Severance S1 (rewatch) — 4.5/5
When a piece of art feels too overly designed, too much a director's vision, I get turned off (a decent amount of Wes Anderson, for example). Here, for whatever reason, I don't have that problem. Here, let's examine that: it feels the design goes all the way down, deeper than just a pretty still. There is a compelling mystery built on top of compelling characters who feel peculiar to their core. To my point about 'Wicked,' that movie dressed up the edges in fantastical costumes and hairdos to ascribe peculiarity, but as with the original 'Wizard of Oz,' this show features characters who have distinct, familiar characteristics but also have an uncanny unfamiliarity. They're not exactly the person they are on the show when they leave the set, but they are still someone. They don't need to try to be; they are. And their peculiarity helps to create a believable world that feels like our own, but more interesting, but colder. They feel like perfectly slotted puzzle pieces. And the show's central mystery is a puzzle where you don't have the full picture, just the corner you're working on. Each episode reveals new pieces, which only confuses you more as to what picture is being assembled. I think a good mystery feels like a maze. You know there's a center but you can only ever see the walls in front of you. Each turn could lead to a blank wall or illumination. The show has the feeling of the first season of Westworld, which itself was built around a maze, of human consciousness. I think similar work is being done here, just, unlike that show, I hope it can sustain its feeling of importance beyond the first season. And with two episodes into the new season, it thus far remains entertaining!! But also my hope is that it goes beyond human consciousness into spiritual consciousness. Here are people playing at God, creating new lives beneath old lives. What we learn down here might help us learn something about what's up there.
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