I know it was probably a little ambiguous, but we were we supposed to infer that the waffle party would’ve progressed to an orgy? Because that would certainly be an interesting reward for a sort-of-man sort-of-child
Yes, although waffles can turn any good event into a great event, I don’t think they were the main attraction in this case.
To add on, I think Ben Stiller or Dan Erickson said it was suppose to be a way to reward the innie with sex (or at least a sexual experience of some kind), but still make sure that it all takes place within the context of Kier, Lumon, the four tempers, et al. Kind of diabolical.
I have watched five episodes, and am trying to decide whether to go on.
Is this a Black Mirror episode, not one of the more engaging ones, stretched into a series? There are telltale signs of the Jerked-Around syndrome, where mysteries are mostly kept under wraps but you get the sense that no one involved has any idea where it is going. I sure don’t want to commit to another “Lost” or “X-Files”. I am waiting for it to get better, but it will have to do more than make small revelations around the edges. And there are laughably bad characterizations, such as all the supervisors on the Severed floor, who talk to each other in low voices and tiptoe around being sinister. I sure don’t need to hear that creepy-creep music all the time. Have some respect for your audience. The paintings? Do they have a real purpose that can be explained, or are they just there to make it seem somehow profound? The made-up culture of the Lumon company, with some unspoken history we are so far not privy to, is it as silly as any hidden conspiracy that gets used as a plot point in a James Bond movie?
I know that it got a lot of media attention, and it does a good job of creating an atmosphere of menace, but if that’s all there is, I will be moving on soon. Maybe someone who’s caught up to where it is now can give me a hint.
If you haven’t gotten into it after 5 episodes, you’ll probably never get into it. It isn’t like the show makes a big tonal shift later.
It doesn’t sound like you have found any humor in it either, dark as it is. Probably not for you.
I agree with the others - this show isn’t for you.
Right. Some mysteries are explained along the way, but new ones are introduced. The next fourteen episodes are pretty much like the first five.
I don’t disagree with the consensus overall, but I would argue that the pace and stakes pick up considerably in episodes 7-9.
If you weren’t instantly all in from episode 1 I frankly don’t see how the series can hook you. As far as your concerns go I don’t think any of them apply.
I didn’t dislike it, but it took until around episode 4 for me to get all in. Some of it seemed initially like weirdness for the sake of weirdness (and I like weirdness), but it took me a while to see how the weirdness serves the story and atmosphere.
If Hatchie doesn’t like the weirdness by episode 5, it’s probably not going to happen.
I agree that five episodes is more than enough to know if you’re going to like it.
Comparisons to Lost are apt, but I do think there’s a difference in the way the strangeness in Severance is explained (or not):
Many of the odd behaviors, experiences, and situations in Severance can be explained as mythology and ritual created to prop up a cult/religion. Formalized and specialized language, costumes, hierarchy, clear pathways to ritualized reward and punishment. If one was going to create a semi-mystical techno cult, wanted it to last, and had decades and resources to do it, I could see a lot of things turning out how they turned out in Lumon. It’s maybe not a great explanation for everything, but it is at least a plausible framework for much of what we see. In Severance, everything is happening because people are making it happen, logical or not. In Lost, much of what happens is because of supernatural forces that never quite make sense. To me that makes them very different kinds of shows.
Severance avoids Jerked-Around Syndrome in my opinion, at the end of two seasons a significant number of the Big Mysteries introduced early on have been explained, while new Mysteries are introduced. I’d point to Yellowjackets as a similar show that really loves to hint at supernatural elements then coyly avoid explaining anything.
I wish Severance didn’t lean so heavily on the cult weirdness that seems to be there just for the sake of being cult weirdness. I’d rather Lumon were a Fairly Normal Company that happens to indulge in the sorts of things a company can get away with when its employees have no idea what they do all day and have no idea what a normal job is supposed to be. That’s already chilling and weird enough.
What about the black goo dripping from the ceiling? Is it a hallucination (ie. copout) or some sort of shoutout to Lost (smoke monster) and X-files (black oil)?
In other words, a special effect just because.
Yes, the black goo mystery is answered.
Season one had a pretty good payoff but I read a season two early review that described the season as “frustrating” and I very much agree with that description even if they did tie up most of the storylines by the finale.
Oh, well then. Seems like I might get enough out of reading the episode recaps on Wikipedia as by slogging through the actual series.
The way it works for me is that every bit of weirdness has an element recognizable from our normal work life. “That’s freaky…but is it really so different than that HR memo I just got down at the Tesla plant today?”
Somehow, if you are working for Tesla I would expect nothing but creepy memos.
It is only weird because it is a cult we haven’t actually lived our lives around. Not really any weirder than real major world religions would look to a total outsider.
Kinda my point.