‘Severance’ (Season 1)

A challenging, cerebral nine-episode season, Severance is a disturbing, dystopian narrative of conspiracy and social control.

A surgical procedure (severance) that divides the memories of work and home provides opportunity for high-security jobs. But what the purpose of this work is never clarified – small teams are isolated in their workplace with minimal interaction with colleagues outside direct team members. Mark (Adam Scott) is the leader of one such team identifying on-screen data patterns and codes.

None of the team would recognise each other outside of work and none of them know who and what they are in the outside world. The arrival of a new colleague, Helly (Britt Lower), sets in motion a series of, to the team, confusing and unexplained interactions that fail to follow the routine of their normalcy. Meanwhile, Mark, on the outside, is being discretely watched by his next door neighbour (Patricia Arquette) who also happens to be the head of the unit at Lumon.

It’s a slow build of a series as tension is gradually increased as it becomes increasingly apparent not everything is what it seems. As a procedure, severance is a controversial one: there’s ongoing protests about growing corporate control and abuse, human rights infringements and more. Yet Mark, a former history professor, chose the implant following the death of his wife in a car accident. An antiseptic workplace of endless, deserted, flourescent-lit corridors with unending unopened doors, vast underground empty office spaces with a team of four huddled around their small desks in the centre of the room: the outside world is the polar opposite – claustrophobic home spaces darkly lit, early winter mornings or nighttime external shots adding to the gloom.

Given time, Severance becomes an immersive, mesmerising series as its slow beginnings give way initially to a sense of uncertainty before quietly revealing another layer as, unexpectedly, the design team, led by Burt (Christopher Walken) is introduced as a possible threat to Mark’s team’s stability. Assuming, that is, it always was stable.

Rating: 70%