One silver lining to waiting for the third season of Ted Lasso is the fact that I’ve had time to check out other offerings on Apple TV. I was late to Severance, but once I finally got on the train, I quickly saw why it’s gripped so many people.
Mark works for Lumen, dealing with data so sensitive that his job required a very extreme measure: he underwent severance, a procedure that bifurcates his memories. Now, he only retains his work memories at work and only retains his outside memories outside. The sudden departure of his office friend, quickly followed by the arrival of a new coworker who deeply resents having been severed, provides the impetus for Mark—both his “innie” and “outie” selves—to start questioning what’s really going on at Lumen.
That’s a very Dollhouse-meets-Office-Space premise, and elements of both can be found within the show. But there’s so much going on here that’s entirely its own. There’s a definite mystery box angle, with a number of WTF details dropped in early on that get teased out over the course of the first season, with plenty remaining as-yet unresolved. There’s strong satire both inside and outside Lumen, as well as deeply disturbing plots and images and really grounded human emotion.
The show mines such rich material from the central premise. On the surface level, it’s easy to see why a giant faceless corporation like Lumen might glom onto severance. In addition to keeping their corporate secrets fully secret—even though the severed workers inside Lumen don’t actually understand what they’re doing, they can’t even tell that much to anyone on the outside—no one has personal baggage to interrupt their focus on work. On the outside, Mark is deeply grieving his late wife and helping his sister get ready for her new baby, but inside-Mark doesn’t know about any of that; he literally lives for work. But that’s super messed up. The innies have no respite from their work lives. From their perspective, they don’t sleep, they don’t go on dates, they don’t have weekends. At the end of their shifts, they get in the elevator, and in the blink of an eye, they’re getting out of the elevator again to return to the office. They’re aware of things like movies and parks, but they’ve never actually experienced them. They’re effectively trapped inside Lumen, and their outie is the one who makes all the decisions on that, without ever communicating it to them.
In other words, really disturbing! But amid the conspiracy and satire and capitalist horror, there are also some wonderfully real moments too. It’s interesting to see the friendships that are created inside Lumen, where no one knows anything about themselves or their co-workers. Each innie is given an opportunity for their character to really develop and change within the very narrow scope of their life, and while we haven’t really gotten to know any of the outies besides Mark, his outside storyline offers up a lot of compelling stuff as well.
Given the “office family” similarities, it’s impressive that I’m able to watch Adam Scott as Mark without really thinking about Parks and Rec/Ben at all. He does a great job. Both Marks are clearly the same person, but they express that so differently. Innie Mark has so little experience about life that he’s much more innocent and naïve, while outie Mark is more hurt and cynical—however, they both have the same core and go on similar journeys in individual ways. John Turturro is wonderful as Irving, a dyed-in-the-wool Lumen true believer and dedicated stickler who’s suddenly having the only worldview he’s ever known shaken. Britt Lower is sympathetic as the sullen, rebellious Helly, a woman who’s only just joined Lumen, doesn’t understand why she’s there, and is horrified by the whole thing. Zach Cherry rounds out the main group as Dylan, who isn’t as ardent as Irving or as agreeable as Mark but whose contentment with his innie life is also about to take a hit. On the management side of things, we have Patricia Arquette as the boss and Tramell Tillman as a cheerfully creepy supervisor, and the show also features strong appearances from the singular Christopher Walken and Dichen Lachman (just in case the Dollhouse comparison hadn’t sunk in yet!)
Warnings
Strong thematic elements (including suicide,) disturbing images, violence, language, drinking, and mild sexual content.
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