Rewatching Severance turns it into a completely different show

Note. Although this post marks the beginning of “Severance” season 2, there are no season 2 spoilers or details here. However, there are spoilers for “Severance” Season 1.

A few weeks ago the Apple TV+ folks sent me screens for the the highly anticipated second season of their hit show Severance. It was exciting: I was a big fan of Season 1, especially the end of that season. I watched the season 2 premiere episode… and when it ended, I had one main thought: “I no idea what the hell is going on here.” While I'm not here to talk about what happens in Season 2, I can say that the premiere episode isn't too confusing. However, it's been over two years since Season 1 ended, and with the world being the way it is today, two years can seem like a lifetime. It was almost as if most of my memories of the first season had slipped out of my mind. I decided to go back and watch season 1 again before moving on to season 2. It turned out to be a wise decision, as it greatly improved my memory. But something curious happened: the way I saw the show as a whole changed.

I don't know about you, but I remember Severance Season 1 as, well, funny. While the show isn't considered a straight-ahead comedy, the humor felt like a big part of Season 1, at least in my faded memories. And yet, re-watching Season 1 made it clear that my memories were flawed. Sure, there's comedy in the show, but as I re-watched Season 1, one main thought kept running through my mind: “It's bleak.”

When Severance Season 1 dropped in February 2022, I, like most people, knew next to nothing about the show. I knew the cast and some of the images revealed a different visual style. More out of curiosity than interest, I decided to give the show a try. I was almost immediately drawn to its unique premise: a medical procedure has been invented that allows a real work/life balance. People who work certain jobs have their minds “sliced”: when they go to the office every day, a completely new personality/mentality takes over the work day. When they expire, their normal/ordinary way of thinking returns.

As a result, people are essentially split into two: their work personalities, known as “Innies,” and their everyday personalities, known as “Outies.” Anyone who's ever worked a boring, miserable office job might cheer up thinking about it never should really experience 9-5. But there is a moral dilemma built into the concept: Innies are essentially trapped in a job forever. They never experience the outside world. They never get to spend time with friends or loved ones. They never see the sky. The workday may technically be over, but the inns never get to go home. And when and if their Outie counterparts quit or retire, the Innie personality essentially dies, ceasing to exist.

There is much more to the show than this script. Severance, like Lost, is a mystery box saga, and the company the characters work for, Lumon Industries, is mysterious and cult-like, with its own wild, vast and confusing mythology that slowly emerges as a show. jump from one episode to the next. It's clear that Lumon is up to no good, but we don't really know what the company even does, or what their bigger plans are. We only know that they use the dismissal procedure in an extremely unethical way, torturing their employees and treating them like slave labor. Why? Because they can. Outsiders don't know what's going on at work, and the company often lies to them instead of telling them the truth.

There's an obvious darkness built into this space, and Season 1 is filled with some particularly dark moments. We learn that the main character, Mark, played by Adam Scott, went through a layoff procedure because he was so heartbroken over his wife's death. Interrupting his memories for 8 hours a day was a way to avoid sadness. Mark, in Outie form, is even introduced to us sobbing in his car before he gets to work. In addition to Mark's depressing storyline (which becomes even more disturbing when we learn that Mark's wife, played by Dichen Lachmannis apparently still alive and seems to be being held prisoner by Lumon), is the story of new employee Hellie R., played by Britta Lower. As the newest member of the Lumon team, Hellie is our introduction to the world of the show and her Inny persona is no happy to be forced to work for the rest of her life. After several attempts to quit, Hellie resorted to self-harm threats and suicide attempts.

When I put all of this in writing, you might wonder how I could be so dense as to miss the bleakness when I first watched the show, only to pick it up after watching it again. It's not that I didn't notice that the show was dark (I didn't that stupid, I swear!). However, I think re-watching Severance changes the way you approach the series. The first time I watched Season 1, I was so engrossed in all the elements of the mystery box and the surprising revelations that I literally floated through the season with a goofy grin on my face. And indeed, Season 1 is peppered with plenty of comedic moments — Mark's goofy brother-in-law Ricken (Michael Chernus) is a frequent source of comic relief, and the show's MVP, Tramel Tillman's Mr. Milchick, gets plenty of laughs. But watching Season 1, I had no idea what the show was going to do next. However, after watching it again, I had a better idea of ​​what to expect. Because of this, I think I was able to focus more on the bleakness than the first time. It stood out more and it hit me hard.

I don't want to give the impression that “Severance” is a joyless, crazy, misery-fest. The show is very entertaining and I can't wait to see where it goes. But it's also interesting that a series so often hopeless has attracted so much attention. We're all seemingly caught up in this dark, depressing series, and we can't help but enjoy the ride. This is a fun show to watch, but I can't help but wonder how much darker things will get before it's over.