TV Review: Severance (AppleTV)

 

This show messed with my mind but in the best possible way.

Severance is a show that premiered on AppleTV earlier this year.  It is a high concept show with some of the best directing on television.

The plot revolves around a business called Lumon that offers an optional surgical procedure called "severance."  When a person is severed, they send themselves to their work place and when they arrive, they lose all memory of their outside life.  When they leave work, the lose all memory of the work life.  The procedure effectively severs your work and personal life.

The story revolves around Mark Scout (Adam Scott).  He elected to have the procedure because of recent trauma that he wanted to forget during the work day.  When Mark heads to Lumon, he proceeds down an elevator where he forgets all about his outside life and is simply known as Mark S.  The department he works in is exceedingly odd, with a retro-1980's technology vibe and work that is strange and esoteric.  He works alongside the acerbic Dylan (Zach Cherry), the erudite Irving (John Tutorro), and newcomer Helly (Britt Lower).  All the while they are overseen by the overbearing Ms. Cobel (Patricia Arquette) and her creepily polite assistant Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman).  

The show is very weird but that is not an insult.  The sanitized office setting is filmed in ways that feel nightmarish and sinister.  At times the show feels like an awkward office comedy like The Office, but then it shifts gears into existential mystery like Twin Peaks.

Severance raises some fascinating questions about the self and identity.  Those who live in the outside world (the "Outies") have no concept of what their worker selves (the "Innies") endure.  Sometimes they will emerge with slight injuries and be rewarded with simple gift cards.  The show plays with the juxtaposition of the two perspectives.  Are you really still the same person once you are severed?  Or are you now two different people?  Do your memories define your person?  If your Innie wants to quit and your Outie refuses, is this slavery?

Besides dealing with deep thematic issues, the show is big on mystery.  Lumon is an enigma.  In fact, the entire world seems off.  The found of the company, Kier Egan, is talked about in messianic terms.  His compliance manuals are often quoted by the Innies like they are Scripture.  In fact, one of the things that makes me uneasy about the show is the potential that this is ultimately a satire of Christianity.  However, the show is smart be vague so that this could be a critique of human hubris.

But all of this would be pointless if it was not executed incredibly well.  Ben Still directed most of the episodes this season.  I have been keeping an eye on his visual style ever since The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, a film that was beautiful to look at but failed in the story department.  He uses all of his skills to pull off an beautiful, creepy, atmospheric, engaging, and emotional visual style.  He knows just how to twist the absurd into the nightmarish.  The stellar writing is also a big draw.  In the show, Mark's brother-in-law writes corny self-help books.  Through a strange circumstance, one of his books ends up on the severed floor and is discovered by the Innies.  Because it is so counter to the writings of Kier Egan, they draw deep inspiration from even the most tortured and silly aphorisms from his book.  It is quite a writing feat to make something that is empty and pretentious into something inspirational and meaningful.

The performance are some of the best this year.  Scott is particularly great at playing both his Innie and Outie with just enough similarity and difference.  Because so much of the show is shrouded in mystery, every word, every look by the other characters carries with it ambiguous meaning, which is incredibly difficult to play.  

And I have to say that the season finale had me twisted up in knots and on the edge of my seat until the last seconds.  It ends on a cliffhanger that will want you desperate for the next episode.

My cautions on the show involve the potential satirization of the faith.  Also, like most shows today, it glorifies lifestyles contrary to the Gospel.  I am also trepidatious of (to use a JJ Abrams phrase) "mystery box" shows.  This is where the audience is drawn in to deeper and deeper mysteries without ever giving satisfying answers.  As of this point in the story, we are still in the mystery section.  If the show does not ultimately give us a good resolution, then it will taint the enjoyment of the first season.

I know this review has been light on details, but not knowing what happens next made this show much more enjoyable.  I'd recommend giving it a try.