The wait is almost over for the second season of Severance, and fans are thrilled to step back into its surreal sci-fi landscape, brimming with thought-provoking questions about Lumon Industries. With Dan Erickson as the creator and Ben Stiller at the helm, it has been disclosed that the original pilot script was much grimmer than what was presented on Apple TV+.
Recently, Stiller shared that Severance’s second season was almost headed in a different direction than the one fans cherish. He contemplated turning the show into something akin to The Office. Although this approach could have been successful due to the fantastic cast and skilled writers, the show’s unique and compelling narrative ended up winning several awards for its insightful and dystopian exploration of office workers whose memories are surgically split between their professional and personal lives.
Severance Creator Reveals Dark Pilot Script That Was Cut
According to Kotaku, the unique and quirky universe of Severance could have been even more outlandish if the series creator had stuck to his original script from 2015. In the latest episode of The Severance Podcast featuring Ben Stiller and Adam Scott, they shared that viewers might have encountered a different storyline where Mark, played by Adam Scott, was depicted as divorced instead of widowed. Instead of the familiar setting of Lumon Industries, Mark would have been interviewing Hatty at a video store named Crazy Eagle Video. The plot twist begins when Mark accidentally hits a cat with his car, only to find that the cat disappears when he steps out to search for it. In his quest to find the cat’s owner, he ends up knocking on the door of Ms. Cobel’s house, leading to some truly strange developments.
In the podcast, Erickson described a scene where she shows him her pet rat, which she then mistreats. To his shock, the rat is revealed to be severed, but she quickly shifts the scene, and now the rat is snuggling with her. This is her way of illustrating the concept of severance. He also noted that Mark goes back to Ms. Cobel’s home, only to discover that it has been swapped for a porta-potty, acting as a means of communication between them. It certainly has a Twilight Zone vibe, which would blend seamlessly with the show’s wonderfully strange tone, making this idea potentially effective.
This idea for Severance might unravel the enigma behind Lumon Industries’ decision to keep goats on the premises, suggesting they could be the subjects of their “program,” similar to how lab rats are used in experiments, as it seems animals can also undergo severance. Erickson mentioned that a significant change in the script involved Mark waking up on the table instead of Hatty, emerging from a large sphincter in the ceiling. This twist would have had Mark frantically navigating the Lumon hallways in search of an escape, rather than Hatty.