When the teaser trailer for “Severance’s” second season came across my instagram feed back in October, I was instantly moved to check it out. I have now seen the first season three times, once by myself, another time with my parents and a third time with my sister. I am currently in a perpetual state of counting down the hours until the next episode of the second season to drop on Apple TV, which deserves the critical acclaim it has received. The show’s casting of Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, Patricia Arquette, John Turturro and Tramell Tilman captivate the audience, the impeccable score and application of defiant jazz music to the horrifically mundane are flawless, all under the creative guise of director Ben Stiller. “Severance’s” combination of a psychological thriller, cynical and absurdist comedy and elite cinematography make the show a bandwagon worth hopping on.
The first season follows Adam Scott’s Mark Scout, a severed employee in “macro data refinement” at biotech company Lumon industries. Being “severed” means he has chosen to undergo Lumon’s procedure that surgically divides your memories between your work and personal lives through the implantation of a chip into your brain. This creates an “innie” at work and an “outie” on the outside, who have no connection to the others memories or lives. Scout decided to take the severed job after the loss of his wife in a car accident, as he believes it will help him cope with the loss. However on the inside we get to see Lumon’s true colors.
Lumon can be best described as a cult-like corporate theocracy centred around serving its founder, Kier Eagan. They completely control the lives of their severed employees, who are susceptible to their infantilizing manipulation due to their personhood being relatively new, and their eternal presence in the office makes them unquestioning serfs to the will of the floors managers, the sadistic machiavellian Harmony Cobel and her enforcer, the deviously charming Mr. Milchick.
The office space of the severed floors is enough of a nightmare. It is a hellscape formed by a claustrophobic labyrinth of blaring white hallways with fluorescent lighting, and the occasional green carpeting. The company does its best to keep Severed departments separate, utilizing specialized artwork to keep them scared and see other departments as murderous or animalistic.
However, Lumon’s severed employees (“outies”) are not as shielded from the reality of the severed floor as Lumon wants them to be. Due to a former colleague and a hilariously poorly written book, both of Scout’s persons become increasingly incentivized to find out what Lumon’s intentions really are, turning Scout lives on their head.
As for the second season, so far it has not disappointed. The opening scene might be one of the best in tv history. It explores the themes of establishment forces in the face of resistance, it continues to satirize the dystopian results of a corporation’s so-called utopian values. The show’s dark exploration of the work life balance and its Kafkaesque premise of people trapped in a corporate feudal system could very well make “Severance” the show of the decade. Praise Kier.
