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It has been only one season andSeverancehas already received worldwide fame and critical acclaim for being one of the best shows of all time. However, every great story has some behind-the-scenes friction.
It was alleged that series creator Dan Erickson and executive-producer/writer Mark Friedman had some feuds while working on season one of the show. Notable director-actor Ben Stiller, however, cleared the air.
There is some friction between Mark Friedman and Dan Erickson
There have been multiple reports of jokes of a producer trying to take the series in a different direction than what the creator originally intended. Although it might not be the case inSeverance, there was some high-tension friction between Friedman and Erickson.
According to thePuck News report, Mark Friedman, who served as an executive producer on season one of the show was supposed to leave before the development of season two began.
Severance Season 2 Episode 1 — “Hello, Ms. Cobel” — Spoiler Review and Recap
Ben Stiller (who directed most of the episodes), however, interviewed potential replacements but could not find anyone better than Friedman. So, a treaty was drawn (not literally) that Dan Erickson and Mark Friedman would work on another season of the show while putting their differences aside.
So he [Ben Stiller] and Apple went back to Friedman and decided to replicate the toxic environment of Season 1. Shocker: That didn’t work, scripts were a problem.
The report further continues,
And Apple – disappointed and embarrassed that they’d gone down the wrong road but looking at Severance as a hit and an awards magnet – started talking about Seasons 3 and 4.
As per the report, Ben Stiller went ahead and hired Beau Willimon who is known for his work inHouse of Cardsto be a part ofSeverance.This could potentially mean that Mark Friedman would serve in a more limited capacity (than before) and things could further break apart.
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With theSeverancedrama making waves across the internet,Ben Stillerdecided to clear the air a little bit. Although he didn’t deny the rumors, the actor-director stated that frictions tend to happen not because of words but the overall environment.
What Ben Stiller had to say about it
Ahead of Season 2’s release, Stiller sat down for a chat onThe New York Times’ The Interview podcast. During their talks, Stiller touched upon the ‘friction’ that Mark Friedman and Dan Erickson had (or continue to have) while working together.
During his talks, the actor mentioned that friction wasn’t allegedly caused by their way of talking or behaving but it was caused by the tense environment thatSeverancehad while being developed.
I never really believed that idea of you have to have friction or something on a set… to keep sort-of tension. I think just the nature of making this show over the last five years has been a learning experience and… yeah.
He further continued,
Sometimes creatively, it’s been the questions of, ‘Which way do we go with it?’ I really believe the show comes out of the different creative perspectives of the people who work on it.
So it seems that Ben Stiller was allegedly hinting towards a difference in creativity and direction between Dan Erickson and Mark Friedman. Well, that tends to happen when you’re working on a show as good asSeverance.
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Perhaps the feuds have been put aside for a while or perhapsthere could be some major consequences going ahead in the show. All we can say for certain is thatSeveranceseason 2 recently premiered on 28 June 2025.
The show currently stands at a rating of 8.7/10 on IMDb and a high of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.SeveranceSeason 2 is available to stream on AppleTV+.
Visarg Acharya
Senior Writer
Articles Published :3262
Visarg Acharya is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 3000 articles published. He has been an entertainment journalist for the past three years and a copywriter at a corporation. Visarg usually covers news and theories on the MCU and the DCU, with an emphasis on Avengers and Superman; Game of Thrones, and more.A Tarantino fan, Visarg, spends his time critiquing various directors’ filmographies and watching them with curiosity. Medieval fantasy like The Lord of the Rings or sci-fi movies like Interstellar, watching the latest horror movies, and listening to Hans Zimmer become his comfort zone. When idle, he can be found reading fantasy novels with a terrible cup of coffee in hand.
