Severance episodes are fiendishly difficult, if not impossible, to preview adequately, given that all the good stuff you’d likely want to know about is itemized on Apple’s very specific spoiler documentation for the media — and thus, off-limits. In other words: Ruin any of these plot points, Apple warns, and the offending writer will get shuffled off to the testing floor for an appointment with Drummond. Probably.
Obviously, I’m not going to be doing any of that here. But having just watched a press screener of this week’s Severance episode, the seventh of the show’s (fantastic!) second season, I have a very specific purpose in writing this post. At the risk of coming off as a giant tease, here’s what I’d want to know if I was in your shoes:
Remember how there was a ton of pre-commentary around Episode 5, the ORTBO episode? Specifically, that it would be a good idea to watch that one as soon as you can, on account of the big reveal at the end? Well, in my humble opinion, this week’s episode (titled Chikhai Bardo) deserves the exact same warning. That’s because there’s a ton of detail and revelations shared during this episode — some of which you’ve been waiting the entire series for — and I suspect it’s going to be hard to hide from the spoilers if you delay.
I’ll also add: I’ve watched this week’s new episode twice now, and I’m still not sure I caught everything.
This fantastic hour of TV is jam-packed with details that both fill in some of the gaps from all the way back to the very beginning of the series, and they’re also mysterious enough to leave you with new questions you’ll be dying to get answered. As a reminder, even though new Severance episodes officially drop on Fridays, Apple TV+ has actually been releasing new episodes early — every Thursday, around 9 pm ET.
The online discourse around Chikhai Bardo is going to be pretty robust starting Thursday night, so don’t delay if you can help it.
Speaking of the episode title, no spoilers there since Apple obviously revealed it early. You’ll have to draw your own conclusion as to how Chikhai Bardo fits into the new episode, but I can save you some time Googling and tell you that the title is a term that comes from Tibetan Buddhism referring to the first stage of the bardo, or intermediate state, that occurs after death. In other words, it’s a reference to the moment when a person’s consciousness is … severed from their body.
Hit me up on Threads after you watch this week’s episode, I’m at @andymeek, and let me know what you think. We’re all going to be talking about this one for a while!
