I have dabbled in the chaos that is Black Mirror and have experienced an array of emotions through its ins and outs. Apple Tv+’s latest sci-fi mystery “Severance" feels like one long Black Mirror episode.
"Severance” is one of those shows that will leave you entertained in just the first five minutes, although a bit slow-paced. The intro to the show was enough to make me want to keep watching. It will leave you frustrated, but the good kind of frustrated. It just has a mysterious feel to it that will have you questioning everything.
Synopsis
The focus is on a very small group of office members who have their brains surgically severed so that their workplace and their personal life are completely separated. When a mysterious old colleague appears in one of the personal life versions of one of these characters, he begins to question what exactly it is he does in the workplace.
In my opinion though, the less you know about the show before watching, the better experience you will have.
Positive Observations
The dystopian factor of this show is what draws me in the most, the concept of separating the workplace from the personal life is bizarre. This concept means that essentially you are a completely different person in the workplace, knowing absolutely nothing about the version of you that is not at work. For me, this concept was hard to grasp.
The workplace version of all of the characters do not even know if they have families. The company Lumon that they work for takes the saying “leave your problems at the door” quite literally.
The way that this story plays out is almost perfect. For the most part, besides the main character Mark, you know as much about the outside world and the outside versions as the workplace versions know about themselves. That is one of my favorite parts because when the workplace characters talk about what they think their outside version is like, it leaves you wondering as well.
It almost begs the question, which is addressed in the series… is it ethical to make this version of yourself be trapped in the workplace just for money?
The series makes you question ethics and dystopian realities. My favorite part about this show was the mix of genres it had including drama, mystery, dystopian and more.
I could go from feeling sympathetic for the characters to feeling nervous and anxious very quickly. It also gets in a few laughs. The best part is that when the characters are feeling happy, you want to feel happy with them, and if something happens to mess with that happiness, your happiness quickly fades as well.
You get the same kind of uncomfortable creepy feeling you get when you watch a “Black Mirror" episode.
Adam Scott plays Mark, the main character and as a Parks and Rec fan, it was so amazing to see him do such an outstanding job with a character so complex. Every single actor in this show made it that much better. There could not be a more perfect cast for this show because everyone took on their role perfectly. No critics for the actors here.
Negative Observations
The series is not for everyone. Although the pacing in the episodes was perfect to me, it can definitely be seen as too slow for others. If slow pacing is not your thing then this show is not for you.
The season finale leaves too much unanswered, and some of the plots mentioned are left unresolved. The plot itself may drive people to think it's too unrealistic or too unsettling as it often questions ethics.
Conclusion
I definitely recommend this series to all "Black Mirror” fans. It may not be for everyone, but everyone should give it a shot. If that does not convince you then check out the IMDb ratings, this show has high ratings that are sure to persuade you to at least watch the first episode.
