First Three Episodes Of “Severance” – Review
The American psychological thriller “Severance” releases every Friday on Apple TV. The first episodes have established the show as one of the better releases already this year. There will be nine total episodes in the first season.
Characters and Plot
Starring well-known actors and actresses like Adam Scott, Christopher Walken, John Turturro, and Patricia Arquette, the show consequently sets itself up for success. The main character Mark Scout, played by Adam Scott, works at Lumen Industries. The company has a severance program where people volunteer to have a medical procedure done. In other words, this procedure allows workers at Lumen Industries to only remember their work lives while at work, and to only remember their personal lives outside of work.
Character Analysis
Scout is a volunteer in the severance program as he is grieving the loss of his wife. For the most part, it seems Scout’s work life is running smoothly. However, the show moves fairly slowly. It shows Scout entering his work life a depressed man, hoping he is doing meaningful work. There is a stark contrast between Scout’s work personality and his actual personality.
As far as set design and score go, the show seems to set an anti-corporate tone. The set design is dreary, causing Lumen Industries to look like a lifeless facility. The actors do a fantastic job in portraying the life of the characters. Scott’s role more specifically, as he navigates two personalities with his character.
Harmony Cobel, played by Patricia Arquette and Scout’s boss at Lumen Industries, does a great job portraying her cold character. Therefore, it is clear that Cobel is withholding information from her employees about the severance program, but we have yet to find out what. Christopher Walken also does a fantastic job portraying Burt, who is a higher level severed staff member at Lumen Industries.
All in all, the cast, set design, score and plot set up a promising psychological drama. With six episodes remaining in the season, it will be interesting to see what the show has to offer. The psychological thriller “Severance” trailer can be found here.