season two is now on Apple TV+. New episodes are released every Friday.

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