anyone seen SEVERANCE yet?

Good to hear, I don't want this show to go too LOST

Yeah, they've set it up so that they could pretty easily undo all of the progress of the last episode and start over again from square one, or have the whole show be upended, or anything in between. Very curious how they will handle it.

^yes to all of this

It's hard to imagine Helly's outie letting her go back to the office. In fact, it's hard to imagine the innies not being wiped or something now that they've seen too much.

Yes, this is what I have been thinking. Unless...

It is hard to figure out how they haven't reached a narrative dead end, sort of where The Good Place went during the second season, where a return to the status quo doesn't make narrative sense, but going too far from the status quo could make the series lose the specific intrigues that make it interesting.

On the other hand it could all be fine! And I hope it well be. Aside from all the puzzlebox mystery shows that lost their way, there's still The Leftovers, which basically aced it all the way through to the finale.

And I'm still thinking about the finale! It wouldn't work as a discrete hour of television, but it's got to be the most enjoyable single episodes of television I've watched in a long, long time. Totally Reaganing.

Yes, finale was excellent. Still thinking one way they could play it is that the whole thing was some kind of mega-experiment, allowing them to read Ricken's book and then to escape to See What They Would Do and the Whole Town Is In On It so they all just get put back in the box next season but then that would sort of be a copout, so I dunno. *scratches head*

I watched the final three in a row, so I may have missed something, but I feel like the most clearly dangling thread to pick up in the next season is the Lumon chip doctor, who iirc never reappeared after meeting with Mark and killing the security guy. So an obvs way to not just wipe the innies would be to have them reintegrated

Yes, pondering that too.

Yes. Alternatively Lumon could just reset their chips so their innies would be back to ignorant bliss.

or they could reset *us* and show the same season to a fresh audience

love this interview w Stiller

https://defector.com/ben-stiller-explains-how-severance-became-the-rare-streaming-show-thats-actually-good/

So after watching Severance, I started reading Piranesi by Susanna Clarke and am struck by many similarities, starting with the labyrinthine setting and making of notes, among other things - anyone else?

Yes!

Right? (Hidden spoilers are for the book) plus the inside/outside knowledge/memory of oneself and trying to cross the worlds, the question of whether you want to, the 'work' in Severance maybe being similar to the 'Secret Knowledge' in Piranesi, who is trustworthy. Possibly getting people inside by nefarious means. Dunno what the equivalent of the waffle party would be though...

Really curious as to whether Piranesi had any influence at all over Severance? I might not have put the two together if I hadn't read/watched in quick succession.

I'm reading that the Backrooms horror meme had a bit of influence over Severance and, in particular, folks talking about this 16-year-old's series of videos, but the first one went up 3 months ago so it can't be true. They're pretty good though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4dGpz6cnHo

I have little interest in most dystopian stories but gave Severance a try anyway. I was immediately hooked by the opening scene's conference room as prison cell and absurdist corporate survey. And how Helly responded with the fury it all deserves from any sane person. Later scenes of doublespeak and goofy dancing, though entertaining, haven't been quite so on target.

I guess I've kept watching for the mystery and the puzzle aspect, although it's hard to really care what evil mechanics of Lumon turn out to be revealed. What matters more is the tone and the characters.

It is a relief to follow a series with a relatively small cast of characters you don't need to struggle to keep track of.

Every time I see this thread I think about Ecks vs. Sever.

I thought this was really excellent. Some of the scenes were so formally perfect, if plucked from a 70s Italian auteur work they would be taught in film courses.

The "it's a lab experiment" theory faded somewhat by the end of the season; if it is an experiment then I think it's a Prison Experiment variant where the supervisors (Cobel, Milchik) are not in on it but also subjects. Given where the season ended up though, I think the purpose of the innies' work is just to demonstrate the viability of the severance technology, which Lumon wants to make mainstream. The work is mysterious but probably not important.

I liked how the innies were the central characters and the outies mainly rounded out their stories, kind of a reversal of how the outies would feel about themselves.

Waffle party is objectively the worst party, egg dish social is seriously underrated (though what was with the purple eggs?)

Xp Stanford Prison experiment appears to have been quite different than it appears in the public semi cosciousness. I heard a couple of pretty good podcasts on it last year. You're Wrong About was one I think.
So was more 2 sides being aware of situation than double blind. Just misreported.

Just discovered Apple's spin-off ebook thing: https://books.apple.com/us/book/severance/id1613220757

the implications of the severing can get really dark really quickly; my mind immediately thought about evil people using the procedure to force people (women mostly) into sex slavery. but the idea that they can turn you on and off whenever is also pretty wild, suggesting that they could "kill" either half of you whenever they wanted.

― ian, Saturday, April 2, 2022 8:31 AM (one month ago)

This brought me back to Gibson's Neuromancer and the "puppets" who were essentially prostitutes who turned "off" when they were servicing johns. I was discussing the show's core concept with my mother (before she's seen it) and she immediately went to how people running the concentration camps in WW2 would probably benefit from it.

Definitely not a new concept, and one that only seems to truly benefit a society with a lot of ills we want to "wish away" with a mere symptomatic fix rather than a systemic one.

I'm glad more and more people seem to be watching this, but I wish Tramell Tillman's amazing supporting role was a bigger part of that conversation (unless I'm missing something)

That did have a big moment on this thread, although probably easy to scroll past what with all the other posting.

Oh I didn't mean here particuarly, just in general online whatnot

Oh, okay. I don't think it's going out on a limb to say his peformance is key to the whole thing.

I think he has probably getting noticed by people who cast shows and films. There were a few articles calling him the breakout star of the show.

tillman fit in well with the 1970s vibe of the innie world. none of the other lumon bosses fit in so well.

they needed mustaches too

Walken did well with a being in his 70s vibe

tillman fit in well with the 1970s vibe of the innie world. none of the other lumon bosses fit in so well.

the point where he started dancing was a real "this guy can do... anything!" moment

Ha, yes, exactly.

I'm just reading the book Soldaten which is based around a load of tapes of German POWs from he 2nd World War being transcribed. So it shows a lot of casual conversation caught unconsciously. & shows what the epistemology of those involved. Some horrific stuff about attitudes toward Jews and other civilians.
Interesting parallel to what appears to be being depicted here.

Just finished this, incredible. Fantastic concept, couldn't stop thinking about it, what it would be like to be severed, imagining spending 24 hours a day seven days a week awake in an office, never sleeping, never leaving, feeling mysteriously refreshed every 8 hours, and whether your outie having all the sleep and leisure time would truly be enough to offset that psychological insanity. When my wife said after ep 3 that she was thinking about the show I said 'you mean what it would be like to be severed?' and she said no i don't think about things that couldn't happen, lol.

Loved the bit in the first episode where Helly tries to leave and some mysterious force pushes her back - it seemed a bit supernatural and not what I was expecting from the show, till the penny dropped and I realised the mysterious force was her own - or her outie's - agency choosing to walk back through the door, but which she has no memory of. And then we see it from the other side in ep 2.

So much humour, lots noted upthread already - Burt's leaving speech video, 'the latin for camera' (and everything else in Ricken's book or said by Ricken - the kid's beds!), 'It was me, I found her!'.

Mark's listing the reasons his wife was extraordinary ('My wife liked other people's dogs. My wife thought cardigans looked ridiculous.') sounded just like a Wellness session.

Haven't seen any mention upthread of continuity errors/'errors' (?) - the most obvious was the blood on Milchick's arm disappeared when he walked out the door; my wife said she'd noticed some others.

That last episode, where they were supposed to be doing THE MISSION to TELL EVERYONE and yet Mark kept getting delayed by everything, like some neverending dream / The Unconsoled.

Wow, my favourite book but I hadn't noticed this similarity! That was so tense, I kept on yelling 'Mark for God's sake just start talking!'

My theory, which stands up to zero scrutiny, is that the severed floor is literally, not figuratively, hell.

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.