Over the past few weeks, I’ve been loving this new show Severance. Much of our society allows our work life to intersect with our home life. In Severance, one company named Lumon developed an alternative: a procedure that separates your home and work mind. While at work, you only remember work life. While at home, you only remember home life. The company seems to have much more sinister intentions, but I completely understand why some people would choose to work there. The show’s basic premise fits in with HG Wells’s Law of containing just one extraordinary assumption but takes this assumption to the extreme. This one simple procedure, when used mysteriously by Lumon, drives the story.
Severance is a critique of the modern office worker lifestyle. The employees at Lumon complete seemingly arbitrary work throughout the day, serving some larger purpose that is not made clear to the viewer. These employees are supposed to blindly complete tasks for the corporation and face serious consequences if they disobey.
Anyway, I highly recommend the show! The final episode of the first season came out last week, so you can watch the whole thing on Apple TV+.
Severance, created by Dan Erickson, Red Hour Productions, 2022. Apple TV.
Watch the first episode for free here: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/severance/umc.cmc.1srk2goyh2q2zdxcx605w8vtx?ctx_brand=tvs.sbd.4000&ign-itscg=MC_20000&ign-itsct=atvp_brand_omd&mttn3pid=Google%20AdWords&mttnagencyid=a5e&mttncc=US&mttnsiteid=143238&mttnsubad=OUS2019927_1-582619190592-c&mttnsubkw=133111427260__fAcU9Yov_&mttnsubplmnt=
Hi Thomas– I haven’t seen this yet. Interesting premise. It makes me think of “Folding Being” (and other stories) that find new ways of exploiting workers, often under the guise of helping them, or increasing the common good. It also recalls the “mind split” the scientist enacted when trying to communicate with the Prott (St. Clair).
I can’t agree more in the recommendation for this show. I had watched it earlier last month and it definitely was not what I was expecting when going into it. At times I found it profoundly somber in the way it portrays certain problems that are specific to the human condition. I personally don’t think I would ever be able to go through a procedure like the one in the show, but I can understand the thought process behind someone who would consider it. I’d also recommend it simply for the philosophical issues it raises to think about for hours. Really neat show!