Severance: The Complete Seasons 1-2 (SF TV series review).
Now, here is an unusual science fiction television series titled ‘Severance’ that one of my reviewers mentioned she was enjoying and suggested I should consider watching. The employees of Lumen, which is half the town, have to submit to a brain implant and have a different or reduced business personality when they work inside their building because what they are working on is sensitive and classified. All done above board voluntarily, and your outtie loses 8 hours of your life each day to your other innie personality and actually likes it because it pays well.
As Hellie R (actress Britt Lower), a new recruit and disturbed by what she discovers, you can’t quit or take a piece of paper saying so because you’re scanned in the lift and penalised, or your outie will record a message to tell you you can’t quit. You can’t get out; only your outie can do that.
Fortunately, newly promoted team leader Mark S (actor Adam Scott) takes the flak for this. We see Mark both in the building and outside, showcasing his unconventional personality as a former teacher who is living a life under the belief that his wife has died. Feeling disturbed or wanting to join up? Severance has nothing to do with quitting but with not knowing what you’re doing at work because it’s top secret. The job of the four, including Dylan G. (actor Zach Cherry) and Irving B. (actor John Turturro), is to locate the wrong codes on their computer screens.
They are ahead of everyone else and get a chance to look around and question whenever someone, for the want of a better word, vanishes. Level 7, where they work, has a white décor, and you really need to know where you are going to find other departments. Later in the season, you do come across a room devoted to looking after white-haired young goats, and you don’t want to upset their keepers.
The team we follow discovers that there is a means by which their innie personalities can be temporarily resurrected outside Lumen to alert the people outside that they aren’t happy.
The results of this are seen in season two, and in the opening episode it is jarring when one of the four doesn’t relate what really happened, and you know the individual is lying. This is obviously a spoiler and the kind of thing which will make you watch the series again, loaded with this information.
Clearly, things are not what they seem, and still no one understands exactly what this team is actually doing. I mean, they are looking at computer screens picking out numbers that should not be there. We know they’re the most efficient team, finishing 100% of their work despite taking many breaks.
The penultimate two episodes explore characters away from the factory before and after their experiences there and will make you ponder how much they have been manipulated by the system and their environment.
So much of this series is a spoiler, and you really have to pay attention to what is going on on the screen, especially the opening credits. It’s the kind of series you’ll watch once, give it a few months, and then watch again.
To do otherwise risks punishment, and the seventh floor has plenty of that, which may include severe consequences for those who fail to grasp the intricate plot details and character developments, such as being excluded from discussions or losing access to future episodes. Just when you think you have some things figured, and this is before Cold Harbour, you’re thrown in a different direction and given different insights into other characters, which keeps the narrative fresh and engaging throughout the series. Actors Christopher Walken and Patricia Arquette have supporting roles and work against the expected types. Who will you support? Ah, you aren’t qualified to choose, although I doubt this business practice will be performed here, especially considering the unconventional roles that Walken and Arquette play, which challenge typical casting expectations. The activities of the kids there are a matter of public interest, particularly because they reflect broader societal themes and engage audiences in discussions about youth and creativity.
If you’ve only just discovered this series but haven’t gotten around to watching it, don’t delay. I pulled my DVDs from my Chinese source, but it is now out here as well, with a promise of a third series within 18 months, so don’t stop running. Don’t trust the smiling supervisor who struggles with small words. Your bosses are dishonest. What were you doing for 8 hours with such good pay?
GF Willmetts
February 2026
(pub: Apple TV+, 2025. 6 DVDs 2 seasons 24 * 45 minutes episodes, last episode is 75 minutes. Price: varies. ASIN: 97-5-7479-862-7).
