Severance: it’s a gorgeously odd return for this surreal drama – if you can work out what’s happening

The clever, idiosyncratic satire of workplace culture returns for a visually stunning second season. But don’t expect its mysterious plot to go easy on viewers

In my early 20s, I worked for a pub that was half drinking establishment, half massive children’s soft play area. While adult intoxication and parties for under-10s sounds like an odd commercial pairing (or does it?), it did mean that the pub’s employees had to work hard, serving pints for the adults and, for the chosen few, dressing up as a giant bear and waving to the kids assembled for little Jack’s seventh birthday party. I bring this up because I still remember a poster on the wall of the bleak staffroom that read “A smile costs nothing”. We were sweating under a synthetic bear’s head while serving soggy chips for minimum wage, so surely I was the one to be the judge of that.

Severance is that poster brought to life as prestige TV. The first season was a clever, original and surreal examination of bland yet passive-aggressive corporate culture, wrapped up in a thorny puzzle that made you feel smart for playing along. Certain employees of the mysterious and cult-like company Lumon were “severed”, their personalities split into two distinct states of being. The “innie” worked for Lumon, oblivious to the life of their “outie” outside the office, and vice versa. It was a neat twist on the doppelganger trope, and as the four employees of the macrodata refinement team began to gain awareness of what being severed had cost them, a rebellion started to brew.

Topics

Here's when you can start filing your 2024 tax returns

The new tax season is here. Read on to learn when you can file your 2024 tax return and get your refund.
CBS News - 14h
Making moves: what to wear for your work out

From parkruns to pilates classes, here is the kit that will make getting out of bed to work out on a cold morning a little easier Continue reading...
The Guardian - 1d
What happens if you deny a credit card debt settlement offer?

There are times when it makes sense to deny a debt settlement offer, but there could be repercussions for doing so.
CBS News - 1d
The 'quad-demic': What is it, and how can you stay healthy?

Hospitals and medical facilities are updating masking guidelines as a quartet of viruses are surging.
The Hill - 1d
Can you take out a HELOC with high credit card debt?

A HELOC is one of the most affordable borrowing options right now, but can you qualify for one with a lot of debt?
CBS News - 2d
What happens when you lose a credit card debt collection lawsuit?

A few different scenarios could occur if a judgment is issued against you for your old credit card debt.
CBS News - 2d
Here's What Happens When You Install 3,703 WoW Classic Add-Ons At Once

What happens when you install nearly every World of Warcraft Classic add-on all at once? A cacophony of nonsensical sounds, the most cluttered interface imaginable, and, ultimately, the game ...
GameSpot - 4d
The big idea: can what you eat change your mind?

From designer drinks to dodgy leftovers, our brain responds to food in surprising ways. Probiotic drinks, brain-boosting superfoods, gut-healthy snack bars: every day we’re bombarded with ...
The Guardian - 4d
Carter honored in Atlanta: "It's amazing what you can cram into 100 years."

Former President Jimmy Carter died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100.
CBS News - 6d

More from The Guardian

California fires live: LA issues new evacuation order as thickening smoke prompts ‘health emergency’

Palisades and Eaton fires start coming under control as fierce winds ease but forecasters predict another red flag warning for Monday. After the fire, the insurance battles: new ordeals to ...
The Guardian - 25m
Meta terminates its DEI programs days before Trump inauguration

Meta, fresh off announcement to end factchecking, follows McDonald’s and Walmart in rolling back diversity initiatives. Following a week in which Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta was ...
The Guardian - 13h
Black boxes on crashed South Korean plane cut out before impact, inquiry finds

Recording of flight data ceased four minutes before Jeju Air crash killed 179 people, says transport ministry. Flight data and cockpit voice recorders on the Jeju Air plane that crashed in South ...
The Guardian - 25m
Tiny French town left €10m fortune by a man who had never been there

Thiberville in Normandy receives windfall worth five times annual budget from a Paris resident who was named after it. Throughout Roger Thiberville’s long life, he never once visited the Normandy ...
The Guardian - 36m
Hammer attack injures eight students at Tokyo university

Japanese police say 22-year-old woman arrested as witness describes panic after attacker ‘all of a sudden’ began swinging hammer in classroom. Eight Tokyo university students attacked with a hammer ...
The Guardian - 5h

More in World

Black boxes on crashed South Korean plane cut out before impact, inquiry finds

Recording of flight data ceased four minutes before Jeju Air crash killed 179 people, says transport ministry. Flight data and cockpit voice recorders on the Jeju Air plane that crashed in South ...
The Guardian - 25m
California fires live: LA issues new evacuation order as thickening smoke prompts ‘health emergency’

Palisades and Eaton fires start coming under control as fierce winds ease but forecasters predict another red flag warning for Monday. After the fire, the insurance battles: new ordeals to ...
The Guardian - 25m
Tiny French town left €10m fortune by a man who had never been there

Thiberville in Normandy receives windfall worth five times annual budget from a Paris resident who was named after it. Throughout Roger Thiberville’s long life, he never once visited the Normandy ...
The Guardian - 36m
Israel’s Campaign in Syrian Border Area Prompts Fears It Plans to Stay

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s order for Israeli troops to “take over” a buffer zone with Syria upended decades of relative calm along the de facto border between the two countries.
The New York Times - 50m
Photograph Revives Ukraine-Russia Culture War

An image depicting a famous 19th-century painting of Cossacks, with current Ukrainian soldiers standing in for the warriors, has struck a chord as Kyiv battles to assert its identity.
The New York Times - 51m