In Severance, Office Perks Couldn't Be More Sinister | Hacker News Reader

In Severance, Office Perks Couldn't Be More Sinister

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56 pointsnickcotter69 comments

The irony being that the show is made by Apple... How many people are de facto severed by their 9-to-5 soulless tech job, come home and binge watch a TV show made by another soulless tech corp about being severed by a 9-to-5 soulless tech job and... I don't get it.

> How many people are de facto severed by their 9-to-5 soulless tech job, come home and binge watch a TV show

...everyone I know who works at Apple is incredibly proud of and satisfied with the work they do. (They're also richly remunerated.)

How could they not be? The work is mysterious and important.

Edit: but other than the secrecy I agree that Apple and Lumon have little in common in terms of employees. Apple employees seem generally inspired to be doing the work they are doing, it's not soulless, and it's not 9-5.

I think Lumon is supposed to look like Apple, but Severance Adam Scott just doesn't look like an Apple employee. He's permanently making a face that looks like he's on a BBC adaptation of Hitchhiker's Guide.

Maybe it's just the makeup.

Huh, I can't see a single resemblance between Lumon's workplace and what I know about Apple's. The idea of people in suits at Apple simply does not compute.

That's because "dressing like a California tech worker" on TV codes as Big Bang Theory, but dressing like an office worker in a way nobody actually does codes as professional.

That's part of Apple's DNA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_distortion_field

Yes, it is all a meaningless cycle - companies worth hundreds of billions of dollars want to keep making more and more engaging content and make you spend as much time on them as possible and keep using their services forever. At the same time, people who have busy careers and soul-sucking tech jobs at companies cannot or do not simply afford to spend so much time on these things.

If you're one of those - make your call. I decided to not touch any of these TV shows and fall into the web of content until I retire from the tech industry, which I assume will start in my 50's.

cool story, but severance is a really good show, though.

   that second dose of soma had raised a quite impenetrable wall between the actual universe and their minds.

~ Brave New World, a Huxley

It's being financed by Apple. Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson are still the artists creating the show.

It is also approved by Apple. But to the GP's point nearly 5 years later I still dont think they should have done Apple TV+. How many billons invested into Apple TV+ programme that still didn't get any return of investment while they could have done a lot better job elsewhere.

These people are actors, not tech people. Apple TV probably gave them the best deal when they were selling their show. It really is as simple as that, the people creating these shows have consultants in the tech-industry, but this is acting. There are a ton of Apple TV exclusives, and they are getting paid very well. You have companies like Paramount+ that will start to fund a show, then pull the plug (it's not tech, but the Comedy Central show Workaholics had hired an entire crew and was 5 weeks away from making their movie with Paramount+, and they pulled the plug).

Entertainment is far removed from tech, and I find it funny that such intelligent people from HN would ever think that a Hollywood produced show could ever make it concentrating only on the tech world, leaving everyone else that pays for these services wondering what anyone is talking about.

If it ends up a public service by providing some excellent art to the masses, I truly do not care if the return on investment was low or negative for one of the most profitable businesses in history. There’s more to life than “numbers go up” after all.

All artistic mediums are plagued in some way. For film and TV, this is the incredible cost of production, which necessitates the involvement of large corporations.

Flow would like a miaow.

It sorta reminds me of the series "Electric Dreams" on Amazon Prime. Select stories from Philip K. Dick! Great stuff!

The hubris of Amazon airing the "Autofac" episode though, holy crap. I mean if ANYONE on this planet is the likely source of some "Autofac"-styled nightmare its Amazon. Makes me throw up a little in my mouth.

Didn't know about that series, will be looking it up!

Capital has the ability to subsume all critiques into itself. Even those who would critique capital end up reinforcing it instead.

Yes. Das Kapital by Marx is of course available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Capital-Critique-Political-Economy-1/...

My favorite example is probably the commercial success of the board game Monopoly. But Amazon advertising a version of 1984 is also up there.

This? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recuperation_(politics)

Meh. If you work at Apple (likely as a software engineer given the audience), then you're likely in the top 1% of earners. That means you have more optionality than almost anyone else finance wise. If you're not able to make the changes you need to live a fulfilling life, that's a you problem. And by that, I mean that you have agency, you just need to act upon it and stop being scared.

I don't see your point. The work at Apple is mysterious and important.

I'm ambivalent about Severance, though folks here may appreciate that it has many excellent establishing shots of the magnificent Bell Labs Holmdel Complex.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Labs_Holmdel_Complex

And voiced by Keanu Reeves

After Obama turned it down: https://decider.com/2025/03/05/severance-obama-turned-down-r...

From the description, I gotta give Severance credit for a dystopia fully evocative of modern life. That said, it sounds far too stop on for me to want watch it and indeed it gives me the willies just thinking about it.

As an Aussie, it terrifies me that it could be anywhere close to what working in America could be like. But having heard stories like the Walmart "smile" failure in Germany, I can only assume it's not too far off.

"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." ~ Mark Twain

I would describe it as being an improvement over corporate America in some ways because in Severance an employee's work cannot follow them home from the severed floor as they have no recollection of it whatsoever. But the perception of the "innies" of the work never ending, of the sisyphean nature of work, almost torturous, describes the experience of the average corporate drone who is burnt out.

It certainly hits home, but it's wonderfully done and worth the watch.

Then start binging Silo, as it similarly terrifying and engaging (and book 2 of the series explores a Severance like theme).

It takes a while for action to pick up but well worth it (so far)

it's outrageously good, I couldn't recommend it more highly

The other awful thought is that millions if not billions of people would look at Macrodata Refinement and think, "That beats the hell out of my current working environment." And in many ways they would be right.

The season 1 finale is one of the best episodes of TV in a while.

I don't want to hype it too much but S2E7 beats it.

My teenage son and I have been watching, and loving, this show. And, I wonder if watching it has been innoculating him against a corporate life of quiet cubicle desperation. If so, then thank you, Apple.

I wish we still had cubicles!

The charm has worn off this season…its gotten extremely slow and I sort of dont care about any of their stories.

I loved season one. I'm struggling with this season. [Minor mid-season spoiler ahead] Since they entered the goat room I just feel like I don't want to continue. Ever since Lost finished I have become extremely skeptical of shows that raise more questions than they answer, especially when they are really, really weird questions.

I was going to make a parallel to Lost as well, but you beat me to it! I am considering dropping off this show too because it seems like they are just presenting us with mysterious gibberish teases instead of actual plot.

When it was screened to critics it was shown as the full season. I get why now; the latest episodes show so much while conjuring up more questions. The most recent one especially; the cinematography stands on its own. It's very rewarding to continue watching!

I feel like it really depends on how you introduce the questions. Lost made a big thing out of some of them in a way, which can be annoying. On the other hand, twin peaks made some things just a part of the world. What are owls? I don't know, but the fact they're something else is interesting and that's fine.

I am glad I am not the only one. I feel they are making it as "mysterious" and plodding as possible to pad out the narrative. I am guessing the writers do not really have any idea what direction to take the show. Been burned by too many shows that promise some big reveal to all the mysteries described, but then never deliver. I suspect this will happen with this show as well.

They have made it clear that they do have a plan. I was kind of with you on season 2 until episodes 6 and 7 really brought things back on track

I am behind on episodes. I will give these episodes a shot.

Episode 7 is incredible!

I have exactly the opposite. I found it very difficult to get through the first half of season 1, but actually after that I found it more and more interesting.

the real fun is reading all the fan theories on reddit (/r/SeveranceAppleTVPlus). it gets pretty wild and it's fun to see everyone make their case with the various scraps of "evidence".

It's such a good show but things like this really hit far too close to home... I can relate to getting average office perks because my employers tried to not pay me my worth.

For me, the show is any but about a corporation. It feels like whoever wrote it, directed it, and designed the set; never worked in a large corporation before. For one thing, there’s so much weird waste like space, art collections, and museums. Then there’s the weird thing about the vagueness of the actual work. The cherry on top is the worship of Dear Leaders which makes me think that this is an inadvertent show about 20th century communism or the 21st century North Korean monarchy. It’s anything but capitalist.

Apple TV+ is nailing its top shows, so it makes my actual severed life feel good. Oh shit...

I'd love to be talked into this show.

The concept seems tedious and heavyhanded and the article slots right into my confirmation bias — I haven't seen dull meaningfulness like "the finger trap represents how work is a trap and how wellness perks are a trap because you like them but they're from work" since high school AP lit.

I'm sure I'm missing something.

Maybe I get indignant about it because I don't come from much, I didn't understand this strain of thinking when I was at Google, and I saw it predominantly in people who had lived a whole life where a fridge full of drinks of your choosing was a choice, not a gift.

its one of the few shows raising the bar while nearly everything else seems to be intended to churn out "content"

its legitimately artistic and the last episode especially so. it was the first thing directed by the show's cinematographer and is roundly celebrated by professional critics

its incredible looking satire with quality writing

If Stanley Kubrick made a television series, he'd make Severance. For some people that makes it a must-watch, for others, not so much.

yes, exactly. some people like "weird" and thus probably would like almost anything by kubrick. (i am that person.) but no matter what, my wonderful spouse does not like "weird" tv or movies, and thus does not and will never like kubrick movies (or severance). she's ride-or-die for the hallmark channel, though.

What you're missing is the people inside this environment are essentially prisoners and childlike versions of their outer selves, with no memories or experiences of an actual life outside of it.

For them these perks hold more meaning than you might expect as their life is completely devoid of any real meaning or purpose, although only one particular character actually relishes in them.

I initially held off from watching the show as the concept sounded ludicrous and stifling. But it is wildly original and thought provoking, as well the cinematography and sound design is outstanding. Every little detail is like a carefully crafted puzzle piece that eventually fits together into the larger, expanding narrative, with little in the way of cruft.

The childlikeness of the "innies" and general presentation of the "inside" is one of the things that broke my suspension of disbelief, because what useful work can they do in that state and environment, even if you only assume a pretense of usefulness? In addition, hardly any sensible work is being shown (IIRC).

At this point in the story they're finally connecting what the work is and why they may be uniquely qualified to do it.

I can't really give any useful clues to what that is aside from saying it's a bit of an experiment within an experiment.

> The concept seems tedious and heavyhanded and the article slots right into my confirmation bias — I haven't seen dull meaningfulness like "the finger trap represents how work is a trap and how wellness perks are a trap because you like them but they're from work" since high school AP lit.

You’re free to read, or not read, the show as much as you want. It’s still decent read as just a sci-fi thriller.

The show has an excellent sci-fi mystery at the core of it that keeps me going. It feels thoroughly designed in a way many television mysteries don’t, especially long running ones.

The #relatable office antics angle is certainly important towards the sci-fi mystery being told, but it’s definitely oversold IMO. Almost as if the main thing people liked about Twin Peaks were the romance subplots.

Ahhhh I see, tyty

What takes me out of the show is that the premise collapses after a moment of critical thinking: US citizens cannot sign away basic civil rights in a contract. If you signed a contract wherein you agreed to stay in a location for a certain number of hours no matter what was done to you, that contract would not be enforceable.

And what possible justification could a company have for blocking any communication between an innie and an outie, even if no confidential information was involved? The only justification would have to be “because we want to be free to abuse your innie, duh!”

I think the premise is that you're happier and work better because you're free of other trauma in your life. i.e. those who agree to severance have something to escape from.

Do you enjoy … any fiction? Sheesh

IMO, the central idea of the show -- that being Severed represents you in two different ways -- its a lie. There's something else going on there. I think I've figured it out, but I'm not gonna post potential spoilers!

I think the thing you're missing is that the dull meaningfulness -- also a lie. The entire thing isn't what it seems. THAT is my hook! (Yes, I could be wrong, that OK, its just entertainment) :)

I’ll take a swing at it. It seems like your read on the show currently is that it’s a dilbert / office space style take down of the banality of office culture, which there are some little references to certainly but is not the point of the show.

The real central themes are about how much of who we are is innate and how much is our accumulation of experiences (nature vs nurture). This intersects in interesting ways with explorations of authoritarianism, corporate power, religion, trauma, coping mechanisms, and scientific ethics.

All of this is wrapped up in a mysterious setting and presented through fantastic acting, directing and production design. I look forward to it every week in a way I haven’t since the first couple seasons of LOST.

Sold, by LOST (inter alia; this comment really sold me) :)

Thanks to you and others, really enjoyed the comments

Biggest thing I was missing was 'remember: work bad :<' is a reading / theme, not the message or the theme. I especially missed there was a scifi angle.

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