Spoilers Severance (Apple TV)

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Just give this show all the Emmys.

After a number of amazing episodes, especially the Gemma-centric one, the finale just took everything to another level. Huge acting showcase for Adam Scott, a heck of an unexpected weird Lumon office party and a great ending that, well, like so much of this series, I have no idea where they go from here.

It would have been easy for this season to have just been more about work/life balance, but I appreciate how it went the smart science fiction route and drilled down on how this technology would screw up everyone's lives. You have a woman cheating (?) with a version of her husband who lives in his same body, two versions of someone both hating Lumon but if either ever got what they truly wanted it would obliterate the other, a character impersonating themself using their same body, etc.

A real tour de force of a show and some of the best science fiction I've seen in years. Just wonderful.

 

[Clint_L]

Does it get better? The first episode was boring as f**k.

 

[Lalato]

Does it get better? The first episode was boring as f**k.

Yes, I think it gets better. Great show. But if the mystery doesn't intrigue you, then I don't know that the show is for you.

I was hooked from the first episode.

 

[TheHand]

Does it get better? The first episode was boring as f**k.

I found the pacing was kind of odd in the early first season and it took me a while to warm to it.
I also think Season 2 was big improvement over the 1st Season.

 

[Clint_L]

Maybe I have to watch another episode. Honestly, the first one just had me watching the clock. It felt very art school.

 

[jian]

Yes, it definitely gets better. Some people do find the first episode slow and don’t engage with the basic premise (of severing) but once they do then it’s an amazing ride all the way.

Loved the finale, and agree about the second season leaning into the science fiction (as in, “how would this work and how could it affect people in the system”) elements. A modern Omelas.

 

[jian]

Just remembered that this is a spoilers thread.

Sadly, my theory about clones and the refinement being the reconstruction of Gemma’s mind from secondary data (see above) was quite incorrect, but I’m pretty happy with what’s actually going on.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Maybe I have to watch another episode. Honestly, the first one just had me watching the clock. It felt very art school.

Like Lost, if the first episode didn't hook you, I don't know that the rest of the series would. The show knows what it is, and it's definitely not for everyone.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Sadly, my theory about clones and the refinement being the reconstruction of Gemma’s mind from secondary data (see above) was quite incorrect, but I’m pretty happy with what’s actually going on.

Well, they built 23 (I think) separate personalities for her and were trying to make sure that her other memories and identities wouldn't leak through. That certainly feels, to me, like they're trying to hollow people out so that the Eagans can implant their minds in other people and become functionally immortal.

So not clones, but adjacent enough, given that the end goal is probably the same.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Also, how satisfying was that death? What a creep that guy was.