Review: Severance is one of the best shows on Apple TV+

And one of the best new shows I’ve watched in quite a while.

Given that I cover Apple, I tend to be fairly aware of what’s airing on Apple TV+, but I honestly don’t watch most of it. That’s because my time is limited and there’s a lot of content on Apple’s still young streaming service. So unless something immediately strikes me as must-watch, I generally wait until I hear a lot of buzz for a show. That’s certainly the case with Severance. It came highly recommended from a personal friend, and I started seeing a lot of chatter about it on Twitter, the internet’s water cooler. One person even compared it to Lost. That’s pretty much an instant way to get me interested in a TV show as a still-recovering Lostie. My wife and I binged Severance pretty hard, and even though it’s been a few days since we watched the final episode, I’ve been thinking about it a lot. That’s always the mark of a great show or movie to me.

Severance is like a Twilight Zone episode stretched out into an entire season. It almost should begin with Rod Serling smoking outside of the show’s main office building. The plot is that a company called Lumon Industries has developed a computer chip that is inserted into the brains of “severed” employees. When they get in the elevator to go down to the severed floor to start their work day, the chip is activated and they completely forget their home life. When they leave for the day the chip is activated again on their way up the elevator and the home version of themselves has no memories of their work life. Certainly brings new meaning to the phrase “work/life balance!”

It’s an absurd premise, but it’s a great storytelling device for investigating identity and what makes us, “us.” It also sets up a lot of interesting mysteries about just what the company is up to, whether or not the “innies” will discover what their “outie” is like, and how the outside world will react to this new technology. The series starts when a new employee, Helly, goes through her new corporate orientation. She’s naturally quite resistant to the new life her new self is suddenly forced to come to terms with. Slowly we see her brought under conditioning to accept her circumstances. I couldn’t help but think of the plot line from the Calvin & Hobbes comic strip where Calvin makes clones of himself to do all of his chores and homework while he just gets to relax. They don’t take kindly to it. We see that with Helly’s “innie,” and over time it begins to spread to the rest of her team.

I love the very distinct look of Severance. The Lumon office building has a very 1968 aesthetic, with 1970s computer terminals. The office itself is a real character in this show.

The cast is great as well, anchored by Adam Scott of Parks and Recreation. His “innie” self is very much like his character in that show, but since he gets to play two versions of the same person in Severance, he really gets to put his acting skills on display. John Turturro plays the kind of quirky character that he’s known for, and Christopher Walken… just gets to be Christopher Walken. Enough said. Zach Cherry is scene-chewing as Dylan. He’s the kind of office worker we’ve probably all known at some point: grinding out his business goals, reward-oriented, and occasionally profane. You’ll have to watch the show to see just how delightful he is.

Severance makes you think, sometimes makes you laugh out loud, and season one ends with one of the best cliffhangers in TV history. But don’t worry, season two has already received the green light from Apple, and there are plenty of mysteries for it explore. I can’t recommend this show highly enough. It genuinely might be the best new show in years.