📺 Watched Severance season 2.
We’re back with our intrepid macro-data-refining team of four who, after one of the most dramatic cliff-hangers I recall from 3 years ago (perhaps the only one I remember from so long ago), continue their attempts to figure out what is going on with their employer, Lumon, why they’re doing what they do, along with the dark secrets it holds. Plus how to live an acceptable split life.
This is, by a decent margin, my favourite show that I can remember from recent years, perhaps ever.
The premise is that they work on the severed floor, having willingly undergone the process of severance. This entails an operation that results the development of an innie - the person you are at work, and an outie - the person you are elsewhere.
Whilst sharing the same body and brain, the innie has no memory of what the outie is doing and vice versa. From their point of view, the outie lives their live, turns up to work, and immediately leaves again. Time has passed but they have no memory of what happened. Conversely, the innie is always at work. They leave the office and are then right back there, with no concept of what happened in between.
It’s a process billed to give you a break from your worst, most traumatic memories, as well as promote a healthy work-life balance - at least for the outie, who never remembers working a day in their life.
This results in something like a dramatic interpretation of a philosophical thought experiment involving the self - what does it mean to be you? - as well notions of consent and so on. It’s not a totally unrealistic possibility; witness for instance the IRL existence of split brain patients who, following a brain operation, can appear to develop two separate selves - each unaware of the other’s thoughts, each with their own awareness, preferences and personality.
Back in the Severance world, this is beautifully topped off with what could be seen as a critique of the the modern workplace, of office life, of the ridiculousness of corporate culture, of what we do to ourselves in the name of earning money - and what we let companies get away with in an era of pretty much unconstrained capitalism.
The show exquisitely done, hilarious at times, scary and tension-filled at others, mysterious and compelling with fantastic characters throughout. The visuals are incredible, the sound fantastic. It’s rightly won all sorts of awards.
I cannot wait for the next series. Please let the wait be less than between the first two.
