Severance Stars on the Mythology and Metaphors of the New Apple TV+ Series

By Patrick Cavanaugh

There are a number of jobs and careers that, while necessary, would rather see employees be able to turn off parts of their brain to make their workday more manageable, with the new Apple TV+ series Severance exploring a world in which this is actually feasible. While these are universal ideas and themes that are intrinsically linked with capitalism, the last few years and its disconnect between socioeconomic statuses, amplified by the coronavirus pandemic, makes the absurdist series feel both incredibly timely yet accessible to all viewers, with the series' stars Patricia Arquette and Tramell Tillman recently opening up about their own thoughts on the concept. Severance starts streaming on Apple TV+ on February 18th.

"The weird thing is this was all written before the pandemic. We were supposed to start shooting and then we got pushed back, and then when we came to shoot this, it was in the middle of the pandemic," Arquette recalled to ComicBook.com. "And we didn't have vaccinations, we didn't have anything. And as an actor, we were the only business where you have to take off your mask to work. So it added another element of terror on top of it. Then, several times, I was contact traced, so I would get called and I'd have to go then isolate in a hotel room alone and I was away from my family. And this, I think it's kind of amazing that it's happening right now, that this show's coming out, because the work-life balance has never been more bizarre."

She continued, "Everyone's office is also their kitchen and also where they're teaching their kids. There is no work-life balance. I mean, it's ramped up over the years anyway, between -- now you're getting texted every five minutes and you have 500 emails from work and you never stop working. So to look at this world in conjunction, I think, is interesting. We are upper management of this corporation and we have this way of behaving that has been indoctrinated, we've been indoctrinated into, yet we're also always in trouble with the corporation or afraid of being in trouble with the corporation and the rules are always changing and somehow we broke a rule. And how did we do that? I think it's a little bit what's happening with the world at large. It's like, what are the rules anymore? And there are no rules all of a sudden and is there any accountability or there's no accountability."

In the series, "Mark Scout (Scott) leads a team at Lumon Industries, whose employees have undergone a severance procedure, which surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives. This daring experiment in 'work-life balance' is called into question as Mark finds himself at the center of an unraveling mystery that will force him to confront the true nature of his work... and of himself."

With each episode, audiences are only given the pertinent information to move the story forward, but there's clearly a much larger world being developed. Tillman went on to detail how he navigated compartmentalizing this history while playing a character who is also being denied a complete picture.

"Well, I'm a big nerd when it comes to this craft. I like to learn as much as I can in this process and use all the resources available," the actor admitted. "And with this, if there's not a backstory, I often like to create one. So the character feels very full. With this one, everything changed. I would have an idea in my head and then I would get the script for Episode 1. And it was like, 'Oh, nope, that's not it.' And then Episode 2, 'Okay, there's a twist there.' So it always kept me on my toes, which I feel is a characteristic of [my character] Milchick. He keeps everybody on their toes and you never know where you stand with this guy. And I really believe that is what is creepy and fun and exciting."

Severance starts streaming on Apple TV+ on February 18th.

Are you looking forward to the new series? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!  

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