Severance

     After MONTHS of being pressured and pushed by my family to watch Severance, I finally got around to it. And you know what? It might just be one of my new favorite shows I've seen!

    To start with a brief introduction (spoiler free!) to Severance: the show follows Mark S., Helly R, and other office workers who work for a megacorporation called Lumon, as they uncover the secrets of the company and begin to rebel against their corporate bosses. However, the twist is that all of the workers on the floor have undergone a medical procedure (Severance) that splits their consciousness in two: the work self, and the outside self (or as the show says, Innie and Outie). The memories between the two selves cannot be shared, so while the Innies have no memory of their real lives, only existing within the office space, the Outies have no recollection of what they do at work, blacking out the moment they clock into work and waking up at the end of the day.

    Conceptually, I really liked the idea behind exploring the "work-life balance" taken to a ridiculous extreme, allowing for some commentary on the soul-crushing jobs that many people live through as office workers in corporate America. However, twisting this critique on capitalism to involve a literal separation between work and personal life through a grotesque and privacy-disturbing surgical procedure that messes with the actual brain composition of each worker transformed this interesting concept into a thrilling, intense mystery series, where each new revelation about the office workers and the company they work for leaving me on the edge of my seat, mind filled with theories and possibilities that would be mixed up once again with the next episode. Combine this fascinating exploration of corporate America with the series' expert use of soul-crushing, bland aesthetics to emulate real office environments, and you get a series that blends effective visuals with suspenseful mysteries about morality and capitalism.

    To my surprise, the visual aesthetics of the show was one of my favorite aspects of Severance, which is interesting because I usually like a show for its story, and its cinematography and set design comes afterwards. However, in this case it was actually reversed, though it wasn't because I didn't like the story initially, but rather because of the way the story slowly develops (since it is a mystery show after all) and the slow feeding of information to the audience. Since I didn't have all of the pieces of the puzzle presented to me at first, I focused on the visuals rather than the story, since it had such an intense reaction out of me. The bland, empty spaces that the Lumon offices are made up of do an amazing job of capturing the dead-eyed nothingness of most office buildings, but with a strangely ominous vibe. Simple things like a lack of windows throughout the entire interior (since the severed floor is underground) and the green carpeted floors of the Macrodata Refinement office that are meant to emulate grass give the entire look of the show an unnatural, uncanny feeling, like there's something off about the area. Within the Lumon offices, every aspect of the environment is designed to feel just slightly off, which adds to the tension and mystery about what exactly the company does.

    Having said all of that about the show's "ominous, uncanny vibe", Severance is admittedly pretty funny at times. Whether it comes from the off-beat comedy of the interactions between each office worker, the strangely religious attitude of the company towards its founder, or hilariously stupid moments played completely seriously (I loved the Music And Dance Experience), Severance does a fantastic job of underscoring the deeper philosophical and thrilling suspense aspects of the show with dark comedy or sarcastic humor. This blend of genres feels like exactly the kind of project I'd love to work on, since it balances serious deep storytelling with jokes and comedy, and I really feel like it is this perfect balance that this show strikes that I'd want to replicate in any future project I work on. Also, the GIFs are spectacular.

    Since I'm short on time today, I'll spare you my thoughts on more specific aspects of the show, like the budding homosexual romance that blossoms within the office, and the tragedy that romance inherently carries within the world of the severed floor. But! That just means I can dedicate more time and thought to it, hopefully for a future blog post. Until then, I have to catch up on season two!