The latest series unleashed by the Apple+ streamer has borrowed some previously explored plotting to envelope audiences with a fresh take on the wonderful woes of the work-life balance.
Created by newcomer Dan Erickson, Severance stars Adam Scott (Step Brothers, Parks and Recreation) as Mark, a worker bee for the Lumin Company who, along with many others, has undergone a controversial surgical procedure that dissociates his day-self from his nighttime counterpart. From 9 to 5, he has zero memory of matters not work-related. And from 5 to 9, he has no memory of his job.
Warning: lack of ample cocktail banter detected (but not for viewers).
The buck doesn’t just stop at this particular high concept, though. Three episodes in, thrilling fun is already found through office-formed friendships typically curtailed by the “Severance” procedure somehow piercing past the gridlocks to bring characters together on the outside.
In the vein of NBC’s The Good Place, ABC’s LOST, and select films of the wild-minded Charlie Kaufman, Severance tackles the purgatorial effect annexing someone’s humanity under amoral pretenses can have on those hopelessly in search of blank slate requiem.
While one main character seems invested in the unorthodox lifestyle to escape grief, and life itself, another refuses to trust the authenticity-laden footage of her willing “outtie,” and subsequently spends most of her time before punch-out (unsuccessfully) trying to break out.
As he did with his Escape From Dannemora miniseries for Showtime in 2018, a behind-the-camera Ben Stiller branches beyond his comedy origins here. He clearly uses Scott, his Secret Life of Walter Mitty collaborator, as a behavioral insert reminiscent of his own familiar screen personality as well. The jaded Mark may think he wants to believe in something bigger than himself; but the other end of that sword – when you’ve created two yous – is losing your whole self, too.
Another Severance star, Oscar winner Patricia Arquette, spoke of Stiller’s work ethic coming into play during production on the show all-consumed with the topic.
“He’s merciless. He never stops,” Arquette told Esquire. “He never stops rewriting, he never stops thinking. Weekends, holidays—you’d get phone calls late at night, you’d get phone calls early in the morning. Ideas. New things. He has incredibly intense focus on everything—every little set piece, every little wardrobe thing. I’ve never seen anybody so focused on everything.”
Though only teased in brief but memorable doses thus far, fellow Oscar winner Christopher Walken is sure to make a dent in future episodes as the mysterious department head lurking in the shadows of adjacent, seemingly unending halls.
Apple+ will release one new episode every Friday for the next six weeks. If you sample the pilot and are at first left slightly more saddened than entertained by the narrative terrain, don’t worry; just wait until you catch the cutting edge-animated opening theme introduced at the top of episode 2.
Surely you wouldn’t want to leave then. But if you did, that’s more than reasonable. In fact, there’s the exit over there, right past the door that leads to the stairwell.
