What's The Deal With Severance?

I am not usually a huge fan of TV shows, especially when they come out through streaming services. I either find myself completely distracted, unable to concentrate enough to get invested in a new world of characters, or I become so obsessed with the show that I will spend three straight days binging any episode available. 

 

Because of this, I avoid watching a series when it has a surge in popularity. I can live without seeing the newest episode of The White Lotus, The Bear, or Adolescence. Yet somehow, amidst my resistance to television trends, one show managed to break through my defenses: Severance.

 

Severance has become more than just popular - it has become a cultural phenomenon. The dystopian workplace thriller has officially surpassed Ted Lasso to become Apple TV+'s most-watched show of all time, a milestone that speaks volumes in today's oversaturated streaming landscape.

 

The show’s first season debuted in February 2022 and was immediately a success, grabbing 14 Emmy nominations and two wins. The show's acclaim and popularity continued to grow through social media conversation. It seems everywhere I have looked online, there has been someone talking about how phenomenal this show is.

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According to social analytics firm Talkwalker, Twitter mentions of the show increased by 81% between the first season’s premiere and finale. The season finale in April 2022 generated around 71,000 Twitter mentions within 24 hours.

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After a three-year hiatus, Severance came back into the spotlight with intense audience anticipation. The show's return on January 17th, 2025 surged Apple TV+ subscription sign-ups, with Deadline reporting that there was a 126% increase in new subscribers between January 1-19, 2025 vs. Dec. 1-19, 2024.

Coming from someone who is not a huge fan of TV shows, I do have to say that the show is quite different from anything I have seen before, and after finishing it, it has my stamp of approval.

 

But what has even made Severance so popular?

 

Created by Dan Erikson and directed by Ben Stiller, the show centers on employees who work at a company called Lumon Industries. The workers have undergone a procedure called “severance” that surgically separates their work memories from their personal memories. It essentially turns them into two different people living in one body.

 

Debuting at a time when work-life boundaries are consistently blurred due to remote work and the unlimited access to technology, the show has struck a chord with the working people of today. Severance takes anxieties about corporate culture and transforms them into a show that's fantastical yet eerily plausible.

 

The cast, led by stars including Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Dichen Lachman, and Tramell Tillman, is the perfect example of prime casting. The characters all seem like real people you may encounter at your 9-5. Their performances ground the shows more unrealistic elements in reality. 

 

The severance procedure itself, something so outrageous but at the same time just plausible enough, has garnered conversation around the globe. The conversation has expanded from the show itself into more philosophical conversations about work, identity, and ethics. 

 

In a survey of a group of British Gen Z youth, 46% said they would choose to be severed if they could, despite the show's glaring evidence that the procedure is not beneficial. The lack of work-life balance many young people feel has given them a unique interest in Severance where that balance is non-existent and supposedly not a problem.

 

The timing of the second season’s release, just three days before Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day, has also contributed to its explosive popularity. Dystopian media, from TV shows to novels, show large increases in popularity during particularly conservative government leaderships. Audiences seem to seek fictional media where there is group resistance and critiques of power structures to process their anxieties about the real world.

 

For one avid Severance viewer, 22-year-old Fiona O’Malley, the show has been the best show she has seen in “a long time.” 

 

Aside from the structural elements she loves such as the soundtrack, camera angles, and lighting, Fiona is drawn to the show's deeper meaning. Severance demands intellectual and emotional engagement from its audience. It is not a show you can have playing in the background while sitting on your phone. 

 

“It just really makes me think. I will sit there for like an hour after each episode researching fan theories about what could possibly be in the next episode,” she said. 

 

She doesn't have to look far for those theories. Severance has no lack of hidden messages and clues into what may happen in the next episodes, further increasing the show’s popularity through social media conversation. All over the internet from TikTok to Reddit, thousands of fans converse after each episode about what all of the subliminal messages could possibly mean for the future of their favorite characters.

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What ultimately makes Severance stand out in today's overcrowded and oversaturated media landscape, and what made it break through my resistance to trendy television, is its combination of entertainment value and thought-provoking depth. 

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While many popular shows offer a form of escape from the harsh realities of our everyday lives, Severance confronts viewers with questions about their relationship to work, identity, and autonomy. It challenges its audience and asks them for more. Its success suggests that audiences are hungry for entertainment that makes them think and that sometimes, the most popular shows are the ones that refuse to talk down to their viewers.

 

Its popularity isn't random. It has been well-earned through storytelling that respects its audience enough to challenge them. And in today's media space, that just might be the most revolutionary concept of all.