its not too often that a tv show comes along and turns your life upside down if only for 45 adfree minutes moments ago you were laughing maybe even tearing up a bit and now youre lying awake in your bed reevaluating the reasons you get up in the morning the things you love most in this world thats the power of severance a psychological scifi thriller from the mind of dan erickson disguised as a dystopian workplace drama a la the twilight zone meets the office severance is an anticapitalist love letter to the mundane things that make us human its unlike anything weve ever seen and thats what makes it total films best tv show of 2022a handshake is available upon requestimage credit apple tv plusif you had the chance to split your work life and home life into two completely separate universes where one version of you doesnt even know about the other would you sounds crazy but it makes sense for mark s adam scott after finding himself unable to cope with his wifes death mark takes a job at lumon a corporation known for a controversial procedure that allows a person to sever their work self from their regular self this creates a paradox one where your innie and outie exist as two entirely different creatures who live separate lives have separate memories and know virtually knowing about one anotherparallelism is the driving factor in this series while the innies work silently and obediently at their desks on lumons severed floor the outies loudly protest picket signs and all the practices ethical nature the people in marks real life dont understand his decision and are anything but subtle about their confusion and disapproval its really been helping me he says early on and its not until were a few episodes in that we realize exactly why mark chose to get severed he gives up his own bodily autonomy in exchange for relief from the unbearable pain of loss little does he know the innie version of himself is miserable just for a completely different reason while we dont immediately learn why marks coworkers dylan g zach cherry irving john turturro and helly r britt lower chose to get severed they ultimately become united by the shared misery they experience inside of lumons walls the gap between the innie and the outie starts to close theres a glitch in the matrix suddenly the innies want out they want to experience what their outies experience they want a life of their ownlets burn this place to the groundimage credit apple tv plusit isnt all bad lumon employees get to have waffle parties and jazz dance breaks complete with rainbow ceiling lights if theyre lucky they get to go to see ms casey dichen lachman the wellness counselor who reads them a list of the best very traits about their outie good complacent behavior is rewarded with gleeful absurdity while bad behavior is rewarded with a legalized form