Severance - Season 1

We all know a good work-life balance is important, but sometimes it is difficult to achieve it. In Severance, the company Lumon has come up with a solution for this, but whether this is positive, I don't know just yet. ***Note! If you have not seen the first season, this review may contain spoilers.***

I had told myself that enough is enough, and I would not subscribe to any more streaming services. However, I still succumbed to Apple TV+. One of the reasons for this decision was the much acclaimed series Severance.

In Severance, we meet Mark Scout (Adam Scott, Big Little Lies) who leads a team of data analysts from the Lumon company. Mark and his colleagues Helly (Britt Lower, High Maintenance), Dylan (Zach Cherry, Duncanville), and Irving (John Turtorro, The Plot Against America) form a small team and every day they get together to sort numbers in a very uninspiring office. Nobody knows what these numbers stand for and what their work actually means. Sounds incredibly boring, right? Personally, I would look for another job after the first day of work, but this turns out not to be as easy as it sounds. Helly, the newest colleague, will soon find that out.



All members of this team have undergone surgery that separates their work personality from their private personality. Their work personality, called innie, knows nothing about the private personality, called outie. Same goes for the outie. The outies live their lives without work stress, while the innies are corporate slaves. And quitting, that's not that easy. This requires permission from their outie. In Helly's case, it means she doesn't get permission. So she has to come to work every single day feeling deeply unhappy. Even after taking far-reaching measures, her outie does not allow her to resign.

The outies live their lives without work stress, while the innies are corporate slaves.

Various situations ensure that the colleagues slowly but surely realize that something is not right at Lumon. Their boss, Harmony (Patricia Arquette, The Act), and her creepy assistant Milchick (Tramell Tillman, Godfather of Harlem) keep a constant eye on the team, making it difficult to investigate. This applies not only at work, but also privately. Harmony and Milchick have not undergone the surgery and know both the outies and the innies of their employees. This goes so far that Harmony is not only Mark's neighbor, but she even has a key to his house. Pretty creepy when you realize that Mark's outie has no idea about this at all; he doesn’t know that Harmony is his innie's boss.

Mark's innie and his colleagues proceed with caution and unravel more and more of Lumon's secrets. Meanwhile, we see that in the outside world, not everyone is happy about Lumon's policy regarding the surgery. There are many protests and the subject is even on the political agenda. In addition, we also learn the team’s personal reasons for having the surgical procedure. Especially in Mark's case, I can kind of relate and understand why he made that decision. However, I don’t know what I would have done in his situation.

Severance is a show full of suspense, but don't expect thrills in the form of action sequences. Severance is a psychological thriller where the tension builds very slowly and reaches a climax in the season finale. This final episode of the season brought me to the edge of my seat and left me with a heartbeat as if I had just run a marathon.

The first season of Severance consists of 9 episodes and can be seen on Apple TV+. A second season has been confirmed, but a release date has not yet been announced.