I just finished watching Severance Season 2, and... wow... it’s an experience.
I can highly recommend to anyone who hasn't watched it to watch it, especially if you are a fan of sci-fi and very "tight" narratives.

The show is stunning, especially the cinematography, which is simplistic yet incredibly refined. Every shot feels intentional, flows seamlessly into the next, with camera angles and movement that aren’t just there to tell a story - they are the story. The visual language of this show is so precise that it becomes part of the narrative itself, adding layers of meaning without needing words.

Reflecting on both seasons, it’s clear the creators have paid meticulous attention to every detail. Season 1, because it was on a tighter budget, as all first seasons tend to do, used every dollar to its advantage - leaning on spaces, shot structures and best in class use of those spaces instead of a bunch of VFX. It’s a masterclass in how limited resources can enhance the storytelling. And the revelations of characters sync beautifully with the viewer’s revelations: as the characters learn, so do we, which keeps us emotionally and mentally aligned with them. That kind of ludo-narrative synchronicity is rare, and Severance nails it.

Season 2 expands everything - scope, scale, lore - yet it still feels the same. It actually plays with expectations (spoiler alert), especially early on when it almost tricks you into thinking the cast has changed, only to reveal in the same episode that they are not! The visual style evolves too, with a noticeable emphasis on lines - everything in Lumon is clean, structured, almost oppressive, contrasting with the softness and almost humanity of certain elements like the roundness of terminals. It’s uses it's set design to really drive the point home about the psychological aspect of the world of Severance.

And the cast is phenomenal. I've not known much about Patricia Arquette before this show, but she brings a terrifying calm, while John Turturro and Christopher Walken add an emotional plot that I did not expect. The way casting elevates the written characters is remarkable - these actors bring more than what’s on the page, transforming roles into something uniquely alive. And the way DOPs positioning characters in shots, how they use the dead space, the framing - it all enhances and required for the story and speaks to the emotions that you would feel in a world like this. Outside the Lumon walls however, the world feels different as it feels alive and therefore shot very tight; inside, it’s controlled, it's shot like a CCTV footage so you can see as much as possible, while seeing nothing.

Severance doesn’t feel like a show - it’s more like a long, segmented film. But it requires it. It's not something that you can pop into for an hour and get out. You have to live in it. Like the game Portal, the deeper you go, the more layers unravel, yet even more questions remain. It’s makes you think, asking not just “Can Mark save his wife?” but “Why was any of this done in the first place?” "The work is mysterious and important…" - that's what they say. And with Season 3 on the horizon, I’m looking forward to see what they bring. It’s rare for me to have a show to leave such an imprint - but Severance absolutely does.