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Apple's 'Far Out' event sneaks in 'Severance' reference — twice

If you wondered who the mystery woman shown fritzing out at the end of Apple's "Far Out" event video, you need to watch Apple TV+ hit "Severance."

The woman waiting at the end of the launch video is actress Britt Lower, in character and costume as Helly Riggs, who joins Lumon Industries in the opening moments of "Severance."

That ending glimpse of her waiting on a subway train was also a callback to a blink-and-you-miss it "Severance" reference earlier on in the video of the event. It was around 45 minutes in, during the AirPods Pro introduction by Mary-Ann Rau, senior engineer, AirPods Firmware.

Rau was demonstrating the improved Active Noise Cancellation feature of the second generation AirPods Pro. As she showed herself and other subway commuters immersed in listening to music, Rau exits the train — as Helly Riggs gets on.

The end of the launch video is a callback to this blink-and-you'll-miss-it nod to The end of the launch video is a callback to this blink-and-you'll-miss-it nod to "Severance."

To say anything more, especially about why Helly fritzes out in the last moment, is to spoil one of the very best series on Apple TV+. Written and created by Dan Erickson, and directed by Ben Stiller, it is an extraordinarily compelling and disturbing story about office life.

The complete first season is streaming now on Apple TV+, and a second one has been announced.



10 Comments

ravnorodom 8 Years · 721 comments

I missed the middle part but did see the ending part and was wondering. This is like the Marvel thing where they show clips of upcoming movie.

crowley 15 Years · 10431 comments

Not exactly a great look at the girl on the platform.  It could be Britt Lower, or it could be a lookalike.  I'm more inclined towards the latter, face looks a little bit different to me.

chasm 10 Years · 3624 comments

Aha! I was wondering about that … for some reason I didn’t twig that it was Helly.

JinTech 9 Years · 1061 comments

I did get the vibe it was related to the show but didn't think twice. Apple's set design and just all-around thought process in these keynotes are impressive beyond belief.