# Anyone watching Severance (new show on Apple TV)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, apple\ **Created:** [February 28, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238 "2022-02-28T16:28:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/121 "2022-04-12T12:49:22Z")
Well, if the 16 waking hours a day is an emotional living hell, then Severance let’s you reduce that to 8 hours. I guess… ---
**Author:** ![Oswald\_Bastable](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oswald_bastable/32/214_2.png) [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/122 "2022-04-12T13:48:37Z")
I’m sure they made reference a couple of times to Mark being unable to cope in his original work as a college professor after Gemma’s death. If he can’t face any type of normal work, severance as a means to hold down a job to support himself may not have seemed such an irrational idea. OB ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/123 "2022-04-14T00:17:57Z")
Apologies if someone has asked this already (I’m vaguely avoiding reading this thread until I finish the season): has anyone written this concept before? I think the show is great for many reasons, not the least of which is that I’ve never read this concept before. It’s really refreshing to watch something that actually feels new. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/124 "2022-04-14T00:23:01Z")
It has been noted (after the first couple of episodes) that the story seems similar to a story that PK Dick wrote, Paycheck. However, the story in Severance is moving head long into, what seems to me, new territory. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/125 "2022-04-14T00:28:05Z")
Ah! I’ll check that one out. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/126 "2022-04-14T01:04:33Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > has anyone written this concept before? There are multiple examples of stories where people have had their memories of the hours at a classified job erased at the end of the day, or had their mind switched off for an unplesant job, or had implantable personalities for jobs, so all similar. (For a mainstream TV example, _Doll House_.) ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/127 "2022-04-14T01:36:30Z")
Am I right in thinking most of these are only from the perspective of the outtie, as in “what would it be like to not remember what you did at work?” I haven’t seen one from the innie’s perspective as someone with no history and nothing _except_ work. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/128 "2022-04-14T01:53:23Z")
Yes, nothing really matches exactly, that I know of. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/129 "2022-04-14T02:12:29Z")
Well, there is A Scanner Darkly, also by Dick, where thanks to brain damage from drug abuse the protagonist doesn’t realize that he is a cop narcing on himself… ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/130 "2022-04-14T03:45:29Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Then the question is, why did Milchick think Dylan could have snuck out that info card? I’m a bit late to this, but I think you might have misinterpreted that scene a bit. Milchick didn’t go to Dylan’s house because he thought Dylan snuck the card out of Lumon. He went there because he needed Dylan to tell him where he hid the card. The implication is that the card is absolutely essential for some weird plot that the O&D was wrapping up and it NEEDED to be returned immediately. Had innie Dylan somehow smuggled the card out innie Dylan would have no idea where it was. Outie Dylan would have found the card in his pocket and done something with it. Milchick would have had to interrogate outie Dylan (assuming he’s not cooperative) and waking up innie Dylan would be pointless. Milchick knew that Dylan couldn’t sneak it out so he knew it was still in the office somewhere and only innie Dylan knew where. Thus, Overtime protocol. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/131 "2022-04-21T01:09:45Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > I’m a bit late to this, but I think you might have misinterpreted that scene a bit. Milchick didn’t go to Dylan’s house because he thought Dylan snuck the card out of Lumon. He went there because he needed Dylan to tell him where he hid the card. The implication is that the card is absolutely essential for some weird plot that the O&D was wrapping up and it NEEDED to be returned immediately. The first thing he asked was if someone paid him to steal it. He was panicked because he thought the card got out. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/132 "2022-04-21T01:55:45Z")
How would innie Dylan know where it was? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/133 "2022-04-21T01:59:37Z")
He’d know if it had left Lumon or not. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/134 "2022-04-21T04:00:26Z")
And we can’t be sure Milchick didn’t interrogate outie Dylan, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2022, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/135 "2022-04-22T19:29:55Z")
I would think they at least discussed it; “outie” Dylan clearly cooperated with Milchick to hide from his son in the closet while the Overtime Protocol was initiated. After Milchick calls in to terminate it, “outie” Dylan picks up his son and asks, “We good here?” as he leaves the closet. So “outie” Dylan knew Milchick needed to ask “innie” Dylan _something_. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/136 "2022-04-24T04:06:02Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > They were acting like they had all the time in the world, though. I thought that they would assume that they might have only minutes and start immediately shouting it out to everone in earshot like the end of _Soylent Green_ , instead of sounding like a sad old hamburger waiter prattling on about sauces. I just finished the season and this was my exact thought. Like the guy is contorting himself for how long now? And Mark is just acting like, well just let me wait another 15 minutes. Should be fine. What? Imagine if he lets go after 20mins because he can’t stretch any longer and then asks, so what happened… oh, I found out I had a sister and I couldn’t tell her because she kept telling me to wait. Anyways, it was a pretty interesting concept which resulted in a decent show. But I do think it was overly slow moving. Reddit hype may have also attributed, as there were more than a few people hailing it as the best show they’ve seen in a while, saying it’s better then Succession, etc, and I was like… it’s good, but it’s not great. Perhaps without the hype I would have liked it better? Though Schrodinger’s hype - without the hype I may never have watched it. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/137 "2022-04-24T20:32:20Z")
They’ve never had any experience whatsoever with the outside world, or with any relationship other than coworker. They are basically babies completely confused and disoriented. Mark’s passiveness was a bit infuriating, but when he woke up he was literally hugging his boss. I think he did a good job navigating through completely unexpected experiences given the circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/138 "2022-04-25T19:30:58Z")
One person’s “slow-moving” is another person’s “tense.” My wife and I were exhausted at the end of the episode because we’d been, literally and figuratively, on the edge of our seats throughout it all. I even said to her at one point, “I can’t believe how they’re managing to keep this tension so high for so long.” ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/139 "2022-04-25T21:44:55Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > One person’s “slow-moving” is another person’s “tense.” Yeah. This is one of the few shows where I can safely assume every scene is an important part of understanding the whole. I have yet to identify a scene that can be called “filler”. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238/140 "2022-04-26T00:18:08Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I have yet to identify a scene that can be called “filler”. It’s like every noun in the teleplay is Chekov’s Gun. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watching-severance-new-show-on-apple-tv/960238.md?page=8)