Christine N Rifkin – Author

Severance is a show currently in its second season on Apple TV, and it’s ideas about the workplace and mental health have recently infiltrated popular culture. Without giving too much away, a general overview of the series is that its about a team of coworkers who have been surgically separated from their outside world counterparts. As someone who works in an office environment, I can relate completely with the employees of Lumon and I don’t know if that says anything positive about office culture especially post-COVID.

My overall thoughts of the first season would probably best be described by this emoji: 😳

Every episode of this season seemed to end with a bomb of a reveal. My husband and I breezed through these nine episodes so fast, simply because we needed to know what happened next. The writers were really on a roll with creating tension and keeping us on the edge of our seats from start to finish. The final episode brought everything to a head and made it almost impossible to not want to start the second season right away. If you’ve seen it, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

My favorite episode would have to be Defiant Jazz. It’s the seventh episode of the season and everything about it was so fun. I loved the inclusion of music in this episode and the crew dancing to the song “Shakey Jake” by Joe McPhee was such a disorienting moment in a show where there are so many secrets still being discovered. Additionally, the moment between Irving, Burt, and Milchick, the supervisor for the Severed floor, when Burt is given a retirement party, dripped with hidden vitriol. If you haven’t gotten to this episode yet, I recommend sticking around for this one. I still think about John Turturro’s performance in this, truly heart wrenching.

This show is worth getting Apple TV, even if its just for a free trial. I don’t think I’ve been this thrilled by a TV show since Black Mirror’s first season and I hope more sci-fi/psychological thrillers come out to ride on Severance’s coattails. I’ve already started season two and (without spoilers) I can say that the writers dove deep into these characters for this season. We learn so much more about the outies and I’m excited to see how it all turns out.