Apple TV+ show Severance is the streamer’s biggest hit, stealing Ted Lasso‘s crown and leaving Slow Horses at the starting line.
When season two premiered in the US in January (three years after series one), there was a whopping 126 per cent increase in subscribers.
For non-subscribers this may be a bit, “So what?” Nonetheless, the previously cult-y science fiction-cum-psychological thriller set inside/outside giant biotech corporation Lumon – where some staff have opted for ‘severance’, a medical procedure enabling them to separate their working selves from their out-of-office lives – is now a bona fide phenomenon.
Created by Dan Erickson, produced (and often directed) by Ben Stiller, there’s nothing else like it on TV.
Severance says interesting stuff about the so-called ‘industrial-medical complex’ and our era’s attractively filtered social media addiction to curated ‘escapism’.
It has also launched a million-plus internet memes, some witty merchandise and countless chat-room debates.
Award-winning drama Black Mirror has returned to TV screens for its seventh season, and it appears the new series’ first clever, dark, hour-long episode, Common People, has already been a hit with viewers and critics alike (Chris O’Dowd and Rashida Jones pictured)
In the new series, Chris O’Dowd and Rashida Jones (pictured) play working-class Irish-American couple Mike and Amanda
Indeed, it’s such a gift for down-the-rabbit-holers that having its theme as your phone’s ringtone (guilty!) is entry level.
While entirely different in style and content, the buzz around Severance reminds me of that surrounding another quirky, Marmite-y series from (OMG!) 35 years ago: David Lynch’s surreal horror-mystery Twin Peaks.
But – I hear you cry! – isn’t this a review of Netflix’s acclaimed show Black Mirror, created by Charlie Brooker, which is now back for its seventh series? It is indeed!
The new series first, clever, dark, hour-long episode Common People – only partly a nod to the Pulp song – has so many similarities to the Apple TV+ hit that it’s potentially a non-Severance viewer’s ‘gateway’ drug.
Chris O’Dowd and Rashida Jones play working-class Irish-American couple Mike and Amanda.
He welds, she teaches elementary school, and after three years of marriage they haven’t yet managed to conceive.
When Amanda suddenly collapses with a brain tumour, Mike is told nothing can be done… oh, except for a brand new medical intervention.
Mike’s introduced to Gaynor (fabulously chilling Tracee Ellis Ross) from Rivermind, a biotech start-up selling a unique product.
However, when Amanda suddenly collapses with a brain tumour, Mike is told nothing can be done… oh, except for a brand new medical intervention
Mike’s introduced to Gaynor (fabulously chilling Tracee Ellis Ross) from Rivermind, a biotech start-up selling a unique product
‘We make a back-up of part of her brain,’ Gaynor explains. ‘Then remove the tumour, replacing it with synthetic receiver tissue… Then, the Rivermind system transmits cognitive function from the back-up on the cloud-based server’
‘We make a back-up of part of her brain,’ Gaynor explains. ‘Then remove the tumour, replacing it with synthetic receiver tissue… Then, the Rivermind system transmits cognitive function from the back-up on the cloud-based server.’
The surgery’s ‘Free! For the streaming we run a subscription model. It’s $300 a month.’
Mike signs up and within moments Amanda’s back in the room, apparently none the worse… That’s when the fun starts – if your idea of ‘fun’ is a blackly comedic biomedical dystopia with sufficient way-we-live-now resonance to make you pause for thought, if not give you sleepless nights.
If you wanted to access even more escapist ‘fun’, you could upgrade your own subscriptions. Perhaps move from Netflix’s Standard to Premium, or add Apple TV+ and Paramount+.
Staying in is the new going out and it’s addictive; you have been warned!
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The new season has already been a hit with critics as The Telegraph’s Chris Bennion awarded the show five stars, writing: ‘If the previous two series felt curiously flat, this one fizzes with invention, humour and love, and finds the joy in the darkest of corners. Brooker’s back.’
Jack Seale at The Guardian: penned: ‘Tender sentiment touches instalments starring the likes of Chris O’Dowd, Rashida Jones and Paul Giamatti. But it hasn’t lost its demon side – you’ll cackle with laughter at some of the chaos.’ He awarded the season four stars.
Another four star review came from John Nugent at Empire, writing: Over a decade since he forced a prime minister to do terrible things with a pig, Charlie Brooker is still pulling the rug from under our feet in thrillingly ambitious ways.
Mike signs up and within moments Amanda’s back in the room, apparently none the worse… That’s when the fun starts
‘This is another eye-popping, brain-melting run of episodes.’
The Times‘ Carol Midgley loudly praised Emma and Issa’s performance, admitting they ‘shined’ in the new series before awarding the series four stars.
Carol wrote: ‘I have always found to be more affecting the closer it is to real life and this one is still playing on my mind — a good thing.
‘Brooker is on form. Given that there have now been 34 episodes, you do wonder when/if his vast imagination will run out.’
India Block at The Standard gave a high four star rating, penning: ‘Charlie Brooker delivers a welcome return to form’.
However, The Independent’s Nick Hilton gave the series a disappointing two out of five stars.
He wrote: ‘This latest season of Black Mirror just doesn’t carry the same punch that it used to.’
Meanwhile, RadioTimes‘ Morgan Cormack said: ‘A testament to everyone involved, season 7 is home to instant classics aplenty that you’ll want to devour in no time at all and will stand the test of time, standing tall against many of Black Mirror’s episodic greats from seasons past’. He gave the series five stars.
