Unless you’re recovering from a severe social media detox, you’ve heard about Severance. It’s the hit Apple TV+ show that has turned heads for turning heads-that’s because of how well its made. For the theme and story that the show composes itself about, it is a slice into something we experience on a daily basis, but have never internalised as a feeling. Ben Stiller, the executive producer and former goofball comedy actor known for Zoolander–is the principal show running director. Yes, his work will continue to blow your mind.
Severance is a trifecta of strong visuals, harrowing music and stark storytelling. It might become a black comedy at times, because you’re watching it beyond the dimensions they’re living in. If you haven’t watched the show, a lot of the hype is worth it. If you have, you’re here to know why raving about such a well-made TV series is worth it. There’s art here, and we like talking about it.
In the details, we revel
From the logo, set design, theme and characters, everything has been planned to the most minute detail. I don’t know if you, reader, is a fan of graphic design–but the Severance text has the r split in half. 4 letters to one side, 4 to the other. It is a tongue-in-cheek representation of the “innie” and “outie” lives that the characters lead in the show. All of that, just from the poster. Imagine what the show holds for those who like to scour over details for their bread and butter. For Reddit superfans, this was a field day that lasted a month.
The Visuals
Let us first dive into the visual palette that is used. The protagonists of the show work for a company called Lumon. I’m not an idiot, and there are no spoilers, don’t worry. What you have to know is that like many of our 9-5 jobs, it is a start monotony of repetition and habit. They work, consume coffee, ask limited questions about their coworkers lives. They’re confined to a small world within a small world, and expected to live and work there. For this world-here is the palette they make.
There is an overwhelming use of white, greys and grey-blues. This is the foreground, background and what most elements are composed of. From the partitions to the walls, the floors to the lights above–you can sense the dystopian workplace. You are not shown any other workers in the company other than the department, hence those colours become your reality while watching as well. Till there is colour.
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Your senses are piqued when there’s a pop of colour. A red ball, the green grass, someone holding an ultramarine blue cup. Any colour makes you focus on the scene, and its existence on the screen makes you think, for more than a bit. Is there a hidden easter egg? Is there strong foreshadowing you will notice later? The whole show is a big question mark–and you get the revelation in real time with the protagonists. That’s the beauty of it all.
Storytelling Mastery
Creator Dan Erickson ensures the psychological thriller raises a lot of questions. It is written with intent, about questions that remain in the mind. Your understanding of time, your understanding of emotions and where they occur. Head cinematographer Jessica Lee Gagné is able to capture the brilliance of this with minor movements–what we’ve known as the Fincher effect in the cinema world. Subtle cues, shifts in angles and lens movement make change very clear.
If you’re watching a scene with movement, the camera contrasts the play to see the drama. Not accent it with further movement, you might miss an important detail right? It is made for furious fandom, where every episode takes you on a fan fiction tangent that leads to deliberation and more deliberation. It teases you till you have that “I KNEW IT” moment, but you never really did know. You had the slight suspicion, and you were taken on a Narnia like journey of science-fiction proportions.
The world around us?
Then comes the closeness to reality, captured in the storytelling. Neuralink is already a reality, the extents of our brain are going to be tested beyond what we know. Humanoid robots are capable of mimicking emotions, AI is a train you should have climbed on, for if not this one, you will definitely climb it eventually. Stark right? Cue the entrance for Theodore Shapiro–the man behind the music of this madness.
The Ma(dness)n behind the Music
When any music plays within the course of Severance–there is familiarity. Have you heard it before? Seems like. Just can’t place my finger on it. That is exactly what the composer wants, where the composition plays with the halves of your brain. It is tantalizing, supports the visual and moves the story in ways you will realise only when silence returns.
If you’re here, you’re probably a fan of music. Lucky for me. The theme of the show from Season 1 had four chords. Simple, major and minor mix that you might have heard in 100s of songs somewhere. Over this he plays a simple, eerie lead. It garners mystery, yet has this hopefulness to it. The same you have for the fate of the people you watch. You root for the underdog, just like every human does. The outlier is the hero.
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His continued composition is audio mastery with this. He reverses the notes for the synth version of it, there was never a synth. There is a glitch-like feel that comes about, maybe you’re hearing it wrong. That’s the feeling–of being brought to that space and asked if you can experience what the protagonists are feeling. It isn’t Adam Scott or Britt Lower or John Turturro that you’re trying to figure out. It is the place that is synthesised around them–and you want their well-being as much as anyone else.
Teasing the outcomes, and ways
Then comes the “curtain play” effect. I call it this because Theodore Shapiro uses a blow-dryer and lifts the curtain on what might happen next. Not the whole thing. It flutters enough to suggest, nothing more. You still have no idea of what might be coming, but you’re free to assume.
Like a 100 layered cake, you’re slicing through it all, layer by layer. Each layer represents and means something, that also means you cannot go back. Season 2s music might have references to 1, yet is a whole other soundtrack. The essence is to bring you here, now that you know what you know. The world of Severance is not the same to you any more, so resonate with what the characters go through.
He might use Moonlight Sonata, but where he uses it becomes his power. The ability to be able to tie a scene and its qualities–the artistic altruism in it all. For a show called Severance, it all comes together surprising well.
The Presenters
Adam Scott might be in some cult comedies and comedy movies–the guy with the sharp nose. Everyone has known him as this, but his acting skills have always been something of a surprise. In Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, the former late-night host’s podcast–Conan mentions this late success and how it has taken way too long to realise the versatility of the actor.
Then comes all the other actors, equally important. Britt Lower & Patricia Arquette are designed for the role in some way, that’s how they hone the cocoon. Like theatre, everything is in continuation. The storytelling, the reactions and the realisation for every spoiler I could have mentioned here. Yet, I don’t, for that’s how important the harmony of this show is.
Selling the show out (read to debunk)
As someone who has a foot in the marketing world, they have done a great job at making the show a real slice of our lives as well. The Severance installation in Grand Central, NY was an 8-hour representation of the show actually going on. In real time. The actors acted like they were working, and it was mesmerizing, the effort put in for a show that clearly has a lot of effort put into it.
Then is this theme I will attach below. You and I have day jobs as well, let’s not kid ourselves. Some of us don’t like them, but the monotony of the ones who do like them is what shifts them over the spectrum. This is a pitch to listen to this 8 hour (hopefully that’s how long you work, unless you’re in the tech field) musical composition for your “innie”. Music for the representation of who you might be from the show? Maybe. An effort to create parallel exposure that thoroughly invests you into the show–if this is the kind of genre you like.
Severance now streams on Apple TV+, and if you don’t have a subscription, there’s good reason to get it for some other good shows on there. There is a magnetism to drama that might mirror your life, even in a small way and dramatized. This is your invitation to explore it, if you’d want:
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Self professed metalhead, moderately well read. If the music has soul, it's whole to me. The fact that my bio could have ended on a rhyme and doesn't should tell you a lot about my personality.
