Severance

:

Season 1
  • Network: Apple TV+
  • Series Premiere Date: Feb 18, 2022
Season #: 2, 1
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 115 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 102 out of 115
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 115
  3. Negative: 4 out of 115
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User Reviews

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  1. busiek
    Jul 24, 2023
    5
    Good acting, excellent production design, great shots do not compensate for the sense of boredom. It's not "slow burn", this show is simply boring and nothing encourages you to continue watching... The material for three -four max - episodes was stretched to nine. I gave up and fell asleep.
  2. moirons
    May 22, 2023
    4
    There are a few problems with this show (okay, more than a few). The first is pacing. While they do a fantastic job of pacing the physical workplace and its mystery, they do a piss poor job of pacing character development. Like many other modern shows, I have no idea who these people are or why I would care about them in the first place. I think the writers and directors are taking forThere are a few problems with this show (okay, more than a few). The first is pacing. While they do a fantastic job of pacing the physical workplace and its mystery, they do a piss poor job of pacing character development. Like many other modern shows, I have no idea who these people are or why I would care about them in the first place. I think the writers and directors are taking for granted that people will just like these characters because they're attractive and well-dressed. Not so. The lead character is wood, soulless, and doesn't have a backstory besides "his wife died." Okay? Does he have a personality? The answer is no.

    The second major problem is the mix of side humor in combination with blaring music. Severance's score is understandably unsettling and should be. But when you play that score through 80% of every episode, it's a distraction, not a companion to anything going on. And when you play it so much that every mundane moment gets its own portion of the soundtrack, everything starts to look like parody. "Christopher Walken strutting through a corridor." I can almost hear a director saying "Turn the music up!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

    Finally, it all goes back to the people. I don't know these people. I don't see them having regular human conversations that are relatable. Why would I care about them? I had planned to binge this but couldn't get past episode 4. We had a funeral for a character we'd seen exactly 4 times and were just naturally expected to see that as a moment. It wasn't. I don't know who this man was or see enough of him to care.

    Is it unsettling? Sure. It's also boring and melodramatic, sometimes comically at points.

    But I'm sure Apple TV paid for plenty of reviews, so no one needs to worry about mine.    … Expand
  3. ParQer
    Feb 20, 2023
    6
    Season 1 could have been great, but it’s not rewarding. The pacing is a bit too slow but that’s not the issue. The issue is the fact that season 1 ended up only being a premise for season 2.

    They could have cut at least 3 episodes and the content of episode 9 should have been around episode 6. Then there would be 3 more episodes to close the season. This would have been great.    Season 1 could have been great, but it’s not rewarding. The pacing is a bit too slow but that’s not the issue. The issue is the fact that season 1 ended up only being a premise for season 2.

    They could have cut at least 3 episodes and the content of episode 9 should have been around episode 6. Then there would be 3 more episodes to close the season. This would have been great.

    Instead, they decided to stretch the sauce as much as possible to do 2 seasons. It’s okay to leave some story arc open for the next season but a season should always be its own entity but season 1 is basically just a mid-season that drags for 9 episodes.    … Expand
  4. OlivierPiel
    Dec 29, 2022
    5
    Other reviewers marvel at the purported "depth"and the "philosophical questions" that this show examines. However, they actually don't explain what these are...because they simply don't exist. The other reviewer bl1rt nailed it: It's a show trying to be a Kafkaian/French existentialist satire of the drab, soulless, nonsensical corporate 'Meurica but ends up grotesque because it pushes theOther reviewers marvel at the purported "depth"and the "philosophical questions" that this show examines. However, they actually don't explain what these are...because they simply don't exist. The other reviewer bl1rt nailed it: It's a show trying to be a Kafkaian/French existentialist satire of the drab, soulless, nonsensical corporate 'Meurica but ends up grotesque because it pushes the implausable actions of the protagonists too far, and contradicts our experience of the workplace.
    The American workplace is far better, far freer than the 1935 Austrian, the 1895 French or the 1865 English workplace!
    Indeed Kafka's genius was the reverse: He showed that our apparently trivial, everyday, mindless actions were the symptoms of our "normal" dehumanisation and alienation in a modern society, not the master plan of an evil regime. Kafka, Camus and Sartre showed that we are all willing, not pushed to it, except maybe in the most dictatorial regimes!

    Plus points for Turturro and Walken, whose romance is beautifully acted.

    By the way, Rick and Morty did it better in their episode "night people".    … Expand
  5. All_ButTrU4
    Apr 23, 2022
    5
    Satisfying television that just couldn't stick with me. It's a sinister mystery that wraps you in but the pacing makes it a dirge to live through.
  6. MetacriticOnur
    Apr 12, 2022
    6
    admirable
    [ ad-mer-uh-buhl ]

    adjective
    worthy of admiration; inspiring approval, reverence, or affection.
  7. bl1rt
    Feb 27, 2022
    4
    It's a Black Mirror episode written by Charlie Kaufman about working in an office, only it is actually written by a neurotypical who never worked a day in a regular job, and it is padded to fill a whole season. Which means that there is a perceivable lack in the middle of it - a lack of truth behind the weirdness, and honestly, a lack of material. The show tries to make up for it inIt's a Black Mirror episode written by Charlie Kaufman about working in an office, only it is actually written by a neurotypical who never worked a day in a regular job, and it is padded to fill a whole season. Which means that there is a perceivable lack in the middle of it - a lack of truth behind the weirdness, and honestly, a lack of material. The show tries to make up for it in atmosphere, so it looks nice and goes slowly. Watching paint dry slowly.
    I really want to like it, if just for trying to be different, but it is so clearly trying too hard at the wrong places, while under-delivering at the important bits. It feels like unrewarding work to get through this slob, which is ironic since that is what it tries to portrait, yet I'd rather be at the office.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

36
#36 Best TV Season of 2022
24
#24 Most Discussed TV Season of 2022

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83

Universal acclaim - based on 36 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 34 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 36
  3. Negative: 0 out of 36
  1. i
    Reviewed by: Rachael Sigee
    May 25, 2022
    100
    With an exceptional cast (rounded out by Patricia Arquette, John Turturro and Christopher Walken), this is an original, weird, thought-provoking and beautifully crafted story that asks just how much of ourselves we should give over to our jobs.
    Read full review
  2. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Naomi Fry
    May 25, 2022
    80
    “Severance” is political in spite of itself—the employees’ dawning realization of their mutual oppression makes them accidental proletariat. And yet it is almost impossible to watch the show and not think of real-life parallels to the situation at Lumon.
    Read full review
  3. Radio Times
    Reviewed by: Huw Fullerton
    May 25, 2022
    80
    Altogether, Severance is an impressive creation. It’s a sci-fi mystery, an quasi-religious thriller and much more besides – but more than anything it really is a portrait of work and how we let it take over our lives.
    Read full review
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