There was a Severance.
I have been holding off on writing about the Apple Plus series because I didn't know where it was going. The season 1 finale of the series has solidified it as one of the best new series I have seen in a long time. It is easily the best show of the year so far.
I think Apple Plus has one of the highest ratios of great programming to total volume out there. I think 8 out of 10 Apple shows I've watched are really good, and that number may be more like 2 out of 10 for Netflix, since it's a lot of viewing. The Oscar Best Picture winner was on Apple's service this year.
Ben Stiller created a series called "Severance" which is a deeply weird, extremely brilliant series. It isn't a comedy. There are some funny moments from the series that have already emerged.
The company Lumon uses the practice of severance on certain employees. This involves splitting your brain so that you can have a work self and home self.
Some benefits are offered to the employees. All of your time is yours at baseline, because you earn money from a job that you have no recollection of. Adam Scott's Mark was able to escape trauma in his case the recent death of his wife.
There was a Severance.
This creates an uneasy situation. The other version of you that the severance process creates only exists at work if you never have to deal with work. It's all they know. Their entire existence is a single floor of a building. There is some good commentary on the state of corporate life and how workers are treated in the series.
Have I sold you on the series yet? Stop reading if that is the case. It's time to get into the details of the finale.
This was the finale that fans were hoping to see and it was brilliant. For the first time, theinnies got to see their true lives in an incredibly tense episode that unlocked them in the outer world. The episodes were full of mindblowing reveals.
There was a Severance.
Outie Mark's wife is still alive, and she is known as MissCasey at Lumon. Mark learns that this week when he sees a photo of her for the first time. We learned last week that MissCasey is being kept in storage when she isn't activated. We don't know why her death was faked or why she is here.
Despite being the most loyal to Lumon before all this, it appears Irving's Outie has been researching Lumon and the severed employees. He is an ex-military man and spends his time painting the dark hallway, elevator and storage door that MissCasey goes through.
Helle is actually the daughter of the current head of the company, and she severed herself in order to prove a point. With Helle taking over her body, she rages against the practice to Lumon investors. Helle's outtie would never let her quit no matter what, and it raises questions about what kind of person a single person can be. Helle and her outtie could not be more different than Mark and his innie. We will see where this goes.
The second season of Severance has already been greenlit because Apple knows when it has something special on its hands. Cannot wait.
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The Herokiller series and The Earthborn trilogy are my sci-fi novels.
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