Ever given thought to the possibility of leaving all your memories behind when you reach your office building? “Severance,” an Apple TV+ sci-fi thriller and psychological drama created by Dan Erickson, dives into exactly that, creating a world where office workers can undergo a procedure called severance that separates their work selves and their personal selves from each other. This is a series that questions the cost of a balanced life.
“Severance” follows Mark Scout, played by Adam Scott, an emotionally unstable widower who works at Lumon Industries. Throughout the series, he slowly begins to suspect that there is something sinister hiding beneath the company’s seemingly perfect façade. While it does originally start off as a mystery, the show later transitions into a highly emotionally provocative rollercoaster.
But “Severance” is not just some simple run-of-the-mill workplace horror story. It’s a warning about conformity and control. It challenges us all to take off our rose-tinted glasses and to question the systems that control us. Erickson’s stellar writing makes this idea so blaring that it leaves the audience sitting with curiosity and discomfort long after the episode is over.
In an age of burnout, internal struggles and identity crises, this show comes off as both wildly absurd and disturbingly real. It’s new and refreshing—its stellar cast delivers such subtle, yet complex, performances that are delicately layered, building rising tensions that leave you wanting more each and every episode.
Aside from its deliberate writing and pacing, “Severance” seems to be one of the most original and thought-provoking shows of late. There is a gaggle of people online who believe that the show is an editing masterpiece and is a masterclass on meaty, calculated writing. It has mysterious lighting, a score with incredibly jarring music and an eerie mood that lingers on with each passing episode. Every frame is done with an intention in mind to keep the watchers constantly on their toes, hungrily looking for hints and clues on just what will happen next.
Not only is “Severance” great, but it also seems to be well-received. It has gotten plenty of recognition for its brilliance. It was the most nominated show in the 2025 Emmy Awards with 27 nominations. Severance has won 10 Emmys in total, eight wins at the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Lead Actress for Britt Lower, Outstanding Supporting Actor for Tramell Tillman and other awards for production design, title design, sound mixing, music composition, cinematography and guest actress for Merritt Wever.
Ultimately, “Severance” is deliciously strange and wonderfully defiant. It tricks you, angers you and surprises you. In its glorious unsettling whole, “Severance” isn’t just weird—it’s jazz.
