Apple has been steadily working to expand the world of the Apple TV+ series “Severance,” through online materials, e-books, podcasts, and other content – and so have its fans. Taking advantage of its platform power, the Cupertino tech giant has been able to easily distribute supplemental material that adds to the show’s storytelling abilities, offering viewers more clues about the mysterious employer at the heart of the series, Lumon Industries, and other characters.
And for fans of the production itself, a companion podcast with creator Ben Stiller and star Adam Scott delves into the nuts and bolts of how scenes were filmed and other behind-the-scenes content.
Currently the most popular Apple TV+ series ever, “Severance” has gained attention and awards for its cinematic techniques, direction, production design, and more, but is also resonating with viewers because it reflects a certain discontent with American society.
With its borderline absurdist takes on topics like the perils of capitalism, the lengths people will go to achieve work-life balance, corporate oppression, classism, and the evils of technology, “Severance” is reaching a broader group than those who normally watch sci-fi.
The marketing around the “puzzle box-style” TV series, where online content becomes a part of the show itself, is something that brings to mind the work that was done in previous years around the cult classic, “Lost,” where website tie-ins offered further clues about the show’s mysteries, like the Dharma Initiative.
Unlike “Lost,” however, “Severance’s” creators have promised that they know where the series is going and how it will end – which makes it more fun to go down the rabbit hole chasing online clues.
Below are some of the supplemental materials that expand “Severance’s” universe and offer hints at what’s to come.
Official Companions
- “Severance: The Lexington Letter,” published by Apple Books. This companion story and tell-all is told from the perspective of a severed Lumon Industries employee Margaret “Peg” Kincaid, who discovers some of the dark truths about her employer.
- Included in this download is also the Macrodate Refiner’s Orientation Booklet for newly-severed employees, which features a Lumon version of Microsoft’s Clippy — except he’s an anthropomorphized severance chip, not a paperclip.
- “The You You Are,” published by Apple Books. In the series, this book is penned by “Severance” character Dr. Ricken Lazlo Hale, PhD, and ends up playing a role in the severed employees’ awakening. The companion book, which is available as both an e-book and a narrated audiobook, offers the first 8 chapters of Ricken’s oeuvre devoted to self-discovery and bizarre anecdotes.
- The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott. Produced by Audacy, the creator’s official podcast recaps and reveals behind-the-scenes details alongside actor interviews.
- Lumon Industires’ LinkedIn profile. Researching your next job on LinkedIn and you might come across the Lumon Industries business profile, which introduces fans to founder Kier Eagan’s concepts, including his 9 core principles of Vision, Verve, Wit, Cheer, Humility, Benevolence, Nimbleness, Probity, and Wiles. The page often posts try-hard odes to corporate fulfillment and self-improvement alongside its attempts to recruit new workers to join Lumon, headquartered in the fictional town of Kier. The sinister undertones of its content aren’t all that different from some of the corporate speak that surrounds it on LinkedIn, oddly.
- Catch up with “Severance” creator Dan Erickson in his Reddit AMA. It’s a few years old, but still worth a read for any fans looking for “official” – if limited – answers to their questions. (For example, Erickson dismissed the “it’s all a simulation theory” by responding, “Yes, the office is real. It exists physically and everything we see there is actually happening.”)
- Roku’s Free Fan Experience. The streaming media player and TV maker partnered with Apple TV+ to offer “Severance” fans a free Season 2 preview that included character intros for Mark S., Helly R., and others, plus other behind-the-scenes content, including an exclusive cast interview. (As the premiere has now passed, you can access the fan experience via Roku Search instead of the Home Screen menu.)
- Lumon Industries on TikTok. This TikTok account hosts the video content produced by Lumon (aka Apple’s marketing team), but appears to be independently run. On the page, you’ll find the retro-looking video footage of the town called Kier and additional excerpts from Lumon’s Management Program (“LUMP”) – like what to do when low morale plagues your team. For example, it recommends you purge all distractions so employees can focus on their “important and mysterious” work.
- There are also social media accounts for Lumon Industries on X, Instagram, Threads, and YouTube, but these are also not verified or run by Apple.
- Reddit users can delve into “Severance” theories and share ideas in communities like r/SeveranceAppleTVPlus, r/SeveranceTVshow, r/WelcometoLumon, or can share shitposts in r/okbuddyseverance,
- Tumblr users can join the online Tumblr Community devoted to “Severance,” where you can find fans’ blog posts and fan-made art.
- Since it’s a “real” book, you can leave “The You You Are” tome a Goodreads review. One selected review reads: “Bullies are nothing but bull and lies. I am looking forward to reading the book in its entirety, but every time I order a copy, it gets stolen off my front steps. So frustrating.”
Fan-Made Fun
- Lumon Industries website. Designed by programmer Daniel Shiffman and several of his YouTube series viewers, this fan-made website lets you pretend to be an MDR employee, refining the numbers – scary and otherwise – by binning them into boxes at the bottom of the screen. While the fan version doesn’t look quite like the software seen on TV – the bins aren’t labeled with the various “tempers” as on the show, for instance – there is a little Easter Egg referencing the screen pulled from Season 2, Episode 1 on the website.
- Also from Shiffman, the You You Are bot on Bluesky and X auto-posts excerpts from Dr. Ricken Hale’s book, like: “A society adrift dines on illusions, but the famished mind feasts upon profundity hidden within reality’s kaleidoscope.” Shiffman also put the bot’s source code on GitHub.
- Severance Wiki. This fan-made wiki devoted to all things “Severance,” lets you research characters, music, locations, episodes, events, theories, and more, all in one destination. (There are also wikis available on Fandom and wikiwand.)
- A fan-made Lumon office is available for the Sims 4 game.
“Severance” Season 2 is on Apple TV+, which recently arrived on Android mobile devices too. Season 2 began airing on Jan. 17, 2025, and will include 10 episodes, ending on March 21, 2025.
Do you have a favorite Severance fan-made experience? Let me know: sarahp@techcrunch.com.
