Adam Lenhardt
Senior HTF Member
You ever clock in at a job you hate, and wish you could skip right ahead to quitting time? That idea was the basis for Dan Erickson's screenplay Severance which got a reputation as one of the best unproduced scripts over the last decade.
Then Ben Stiller came across it, and helped shepherd it into a nine-episode series for AppleTV+.
The first episode begins with a woman in her mid-thirties passed out on top of a conference table. As she slowly regains consciousness, a voice over a speakerphone asks her a series of questions which seem to the woman like irritating distractions as she tries to shake off her disorientation and escape the room. Finally, once she has established that escape is not possible, she answers the voice's five questions. Four of the questions relate to her life, and she can't answer any of them. The other question is impersonal, requiring only general knowledge possessed by most Americans, and she answers that one without issue. Only later do we understand what is really going on.
The series's protagonist is Mark, played by Adam Scott. After a personal tragedy, he takes a job with Lumon Industries and agrees to undergo the procedure known as severance, which partitions his memories based on his physical location. His regular "outie" self retains no memories of the time spent on the "sever'd" floor of Lumon's offices; in the morning, he steps into the elevator. Seemingly the next moment, he steps out of the elevator at the end of his shift. He is well compensated, seemingly well-treated by his employer, with all of the benefits of full-time employment but none of the actual work.
His "innie" self, on the other hand, only retains memories of the time spend on the "sever'd" floor of Lumon's offices. He has never seen the sun directly, and his entire life is spent working. After a long day at the office, he steps into the elevator, and seemingly the next moment, his next shift is just beginning. He may start his shift feeling well rested and refreshed, or miserable and hungover. Either way, he has no knowledge of what his "outie" self was up to during off hours. His only compensation comes in the form of silly little knickknacks handed out by corporate as incentives. His employer is vaguely sinister, and controls all aspects of his life. He has all of the obligations of full-time employment but sees none of the benefits.
Over the first two episodes, available to stream now, we start to get to know both versions of Mark, and the ways they navigate their separate realities. The world itself is definitely an alternate reality, with Lumon as a sort of General Electric-esque multinational conglomerate on steroids. The time period is hard to pinpoint; the cars all appear to be from the nineties or earlier, cellphones are rare and take the form of flip phones. All screens, whether they be televisions or computer monitors, are boxy CRTs. The computers in the office are vaguely reminiscent of an Apple II.
The supporting cast is strong; aside from Scott in the lead and Britt Lower as the woman on the conference table:
Then Ben Stiller came across it, and helped shepherd it into a nine-episode series for AppleTV+.
The first episode begins with a woman in her mid-thirties passed out on top of a conference table. As she slowly regains consciousness, a voice over a speakerphone asks her a series of questions which seem to the woman like irritating distractions as she tries to shake off her disorientation and escape the room. Finally, once she has established that escape is not possible, she answers the voice's five questions. Four of the questions relate to her life, and she can't answer any of them. The other question is impersonal, requiring only general knowledge possessed by most Americans, and she answers that one without issue. Only later do we understand what is really going on.
The series's protagonist is Mark, played by Adam Scott. After a personal tragedy, he takes a job with Lumon Industries and agrees to undergo the procedure known as severance, which partitions his memories based on his physical location. His regular "outie" self retains no memories of the time spent on the "sever'd" floor of Lumon's offices; in the morning, he steps into the elevator. Seemingly the next moment, he steps out of the elevator at the end of his shift. He is well compensated, seemingly well-treated by his employer, with all of the benefits of full-time employment but none of the actual work.
His "innie" self, on the other hand, only retains memories of the time spend on the "sever'd" floor of Lumon's offices. He has never seen the sun directly, and his entire life is spent working. After a long day at the office, he steps into the elevator, and seemingly the next moment, his next shift is just beginning. He may start his shift feeling well rested and refreshed, or miserable and hungover. Either way, he has no knowledge of what his "outie" self was up to during off hours. His only compensation comes in the form of silly little knickknacks handed out by corporate as incentives. His employer is vaguely sinister, and controls all aspects of his life. He has all of the obligations of full-time employment but sees none of the benefits.
Over the first two episodes, available to stream now, we start to get to know both versions of Mark, and the ways they navigate their separate realities. The world itself is definitely an alternate reality, with Lumon as a sort of General Electric-esque multinational conglomerate on steroids. The time period is hard to pinpoint; the cars all appear to be from the nineties or earlier, cellphones are rare and take the form of flip phones. All screens, whether they be televisions or computer monitors, are boxy CRTs. The computers in the office are vaguely reminiscent of an Apple II.
The supporting cast is strong; aside from Scott in the lead and Britt Lower as the woman on the conference table:
- Yul Vazquez plays Petey, a former Lumon employee who causes problems for both Marks.
- John Turturro plays Irving, one of the other workers in Mark's department.
- Dichen Lachman plays Ms. Casey, who directs employees' "wellness sessions".
- Christopher Walken plays Burt, the mysterious head of another department.
- Patricia Arquette plays Ms. Cobel, Mark's inscrutable supervisor.
