The Tartan

Holly Wang: This week on Media Mamas, we’re discussing the not-so-recent finale for the second season of “Severance.”

Lucas Hurley: That’s right, Mama, and I think our opinions will shock most of our readers.

HW: Both Lucas and I have been discussing the show as the episodes came out. At first, I was not so intrigued by the seemingly uniform setting, and I am typically not a lover of thrillers. But I did find something interesting about the show, and it wasn’t as much as I expected.

LH: We mostly agree on our so-so feelings about the show. I’ve been watching it since the first season and, although the acting and set design are consistently stellar, I am often disappointed with this show because it could be doing so much more writing-wise with its premise. However, the setting is one of the two things this show has going for it, particularly the stale, Lumon offices. They are bland, yes, but they give the show a unique feeling of claustrophobic and capitalistic indifference. 

HW: I can see why you say that. But sometimes, when I’m watching episode after episode of them sitting in office cubicles and walking through the very confusing hallways, it makes the entire storyline feel a bit too stale.

LH: We’ve often discussed this, but this is a fundamental disconnect between our approaches to media — if a show purposefully explores unpleasant emotions like confusion and monotony, I am all for it. A major missed opportunity of the show is not committing to that emotion even harder. I could write a whole essay on this, but the show would do a much better job of putting us in the heads of the characters if the editing was used to disconnect us from the “innies” and “outies” as much as the characters. For instance, if we had entire stretches of episodes just in the Lumon offices, cut out from the outside world, that would do a much better job of imbuing the show with a meaningful sense of mystery.

HW: That would be really hard for plot development, because we need to know at least some things about the “outie” characters to contrast them with the “innie” workers. In general, I want to learn something from the sets, and it’s hard to do that when it’s the same in most episodes.

LH: I agree that there should be contrast, but we only need a little, and that can come from dialogue from “innies”/Lumon higher-ups. My point would be clearer with a counterexample. Imagine if in “Fight Club” (spoilers), it was revealed from the start that Tyler Durden and the narrator are the same. The whole film would then be fueled solely by dramatic irony. You would lose such a huge sense of mystery and revelation! I think a lot of the “outie”/“innie” plot of “Severance” is like this. Perhaps it would be okay if they actually did something interesting with this irony, but as it stands it feels very frustrating and undynamic.

HW: I am not a fan of shows or movies that inspire stressful emotions. A slight amount can be acceptable, but I, as an audience member, may not always want to feel trapped and helpless like some of the characters in the show.

LH: Again, there is our disconnect. I feel that to truly commit to the premise, which focuses on the effect of labor and whether work-life balance really exists, stress would need to be an integral part of the equation.

HW: With shows like “The Bear” and “Succession,” stress is an integral element, but they were able to achieve it with different sets and environments. I felt refreshed when we had the episode about Gemma. Even though it was still in a sterile-looking environment in the same Lumon building, it was good to have a change of scenery. 

LH: So you’re fine with the monotonous aesthetic; it’s just that we’re often in the same set?

HW: The aesthetic can be irritating at times, yet I understand why. But I have a particular issue with the one office set we are always in. And even if we see characters travelling in the hallways, they’re all the same anyway.

LH: Honestly, I can agree with that, and the Gemma episode was also a bright spot for me in how we see more of the facility. I especially liked the part where we go behind the scenes and see that Mark, Helly, Irving, and Dylan are being monitored by weird doppelganger lookalikes. I hope they never explain that.

HW: Lucas just showed me that clip, because I completely forgot. But there is definitely a sense of humour in the ridiculousness of this show. Most of the decisions and processes the Lumon upper management are involved in have a layer of ridiculousness to them.

LH: But, all in all, this is just another area where the show fails to commit as hard as it should have. The show could feel so much more surreal and satirical if it leaned in way harder to its weirdness instead of introducing one or two weird things per episode and having fairly half-baked jokes.

HW: The show fails to satisfy my curiosity in terms of world-building. I feel slightly underwhelmed at times after I’ve familiarized myself with the basic elements, like “There are ‘innies’ and ‘outies,’ and they can’t communicate with each other.”

LH: I agree, and the tension from this inability to communicate between the “innie” and “outie” wears thin very quickly. The biggest spark of investment I had was when Mark reintegrates halfway through the second season. It felt like it would lead to a big shift in the status quo. Instead, they draw this out for the rest of the season with this boring “reintegration sickness” conflict. This is one example of major pacing issues the second season has, where the plotlines and mysteries feel more drawn out than they need to.

HW: I agree. The pacing mixed with the singular set makes the show feel still at times. Also, I have trouble convincing myself to be invested in small plot mysteries because they often don’t lead anywhere. The show has a bigger intention to appear and maintain its mysteriousness, but is not focused on addressing it.

LH: It’s hard to say whether it will be the case in the long run, but I 100 percent agree with the sentiment — “Severance” often feels much more invested in creating a “mystery-box” than actually saying anything specific with its plot. 

HW: There are a lot of unexpected “plot twists” that don’t feel like intentionally well-designed ones; they feel mostly like writer’s room panic to me. For example, Burt, “innie” Irving’s lover, turns out to be a “killer” for Lumon, which is a completely illogical and weird plot turn that does not make any sense.

LH: And other  mysteries that are revealed have fairly boring, obvious answers, in my opinion. So they experiment on Gemma to turn people into robotic worker drones (literally the goal of Plankton in the “Spongebob” movie), and the goats are used for ritual sacrifices. Not very surprising to me.

HW: Overall, I will give this show a 6/10. Only because all of the furniture used in the show is so classically mid-century modern, and that made me feel more lenient.

LH: I would give it a 5/10. Weirdly, I would recommend it, because I realize we are a very vocal minority. So many people love this show, so you, reader, may get something out of it. Please don’t kill us!

HW: Bye for now. The Mamas are going to get a pedicure and get our dead feet skin eaten by tiny fish now…