Severance Apple TV

[darth dennis]

Oof. I thought this week's episode was a true stinker.

I went to IMDB and saw a bunch of 10/10 reviews. Some people are so easily impressed.

Episode was 90% artsy-fartsy time-wasting filler.

I think I'm going to sit on this and wait for the entire season to be available before watching. The filler episodes are maddening when you can't get right back to some action...

 

[MeatHookGekko]

 

[MeatHookGekko]

 

[Otomofan]

This week's episode was probably the best of the series so far.

It's hard not to compare it to LOST, especially with how similar the aesthetics of Lumon are to Dharma.

I really hope these guys have a plan. If they can stick a landing to this, it'll end up being as "legendary" as True Detective season one and all the other "peak TV" greats.

 

[Otomofan]

How do you follow up the very best episode of the series so far?

With a middling, pointless, FILLER EPISODE, of course!

I'm fuming right now. What a complete waste of time.

This was as bad as that one episode of Stranger Things where Eleven has a side adventure in New York.

Full of all the self-indulgent loooooong slow shots that tainted stuff like Better Call Saul.

I actually watched it on 1.5 speed and it still dragged on.

Awful. Just shameful to pad out the story with this nonsense when there's so much more to address.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

How do you follow up the very best episode of the series so far?

With a middling, pointless, FILLER EPISODE, of course!

I'm fuming right now. What a complete waste of time.

For non prestige level television, "bottle episodes" are a good way to save on budget. Especially with linear storytelling. For prestige level television, with a high financial investment behind it, "bottle episodes" sometimes are designed to help highlight a performer for an award. In this case, Patricia Arquette. It's very likely the production only had a limited window with Jane Alexander as well. For Apple, that's more of a time consideration than a money consideration. Most likely this was shaped to give Arquette a better shot at an Emmy.

 

[Otomofan]

She's playing such a thoroughly unlikable character. I understand she's necessary as one of the main villains, but to spend any more time than necessary with her is an unbearable chore.

 

[ZE_501]

I mean ... she's a good villain in that she's psychotic and unlikable, but the character (by design, no doubt) has no charisma so I take no delight in her machinations. Even the cadence of her speech is repulsive. Emmy fodder? Maybe depending on what she's up against.

Also, time is such a bastard. I didn't recognize her.

 

[BeefEaster]

That might have been the worst episode of the series.

 

[ZE_501]

That might have been the worst episode of the series.

There have been a couple of sleepers. This series is a weird one for me. The premise is intriguing and I want the payoff, but it seems like a slog at times.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

She's playing such a thoroughly unlikable character. I understand she's necessary as one of the main villains, but to spend any more time than necessary with her is an unbearable chore.

"I slept on a futon until I was 36. I don't regret any of it... I was dating this woman and I said I had a spot I had to go do and it paid $8 at the comic strip during the week. Tuesday night I went down there and I came back, I tried on a new bit I was doing, and afterwards I was at home in my apartment and I was doing this silly dance in the kitchen. Cuz I had a new bit and I was psyched because I had gone through this period where I wasn't coming up with any new material. And she was laughing and then she got a sad look on her face. And I said, "What's the matter?" and she said, "I wish I had a job where I only got paid $8 yet I came home and I did a silly dance in the kitchen." And I never forgot that...." - Bill Burr


*****

IMHO, from a screenwriting standpoint, Severance will likely hit much differently with those who have had to start over in mid life. At the timeline when it's socially expected a functioning adult be "established" at what they will likely be for the rest of their short trajectory on this planet. Part of the complexity is weighing each character against their potential "support system" around them. It's easier to shape characters based on the reactions of those around them.

How the viewer digests fictional characters, happens, in part, based on the viewer's life experiences. It's not the only factor, but it's a critical factor. Seeing Cobel as tragic, or not, or something entirely different, will ring one way for some people, and another for others. While it doesn't seem intuitive to start, someone doesn't break into a professional writer's room by offering the best answers, they get there by asking the questions that don't seem apparent on the surface level. So while the pathology of why Cobel is the way she is might not resonate with you, it resonates generally with how writers actually write. The parts of the show you probably love also come from those same roots. So, you can take the good with the bad, in your eyes, or you won't.

 

[ZE_501]

"I slept on a futon until I was 36. I don't regret any of it... I was dating this woman and I said I had a spot I had to go do and it paid $8 at the comic strip during the week. Tuesday night I went down there and I came back, I tried on a new bit I was doing, and afterwards I was at home in my apartment and I was doing this silly dance in the kitchen. Cuz I had a new bit and I was psyched because I had gone through this period where I wasn't coming up with any new material. And she was laughing and then she got a sad look on her face. And I said, "What's the matter?" and she said, "I wish I had a job where I only got paid $8 yet I came home and I did a silly dance in the kitchen." And I never forgot that...." - Bill Burr


*****

IMHO, from a screenwriting standpoint, Severance will likely hit much differently with those who have had to start over in mid life. At the timeline when it's socially expected a functioning adult be "established" at what they will likely be for the rest of their short trajectory on this planet. Part of the complexity is weighing each character against their potential "support system" around them. It's easier to shape characters based on the reactions of those around them.

I'm entering my early 50s and I've had more ups and downs then a lot of people my age in that I've been poor and happy, well-off and unhappy, almost married, single and feral and everything in between and switched careers ... three times? I've started from zero in mid-life. Well almost zero depending how you measure it. Anyway:

I get what they're doing with Cobel and I think the end of the episode was an effective climax; I see that they're painting a larger picture which is why I'm engaged and want the payoff in spite of feeling a slog every now and then.

I think what I'm reacting to personally is that I find the overall aesthetic is a grind at times, and I don't like spending time with Cobel or characters like her because their lack of charisma makes me react to them negatively. This is good writing; I'm reacting to them as I would a real person and staying invested in the show in spite of it.

So while the pathology of why Cobel is the way she is might not resonate with you, it resonates generally with how writers actually write. The parts of the show you probably love also come from those same roots. So, you can take the good with the bad, in your eyes, or you won't.

Rings true, because here I am taking the good with the bad.