What an odd yet compelling and moving streaming series Severance is! Its premise is very much the sort of thing legendary sci-fi author Philip K. Dick would have dreamed up: a corporation (Lumon) offers a brain operation whereby your work self and your at-home self live separate lives. The four main characters of the show form a strange administrative team in the bowels of Lumon’s atmospheric headquarters, corridor after corridor of gleaming white passageways. Macro Data Refining mysteriously and intuitively collect different numbers on a screen and “refine” them into collective pots. Like Dick’s novels, the show is a thriller tackling significant topics around the existential schisms of the four heroes. The brilliant lead role by Adam Scott, playing the very different “innie” Mark S and “outie” Mark Scout, stands out, but stellar performances pour in from Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, and John Turturro as Mark S’s work colleagues; Tramell Tillman and Patricia Arquette excel in villainous roles. Season 1 set out the weird world of the severed workers and exposed key mysteries. Season 2 is a rollercoaster of tension as Lumon’s dastardly plans reach for fruition while the “innies” (and one “outie”) strive for clarity and, perhaps, freedom. The cinematography is spellbinding, the music is wonderful, and the script and dialogue are first rate. Watch both seasons of Severance, rejoice in modern cinematic perfection, and pine for Season 3!
Book, movie/show, and album reviews
