Severance
The idea came to Dan Erickson when he found himself caught in a seemingly endless cycle of life-sucking temp jobs. At times he wished he could invent a way to skip the next 8 hours of his life, but he also realized that every second we’re given on this planet is precious.
Nonetheless, the thought spawned a great idea for a TV series, and soon Severance would become Apple TV+’s most watched show in history. Combining the offbeat workplace humor of The Office with the mystery-box story-telling of Lost, the series imagines a world where a company called Lumon has cracked the code, allowing employees to “sever” their work life from their home life. This revolutionary procedure has essentially created two separate consciousnesses: one whose personal life is free of the distractions of work, another whose entire existence consists of nothing but fluorescent lights and mundane corporate interactions.
Some viewers may find the whole thing depressing, but I think the show takes on a very optimistic point of view. Despite the dour circumstances of those trapped on the severed floor, we come to learn that these “innies” still exhibit the best of the human spirit. Though they’ve never experienced the outside world, they still long to be free, to learn, and to love. A person can't be in work mode all the time, no matter what the major corporations would like us to believe.
On the surface, it’s a tempting offer. To be able to ignore work, shut off pain, remove every unpleasant moment of our lives, leaving nothing but the good stuff. But in practice, Mark (Adam Scott) still can’t completely avoid the grief that’s eating away at him. He’s only suppressing it in a way that haunts his other self. Both are living an incomplete life and end up longing for a taste of what the other has.
I’ve certainly had my share of jobs that I dreaded showing up for. Looking back, I probably didn’t leave a great impression on my coworkers. My social anxiety and extreme desire to be anywhere else must have overshadowed my forced smile and “work laugh.” I wasn’t bringing my best to the office, yet I was dragging home the weight of the day’s frustrations, leaving myself half-human after hours.
To me Severance is a call to be present. To be your whole self wherever you are for as long as you’re there. We may not have a deep-rooted passion for this place as we walk through the door, but can we find a passion for it in this season? The world doesn’t need another soulless drone occupying a cubicle and complaining about management. It needs well-balanced people to exhibit God’s love and peace in a sometimes bizarre and hostile environment.