The darkness sneaks up on you. The people who start out seeming like James Bond characters end up carrying the full intolerable weight of their lies and destructive actions. People who looked like side characters are followed up with entire life stories in the shadows.
Two short seasons down, it's tight, it's sharp, it could go far.
As a fellow The Shield-lover, I highly recommend you try to finish The Americans.
Btw, funny enough, on rewatches, I actually focus more on the one big Stan question that isn't answered (and, in fact, is actually asked to him for the first time). I'm happy it was never resolved, though I keep wondering if there's some clue that they are hiding in there that will resolve it for real one of these days :)
That last part is the miracle. So many shows start out strong, and are just dogshit for the finale. Does anyone really believe that Severance will manage this trick? Would love to be surprised and mistaken, but they're just throwing crap at the wall to see what will stick, and that only lasts so long.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Americans_episodes...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Prison_Break_episodes#...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lost_episodes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Game_of_Thrones_episod...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_Us_(TV_series)#Rat...
^ compare the viewership. The Americans was getting fewer than a million viewers in its final seasons, Lost regularly got over ten million. You can't easily chalk it up to just the fact that Lost was on network; The Last of Us was getting more than 10x the viewership of The Americans and it was on HBO. While The Americans is very critically acclaimed, it is not as widely watched as it really should be.
My other two are:
- Shogun (The depiction of 1600s Japan is so real)
- Resident Alien (Funny and heartwarming to see an Alien getting accustomed to life on Earth dealing with complex human relationships with their flaws)
PS: I am sad to exclude Parks and Recreation which ran from 2009-2015 so probably considered outside of last decade.
(That, by the way, is where Severance seemingly got the inspiration for "The Board")
Interesting. I thought the premise had potential, but found the writing unbearable. There were major plot holes in the universe they created withing the first 10 minutes. It just didn't make sense. The dialogues and acting was bad on top of that. Didn't even finish the first episode. That being said, the series has OK ratings and was renewed several times, so it might be me not giving it a fair chance.
This series deserved to be 2X longer to cover those imho.
I do hope they have a narrative arc planned with a satisfyingly metaphorical conclusion and will not, like certain other shows in a similar genre, meander from one surrealist allegory to another because additional seasons were ordered. The only truly exemplary production I can name in this vein being the sole season of The Prisoner (McGoohan, 1967-68).
Be seeing you
It was really good at building up a mystery over the course of the first season, but I've been a little disappointed in the second so far.
The pacing's become glacial; the first couple of episodes worked mostly to undercut the dramatic significance of the events of last season's finale.
And I feel like the way that the satire is slowly being replaced by self-serious "lore" is hurting the show; it was very funny and disturbing to see the way the innies are "raised" in a cult and view the CEO as a kind of Messiah (and observe the parallels to real-world corporate culture); Lumen really being an evil cult - as opposed to just an evil company - in "reality", feels less satirical and more ham-fisted.
The ending of the most recent episode suggests promising things to come at least.
The gold standard, IMO is something like the TNG episodes "The Best of Both Worlds" pt 1 and 2 -- an end-of-season cliffhanger that rewards you returning to the show by telling you what happens next!
I think the lacuna here is meant to add to the tension and mystery, but I agree that the new season has started off frustratingly slow. You gotta wrap up stuff to move forward with a plot, otherwise it's all just treading water for the sake of atmosphere.
It becomes much clearer in episodes 2 and especially 3. They strongly and directly start picking up the pieces of the season 1 ending and carrying it through. Without spoiling anything, episode 3 (of season 2) had some massive movements I wasnt expecting to see until later in the season (at soonest).
Agreed. The 'banality of evil' horror of the first season was the show's strongest point.
Sadly, I expect it will eventually suffer from the same thing that torpedoed Lost:
1. Fans are originally attracted by the mystery and unexplained.
2. Those same fans then clamour for explanations.
3. Then when the show explains things, it loses its mystery and/or people complain the explanations aren't good enough.
To me, the only winning plot move is not to play: drip just enough teasy but mysterious stuff that nothing is ever explained, but everyone stays on the edge of their seats.
Then it can be incredibly successful, and people can bitch about the finale 30 years from now.
This is how I find many shows made in the last ~20 years, but changing out "from one surrealist allegory to another" for various other things. Heroes, Jericho, Battlestar Galactica, House of Cards, hell even Downton Abbey... I would add the Walking Dead and Game of Thrones but I couldn't get through a season of either. I never saw Lost but I think it's the same kind of thing. I'm going to catch flak for it but I thought the same about Stranger Things.
All of them had a good pilot and/or first season, but then the rest of the seasons.... definitely came afterwards.
https://torontosun.com/entertainment/television/severance-cr...
We'll see how that goes.
Mrs. Davis from Lost creator Damon Lindelhof was a great recent example of that lesson having been learned.
(Shame about Westworld though)
Oh man, don't remind me.
There was a surge in viewership as they tried to tie up the story prompting the renewal of the show. But way too late. That they were able to pull off season 5 with the scraps and missing major cast members is kind of impressive. Perhaps indicative of what it would have been like had it been produced piecemeal
So much so that Star Trek had to pivot TNG and DS9 from problem of the week formulaic writing to something similar.
Honestly, I'm really enjoying that uncertainty and I couldn't image how entertaining it'd be. It certainly has a special place in this current "Zeitgeist" where video games are played by various generations and people calling each other "NPC"s as insult. There's this massive scale of contemporary enterprises, they all would like to retain that image of being young and full of empathy, while also standing above the law. Have you ever talked to some superior at a company and left with this empty feeling that made you recognize all of this unwillingness to change? Severence just hits that spot and frames it nicely into humor, yet still doesn't laugh about it. I question a bit the addition of the latest department in episode 3 and just hope they can stick the landing with such decisions.
> The only truly exemplary production I can name in this vein being the sole season of The Prisoner (McGoohan, 1967-68).
I definitely see Twin Peaks in the same realm.
I will never forgive Lost (which I originally watched in real time) and almost always wait for shows to conclude now before giving them my time.
Nonetheless, I'm enamored by Severance. The attention to detail by the show runners is amazing[1]. It's absolutely gorgeous to look at[2]. It's downright funny at times. I've re-watched the entire first season and there's so many details I missed the first time through. I will likely be satisfied even if it doesn't answer all its questions, but I have a feeling it will.
[1] BTW, the first eight chapters of The You You Are were released on Apple Books yesterday in both eBook and Audiobook form (read by the author).
[2] I watch in a home theater on a 120" 2.39:1 screen. I love that recent shows are being released in scope (see also Silo).
You still enjoyed thinking of all the plot points after the second to last episode, no?
And after the end of the first season?
Those moments existed independent of how it ended.
Sure, people having an issue with the ending and plot threads is maybe a reason not to start watching it now (I'd say it's still worth it...), but behaving as though somehow the ending invalidated all the realtime enjoyment is weird.
(I'm reflecting back now on 15 year old memories. I'm actually surprised to learn it aired from 2004-2010. Gosh, I remember this as being a show from the 90s.)
It's also not like there were a lot of options for other shows to watch at the time. I'd never stay with a show like Lost today. I punted on Yellowjackets as soon as it started bringing fantasy into the story.
You have to know that how a series wraps up is important to its viewers. A great or terrible finale can make or break how a show is later perceived. The Lost finale was the most disappointing of any show I've seen.
Great finales I recall are The Americans and Justified.
A terrible last book chapter or poor movie ending can ruin all that has come before for me. When deciding whether to read a book, I'll read the last chapter first. Spoilers don't ruin good stories for me. But bad conclusions do. And Lost's conclusion was just terrible. I'd rather it have been canceled.
It's not like I need literal answers for everything. I love Mulholland Drive. But I felt like Lost spent six seasons just jerking me around.
$0.02.
To me, if I enjoy every episode but dislike an ending... I still enjoyed 99% of the series.
Because, as I was watching each of those episodes, I was having fun.
It seems super unhealthy to retroactively go back in time and say 'That expression of glee on my face at the time wasn't actually happiness, because I just didn't know the ending was going to suck.'
That's reading a lot into my words. There were no expressions of glee on my face as I watched Lost. I was hanging in there for answers because the mysteries were the only part of the show I found interesting. Conversely, I'm really enjoying Severance as it comes. I'll likely be happy however its finale turns out to be. I really enjoyed the bizarro world of Scavengers Reign and am sad it was canceled after one season. Lost didn't float my boat, and then ended terribly on top of that. Again, $0.02, and I won't make any judgements about your mental health. :-)
p.s. I'm glad you enjoyed Lost and hope I haven't yucked your yum.
The enjoyment is capped at the initial run; a better-plotted show rewards you much more over time.
I mean, two of the biggest: smoke monster and hatch.
Both get definitive answers.
Especially when you consider that the real snob format for many is IMAX which is taller anyway.
They could at least shoot it open matte (maybe not as easy in 2.39 to do) so that those of us who want to mask to 2.39:1 can enjoy it that way w/o losing anything important while most watchers wouldn't notice the difference.
As a satire of office work, that would kind of track; a version of Parkinson’s Law.
Criminally underrated. If you enjoy older Guy Ritchie films or In Bruges, do yourself a favor and watch it.
Also thematically similar, re: alienation and disassociation!
[1] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HML8PMPeFkg [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo_encabulator
https://m.soundcloud.com/leslie-claret/chapter-one
Nine episodes were made as part of the show: https://www.lgclaret.com/
Seriously though, couldn't agree more. Criminally underrated indeed!
... Cool.
I hated the first few episodes but I think it might now be the finest show I've ever seen (and I've seen all those mentioned here).
The same crew made another show and I couldn’t get past 2 episodes.
Patriot was really a celestial event in the world of TV
Severance could well get into my top 3, but currently I think mine would be: Mr. Robot, Breaking Bad and Wednesday.
True Detective S1 (2014) is perfect television, but is too old for the last-decade list.
The only other definitive Top 3 is Dark (Netflix)
Other candidates:
- Frieren
- Better Call Saul
- Arcane
- Midnight Mass
- Counterpart (underrated)
- Andor
Have you watched LOST?
If not, don't read anything on the internet (you'll get spoilers in search results) and give it a shot.
I appreciated that it was a tribute to the characters we'd grown to love, and also kind of a middle finger to the plot bits that didn't line up perfectly.
I'd rather watch a show with plot gaps and great characters than a perfectly plotted show with middling characters.
For anyone who hasn't seen it: you're in for a wild ride. Don't look up spoilers.
I'm of a firm opinion that there are two very different kinds of Lost viewers -- ones who care about the characters first and plot second vs ones who only care about the plot.
Personally, I took it as 'We're getting to see these things through these characters' eyes and how they react.' And we probably wouldn't have given a shit about the plot, if we hadn't actually cared about the characters first.
Lost did characterization very well. (Helped by an insanely talented cast!)
I lost interest when they reached back.
Although I definitely like "unexplainable" stories like Twin Peaks.
If we are talking old TV, definitely check out The Wire. It's up there in the classics, but people nowadays don't talk about it much.
The plot always thickens, back then there was the promise/hope that “everything will be explained”, but then the show ended with sooo many loose ends and inconsistencies. Utter disappointment, I’d like my time back please.
And speaking of old goodness, The Wire, possibly the best TV series ever. And with the 1080p re-release, I’m going to claim it’s younger than 10 years old.
Edit: oops. 1080p happened in 2014. https://www.theverge.com/2014/12/28/7457291/the-wire-hd-scre...
It's great, and also very enjoyable.
The SR episode with the moment in the cave wall is the most profound and beautiful animated thing I've seen in awhile.
Amazing how tame everything has gotten by comparison.
Incorporated (Damon & Affleck), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorporated_(TV_series)
Peripheral (Nolan), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peripheral_(TV_series)
Zoo (James Patterson), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoo_(American_TV_series)
At which point it does that British television thing where action just isn't.
But given there isn't a ton of actual action in it, the bulk of the show holds up.
So maybe they should avoid the grand exterior action sequences.
Also anything with Esteemed Character Actress Margo Martindale, who was Claudia the KGB handler who liked playing PacMan in The Americans, Mags Bennett the ruthless head of the marijuana and moonshine smuggling clan in Justified, a fictionalized (or was it???) version of herself "Esteemed Character Actress Margo Martindale" in Bojack Horseman, records supervisor Camilla Figg in Dexter, and Ranger Liz in Cocaine Bear ("I'm sorry. Where'd the bear go?"), and a Canadian maple syrup smuggler in The Sticky. Such a wide range and prodigious rap sheet!
The Complete Margo Martindale Timeline | BoJack Horseman
For research only, obviously.
Eddie Izzard putting in a serious character acting role as an Irish Traveler ner-do-well who essentially steals a Florida suburban identity. With Minnie Driver as his just out of prison addict wife.
It was really good, even moreso for its time.
Maybe I watch the wrong stuff, but I’m glad I gave this a chance. It’s so fun.
Edit: I forgot "Andor". Easily the best Star Wars thing since the original 3. I like how it shows the hubris and infighting of The Empire and how that leaves openings for the resistance. Feels like a very real look into the workings of an authoritarian regime.
So glad I stuck it out though, I still think about it.
I hope Sam Esmail is working on something else for us.
Both my two favorite shows of the last few years are on it - Severance and Silo
The work is mysterious, and important.
Season 2 is going now. It’s one of my top 3 shows of the last decade, highly recommend it.