review #04: "Severance" S2
It’s not often that a TV show feels more real than real life. But Severance has really found a sweet spot somewhere between its clever near-future sci-fi premise and its often poignant nods to contemporary corporate culture and the sense of dislocation that comes along with it. I put off watching this show for a while, even though I heard rave reviews about it, even though I loved watching Adam Scott’s unique brand of awkward gusto in Parks & Recreation several years back. I didn’t have an Apple TV subscription, and wasn’t convinced one show was worth making the switch. But after a colleague of mine recommended the show in glowing terms once the second season started airing, I figured it was time to see what all the fuss was about.
You could call this show a slow burn, and it is - but what makes the writing so brilliant is there is always something at stake, always some question the characters are turning to next. The way the story unfolds is breathtaking, even in a world as seemingly anodyne as the one the “innies” inhabit. That being said, while Season 1 had few dragging moments, Season 2 had whole episodes that, in my opinion, fell short of the high bar the rest of the series set. The first half of Episode 4, when the Macrodata Refinement team goes on a team building retreat in a snowy forest, felt like a throwaway storyline (though the second half of the episode was largely redeeming), and Episode 8, which centers around arguably the show’s weakest character, Harmony Cobel, was a bitter disappointment. And overall, while I applaud the many risks the show is willing to take, some experiments fall flat, as when the marching band appears inexplicably in the final episode of this season. Still, with the fantastic and haunting performance by Tramell Tillman as Seth Milchick, and the all-around stellar performances by the rest of the main cast, Season 2 was buoyed to a tremendous climax that could nearly stand alone as a monument to the Platonic ideal of the psychological thriller.
The show’s quality is especially clear to see when contrasted with the two USS Callister episodes from the erstwhile cutting-edge Black Mirror on Netflix. All the same twists and turns, compacted into roughly 2 hours, could not be saved by respectable performances from Cristin Milioti, Jimmi Simpson, and Jesse Plemons. Though not without its hiccups, Severance delivers the kind of payoff for its measured pacing that only TV can do at its best. I may have found my new favorite show, but I can’t say I’m not more than a little worried about how the showrunners will follow up some of the best TV I’ve seen in years. (8/10)
** next week, as at the start of every month, will be a reflection instead of a media review! **