Severance

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  • Severance

    Hi all,
    So I decided to take the plunge and try the free trial of apple tv+ streaming service to see what they have going on there.

    I have been considering cancelling netflix because they just announced another increase in price and they don't have much I am interested in watching anymore anyway, so I thought I'd try out apple.

    There are many amazing looking shows on apple that piqued my interest, namely Foundation, Servant, See, Invasion, and Severance.

    I watched the first episodes of each, except See.

    Foundation is very good and is based on Isaac Asimov writings and is sooooo science fictiony. I love it. (Asimov books were always in our home when I was a kid; he was my parents fav author.)

    But.........

    I got hooked on Severance! I binged all the available episodes (6) in one day and cannot wait until next week's episode.

    I must say, when I saw Ben Stiller produced and directed many of the episodes I was worried it would be silly comedy, but I was pleasantly surprised. Plus many of the cast are known as comedic actors and they do an amazing job in this drama/weird show.

    I won't say much about the plot, but it basically is about this secretive business that requires severing the mind of it's employees where they do not remember their time at work and their work selves do not remember anything outside of work.

    Very trippy and cool I must say. Looking forward to where the story is going. I read it already got greenlit for a second season.

    It does have a bit of slow pacing and may not be for everyone. The pacing is necessary, I feel, and it keeps you on edge the whole time wondering, "what's really going on?".

    Has anyone else seen Severance? Thoughts?

  • #2
    +1. Great show. Plays a great balancing game with just the right amount of creepy, ominous, and arch. It does take its time, but that's a good thing. A prime example of a unique idea, well executed, with a ton of buzz potential. I find myself rehashing/discussing each episode days after.

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    • #3
      I do like it quite a bit. I'm all for a slow burn. But this is pretty damn slow. I get it. But there have been a bit too many episodes with a who-gives-a-crap cliffhanger. I like holding stuff back. But the layers of "what is it?" have been a bit too judicious in revealing stuff. I expect it will ramp up here in the final 3 (?) episodes.

      Pound for pound Apple+ has done well. This show, Lasso, The Afterparty, For All Mankind, The Morning Show, Servant. Very strong. I don't know that there has been a true breakout aside from Lasso, but I think their approach so far has been sound. Sounds like WeCrashed misses the mark though. Who cares? Same with the Uber one. After watching the Theranos one, why would I want to watch these others? Seyfried is amazing, fwiw. What a performance.

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      • #4
        I'm only in the middle of the second episode, but I can tell I'll watch the whole season. I like it -- it's weird. I'll say something more profound (haha) when I'm done with it.

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        • #5
          The season finale was exceptional. Riveting, suspenseful, huge reveals and even bigger new questions raised. This is easily the best show I've seen in years. I'm disappointed to have to wait until 2023 for the next season.

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          • #6
            I haven't watched the last episode yet -- I'm saving it as a reward for when I finish the current thing I'm working on.

            Still, this is by far my favorite series of the last five years. The world is weird and well done. The pilot sets up questions and keeps escalating them. There is no sag. I'm rooting for the team to figure out what the hell they're caught inside -- at times I think they are in hell.

            Adam Scott was not well cast in Big Little Lies. (If you read the novel first.) But in Severance he's perfectly cast. I also love the offbeat Dylan character.

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            • #7
              Because Writer Twitter was OMFG about the finale, I started watching the first couple eps. I dunno . . . the premise is engaging enough -- a darker version of Eternal Sunshine, but in the workplace. But it's all directed and acted so pretentiously arch by Stiller that at no time can I buy into this (1) being an actual corporation that exists where real people would work at doing whatever unimaginable job these four people on the severance floor are supposed to be doing; or (2) that these are real people with real lives even outside of Lumon.

              Like even as absurd as Gondry could get with some of the Eternal Sunshine memory wipe sequences, the world outside of Joel and Clementine's head that they inhabited was 100% real and lived in. So you can buy into the out-there sci fi aspect of the story as far as it needs to take you to the emotion of that relationship ending/restarting. Is there any company in the world that has a "melon bar" perk for their employees (not even as an ironic Hawaiian Shirt Friday joke ritual). I guess I'll keep watching to get to the end but thrillers aren't really my thing even under the best director's hands and every choice they're making with this one works to take me right out of the reality of the supposed situation.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by JoeBanks View Post
                Is there any company in the world that has a "melon bar" perk for their employees
                Wait til you see the waffle party.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Rando View Post

                  Wait til you see the waffle party.
                  My favorite was the Dance Music Experience. If you've done certain psychedelics, it'll bring back some memories.

                  Edit: Sorry, Music Dance Experience.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by JoeBanks View Post
                    Because Writer Twitter was OMFG about the finale, I started watching the first couple eps. I dunno . . . the premise is engaging enough -- a darker version of Eternal Sunshine, but in the workplace. But it's all directed and acted so pretentiously arch by Stiller that at no time can I buy into this (1) being an actual corporation that exists where real people would work at doing whatever unimaginable job these four people on the severance floor are supposed to be doing; or (2) that these are real people with real lives even outside of Lumon.

                    Like even as absurd as Gondry could get with some of the Eternal Sunshine memory wipe sequences, the world outside of Joel and Clementine's head that they inhabited was 100% real and lived in. So you can buy into the out-there sci fi aspect of the story as far as it needs to take you to the emotion of that relationship ending/restarting. Is there any company in the world that has a "melon bar" perk for their employees (not even as an ironic Hawaiian Shirt Friday joke ritual). I guess I'll keep watching to get to the end but thrillers aren't really my thing even under the best director's hands and every choice they're making with this one works to take me right out of the reality of the supposed situation.
                    i just caught up on a flight back from vacation. Don’t bother. Great idea, the belabored execution was not my thing.

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