Imagine walking out of the office and not remembering one iota of what you did that day. No WhatsApp asking you to send an email at eleven o'clock at night or interrupted vacations because the intern on duty has made a mess. Imagine that the opposite also happens. Going into your work, your head completely forgets all your private life. While you are sitting in front of the computer, you do not remember if you have a partner or even if you have children. According to company policy, they do it this way to make you a much more productive employee. That is the argument of Severance (Separation), un psychological thriller exclusive to Apple TV+ which has pleasantly surprised viewers. A series directed by Ben Stiller that will show us his most serious facet, while at the same time making us reflect as the episodes of Black Mirror.
What is Severance about?
Who accepts a job in Lumon Enterprises, also accepts its curious confidentiality policy. While in a normal company, you would sign the typical NDA, ensuring that you are not going to reveal private information to third parties, at Lumon they do a little more cyberpunk. The workers have to undergo surgery to install a chip in their heads. Once that is done, the individual will have two dissociated personalities: one for your private life and one for work.
When an employee steps on the premises of Lumon Enterprises, his private life disappears from his head. And, when he leaves, he completely forgets everything he has done during the day until he steps back into the building the next morning. Not taking work problems home or vice versa might seem like an advantage, but the series gets darker and darker as the episodes go by, at the same time that it makes you reflect on the consequences of applying such a method.
Severance is a complete Revival of esa claustrophobic science fiction without individual freedom which began in the cinema of the seventies. Unlike other productions that show us a dystopian future, Severance it's more of a uchronia. The offices we see in the series are from the middle of the last century, while the machines they use are very similar to those used in the 80s. However, not everything is serious in Severance. The series also has its touches of humor that serve to release tension at certain times.
The main character of the series is Mark, who is ordered to take the place of Petey, his best friend within Lumon Enterprises, who has recently left the company. We will meet Mark in and out of the office—a disturbing phenomenon, since he doesn't even know himself in those two environments. It will be outside the offices where Mark will meet Petey, a person he does not recognize, but who claims to be his best friend.
Severance Trailer
Premiere and available seasons
Severance the past was released February 18th 2022. The first season has a total of nine episodes. The series launched exclusively on AppleTV+ that same day with a double episode. Subsequently, Apple has been releasing a new episode every week until April 8.
- Good news about hell
- half loop
- in perpetuity
- The you you are
- The grim barbarity of Optics and Design
- hide and seek
- Defiant Jazz
- What's for dinner?
- (No title revealed yet)
Will there be a second season?
Considering the reception of the series, which has received outstanding marks, you will not be at all surprised to learn that the series has already signed its sequel. The second season de Severance began shooting on March 14, 2022 in New York and New Jersey.
We hope that the team can shoot without complications, since the first season had many problems due to the pandemic and had to be delayed on a few occasions due to overlapping with the work of other actors and parallel shooting. If everything follows its course, this second season could launch later this year or early 2023.
Cast and crew of Severance, the exclusive series of Apple TV +
This sci-fi psychological thriller has been created by Dan erickson. The direction has been in charge of Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle, Stiller being the one with the most episodes directed to date. Regarding the casting, these are all the characters that have appeared in the series to date.
Main cast
- A: known mainly for comedy Parks and Recreation, plays Mark Scout, the protagonist of Severance. He works in the big data refinement division that is part of the 'Severance' program. He is mourning the death of his wife.
- zack cherry is Dylan, a co-worker of Mark's who enjoys the benefits of separating his work and private life.
- Britt Lower as Helly, a new employee hired to replace one of Petey's roles within the company.
- Jen Tullock she plays Devon, Mark's sister, who is pregnant.
- Dichen lachman: as Ms. Casey.
- michael chernus: as Ricken, Devon's husband, a self-help writer.
- John Turturro like Irving, Mark's co-worker. This veteran employee is very strict with company policy and is attracted to Burt.
- Christopher Walken like Burt, the head of the Optics and Design division of Lumon Enterprises.
- Patricia Arquette as Harmony Cobel, who does double duty as Mark's boss and also out of the office as his neighbor.
other actors
- Yul vazquez (Petey): ex-employee of Lumon who was fired under somewhat suspicious circumstances, and who will be the key character in the knot of the plot. Petey remembers the protagonist once he is fired from the company.
- michael cumpsty as Doug Graner, a Lumon employee with a somewhat sinister profile.
- Nikki M James like Alexa, Devon's midwife.
- sydney cole alexander like Natalie, the public relations representative for Lumon Enterprises. She is also the person who liaises with the company's board of directors.
- michael siberry like James Eagan, the current CEO of Lumon Enterprises.
- joanne kelly as Nina, Petey's ex-partner.
- Cassidy Layton like June, Petey's daughter.
- Ethan Flower like Angelo Arteta, a senator who supports legalizing the separation procedure used at Lumon Enterprises. He is married to Gabby Arteta (Nora Dale).
- Karen Aldridge as Regabhi, a former surgeon from Lumon.