Some thoughts on *Severance*
Sun 06 July 2025
Content warning: This post contains some minor spoilers for Severance seasons 1 & 2, as well as a discussion of some religious and cultic themes.
I had seen many fedifriends discussing the Apple-produced TV series Severance, and after completing my watch-through of The Good Place (blog post on that is in progress), I felt like tackling another series.
Based on what I had heard others say about it, I expected it to be quite dark, but... I didn't expect it to be quite so relatable. Almost everyone reading this is currently grinding away 40+ hours per week at a job which they may enjoy some of the time, but almost certainly don't enjoy all of the time. The concept of work being a pocket reality that we're trapped in isn't all that foreign or novel, but there's a lot more going on with the series than just the surface explanation.
Before I delve into explorations of interpretive methods, right of the bat, this series actually helped me with my own job, believe it or not. As someone with ADHD, I don't have a lot of layers or depth in which I experience and respond to things. I pretty much will tell you exactly what and how I'm feeling unless I have a really pressing reason not to, and if I'm not having a good day, pretty much the whole world is going to see it. Seeing the way the workers lives were bifurcated helped me explore the concept of dealing with emotional stresses in a multi-layered way and... basically stuffing my feelings just enough to get through the day. In my experience, the neurodivergent brain either stuffs things so deeply that they become landmines for later discovery, or wears its feelings on its sleeves to the point of being completely debilitating. As silly or obvious as it sounds, the idea of just putting off "feeling" about something long enough to get through whatever it is I have to do at the moment was actually kind of helpful.
In trying to make sense of the world of Severance, I'm again reminded of the notion that Hollywood's visions of dystopia are often nicer than reality. I even joked on a fediverse post,
I haven't done any homework to see what the reaction to #Severance has been at large, but I'd imagine it's something like this:
#EU: "Oh my God, what a horror! This is just unimaginable!!"
#US: "So... does anyone know if Lumon is hiring? I'd be up for knocking out some scary numbers crazy fast. They have benefits, right?"
I think probably the most obvious interpretation of the series is that of a criticism of capitalism. Certainly, the amount of control the Lumon exercises over the lives of both "Innies" and "Outies" is exhaustive, and terrifying. Hollywood seems very adept at criticizing capitalism while at the same time massively benefiting from it, and supporting its continued existence, and the exploitation thereof. I also see it as a criticism of cults, and cultic corporate culture. There are parts of the Season 2 episode "Woe's Hollow" that gives me strong Moromonism vibes, but not being a Mormon (or ex-Mormon), I can't speak to it at length or with any considerable depth. The scene where Ms. Cobel throws a cup at Mark S., saying it was painful for her to do so, then tells him to keep the door both open and closed as he leaves was a real brain-scrambler. Mr. Milchik's performance review dinging him for putting some paper clips in upside-down was also a very loud "WTF" moment for me. Along the religious/cult themes, the handbook that Irving is flipping through is actually some type of bible commentary, into which a few corporate-themed pages are inserted. This is the scene in which he puts a deviled egg inside the handbook as a purposeful desecration of it, you can see the commentary on the Pauline epistle of Philippians clearly as he's flipping through the pages.
I also see a thread of consumer culture present in the series, with the Outies being consumers of the Innies' labor and exploitation. The Outies are left to enjoy a life of significant leisure or even indolence (in the case of Dylan), while the entire life and consciousness of the Innies is endless labor with few respites or recreation. The incredible banalities of their highest recreation (a waffle meal), and the incredible ease in which their corporate leaders lie to them ("This is the world's tallest waterfall") are indicators of how isolated and controlled the Innies are. Compare this to the life of the average middle-class American vs. the life of the average factory worker in Asia.
Another theme I couldn't help but notice is the significance of the characters names, many of them being pointers to their character/nature or function within the story. "Mark Scout," can be literally interpreted as a statement: "See, a spy." "Scout" also has an alternate meaning of "to reject [something] with contempt." The name Gemma derives its origin from "gem," and she is a very precious person in the protagonist's life. The historical antagonist, Kier Eagen's first name refers to a kind of vat (he worked in an "Ether Mill," I suppose the nineteenth century equivalent of a Meth lab). Eagen refers to some kind of fire. Harmony Cobel has an ironic first name, given what a stressful character she is, while her last name refers to boldness, a characteristic she certainly portrays. Mark's sister is named "Devon," which is usually a masculine name which means "to divine prophetically." She is a strong supporting role that often has much more insight than the male characters around her, particularly her new-age-guru husband Ricken, who is often portrayed as being silly and full of himself, and his friends even more so. Speaking of him, "Ricken" means "brave ruler" (ironic again, but maybe not? He might have an interesting story arc), and "Hale" means "strong/healthy." Irving's name is a reference to his role in exposing Helena Eagen's lies, as "Irving" means "fresh water" (IYKYK), and Baliff is a court officer. Irving's love interest's name, "Burt" means "noble/bright," while Goodman is self-explanatory. I think the name choice is significant, because he is a character with a very checkered past, who desperately wants to improve. We don't know Burt's husband's full name, but "Fields" may be a reference to "Elysian Fields," a Greek concept of heaven, which is a significant subject in their conversation, and Burt's motivation for being severed. Helena's name seems to be a nod to Helen of Troy, as she's outwardly beautiful, but also the source of a lot of conflict. "Helly" may also be a reference to the character "Hel" in Metropolis (also referring to Helen of Troy), who undergoes a metamorphosis from robot to woman, similar to how the soulless oligarchic Helena becomes the vital labor resistance fighter, Helly.
I'm looking forward to seeing what season 3 brings us!
100 Days to Offload 2025 - Day 34
Category: Entertainment Tagged: 100DaysToOffload ADHD Entertainment Ethics Non-technical post Philosophy
