anyone seen SEVERANCE yet?

Mantraps = classic

Arms dealers sales reps as victims = classic

saw this last night and i thought it was great. manages to keep one foot in comedy and the other in horror throughout, which is impressive given the levels of gore/unpleasantness.

still killing me: the diving board scene and follow up

if i was from eastern europe, not sure i would really be pleased with the new western preoccupation with making them the new locational horror stand-in for scary unfamiliar frontier, though. (this, Hostel, etc.)

Can I hijack this thread to talk about the new Apple TV + show? Pretty intriguing mix of Black Mirror, Wayward Pines and Parks & Rec?

Only found out recently about the real life crime inspired by the Brit movie

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/8022946.stm

I'm enjoying it so far, especially simply to look at. I like how the era is indeterminate, the computers suggest 1970s but the houses are entirely modern.

I feel like so much of the design of the corporation is based on a mix of the Clavius base from 2001, especially the deleted part with the kids playing in a rec room, and mid-century modern.

Usually a good move to have retro computer screens for various reasons.

Poor Adam Scott looks so defeated in it, I also enjoy how he somehow looks like a Garry Trudeau character.

Ha, good point.

Third episode is here.

I’m into the show. Kind of worried it won’t stick the landing but the ride is a good weird time. John Turturro is excellent in a supporting role.

Yes, he is.

This show reeks of THX-1138 to me, especially the visuals. Not sure how on board I am.

I love this show SO much

Stiller is so good at noticing all the dumb mundane bullshit in daily life & making hilarious, scary or just weird & i love it

everyone is great. intro credits freak me out.

i loved the awkward dinner party in the first episode - all that stuff like it was impolite to call ww1 anything but the great war, lol bc ww2 hadnt happened yet & the weird oohs and ahhs around the table

the CONFERENCE CALL in episode 3. where she has to speak but doesnt get to hear the board’s responses bc theyre filtered to her through a functionary with more juice than she has. incredibly perfect.

i'm just going to assume that Michael Chernus's character being named Rickon is a reference to him being Cool Rick in my beloved Patriot

Oh yeah, PATRIOT. Keep meaning to watch that.

Does it bother anyone else that they never seem to do any work? I know it's implied but idk

No.

it's a corollary to them not remembering the work day. when you're actually at work, you only remember hallway conversations and getting coffee

Petey is probably the best super-distressed and disheveled character since William Windom’s Commodore Matt Decker in the “Doomsday Machine” episode of Star Trek: TOS.

otm

Ben Stiller a pretty big Star Trek head so not out of the question he was channeling that somehow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpVOEp3HMjc

Does it bother anyone else that they never seem to do any work? I know it's implied but idk

Loving the increasingly cultish vibe at the office but dreading the inevitable moment this show becomes all about Mark joining the underground resistance.

agree but it is so far handling getting there well, dig the pacing & minimalist vibe

hate this show so much, there i said it

hey, someone has to

I liked the setup, not sure how I'm feeling about the progression so far. The little office world and the cast of bizarre characters is kind of charming, but it's not quite pulling me in and I feel like it needs to start going... somewhere.. soon

Turturro and Walken playing weird dudes that are kind of vibing about the art in their brainwipe prison

Does it bother anyone else that they never seem to do any work? I know it's implied but idk

I assume that the "work" is only an excuse to keep running this experiment. That said, I am finding it all a bit Wes-Anderson-does-dystopian. A lot of whimsy, not a lot of real substance.

the show's kind of reminding me of that amazon one, Homecoming

I hate Ricken so much

Petey’s cellphone has hella battery life

I love Ricken. That actor's played some ridiculous characters in the same vein and I get why that type of guy drives people nuts, but I enjoy that on screen

tbh I don't really see how you have the show without a Ricken-type character.

ricken is so hilarious to me, i love him. feels like there is a lot of Stiller’s humor in that character specifically. like, idk, literary Zoolander. he’s SO oblivious

I can also imagine that writing that book must have been great fun.
I'm enjoying this show more as it goes along. I thought in the beginning that it was boring and I didn't like it, but I've got into its pace now.

I was surprised to discover that there are only two episodes left in the season

that passage from Ricken’s book about “camaraderie” being based on the word “camera” nearly killed me

A lot of these shows seem to have only eight episodes per season.

xpost omg yes we were dying

A lot of these shows seem to have only eight episodes per season.

Yeah, it feels like an artistic decision that will turn out to have some business reason behind it, like eight episodes doesn't count as a full union season, so everyone's salaries don't automatically increase at the start of the next season, or something like that.

Seems clear that the season will end with Mark joining the resistance and with few questions resolved

Hard to argue with.

Although I do think we will probably get a few more reveals about people's, um, Outies.

This is fun, and thanks for the recommendation -- I wouldn't have noticed it without reading this thread.

I'm watching it during covid isolation - which feels a litle on the nose

Only seen three episodes - central cast is terrific. So far, the comic tone feels like it undercuts the dramatic tnsion - but maybe that'll change. And there's too much resting on the mystery denoument.

But it rules as My Little Isolation Show and everyone's lovely company (so far)

New episode is up. Never sure what time it actually drops. At one point I was getting alerts for certain shows.

Tell you one thing: I really dig Patricia Arquette’s nosy neighbor routine despite myself.

Spook too soon maybe

A lot of these shows seem to have only eight episodes per season.

This one has nine.

Loved the reveal at the end of this episode (although was expecting something along those lines but maybe a different character)

Renewed for season two too

Oh, and that defiant jazz reward scene was fantastic

People would really like that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgOMxTxWPuQ

I haven't binge-watched a show in ages but with the day off and reaching the last three episodes I couldn't help myself and powered through and finished the finale -- the tension was INTENSE. I think in retrospect it's kind of obvious that if they were able to say what they needed to say, it'd be at the very end, but the way I got strung along in thinking (oh now so and so can spill the beans!) was still kind of artful.

With Helly, I haven't wished for a character's death so much since Joffrey, but for completely different reasons.

The only thing that confuses me is how quickly Irv decides to turn on Lumon. Is it that he's been trying to fill a void by being a Lumon evangelist, but when he finds a real connection with Burt and then Lumon immediately takes it away, the edifice crumbles? Kind of like the opposite of Cobel/Selvig, who is a true believer and will at the first opportunity try to save the company (to get back into its good graces if nothing else) even as she's still reeling from being fired by them.

Yeah basically. iirc he turns on a dime after the retirement party. But I think he also has the hope of escaping and seeing Burt again

inner irv has absolutely nothing

where else can he possibly find anything meaningful but lumon?

and then he *does* find something and it's taken away; of course he's going to want to burn that shit down

my only 'complaint' is that there wasn't really any need to accost dylan at home (which led to everything else)

(i am not really complaining)

I keep thinking about Irving! Namely, even his outie seems to be obsessed with Lumon, whether there's some kind of leakage between his selves that leads him to compulsively paint the same hallway over and over again, or because he's investigating them (the list of severed employees).

turturro's delivery of "you smug motherfucker" at the retirement party is legendary. he's amazing in this.

i'm happy to see so much love for the finale here. 45 minutes of straight-up linear suspense hinging on a guy holding two levers in place. one of the best things about this show is how it has no need to manipulate chronology to stay interesting.

Just watched the whole lot in two days while sick. Between this and The Rehearsal it's a great TV time. Also felt the links to Maniac - especially retro computing and the animated graphics of Keir once they finished their quarterly work. Some observations while still sick so apologies if they've been made before or are in the links which I have to go through.

- Innies sort of like 'Cookies' in Black Mirror
- Dillon was smart enough to use his belt on the door, but not to use his tie on one of the levers?
- Who (2 people!) held the levers when Milchick went to Dillon's? Not Grainer or Cobel,
- Was the point of the Waffle Party to whip the dancers like in the painting of Keir? What's the goat connection there?
- Devon seemed so much more self aware than Devon and friends, until she met met the Senator's wife again: Rather than assuming someone might blank you after invading their 'birthing ritual' and taking their coffee, the *only* answer must be that she's severed!
- Outies *can* terminate their employment? Wouldn't Outie Irving question his compulsion to make dozens of paintings of a terrifying hallway? They reminded me of this https://cakeordeathsite.wordpress.com/2019/05/08/the-passages-of-h-r-giger/
- Intro reminded me a bit of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaMEIuTxfwM (which until now didn't realise was a fan-made clip)
- Speaking of games, some definite Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide vibes.

- Devon seemed so much more self aware than *Rickon* and friends

Also scans of Lexington guide here for non-Apple users https://imgur.com/a/GOiKxEa

OMG yeah Stanley Parable is right - forgot all about that game.

In season 2 I'd like to see a bit more of how society outside of Lumon functions. 'Rickon and friends' had their own (pretty innocuous tbf) cult-y vibe, independent of the obvious cult of Kier stuff at Lumon. Curious if that's indicative of a more widespread predilection towards cultiness among people living in this town. It's been a while since I watched it so I might have forgotten some other societal context/tidbits to confirm or deny this, though.

In season 2 I’d like to hear more Joe McPhee.

- Outies *can* terminate their employment? Wouldn't Outie Irving question his compulsion to make dozens of paintings of a terrifying hallway?

well we know from all the documents in his house that Outie Irving is attempting to investigate the company in some way. The painting is possibly an attempt to access his memories of what happens when he's at work?

We are maybe halfway through this and it’s really good, Adam Scott (and more specifically, his face) just perfect casting for this. The humour is a very underrated part of this.

It's a really well-calibrated performance -- never too dark, too comic, too cowardly, too heroic -- it's just the right mix of each. You can see when he's thinking, and when he's not thinking. "The straight man, but not in a dull way" always seems like a difficult one to pull off.

^Booming post.

We are maybe halfway through this and it’s really good, Adam Scott (and more specifically, his face) just perfect casting for this. The humour is a very underrated part of this.

Easily one of the best episodes of telly ever. I'm going to stick with my 'I'd be happy for it to end there' opinion. It's pretty much perfect and I'm scared they're going to fuck it up.

Yeah I know what you mean. It reminded me of the s1 finale of Utopia which had two reveals I actually screamed at, and which I would have been happy for the show to end there - although s2 gave me some of my favourite television ever.

Chinaski otm.

Totally get that and agreed that if that was all we got, it's an exquisite way to end, but at the same time I BADLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.

When my wifed suggested we watch this show I reluctantly agreed, fearing it would be a very heavy-handed show about workers right and whatnot and nothing more than that, but holy shit I was hooked from the first minutes of the first episode and we binge-watched the whole season. I can't remember the last time I loved a TV show so much.

Based on what the creators have said, it sounds like they have a lot of it planned out, so I'm optimistic about the next seasons

I don't have Apple TV but have been staying at my bandmate's house for rehearsals and she does, and I managed to finish this last time I was down. Bloody love it, but personally I feel like there was too much left unfinished in the last episode, great as it was. At least one of the plot, character or emotional arcs needed to be resolved for it to not need another series, and they were all left open. To be fair, my desire for more concrete resolution might be due to the precariousness of my viewing ability.

I really want to do a Music Experience options poll but I fear non-Severance fans might hate me for it.

Bob Balaban! Alia Shawkat! some other people i don't know or don't care as much about! https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/severance-season-2-cast-gwendoline-christie-alia-shawkat-bob-balaban-1235418421/

From the casting you'd guess a Severance x Knives Out crossover. Fun list for sure. Ólafur Darri Ólafsson!

Merritt Weaver! xp

That large a number of high profile new cast members certainly suggests they aren't going down the route of 'reset the status quo to the maximum extent possible' route

amazing series throughout -- been watching it alternating w/Andor (two episodes left in that) and watching the dystopian prison episodes of the latter at the same time as this was reaching its climax was an interesting vibe

Honored to talk about my performance on Severance here 🙏 pic.twitter.com/NHIzu13MMo

— Rajat Suresh (@rajat_suresh) March 11, 2023

How good

Rajat and Jeremy are absolutely terrible and I mean that in a complimentary way

Finished this tonight! It's quite good for six episodes then amazing for three. It could have maybe gotten amazing more quickly but fine, I can live with that.

What I'm most struck by is how fucking weird the outside world is (even by the standards of our IRL outside world rn) - how stygian, how deranged, how isolating and stilted. Something is fucked-up and it goes beyond Lumon

Having thought that the actual work might be a macguffin, I do also think it is probably quite important to find out what they do and what its wider implications are. But that's probably one for the S2 finale

Wait, what episode was Defiant Jazz because that one's just straight up amazing?

yeah, it's episode 7

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt11280740/episodes/?season=1

i now note that imdb agrees with me on when it jumps to being amazing, haha

Dined near the crew in Port Rexton, Newfoundland on the weekend. Wonder when the episode they're filming will be out. Should check it.

how isolating and stilted

I guess the place will fit. It's very early in tourist season, with a very grey start to "spring". I'm not sure any other restaurants were open yet.

Binged this over the last few days.
- Adam Scott’s face is… something.
- “Does it bother anyone else that they never seem to do any work? I know it's implied but idk”
This probably wouldn’t have bothered me except that Irv was getting his pay docked for dozing on the job.
- I can’t figure out Harmonie Cobel’s motivation. She’s got the shrine but she’s at odds with the Board. Before she realizes Mark is Out, and he’s telling her he’s thinking about quitting, she hugs him and whispers to “get away from those people”. She also seems to be encouraging something between Mark and “Ms Casey”.
- I’m very intrigued by the O&D dept and what they’re actually doing in the back room. Like, the random objects they’re creating and those instructional cards?
- for some reason I thought this was a limited series to I was pulling my hair out at the cliffhanger.

Season 2 not sounding promising so far though. Behind the scenes turmoil apparently and now on indefinite hold due to strike

What was the turmoil? All I find is that production was halted due to the strikes, which is every show basically

Some falling out between the two showrunners.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/severance-season-2-delayed-due-to-showrunner-fighting-report

https://www.gq.com/story/severance-season-2-delayed-behind-the-scenes-drama#

Well it looks they brought in the writer who wrote the prison episodes of Andor, so that seems promising

kinda curious how/why they're spending $20m per episode

those kaypro ii monitors aren’t cheap these days

Alia Shawkat is notorious for her method acting, forcing the production team to create the severing technology for real