anyone seen SEVERANCE yet?

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.

- 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