When you think of Severance, you think of Adam Scott. You think of Ben Stiller. You may even think of John Turturro, Christopher Walken, or Patricia Arquette. You probably don’t, however, think of Dan Erickson. Even though you should.
Erickson is the creator of the hit Apple TV+ show and one of the people primarily responsible for every twist, turn, mystery, and out-of-left-field oddity that happens at Lumon Industries. If you have a question about what the hell is going on with the show, he’s the person to ask. And, as one might expect, Erickson has enjoyed that relative anonymity. It’s just one of many things he spoke about in a recent conversation with io9.
Over video chat, we talked to Erickson about the intentions of the long-awaited and highly anticipated, second season. He discussed how many of the mysteries he’s created (things like what is Lumon up to? Why is Mark’s wife alive? What’s up with the goats, etc?) he knows the answers to. Plus, he revealed he knows how the show is going to end, when—and if Apple decides to greenlight a third season, the hope is it’ll arrive much sooner than the three years it took between seasons one and two.
Read our non-spoiler interview with Erickson below, and check back once season two of Severance premieres on January 17 for some spoiler talk.
Dan Erickson is the creator of Severance – Apple TV+This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Germain Lussier, io9: I love that the season doesn’t shy away from anything. It just kind of jumps right in and you’re tackling lots of big questions right away. Was that always going to be the case or was that a reaction to the fans waiting for so long for season two?
Dan Erickson: It was always going to be the case. Part of it was so much happens at the end of season one, and it really upends the status quo for everybody, there was some danger of it getting convoluted and confusing and being like, “Okay, who knows what?” So we wanted to sort of put everything out on the table. That’s why, on the outside, the characters pretty quickly get into conversations with each other about like, “Okay, what the hell just happened? What was that? What did that mean?” And then on the inside, it’s the same thing. In the trailer, you have Dylan (Zach Cherry) straight up asking the question “What did you guys see up there?” That felt narratively like the right thing to do and it also felt true to the characters. All of these people are going to be desperate to figure out what on earth just happened and what that means for them, so we just let them have those conversations organically.
io9: Clearly with a show like this, you set up some mysteries that you have answers to and some that you don’t. I’m wondering, going into season two and beyond, what percentage of those do you have answers to, how much did you have to figure out, and are there any you’re still unsure about?
Erickson: I have a pretty solid idea of the endpoint of the show. I have kind of a final scene that has always been in my head and answers to some of the big questions. I think you sort of have to know those in order to know the rules of the world that you’re writing. But also, I think it’s balanced because I like to be surprised by the show too. Sometimes we’ll meet a new character or find a new location or element of the show that I am surprised to find myself in love with and all of a sudden it’s like, “Well, now that has to be part of it. We can’t just leave that there. We have to make that a part of the bigger story.” And that’s where a lot of the fun comes in. You have to think on your feet a little bit and let the show surprise you.
One Helly or two? – Apple TV+io9: I spoke to some of your actors and asked them what life has been like with three years off between seasons and if fans talk to them about it, which they have. But in this case, you’re the creator but you also have a little bit of anonymity. You’re not Ben Stiller. You’re not Adam Scott. So has there ever been an instance where people are discussing the show and they don’t know that you’re the guy?
Erickson: Yeah, it’s funny. I was at a restaurant a while back and I was sitting there literally on my laptop working on the show and there were some people sitting next to me and their dog came up, it’s this really sweet dog, came up and put its head in my lap. I was like, “Oh, can I pet your dog?” “Yeah, yeah.” So I’m sitting there just petting their dog and suddenly this this guy is like “By the way, have you guys seen Severance?” And they’re like, “Yeah,” and he’s like “Everyone likes it. I can’t get into it. It’s not my thing.” And I’m sitting there just like petting and I’m like “I’m gonna steal this dog. This dog deserves a proper owner. And this gentleman is undeserving.” [Laughs]
io9: You said you have kind of an idea of where the show would end, but do you have a rough idea of how many seasons it could go?
Erickson: Yeah, I have an idea. It’s not like a hundred percent for sure but we’ve talked about it internally and we’re all pretty sure that we have a number that we’re happy with.
io9: Okay, and if we get a third season—and we’d better Apple!— can you say for sure that it’ll take less time than this one?
Erickson: I certainly would like it to, yeah. And the conversations we have had about it, that’s been in the conversation. Because season two actually took about the same amount of time as season one. The difference, of course, is season one nobody knew what the show was and so they weren’t waiting for it. But at the same time, you’re always looking to sort of fine-tune the process and take what works and leave what doesn’t work and streamline things. So, my hope is that if there is a season three, it’s going to be sooner.
Check back after the season two premiere of Severance for some spoiler discussion with Erickson. It debuts on January 17.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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