By Sadie York
Imagine you wake up face down on an office briefing table. A voice startles you awake; it’s coming from a small little communication box on the table a few inches from your face. You’re told you’ve accepted a job at Lumon on the basement floor, and have thus agreed to undergo the severance procedure. You have no recollection of who you are, what your life is like, you simply know common knowledge. After a shift of work and readjustment, you head up an elevator to the main floor. Once up, you leave the building with no clue of your whereabouts for the past hours of work. This is the premise of the Apple TV+ show, Severance.
Severance is a (current) two season show following Mark, a man who has chosen to live his life divided between work and the real world, following the death of his wife. Drowning in grief, he undergoes the severance procedure, which surgically alters the brain to separate your memories when at work, and when living your personal life. At work, Mark leads a department of office workers who are all severed. When an enigmatic colleague appears in the outside world, the team begins to unravel the truth of their jobs, and what’s really going on within the company.
Full of twists and turns, Severance is a thrilling experience requiring close attention. With its unique concept, the show explores the consequences of the controversial scientific discovery. By taking on such a mind-boggling idea, and crafting it into such a well-written, acted, and thought out show, Severance is certainly one not to be missed.