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Severance tl;dr: Everything you need to know about Apple TV's scifi thriller
Ahead of the second season of Severance (coming to Apple TV+ January 17), we've got everything you need to know about the most Reddited-about scifi thriller on TV right now
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- Severance tl;dr: Everything you need to know about Apple TV's scifi thriller
Few series since Lost have had the conspiracy theory in all of us raging like AppleTV+'s Severance. Not only is the series one of the most inventive and highly-regarded science fiction series on TV right now, it's also just such an incredible mystery, inspiring terabytes of Reddit theory threads and more than a couple YouTube video series.
But if you're not into the series, the massive impact it's had since dropping in 2022 can make it seem daunting to get into. Fortunately, there are only 9 episodes to watch as of this writing, so from start to finish all the time you need to spend to understand the phenomenon is roughly nine hours. Even more fortunately than that, though, is that your pals at Popverse have put together this little Severance tl;dr, essentially a cheat sheet for all you need to know about the series.
Don't worry, we're going to avoid spoiling anything you don't find out by minute 20 of the first episode, but we're still aiming to provide you a one-stop-shop for all the info you'll need heading into the show. As you might've already guessed, we certainly won't have answers to some of the show's biggest mysteries, but that's because, at the moment, they still don't have answers.
And besides, being in the mystery is what Severance is all about. Let us explain.
The Pitch: What is Severance?
Severance is a science fiction thriller revolving around a fictional medical procedure, from which the show gets its name. To be "severed" in the context of the show means that your brain is bifurcated into two separate identities - one is the personality you live with outside your workday (your "outie") and the other is the personality when you're at the office (your "innie"). Outies and innies switch out via a mechanism in the Lumon Industries office building (where the main characters work), and neither can remember the activities of the other.
The severed employees that we focus on are Dylan George (Zach Cherry), Helly Riggs (Britt Lower), Irving Baliff (John Turturro), and in particular, Mark Scout (Adam Scott), who we follow as both an innie and an outie. Though the severed employees are told that they do government-classified work, the reality of what goes on in Lumon is much more arcane, even sinister, and has something to do with the personal lives of each outie...
The Backstory: Where did Severance come from?
Shocking absolutely no one, creator Dan Erickson got the idea for Severance because of a bad work experience. "I was working a really bad office job," Erickson told Thrillist in 2022, "and going through a somewhat depressive state. And so I wanted to really protect that the humaneness is at the center of that idea, and Ben, fortunately, was all in on that."
The "Ben" Erickson is talking about is Ben Stiller, one of the show's executive producers and the director of the first six episodes. Stiller first came across the pilot for Severance in 2015, when Erickson submitted it to Stiller's production company as a writing sample. In 2017, Stiller secured Adam Scott in the starring role, and then in 2019, the series was ordered by Apple TV+. It would be three years, however, until the series debuted.
The Essential: What do I need to watch to understand Severance?
Good news, pal - Severance's plot and major character arcs are all introduced in the pilot episode. By the end of viewing that, you'll know everything you need to know about the series and you'll have a pretty good idea of whether A.) you'll be into the series or B.) you have atrocious taste.
Kidding, haha.
Kind of.
The Takeaway: Why is Severance so highly rated?
Because it's so goddamn GOOD.
Personal feelings aside, there are plenty of reasons that Severance took off when it first launched in 2022. Reviewing the first season for Variety, Caroline Framke might've hit the nail on the head when she wrote that Severance "create[s] a world both completely unlike ours and yet terrifyingly similar enough to prove jarring in a way that became hard to shake between viewings."
Indeed, America is going through a period of serious corporate malaise; we are overworked, underpaid, and valued only as much as we are productive in bringing in revenue for a select few. Even though Severance was in development before the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's realization during that time that so many valued our jobs over our lives had to have had an impact in Severance's success.
Extra credit question #1: Where is Severance filmed?
As with most TV shows, Severance is filmed in a variety of locations. However, I kind of feel like you're really asking about where those exterior shots of the Lumon building are, right? That makes sense, it's an incredible shot that fits the tone of the show so well. Well, here's your answer: The exterior of the Lumon building is actually the Bell Labs Holmdel Complex, located in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Extra credit question #2: Will Severance's new season be released all at once?
As of this writing, the next season of Severance is its second, and unfortunately for your binge sensibilities, they'll be coming out episode by episode. Just like season one before it, Severance season two will be a weekly affair, starting with episode 1 on January 17, and going until episode 10 on March 21.
Sorry bingers. But hey, good things come to those who wait.
Extra credit question #3: What do the scary numbers mean in Severance?
Friend, I wish I could tell you. One of the show's biggest mysteries so far is just what the hell the Severed employees at Lumon actually do, even though, technically, we've seen them doing it. Every day at Lumon, employees like Mark S. and Helly R. stare at screen full of numbers and organize them by feeling, a process the higher-ups call "macrodata refinement."
But what does that mean? Why do some of the numbers seem to frighten Helly R. as she goes through and organizes them? Unfortunately, those are questions we can only hope to have answered as the next season begins. That, and whether or not Cobel and Milchik are a thing. I mean, the chemistry is there.
Extra credit question #4: Where is Severance streaming?
Your options to watch Severance are limited, unfortunately. Actually, it's really only one option, and that option is Apple TV+. On the bright side, the streamer has plenty more excellent sci-fi to stream after you finish Severance, such as For All Mankind, Silo, and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
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