I talked to Vulture about Severance

by Alison Green on January 28, 2025

I talked to Vulture about what the TV show Severance reveals about workplace life — including the inauthenticity of corporate life, how the Overtime Contingency exists in real life, the weirdness of workplace perks, and how work can degrade your spirit.

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    1. Ask a Manager* Post author

      Yes! I am now fully caught up. I really like it. Normally it would be way too dark/creepy for me, but I’m so entertained by the work stuff that it has kept me watching. Some of it is like watching a very, very dark version of an AAM letter. (I especially liked the moment in season 2 where a new employee named Mark suggests that Mark S. go by a different first name so there’s no confusion.)

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      3. Goldenrod*

        “I’m so entertained by the work stuff that it has kept me watching”

        ME TOO. I love it so much. And now my favorite show + my favorite blog have collided!!!

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      4. Sharks are Cool*

        This is exactly how me and my partner feel! A dark show that’s so good we actually WANT to watch it. For most other similarly tense shows we usually stop even pretending to watch it after a few weeks of, “That first episode was very interesting but gosh it’s been a long day and maybe we could just watch She-Ra again instead?”

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  2. CTT*

    I’m surprised you hadn’t watched Severance before now! Or is a show that predicated on work-life-balance a busman’s holiday situation for you?

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            1. MegPie*

              Defiant Jazz, yes. That was my favorite scene of the whole first season. So incredibly strange and the actors’ reactions were amazing.

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  3. WellRed*

    I so love the idea of Severance but couldn’t make it past two episodes (so. Slow). Maybe it’s too close to reality in some ways. Also love “corporate inauthenticity,” Alison. Sums up the parts of my job that I loathe including a very inauthentic performance self review in which which they made us apply the company’s core principles to our review.

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    2. HannahS*

      Sigh. This afternoon I have to come up with my statement for the team weekly check in, where I share something that sounds personal, authentic, and approachable without sharing anything of any real import.

      In fun news, I’m going to a coffee festival this weekend! Yay!

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        1. wordswords*

          I get it, but also, could we not keep on normalizing casual use of generative AI despite its massive environmental cost and pernicious flaws? Especially if you’re not actually a fan of it.

          (I realize this sounds humorless; I’m sorry, but I’m becoming ever less humorless about genAI.)

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          1. Aggretsuko*

            I second this. Please don’t use AI. I’m sure there’s got to be generic suggestions that an actual human came up with somewhere if you search, anyway.

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          2. allathian*

            Yeah, I’m not a huge fan either, but basically any time we’re using the internet, even for simple searches, we’re using environmental resources and energy. Google’s search engine server farm in Finland was built in 2011, long before AI, and their excess heat is used for providing some fo the district heating required by a small town (pop. 20,000). Google’s stated goal is to be carbon neutral by 2030, and while that doesn’t address the issues related to mining rare earths and the pollutants from the chip manufacturing process, it’s still better than nothing.

            Watching the development of the Chinese DeepSeek AI is going to be interesting, though. They’re claiming similar results to ChatGPT etc. with a far smaller environmental load and less advanced chips.

            Granted, this still doesn’t help with the intellectual property issues or the risks of using Chinese products and services, but it’s a step in the right direction. If they can do it, so can others.

            AI is here to stay whether we like it or not, and while I don’t necessarily believe that AI’s going to take away all knowledge workers’ jobs anytime soon, I’m firmly convinced that those who can use AI effectively will beat those who can’t/won’t in the job market.

            I hope this post doesn’t break Alison’s no politics rule, and I apologize in advance if it does, but I’m frankly getting a bit sick of the “AI is bad for the environment” statements with no nuances.

            That said, I don’t think AI is needed to answer this question…

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        2. HannahS*

          I share others’ discomfort with AI and also that would be more work than I’m willing to spend. The sixty seconds I spend coming up with something innocuous (like the coffee festival) compared with asking AI, then memorizing the answer…coming up with something is honestly easier.

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      2. Festively Dressed Earl*

        “I’m really trying to be mindful of my career resolutions by incorporating an element of fun, possibly by tap dancing or a drum solo.”

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    3. Everything Bagel*

      I had to stop partway in to season 1 because I found I was having bad dreams about work and feeling anxious the next day! My work environment sucked at the time, so it’s not that surprising. It’s a really good show, it just affected me strangely.

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      1. Falling Diphthong*

        I think because it works on such a wholly existential level. It’s like it’s already a bad dream about work, where the dream has that office setting but none of the things that happen make sense to an awake brain. Like if you had a faint understanding of offices but had never been in one, and had to craft a script for a day in an office.

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          1. Falling Diphthong*

            Actual five-year-olds mostly know that their parents’ offices have hot chocolate, and it’s free, and you can get it any time you want some, so this tracks.

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            1. kicking-k*

              My teenagers don’t have the faintest idea what I do despite seeing me do it from home every so often. And they’ve never seen my workplaces. It is odd. I would occasionally visit my parents’ workplaces but it seems like that’s something that never happens now (and probably for quite good reasons).

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        2. Username Lost to Time*

          That’s it! It’s like a bad dream about work. The work doesn’t make sense. The office layout is a maze that many characters inexplicably know how to navigate.

          Though, after a rewatch of season 1 it occurs to me that there’s a lot of odd behavior from the friends and husband of the main character’s sister. It’d be so weird to have those people and your overly friendly neighbor be your main social contacts.

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          1. Falling Diphthong*

            I had forgotten the dinner party with no food, until rewatching Season 1. So yeah, Dickon and his friends on one side, and Mrs. Selwig on the other, and then Petey shows up–outie Mark isn’t getting a lot of normal beyond Devon.

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      1. Varthema*

        Yes, exactly, we nearly quit after episode 2 because it was sooooooo freakin bleak. But then it just took off! such a good show. still v bleak and I have to watch a “palate cleanser” afterward, like rewatching Schitt’s Creek, before going to bed otherwise I’ll have creepy fever dreams.

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  4. Ellis Bell*

    I particularly enjoyed where one of the severed workers tries to find a different job and ends up in an interview with a more ethical company but talking about “what kind of door” would he be…

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    2. WillowSunstar*

      I read the show’s creator once worked in a door factory, that was where he came up with the idea for the show.

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  5. Amber Rose*

    I’ve never seen or even heard of this show. It sounds fascinating.

    I’m currently in a class called Psychological Safety, and my assignment is to describe the worst workplace I could possibly imagine. Seems I have my answer. Yeesh.

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    2. Goldenrod*

      Oh, you have to watch it! There’s so much about psychological safety in it….

      Also, your class sounds fascinating.

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      1. Amber Rose*

        Between that one and my Organizational Behavior class, I’m sure learning a lot about how dysfunctional groups and workplaces can be. :D

        No, but they really are very interesting classes. I’m having quite a bit of fun this semester.

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    3. L_Rons_Cupboard*

      OMG, this show is pretty much Forced Office Merriment taken to an illogical conclusion. Cannot recommend highly enough.

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    1. WT*

      This would be a vast, less distracting improvement from the Game of Throne names people have used in the past. Finally an AAM fandom I can relate to!

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      1. A. Lab Rabbit*

        Hear, hear!

        But for me, the same thing applies to teapots and llamas. The minute I see that in a letter, I just scroll right past it. This exhausted motif definitely needs an update.

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        1. Yes And*

          I like the teapots and llamas. It’s an effective shorthand for “I need to use specific titles and functions in order to tell my story clearly, but I am anonymizing it by using a somewhat fanciful industry.” It’s effective as shorthand precisely because it’s consistent across the community.

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    4. kicking-k*

      If I saw Harmony out of context, I’d still think of the mean girl/vampire from Buffy and Angel. Granted, she did work an office job in Angel!

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  7. Audiophile*

    I was hoping you would watch Severance and talk about it! I’m excited to read the Vulture article.

    I’ve been watching the show since the first season, and some of the weirder stuff gives me flashbacks to previous jobs.

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  9. Fetid Moppet*

    All I know is that when I heard the phrase “fetid moppet” I immediately knew I had to change my AAM handle.

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    3. Falling Diphthong*

      There are totally waffles! That are free!

      And the only thing on offer that I would partake of. (I have to wonder if Dylan, who is into the rewards, has had the waffle party before? Or is Mark S’s rein the first time they have made the quota, and so this is the first waffle party?)

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  11. Sihaya*

    “Most people’s daily reality is that if they want to get promoted or get a raise or generally be appreciated at work and have a good network where they can easily find another job, in most cases, they can’t bring their full selves to work. It’s a very weird juxtaposition of stated beliefs and lived realities.”
    In anthropology, this is the concept of layered social identities. We have multiple identities that are ranked in importance to us. Sometimes they interact and sometimes they’re separate. We’ll switch between them as needed, even if we do t realize it. Your work self is just as authentic as your at-home self, but it is a different social identity used within its context.

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    1. Spencer Hastings*

      Yes, I came here to say something similar. I happened to read some stuff recently about Robert Kegan’s theory of cognitive stages in adulthood (though not the original yet — I want to), and this was reminding me of it.

      My understanding is rudimentary, but I’ll try to explain: in what he calls stage 3, everything is personal. You are defined by your relationships. Once you move to stage 4, you realize that you are not your relationships, but rather you *have* relationships, and you can participate in and understand systems. This is important for thriving in modern societies like ours, where it’s impossible to have a personal relationship with everyone you interact with.

      I think that some of the problems AAM letter writers have can be a result of a work culture that’s stuck at stage 3 in some way (the workplace being a family, etc.).

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  12. Alldogsarepuppies*

    I’m interested in your (and everyone’s take) on episode 202 [spoilers ahead] situation of Dylan G’s job interview. How should being severed effect interview prospects, including moral outrage?

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    1. Box of Kittens*

      During that scene, I thought about the fact that the Outie has effectively has no work experience from their severed time at Lumon, so they’d have to rely on previous experience in interviews, which of course gets decreasingly relevant as the years go on. A super insidious way of tying severed employees to Lumon permanently, or at least making it very, very difficult to get out.

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      1. SansaStark*

        I was thinking about that, too! You literally couldn’t talk about your most recent work experience. Even if you didn’t have a “moral” problem with severing yourself, you have to know that you’re basically eliminating any other job for yourself ever. What if you need more $$ but your Innie isn’t good enough to be promoted? How would you even know that you’re being paid fairly? I could barely pay attention in this scene because my mind was spinning!

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      3. Ostrich Herder*

        I had never considered that until he started looking for jobs, and then the dawning horror of it really got to me. Severed workers – the outie versions, at least – effectively get no work experience. Some people are prejudiced about the procedure in general. Others will assume that severed workers are/were lazy, collecting a paycheck for “someone else’s” work. Once you make that decision, you’re severely limiting your non-Lumon career options, pretty much forever. And I’m sure THAT’S by design.

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    2. Elle*

      The interview was weird because the boss looked like Dylan. And it doesn’t seem like Dylan has much experience besides Lumon. Something is going on in that world that is off. It’s not just Lumon’s offices.

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          1. Jessica Ganschen*

            I did see elsewhere that the casting and costuming was a deliberate choice, though! It was intended to communicate that it was truly just Dylan being severed that the interviewer had a problem with and it wasn’t discrimination on any other axis.

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            1. Username Lost to Time*

              Oh! That’s why they did that. I guessed it was deliberate. I thought it was just part of the surreal, bizarro world of Severance. It doesn’t help that my brain struggles to recognize and recall faces. I couldn’t quite tell how identical the two were.

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    3. Falling Diphthong*

      I am willing to bet that being severed will not be a protected class.

      It would only become one if Lumon had trouble attracting enough severed workers, due to the extreme un-sale-ability of “I have no idea what tasks I have completed for the past 2 years, nor if I completed them well or poorly. I definitely cannot transfer over a single skill.”

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  13. Ginger Baker*

    Re the perks, I think those things actually make a lot of sense in the context of the Severed experience: money (my usual fave!) has zero impact on the Innie because they never benefit from it; same for the AAM second-fave of more time off. What’s left? Things you can experience inside the Severed floor, only. Tho I think they would do better to offer a goat-petting party, personally!

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    2. Falling Diphthong*

      Excellent point.

      One of the great details is that the one time they find something that isn’t hallway and conference room, it’s not a room of severed body parts or something else horrific. It’s… adorable, but also does not make sense, and you worry that the adorable baby goats can only be intended for something awful.

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    3. lzrd*

      I mean, they *could* give them time off – within the severed floor. But they’re not going to do that because they’ve essentially gained a legal slave.

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      1. C*

        They do sorta give these people time off… but only to do things that reinforces their membership in the cult, like the “wellness checks” or the visits to the cult shrine.

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  14. WillowSunstar*

    I’ve been watching the show. It’s considered sci-fi, so I’m wondering where it’s going to go. There are entire Reddit subs about theories and such, some of which have been debunked by the actors already. They’re interesting reads, though.

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    1. MegPie*

      I assumed the sci fi label was just due to the fact that it takes place in a universe where it’s possible to separate a person’s consciousness into two parts.

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  15. MassMatt*

    OMG yes free food at work, people can go nuts about it, esp. who gets it who doesn’t.

    I worked in a call center (it was as awful as people say!) and food was provided for people to work through lunch and other OT hours. There was an elaborate dance as people had to take turns getting food so coverage was maintained. If the person ahead of you on your team was stuck on a call then you had to wait, and wait, and wait. All for slices of pizza or (gag) mini tuna fish sandwiches.

    Some people would be very grabby and entitled about basically any food they saw in the building. The company would provide catering to VIP visitors and consistently had to shoo people away from the conference room. My team had a pot luck lunch and people from a neighboring department walked by, saw the food, and waved people over for “free food!” It was weird.

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  16. Forested*

    I *adore* this show. It’s such good commentary on work/life balance, but also the language is cool, acting is great, everyone is creepy, and I just love the slow, subtle worldbuilding, like how none of the tech and cars and such give a clear year. It’s absurd and silly but also incredibly serious.

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    1. Box of Kittens*

      THIS. The dialogue is so precise and the setting in time so ambiguous but the whole thing is so visually and emotionally cohesive. Really a masterpiece.

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    2. Falling Diphthong*

      I feel like there are 100 versions of this show that tried slightly different writing, directing, editing, etc, and produced something I would quickly ditch because it doesn’t make sense. This version I find so engrossing.

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  17. No Longer Gig-less Data Analyst*

    My favorite column and favorite TV show have converged! What a happy, happy read this was.

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      1. Rusty Shackelford*

        I would have been so confused by your comment if I hadn’t just rewatched that episode. There are so many bizarre and fascinating little things to keep up with.

        I know. Minus ten points for reacting.

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  18. L_Rons_Cupboard*

    I am seriously waiting for my workplace to offer a Music Dance Experience with Defiant Jazz as a listed option. With maracas.

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  19. Falling Diphthong*

    A detail I love: The book that Disrupts Everything is dreck. The writers didn’t try to make it a book of timeless poetry–just any outside idea, tossed into this blank slate, could take root and grow in many strange and unforeseen ways.

    It reminds me of the observation that if you make art that goes out into the world, then you don’t know what people are going to take from it–this could be quite different from what the writer/composer/painter/etc envisioned as the meaning. (See e.g. that in The Matrix, the red pill symbolizes red estrogen pills, according to the creators.)

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  21. PsychicMuppet*

    As someone who works for a very old company with a very strong emphasis on community, I found this show fascinating. The way Lumon creates a mythos around its founder is so common to so many companies. The slow reveal that the handbook is basically a Bible, offering the employees guidance and even shaping their thoughts and values through a kind of spirituality–the only kind they have access to. Ms. Cobel even aggressively sings A COMPANY HYMN at her employees to shame them for disobedience.

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  22. Skytext*

    I had to stop watching the show, simply because the sheer horror of the company (or anybody) being able to “sever” the knowledge of what goes on in the other half of the day was so absolutely terrifying and excruciating to me. Because I could imagine a scenario where they spend the entire workday literally torturing you excruciatingly (but not in a way that physically harms you). But then you leave at the end of the day and come back the next morning because you have no clue. But your other self gets no relief! You are just tortured every moment with no end in sight! It ends for a moment when you are “leaving” but a minute later it is morning again and it starts all over! Never getting to sleep, never getting to eat, for possibly the rest of your life.

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