Severance

[Veho]

So, um... This is different.

​

Office Space meets Dollhouse
Or something.
Looks intriguing enough.
Could be a sleeper cult hit, could be a wet fart and cancelled after six episodes.
We shall see.

 

[subcon959]

What a great cast. I'm in.

 

[FAST6191]

Has AppleTV made anything worthwhile yet?

I am comparing things then I am going for more Paycheck meets [insert whatever indy film that does the subversive interview to see what candidate has the right combination of street smarts, intelligence and compassion/psychopathy to work here].

I suppose now then the only question is whether the product they are working on is world ending or world saving.

 

[Veho]

Is that the vibe you're getting?

I think the main cast aren't working on anything themselves, they're just guinea pigs for something. They seem to do inane corporate busywork (working on the TTP project, filling out RJ-17 forms and filing them in reverse alphabetical order, bullshit data entry, meetings, meetings, meetings) with no aim or goal. Notice the CRT monitors and old school terminal keyboards, while the outside world is current-level tech. Anyway. They're guinea pigs, but for what, who knows. And maybe their memories get wiped every now and then to place them in different scenarios to be observed. Dark City. The Good Place. Only they get to clock out at 5.

 

[Dr_Faustus]

Actually got around to watching this finally and saw the finale of the season last night.

All I have to say is, this shit is pretty goddamn good. Probably better than it has any right to be on ATV+

While watching much media and coming to expect some conclusions/outcomes out of this (some of which I was right on and some completely caught me off guard by surprise) I was quite entertained and invested in the series. Apparently its already given the go ahead for a Season 2 and honestly given how it ends it would have been a sin to not have it continue from there.

Has AppleTV made anything worthwhile yet?

I am comparing things then I am going for more Paycheck meets [insert whatever indy film that does the subversive interview to see what candidate has the right combination of street smarts, intelligence and compassion/psychopathy to work here].

I suppose now then the only question is whether the product they are working on is world ending or world saving.

Using Paycheck as a reference is not a bad one, but it is very limited in scope compared to what really goes on. Its less about what you don't remember what you do while you are at work and more about you having literally two different "people" with the one that retains their memories of everything in their life outside of work being their regular self and the other only existing to have memories of their actions and interactions in the workplace. The latter being more inclined to want to figure out more about what is going on inside their workplace and what the world is outside of their work since they cannot access any other memories than what their work made purpose is.

If anything it kinda gives me Truman Show/Westworld vibes (with a little bit of office space thrown into it), in that the work self eventually becomes self aware enough that their situation is not normal or even right and they want to do something about it. Meanwhile the on the outside events with some of these same people are also undergoing some changes related to their work and they start to become curious about what is going on as well since they just typically treat their work selves as less autonomous and more like braindead appendages of themselves.

Again I'd highly recommend checking it out.

 

[shaunj66]

This show is amazing!

Big Lost / Twin Peaks vibes.

 

[Veho]

Spoiler

Anyone thing the "outies" are just another layer of severance, and it's still not the real world?

Big Lost / Twin Peaks vibes.

As in "interesting premise with a smattering of surreal and hints of a larger world just outside our grasp", or as in "showrunners have no idea where they're going with it"?

 

[Dr_Faustus]

Spoiler

Anyone thing the "outies" are just another layer of severance, and it's still not the real world?

As in "interesting premise with a smattering of surreal and hints of a larger world just outside our grasp", or as in "showrunners have no idea where they're going with it"?

It does feel that way huh? But I would not say thats so much the case as it is that Lumon owns almost everything in that town and seems to have ties to the local government. The real thing that you should eye is what that down elevator represents especially given Irving's outie obsession with it despite us not knowing how or why he is able to know about it.

Also I would not say that they do not know where they are going with this. They seem to have some general idea as to where they are taking this. I am just hoping they do not make this series go on longer than it needs to explain itself. I feel 3 seasons could make this a nice series, 5 maximum if they want to go deeper into some aspects. Any more than that and the quality will suffer in the long run I feel. Plus Ben Stiller is involved, and I trust the stuff he has put his weight into before that aren't comedies. I say this as I was probably one of only a handful who actually enjoyed "The Cable Guy" back when it came out when everyone else was pissed off about it expecting a lighthearted comedy when at best it was a very dark comedy/thriller about a man so screwed up and raised on television he lost any identity to himself.

This feels more put together as a concept and less of a "lets just throw some fun mystery things here in this box and i'll leave it for other writers/directors to figure out what to do with it" AKA something we would see from JJ Abrams. That said time will tell how the next season will present itself and its growing narrative.