It is difficult to guess the tastes of those responsible for original content of AppleTV+ based on what they are releasing lately, since the strategy seems to be to lay eggs in different baskets to see which one hatches. That can cause a service to end up sinning indefinitely, but for the moment they are allowing some freedom that favors creators to give them a distinctive touch that other series do not have right now.
Currently there is no better example in its entire catalog than ‘Separación’ (‘Severance’), a series directed (mostly) by ben stiller and created by Dan Erickson which proposes a fascinating satire on the work environment finely sprinkled with science fiction details. Although it would be easy to sell it as a quirky and prestigious version of ‘The Office’, or as if the combo of Charlie Kauffman and Spike Jonze offered their own interpretation of ‘Trash Work’ (‘Office Space’), the truth is that the series dodges complacent trends to shape its own style.
Junk Job 2022
We already talked about ‘Separation’ but we remind you of the starting point in case you are hearing about it now: a powerful patented biotech corporation a procedure that allows your employees to separate their personal memories from those of the workplace. In other words, the workers enter the office and begin to “forget themselves”, taking action a small faction of their personality whose world is the four walls of the building and the only information they know is what the company decides share with them.
The series itself is managing the information we have on how this corporation works and what role these workers who only exist in this confined space really play, as well as introducing us to the external world versions of said workers and why they have chosen to participate in such a procedure. Your first contacts can be somewhat frustrating Precisely because of how little we know about this world and how extravagant the work environment it draws becomes, but Stiller and Erickson know how to create a certain tension within this ignorance.
It helps that while its wacky comedy component may exaggerate certain elements, all that it says about how big corporations treat their employees remains anchored to some extent in plausible office situations. Not all of us have worked for a corporation like Industrias Lumon, but we can relate to reality how exploits its workers as mere cogs, how he disguises unkind impositions with smiles and terms empty of meaning, how he maintains opacity about his questionable practices, or how he sometimes skips that division between work and personal spheres. And we also know people who buy into the business philosophy almost like a religious cult.
We are pieces in a gear
At first it can feel like your metaphor is eating up character development space, prioritizing a mystery that you effectively manage, answering enough questions to keep us guessing, but not to the point where too many new questions arise from those answers. However, his work on the emotional arcs of the characters, both inside and outside the office, are also meticulously developedestablishing elements that then trigger in the various emotional punches that its fast-paced final episode unleashes.
We are not going to detail what happens in said episode to respect the surprises, but suffice to say that it gives a barbaric progression to everything that we have been learning about these workers, and gives a logical conclusion to your ideas around the loss of innocence about the reality of work and about the necessary solidarity between employees of the same rank. Erickson, a screenwriter with a long career, pours here part of his work experiences and the different collective struggles carried out by his union to avoid being devoured by a ruthless industry.
‘Separation’: a fast-paced ending that lives up to what it promises
That’s why, although Separation introduces us to a sci-fi dystopia, what it tells feels quite real. The proper development of its story and its emotional effectiveness is also possible thanks to the fabulous direction of Stiller and his collaborators, who always maintain a balanced tone between the absurd and the tragic, sustaining a thriller with a steady hand. Exquisite actor direction, stunning production design, and a quirky soundtrack help solidify this world and the aesthetic of a series that stays true to itself until the very end.
Its impressive final episode turns out a triumph in all the sections that this project aspires toand also leaves viewers in awe and wanting production to begin as soon as possible on an already confirmed second season.