Apple TV+’s

Severance

depicts a workplace — Lumon Industries — that requires its employees to have brain surgery that splits their memories between their work and home lives. Essentially, this means that when they come into work, they forget everything about their life on the outside, and when they leave work, they forget everything they did there. The brain surgery, named (surprise!) ‘severance,’ creates two different selves that are stored in the same body. The work self’s consciousness is only active at work, so one of the split consciousnesses gets to be on break permanently while the other one works without fail. It doesn’t get to do so much as sleep.

Just imagine what you could do with this procedure if it really existed. You could create a clone to eat your Commons chicken for you. You, the other consciousness, would get the calories and the nourishment, but someone else would take over your body to do the eating. Sounds great, right? And why stop there? In

Severance

, a minor character undergoes the procedure to avoid having to go through labor, so she got her children without the pain of giving birth to them.

There are sinister undertones to almost everything in

Severance

. One of the key aspects of the severance procedure is that it prevents those who work at Lumon from remembering anything that happens down there once they leave. Arguably the central question of the show is ‘what the hell are the main characters actually doing at work,’ but there are loads of others. We know very little of what their floor actually looks like beyond the office, though a crude map provides dozens of tantalizing details.

Severance

is a show about mystery. Other shows have their fair share of suspense; this show

is

suspense.

Here is an example: It is clear early on that employees at Lumon are subjected to pretty gnarly punishments if they step out of line, though exactly what those punishments are is kept secret for a while. Characters reference the ‘break room’ with trepidation a few times, which is where the employees are sent if they misbehave. Towards the end of episode two, you find out what goes on in the break room. I watched the episode with a friend, and such was the malevolent mystique built up around the break room that when it became clear we were going to find out what went on in there, we were both leaning towards the screen as if that would make the reveal happen sooner. The reveal was great and inventive, but what I will remember more is that instant of delightfully pure anticipation. There were larger plot points in the episode, but in that moment, all that mattered was knowing what the break room entailed.

Severance

more or less keeps you in that state of anticipation for the whole time you are watching. The show is meticulously designed to make you feel just a little bit uncomfortable all the time. Practically every detail left me wanting to learn more; everything from the food the Lumon employees ate to an odd word choice from one of their bosses felt like it had the potential to be absolutely pivotal. With perhaps a lone exception, every single episode in the first season ends on a cliffhanger.

The show’s riveting finale took the anticipation up to the extreme, weaving a few different plots together to form an utterly pulsating 40 minutes of television. The critics I have read are calling it one of the best finales ever. I am a fairly reserved person, but I alternately screamed obscenities at my laptop and swiped notebooks off my desk during the finale’s many twists and turns.

My point is this: go watch

Severance

. I have danced around actually describing the storyline because to spoil even the smallest plot points feels like malpractice when handling such an intricate show. The first season, which is nine episodes, has now been fully released on Apple TV+. The main characters are compelling, well-acted and vastly different. Mystery after mystery is explained, though dozens of things are left up in the air even after the finale.

Some critics are saying that

Severance

is not a bingeable show and that you should let the insanity digest. I am not sure if I agree; I think getting to instantly watch the next episode after a cliffhanger can be gratifying as hell. Whether you watch it over the course of nine hours or 900, you will love it. Watch with a friend, or friends, or by yourself. Consult the internet for the most sane and insane theories. Take screenshots of the most bizarre moments. Rewatch bits that feel like they could be clues. Enjoy every minute of it, then please come find me when you are done so I can talk your ear off about it.