‘Severance’ Season One Review – A Head-Splitter of an Entrance

Ben Stiller would not be the first name you think of when you think of a workplace thriller like this: Severance, an elective surgical procedure at Lumon Industries that separates your work memories from your private ones after you leave work. Adam Scott plays the lead role of Mark Scout, a depressed and alcoholic widow trying to soothe the pain of losing his wife. At the time we meet Mark, he’s been working as a Data Refiner for a while judging by his daily routine and awards on his desk for his achievements. The entire show enthralled me over three days and I did nothing but inhaling it all at once.

Data refining is what it sounds like. That’s a great question, we’ll cover it later. When all nine episodes became available, I watched them immediately. According to Variety, as of this writing, the show has been renewed for a second season following an incredible discussion on Reddit.

After we’ve cleared that up, here are my thoughts (and some spoilers) on Severance.

You have coworkers no matter what job you have, and Mark’s coworkers are at the top of the casting list. Zach Cherry is a well-known face in the Marvel universe (the impromptu martial arts bus commentator in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, or what he called “Do a flip!” in Spider-Man: Homecoming) but his talents will blow you away. Initially you may dislike Dylan, but as the show progresses you’ll find yourself sympathizing with him within and outside the walls of Lumon Industries.

Currently, John Turturro is making headlines for his portrayal of Carmine Falcone in The Batman as Irving, the longest-serving “innie,” as they are called, a member of the 8-hour split inside the walls of Gotham City. Tramell Tillman and Britt Lower round out the main cast who spend their time on the Data Refinement floor as Helly, a newly severed employee who frequently questions the morality of firing, and Seth Milchick, a manager who maintains many aspects of Lumon Industries behind the scenes. Patricia Arquette is Mark’s supervising supervisor Harmony Cobel, who operates outside of company policy and is extremely cold. 

After meeting Christopher Walken’s Burt as Head of the Optics and Design department, we meet the ensemble of the data refinement team. Severance is certainly a good indication of AppleTV’s willingness to pay Top Dollar for talent.

Even if these characters are not severed, they are presented with incredible scenes to work with. Jen Tullock plays Devon Hale, Mark’s sister and her husband Ricken Hale, a self-help author with strange traditions, and Michael Chernus plays his wife Rebecca. We will encounter fewer and fewer characters without ties to Lumon Industries as the series progresses. Mark talks about the intimate decision quite often in public, leading to sour feelings as strangers become envious. 

Historically, Lumon’s reach is similar to the mining and lumber company towns that have come and gone in the United States. A company-managed township called Kier (named after Lumon’s founder) includes housing and retail stores. The amount of intrusion Lumon has into these employees’ daily lives becomes increasingly concerning. People ask what people create/do at gatherings as well. Someone else jokes, “What do they make?” implying that they’re a conglomerate with interests in medical, technological, agricultural, biological, and manufacturing industries. 

Now let’s talk about Data Refiners. In the MDR department (Macro Data Refinement), team members collect clusters of numbers on screens and categorize them into certain digital buckets according to their interpretation and emotional connections to what they see. The film captures the suspense as if the robot was being operated by a rookie on the bomb squad, even though this is possibly one of the most mundane assignments a person could ever be given.

It shouldn’t be scary to deal with numbers, right? But what do they mean? We still don’t know. What kept me watching this show was its lack of answers. Even though it was frustrating to be left on a cliffhanger, it was inevitable that this season would end with a smattering of unresolved issues by the 6th or 7th episode. 

Zooming in and out of the camera to show the difference between the “innie” and “outie” is great for the drama, you go from Mark at his worst to a cheerful leader who feels completely out of his depth in his new role. The uncoverings of Lumon are horrific as the season and work progress – aversion therapy that presses them to mean their apologies until they finally “mean it,” as Milchick urges them on for the 1,287th time. There are a number of realizations and a series of curiosities that ensue as Dylan, Irving, and Helly wonder what their “outie” is up to.

The hallways, offices, and even the break room were instrumental in adding to the bleak and tediousness of the corporate life structure – checking off quarterly milestones, mandatory team exercises and a drab vending machine all punctuate the boring cycle of day-in-day-out clock-punching. 

Away (but not really) from Lumon, Mark is disconnected from everything and everyone, his sister being the only person left after his wife’s passing. Through some conversations and car rides, some more information is expanded in regard to the loss of his wife. Things such as it being partially recent and her being involved in a car crash are at most of what we know about her.

When Mark is on a date set up for him, the topic comes up and it’s quite apparent how fresh the wound still is for him. His alcoholism more than once drove people away from him and it was interesting to see this depicted quite accurately throughout the season (one example is Mark eating minimal food to drink more instead). Even when in his “innie” mode, others notice things such as the smell he sweats off to help underscore the severity of his drinking.

While Mark navigates through some new to him truths, Helly and Irving keep things moving inside as they explore new sections of the Severed floor. Between multiple visits to the O&D department and Perpetuity Wing, the love and detail from the set creators is at its height during these long walks. Going from dim, space-age-era engineering floors to a fully reconstructed house and then to the haunting and dark “break room” is almost like entering a trance.

The last three episodes of the season had me on the edge and nearly out of breath. In the last 20 or so minutes of the season one finale “The We We Are” I should have worn my Apple Watch to see the leaps my heart rate was making as the final moment intensifies and cuts to black.

I haven’t been so drawn to a show that made me want to binge it all in one go like this in a very long while. The fact that viewers had to agonize over weeks for resolution is incredible to me as I was not as patient, and the ending setting up a second season can be viewed differently depending on the viewer. Granted, I do want to spend more time with Lumon and the Data Refinement team, I am indeed curious as to what Lumon really does and the answers to many questions. AppleTV has a hit on their hands, they know it and I wish I could “sever” myself until more releases.

 

Source: thecosmiccircus