Severance

Mark Scout is part of a tightly controlled office where employees have had their memories surgically split so their work selves and home selves never overlap. By day they perform repetitive, mysterious tasks with no recollection of their personal lives, and by night they return to separate identities who don't remember what happens at Lumon Industries. When a coworker shows up where she shouldn't be, small cracks open in the system and questions start to spread through the team. Rather than resolving easily, those questions lead to secretive meetings, risky choices, and an escalating search for what the company is actually doing, all while the characters try to reconcile who they are inside and outside the building.

Created by Dan Erickson, Severance premiered on Apple TV+ in 2022. The series is an original concept, executive-produced by a team that includes Ben Stiller, and it uses a variety of directors across episodes to shape its distinct tone and style.

The show earned attention from major television awards, receiving nominations that highlighted its writing, production design, and performances. Critics and industry juries noted its originality and the technical work that supports the central premise.

Severance left a clear mark on pop culture, with viewers and commentators quoting its imagery and central idea when talking about work-life separation and surveillance. Its visual design, from sterile office corridors to precise uniforms, became shorthand in conversations and social posts about corporate control and the costs of productivity.

Critics mostly praised the series, reflected in strong audience scores and frequent positive reviews. Themes include identity, consent, memory, and the ethical limits of workplace technology, and the cast, led by Adam Scott, was singled out for bringing quiet intensity to a restrained, eerie story. The show often feels tense and odd in equal measure, asking uncomfortable questions about what people give up when they agree to make work a separate life.