A new season of Severance is finally upon us! Gita, Chris and Riley sat down to talk through the season premiere, which is enigmatic as ever.
Gita: Chris! Riley! Last week, after a three year wait, the second season of the Apple TV show Severance finally premiered. I had been trying to keep my expectations low given the long, long wait, but I'm pretty excited about how this episode turned out, and the twist and turns it sets up for the next season. Let's talk about it today!
Chris: Sure! I had a good time.
Riley: Same! I didn't realize quite how long it had been since Season 1 ended; it actually coincided with the end of my free Apple TV subscription, but I was like "Oh, I'll just keep it going for more Severance." Whoops!
Gita: Hahaha—that's how they get you, huh?
Chris: With this and Squid Game I had to look up what happened previously because it had been so long.
Riley: Yeah, with both I had to keep pausing to Google what was going on lol.
Gita: I didn't have that hard of a time but as I was watching the premiere, I did start to realize that there were a lot of events I had simply forgotten about. The season finale from three years ago ended on such an intense cliffhanger that I was chomping at the bit for resolution this whole time. But there's actually a lot about the Lumon corporation and the severed workers there that we don't know about yet, and that cliffhanger didn't get resolved at all.
Chris: Yeah I just forgot big details of the show, that doesn’t take away from it but I forgot the specifics of what had happened and it’s compounded by the ambiguity of what they’re being told happened.
I think in the case of both this show and Squid Game there was an understandable desire to get it right but if you don’t have that already in the chamber the break is rough.
Riley: I appreciated the mystery that opens the season in light of all that-- it would have been an easy choice to give us (and the characters) answers and move on into "what now?" but instead we still have the "what happened?" to untangle.
Gita: In the world of Severance, some employees at the Lumon corporation undergo a surgery that bifurcates their memories so they basically don't remember what went on at work. This entire episode delved into the lives of the "innies," people who only exist on the company floor. It was honestly kind of disorienting, because we really have no idea what information to trust or not. The bosses hold all the cards.
It's basically like a science fiction version of Marx's theory of alienation.
In an effort to untangle the "what happened?" I have to ask. The innies have been told it's been five months since the previous season. Do you believe that? I definitely do not.
Riley: I don't think I do either.
Chris: Well what they’re being told is that they enacted meaningful change and they had a big parade for them and now everything is fixed because there are more snacks.
It’s done in a very fun way multiple times in the episode, but the entire time you’re supposed to doubt it.
Gita: Yeah, for instance, if you look at the (very cool) claymation video they're shown about their actions after last season, they're told they have "new perks" as a result of their actions. One of them is a hall pass—but if there's a hall pass, then that means the bosses are taking more control over their movements in the building.
Chris: I love when they get to flex their production chops like that.
Riley: That video ruled to me, a guy watching the show, but also seemed so ridiculous— did Lumon think the innies would really be swayed by it?
Gita: I think the new character, Ms. Huang, is the key to understanding that, Riley. Their new manager is a literal child.
Chris: I think I know who she is supposed to be but it would be a spoiler if I’m right.
Riley: What is the deal with her omg?!?
Chris: Big child.
Gita: I also think I know who she is..... let's talk theories in a minute.
What's so enjoyable about this show is that it gives you that Lost-juice. It is very easy to theorize about shit on this show because everything is really esoteric.
They have a good balance between revealing new information and having that information leading to new mysteries to uncover.
Riley: Haha, the creators have literally reassured fans that it will not go the way of Lost.
Chris: I like that they initially try to get Mark into a new team before he freaks out. Bob Balaban was there! Love that guy.
Gita: And Alia Shawkat!!!!! I was so happy to see her.
Chris: The show is really good at utilizing character actors which is the way to my heart. Loved seeing Zach Cherry and John Turturro again
Gita: When I saw Zach Cherry I wanted to cry. I missed him. But seeing John Turturro.......... he's a real actor, man. I'm still so heartbroken about Burt.
Riley: I think there's still hope! You never know!
Gita: Holding a candle for the elder yaoi…. Did you hear that Christopher Walken gets DVDs of the series mailed to him because he doesn't stream?
Chris: King shit.
Gita: Given the nature of the show, it's really hard to talk about all its mysteries and unanswered questions without spoiling things. If you don't want to be spoiled on the specifics of the episode, please stop reading and don't @ us about it.
SPOILERS
Gita: Okay, I am pretty sure that macrodata refinement is about taming the four tempers of the mind to create perfect workers, and Mark's wife is their test subject.
Chris: Interesting.
Gita: The very last shot of the episode is seen through Mark S.'s computer, showing Ms. Casey. All this time, they've been sorting numbers based on feelings. Last season, Ms. Casey was sent back to the "testing floor." That's all gotta be related somehow.
Chris: I think Miss Huang is their kid.
Gita: Yeah I think you're right too!
Chris: That would also explain her being big. Like she’s a refinement of that experiment.
Riley: Hhhm, I hadn't thought about that, I could see it.
Chris: That or none of this is strictly the real world. But a dream sequence feels a little cheap.
Riley: Part of me doesn't want some kind of answers or reveal; I think that messy space full of questions is the most compelling. It's like in The Leftovers—obviously you want to know why the Sudden Departure happened, but it's so much cooler to watch people live with it and never have that answered. I don't want some, like, final showdown with the Eagans or something where all our questions are answered.
Gita: I too hope that we don't get too many answers—there's a jazz-like looseness with this show's connection to reality that I enjoy. Plus, I think bringing it too close to reality or truth would make the show's obvious references to the alienating aspects of labor less... good.
Like this season opens up with an acknowledgement that even critiques of capital reinforce capital, Mark Fisher style. But the closer this show gets to making its points more specifically the more uncomfortable I am with it literally being an Apple TV+ show, you know what I mean?
Chris: Yeah I had the same feeling. That’s always going to be the limit of a tv show and the show is internally acknowledging it about itself but about capitalism writ large. The company is able to use the narrative of their rebellion to strengthen itself and Apple is able to use the success of a prestige show about alienation to cement Apple TV+.
Gita: Seeing balloons with Mark S.'s face on it on the Apple homepage gave me the ick.
Chris: I don’t think it’s impossible to say something in that space but the closest you get is like Sorry To Bother You.
Gita: Yeah, it's very hard! I think this show is threading the needle in a way that's different from how, say, Andor, did. It's more... lyrical. Its approach is more French New Wave. And the sheer joy of watching such incredible filmmaking just puts me in a mood to be moved, emotionally, to allow this show to change me.
The opening sequence where Mark is running through the hallways of the Lumon severed floor made me like, mad at how bad a lot of television looks these days. A lot of the time, they don't even move the damn camera!
Chris: I didn’t love the compositing in that but I loved them trying. It’s a really hard shot to get right.
Gita: They overused the "whoosh" sound effect when the camera made those big swings. But it was a swing, a bold way to open the show.
Chris: Yeah! It sets the tone very well.
Riley: Yeah, it's a really good-looking show, I'll give it that.
Gita: Before we finish up this conversation I wanted to talk about the other main appeal of this show: old man yaoi. Last season, Irv fell in love on the severed floor with another severed worker, Burt, played by Christopher Walken. We last left the character banging on Burt's door, calling out his name. When we see him again for the first time this season, he's banging on the elevator door crying out for Burt, still. Our boy Irv is not doing well!
Riley: I was really rooting for them! Now I'm torn between, I still want them to get together, but also if Burt is happy out in the real world, who is Irv (or us, the audience) to mess with that?
Gita: Is there a way for their innies and their outies to get what they want?
Chris: Is Burt married to a woman or a man?
Gita: A man, IIRC.
Chris: Ah ok, I thought it was ambiguous and enjoyed the concept of your innie being gay but you being straight.
I would like to meet his partner or maybe I don’t. Maybe I just gotta let it go.
Gita: Most of the innies have this competing tension between what they want and what their outies want. Helly R., for instance, is actually an executive at the Lumon Corporation. As Helly, she has a burgeoning romance with Mark S., but Mark's outtie is still devastated over the loss of his wife.
It feels like the innies and outies are distinct people from each other, but they're also the same person. So who wins, in that scenario? Who's desires take precedence?
Chris: I guess what happens if you merge those people?
Riley: Helly lying to everyone—I assume!---is such a good twist. Like, did Lumon get to her? Is she worried the other innies will be mad when they find out who she really is?
Maybe that phrasing is wrong—who is she really haha?
Gita: My personal take is that it's Helena posing as Helly. She's a corporate spy trying to sow division!
Chris: Oh that’s nasty
Gita: It's what corporate would do, though!
Riley: I also had this thought!
Like I said above, it's hard to know how capable corporate thinks the innies are. A spy would definitely make more sense than taking corporate's current actions at face value.
Gita: I hope what everyone can take away from this show is that you should never trust your bosses, ever.
Chris: The innies need a union.
