Severance recap: everything you need to remember about season 1
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Severance - the workplace thriller to beat all workplace thrillers is finally back for season 2 this week after an astonishingly long three year hiatus, and there’s much to revisit before we are reintroduced to the gaunt halls of Lumon Industries. Having to wait three years for a follow-up feels almost diabolical in this day and age, and yet more and more are seeing such extended breaks. But hey, blame Hollywood’s dual strikes - nothing kills momentum quite like a picket line.
Is your New Year’s resolution to prioritise a better work-life balance? Well don’t jump the gun because if anything is clear after re-devouring season one, it’s a fine line. The Apple TV+ fan favourite created by Dan Erickson and directed by none other than Ben Stiller sees a couple of seemingly uninteresting corporate workers employed at the dystopian floor of Lumon Industries. Nothing is as it seems though, the employees in question have willingly undergone a procedure known as ‘severance’.
Ultimately, the employee's consciousness is split into a ‘work self’ (innie) and a ‘personal self’ (outtie). In an almost altered dimension, triggered by nothing more than a ride in the office elevator, their entire personal identity is wiped - all recollection of who they are, where they live, who they love - all gone for the duration of the working day.
It's the ultimate embodiment of 'leave your personal life at the door,' and, perhaps, a terrifying commentary on modern work culture. Their ‘outtie’ has no idea what it is they really do for eight hours Monday through to Friday. Their ‘innies’ only exist on the office floor and for the sake of understanding, I am reiterating the fact employees willingly have this done.
