Séamas O'Reilly: Why I’m content to call Severance the best show of the year so far

Seamas O'Reilly. Picture: Orfhlaith Whelan

As Severance’s second season nears its climax over the next two weeks, I’m content to call it the best show of the year so far. For those who don’t know, Severance returned to the alarmingly good but terminally hype-resistant streaming platform Apple+ in January, following a stellar first season in 2022.

Its premise is annoyingly great: in an undefined near-future time, the medical procedure of the show’s title allows you to ‘sever’ your home self from your work self, via a brain-chip that activates once you enter your place of employment. Following said procedure, your ‘Innie’ will know nothing of anything but work, while your ‘Outie’ will retain zero recall of what you do in your office all day. For employers, zero risk of confidential or proprietary information leaking to the outside world. For employees, the most perfect possible expression of that most coveted phenomenon: work-life balance. You enter the lift to your office at nine and, almost instantaneously, find that you’re exiting it at five.