Apple TV+’s hit dystopian sci-fi/nightmare/workplace sitcom Severance is many things, but possibly most of all, it’s a satire of working life in the modern era. Since the very first episode, creator Dan Erickson and executive producer Ben Stiller have used their fictitious setting, Lumon Industries, to take real-world practices to an absurd extreme.
Season 1 found the innies working to earn meaningless performance perks like finger traps and waffle parties, a funhouse mirror reflection of the ways that companies attempt to keep their workers productive without having to offer better pay or benefits. Season 2 already looks like it’s going to build on the series’ satirical foundation by introducing another element to the mix: taking aim at phony corporate accountability that promises positive reform but delivers nothing of substance.
Severance
- Release Date
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February 18, 2022
- Showrunner
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Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman
- Writers
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Dan Erickson
How ‘Severance’ Skewers Corporate Reform
In the Season 1 finale, “The We We Are,” the Macrodata Refinement team carried out a plan to expose Lumon’s shady dealings using the so-called “Overtime Contingency,” an emergency mechanism that could awaken their innies on the outside, allowing them to share Lumon’s secrets with anyone nearby that appeared trustworthy. Season 2 picks up five months after the plan was carried out, when the innies return to a Lumon that’s apparently been changed for the better thanks to their efforts.
After they’re reunited, the newly promoted Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman) takes innies Mark S. (Adam Scott), Helly R. (Britt Lower), Irving B. (John Turturro), and Dylan G. (Zach Cherry) to the “Break Room,” once an ominous place of punishment that’s been given a less threatening makeover. Rather than force them to repeat an apology until they’re sufficiently penitent, Milchick instead plays them an educational video meant to catch them up on what they’ve missed.
According to the cheerily animated video (voiced, in a very fun surprise, by an unmistakable A-lister), their plan has come to be known as the “Macrodat Uprising,” leading to reforms within the company to address their concerns. But of course, these “reforms” are completely meaningless, consisting of new snack options like “cut beans, Christmas mints, and salsa” and new weird perks like “pineapple bobbing” and “hall passes.” Lumon is quick to frame their efforts as heroic, helping usher in a kinder, gentler era at the company, but no actual changes have been made to make the severed workers’ lives better.
The innies are pretty easily able to see through this as an attempt to flatter them into submission, making them think that their efforts led to real change while ultimately doing nothing of the sort. This mirrors the kinds of tactics that many corporate entities use when they catch controversy to appear as though they’re taking calls for reform seriously, while doing everything possible to avoid taking real accountability and changing anything about their internal structure. The innies try to tell the world that they’re essentially prisoners, constantly under surveillance and denied any knowledge of their outside selves, or even what kind of work they’re really doing. They’re fighting for basic personhood, but Lumon clearly has no interest in actually allowing them to have any kind of voice.
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Lumon’s Real-World Inspirations
Severance’s creators have intentionally kept the audience in the dark about the kind of work Lumon does, but similar examples of this can be seen across the corporate world. Most corporations are ultimately focused on increasing profits for shareholders, and anything that might conflict with that tends to be sidelined. Just look at all the companies that come out in support of the LGBTQ+ community around Pride month, then quickly remove anything with a rainbow from their shelves at the first sign of right-wing backlash. In the first half of the decade, appealing to socially conscious consumers was seen as the way of the future, but many big companies have dialed back these efforts as “anti-woke” sentiment has gained momentum, following the social winds rather than taking any kind of deliberate stance.
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Things at Lumon are a little different, because viewers don’t yet know what kind of effect the so-called “Macrodat Uprising” had on the outside world. The premiere only showed the aftermath from within Lumon itself, so the reforms mentioned in the video are mainly for the benefit of the innies. Erickson and his fellow writers will no doubt get to the outside world before long, but so far, there’s nothing to make the audience think the innies’ plan had any effect at all. It’s a deeply cynical outcome, but a true one.
Time and again, the corporate world has proven it’s not going to change things for workers without constant vigilance and pressure, and many of the benefits present-day workers enjoy, from five-day work weeks to paid leave, are the result of an endless battle between workers and the people at the top. In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Erickson said that being on the picket line for the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023 had an effect on the story he wanted the series to tell going forward, one that reflects what it’s like to fight for change in the face of massive opposition. Viewers are already seeing this play out in the season premiere.
The innies don’t have the option to be able to go on strike; as long as their outie keeps sending them to work every day, they’re stuck there. But they can continue to make things difficult for their shadowy overlords, and keep fighting for a better deal.