money "Severance" Is One Of The Best New Shows, So Here's Everything You Need To Know About It
With so many shows out there, sometimes it can be tough to decide what to get into next. So, as someone who watches a ton of TV (and writes a lot about work and careers), let me tell you: Severance is THE must-see workplace show of 2022.
The show is so unique and totally unlike anything else on TV. It blends suspense and Office Space-esque satire with eerily plausible science fiction that will have you hooked from the very first episode. And did I mention it has a nearly perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes?!
So, to celebrate Severance — and because I need more people to theorize with — here are 17 reasons why it needs to be your next binge-watch:
1.First, Severance follows Mark, a man who was recently promoted to lead his department at a mysterious company called Lumon. The nature of his work there is so secret that the company has required him and his coworkers to undergo a procedure called severance.
2.The severance procedure basically splits their consciousness into two parts: the "Innie" who can never leave work, and the "Outtie" who can never know what goes on at the office. So throughout the show, we see two versions of Mark: a grieving widower struggling with his identity outside of work and a seasoned office drone toiling away on the inside.
3.Lumon is full of mysteries. The Innies don't know anything about their lives outside, so they theorize about what their Outties must be like. And even on the inside, Mark and his team don't know much about the nature of their work, which involves staring at numbers on computers that honestly look like they were shipped in from 1985. Seriously, what are they doing??
4.Meanwhile, Mark's Outtie is thrown for a loop when a dismissed coworker appears and asks Mark to join him in his quest to reveal Lumon's secrets. The two were best friends on the inside, and it's heartbreaking to see that Mark's Outtie has no recollection of their relationship.
5.Behind the scenes, the series was written and created by Dan Erickson, who told Inverse he got the idea while working in a boring office. "I caught myself wishing I could just disassociate from the next eight hours,” Erickson said. “It occurred to me that that’s a messed up thing to wish for. We’ve got such precious little time on this Earth, but in that moment, I totally would have given up those eight hours."
6.Additionally, six of the nine episodes are directed by none other than Ben Stiller. The remaining three are directed by Aoife McArdle. And they're all visually stunning, as the bright and eerily retro office contrasts with the cold darkness of the regular world outside. It has some serious Stanley Kubrick vibes.
7.And, of course, the cast is absolutely amazing. Adam Scott plays Mark (or should I say Marks) with all of his usual wit and charm. He is always so much fun to watch, and it's really a treat to see him embody two distinct versions of the same character in Severance.
8.Britt Lower plays Helly, a newly severed Lumon hire whose Innie desperately wants to get out. As Helly plots her escape, her journey takes us on a tour of the limits and horrors of Lumon's mysterious offices.
9.Mark's other officemates are Dylan, played by Zach Cherry, and Irving, played by John Turturro. You might recognize Cherry from You or Succession, and Turturro has been in tons of great movies like O Brother, Where Art Thou? and this year's The Batman. And Tremell Tillman plays Milchick, the severed floor's cheerfully menacing manager.
10.Rounding out the cast, Patricia Arquette plays Mark's boss on the inside — who just so happens to be his very annoying neighbor on the outside. And Christopher Walken plays Burt, a severed worker in another department who strikes up an unlikely acquaintance with Irving.
11.Oh, and we also need to talk about the opening credits, because it's one of the coolest theme song sequences I've ever seen on a TV show. Just watch it, and I dare you not to get the music stuck in your head.
12.In addition to being a funny and compelling show, one of Severance's biggest strengths is the way it comments on the toxic side of America's workplace culture. In a time when workplace burnout rates keep rising and people are quitting their jobs in record numbers, Severance speaks directly to that discontent.
13.The severance procedure is basically work-life balance taken to extremes in the very darkest timeline. With no memories or experiences outside of the workplace, Mark and his coworkers literally have nothing except for Lumon. The Innies can never experience sleep, sunlight, or take time off. They're forever trapped at work — a striking representation of what it can feel like to experience burnout.
14.The severed adapt to their confinement in different yet relatable ways. Mark's friendship once helped him cope, and Irving takes solace in corporate lore. Meanwhile, Dylan clings to toys he's given as incentives for reaching nebulous goals and the promise of a "waffle party" as an even greater reward.
I don't know what a waffle party is, but I'm really rooting for Dylan to get one.
15.Things aren't much better for Mark's Outtie. With no memories of his day to day at work, Mark struggles to fit in socially with people who see work as foundational to their identities. It's a sadly resonant comment on how so many of us are living to work rather than working to live.
Also, I gotta say, a couple of the un-severed characters we've met so far seem to have a suspicious amount of free time on their hands. 👀
16.If, like a lot of us, you're rethinking your relationship with work, Severance will definitely strike a chord. At its core, the show is about questions like: What do we owe to our employers? Is the work worth the reward? And how much control can an employer be allowed to hold over our lives?
17.If you're not sold yet, Severance is like if Black Mirror made a season of The Office — and then added a dash of Prison Break for extra suspense. It's funny, sad, and chilling, and it's made me have to cover my eyes a couple of times so far. I'm calling it now, Severance is ~THE~ show of the Great Resignation.
