Severance (Season 2)

⭐ 8.5/10

Season 1 was my favourite show in a long time, scratching the itch Lost left behind. I think this was a great season, but the weight of my own expectations hurt my viewing experience.  There are several great moments, and the finale incredibly is almost as good as that perfect S1 finale. This review will probably be a bunch of nitpicks, but this is a stylish and engaging show I find very fun, easily one of the best shows on right now.

The season felt a bit long, with a couple static-feeling episodes.  One in particular is a backstory that doesn't feel additive, and answers questions that are not really interesting. I think my main complaint is that in widening the story it makes the world feel more hollow. The finale is amazing, but you have to suspend disbelief that the world's most important and powerful company has wouldn't have a thousand security guards preventing all this stuff from happening. Do only 5 people run this whole operation? Regardless, it has some of the first real violence which is a shock in a show that is so aesthetically clean, and the ending is one that has you feeling conflicted without feeling cheated. Even some amazing quiet moments, like a severed innie and outie having a conversation, some genius staging and execution and acting.

Like most mystery box shows the answers aren't as satisfying as the questions, and the big answer in the finale, what are they working towards, fell completely flat for me. There is certainly more to be revealed, but it feels like they got lost in their own mystery a bit. There is a flashback episode that is perfect, illuminating what is most important in shows like this, and that's the people. Lost was bloated and even more obscure at times, but every episode had flashbacks focusing on a character, which tells you what they think matters most. There are character moments like Dylan and his wife that are really fascinating. Burt and his husband talk about being convinced to be severed by their pastor at church!? This is an incredible nugget that I think is the most fascinating thing I learned about this world all season, but it isn't touched on outside of that one conversation.

I am just dying to know more about this world, and why characters choose to be severed, but the show feels more interested in cool set design and showing us the goat room, which doesn't answer any questions but makes me again think about the logistics of Lumon, which is probably not their intent. Westworld was insufferable to me for this reason.  Great sci-fi that is obsessed with itself and not the human ideas that fall out of these circumstances. The idea of severance is still so fascinating to me, a modern thought experiment that is also relatable, which all great sci-fi does. So many ripe ideas, and I want it to explore that rather than get wrapped up in its own design.

I am only being negative because I love this show and I want the best for it. There were satisfying human moments and more mysteries to chew on, but I am judging it against what it was in season 1, and that season felt tighter, a more lethal dose of everything I want in TV.  Its also hilarious that Apple makes this show, and the aesthetic of Lumon is concerningly Apple-ian. I am worried they have written themselves into a corner with the finale, but I can't wait to see them get out of it in season 3.