Severance: A show that asks, “What if your brain had a corporate HR department?” – and no, it’s not a metaphor for your soul-sucking 9-to-5.
In this dystopian corporate thriller, workers at Lumon Industries agree to a life-altering procedure that surgically splits their work and personal lives. Imagine clocking in, and your mind gets scrubbed of any trace of your real life. So, basically, it’s like your office job, but with even less soul.
Here’s the kicker: the characters have no idea who they are when they’re not at work. It’s like the writers thought, “What if we put people in a cage, gave them coffee mugs with motivational quotes, and told them to forget everything—except the fact that they’re miserable?” It’s corporate espionage meets The Twilight Zone, but with more existential dread and less jazz hands.
Adam Scott plays Mark, the guy who’s less of a human being and more of a living, breathing corporate drone. He spends 9 hours a day in a beige hellscape, reprogramming his soul to forget about the “real” world where he has family, friends, and hobbies—assuming those things even still exist outside his gray cubicle.
The show’s vibe is like Black Mirror if it had an office job and hated itself. It’s sleek, unsettling, and will make you question the true horror of office culture—along with the unsettling thought that maybe this is what we’re all slowly becoming.
In summary: Severance is a brilliant, disturbing, and occasionally hilarious reminder that the future is probably going to involve a lot more “What did I do with my life?” moments, but at least we’ll all have the same terrible corporate-sponsored answer.
Rating: 4 out of 5 existential crises. You’ll be hooked, but good luck remembering why.
