Entertainment
If You Miss ‘Severance,’ This Forgotten 4-Season Sci-Fi Series Is the Perfect Replacement
Severance’s premiere in 2022 on Apple TV+ was a game-changer for those waiting for the return of the golden age of television. It wasn’t just the critique of corporate America. The Adam Scott vehicle was strange and specific in all the right ways. The story of a corporation “severing” their home and work memories has fans urging the show to release more stories following its Season 2 hiatus.
While Severance takes some time in between seasons, viewers can still get their fill with another mind-bending series. Before Severance, Prime Video took its chance with another wild swing, The Man in the High Castle. Adapted from the Philip K. Dick science fiction novel, the four-season series has all the themes and social commentary that could satisfy Severance fans.
‘The Man in the High Castle’ Traps Characters In An Inescapable Nightmare
At first glance, The Man in the High Castle and Severance seem worlds apart. Though at their core they are discussing two wildly different stories, they use the same mechanics to tell that story. The alternate history uses the setup of entrapment, just as Severance does. One of the best Prime Video shows follows the lives of several characters in the 1960s who live in a universe where Nazi Germany won World War II. The United States has been colonized, split between the Third Reich and the Japanese Empire.
Juliana Crain (Alexa Davalos) lives in Japan-colonized San Francisco when she comes across a mysterious roll of film. This movie posits that there is a reality where the Allies won the war, and the Nazis were defeated. Juliana and a cast of characters struggle to find a way to that reality, but there is a lot of real estate between her and her goal. Like the Innies in Severance, she is trapped in an ongoing nightmare that never seems to end.
The Innies have no control over their own lives, forced to live in an endless loop. Their only recourse is to do something about it. Juliana has her own cross to bear, unable to sit by and allow this all-consuming fascism to continue. Both shows are about enlightenment, as these characters have to essentially “wake up” and fight against what seems like a daunting and unrelenting force.
There is hope in these narratives, no matter how bleak it may seem. They find their own sources of resistance in worlds that are the worst versions that could exist. These are high-concept stories that demand the attention of the viewers. Both Severance and The Man in the High Castle accomplish this by delivering shocking moments and jaw-dropping cliffhangers.
A story like Severance ultimately seems like there is only so far it can go. It found a way around that with the cliffhanger that changed everything. Season 1 increased the stakes and the mythology of the series with the shocking revelation that Mark’s (Adam Scott) wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman), was still alive.
The Man in the High Castle also survives by using impactful twists that motivate fans to return season after season. It refuses to rest on its laurels and changes the rules of the world as soon as viewers get comfortable. Though the series veered off the path of the alternate history story that Philip K. Dick set forth, it takes on a life of its own that continues to strike a chord with audiences.
- Release Date
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2015 – 2019-00-00
- Network
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Prime Video
- Showrunner
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Frank Spotnitz
- Directors
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David Semel, Daniel Percival, John Fawcett, Alex Zakrzewski, Karyn Kusama, Nelson McCormick, Brad Anderson, Bryan Spicer, Charlotte Brändström, Chris Long, Colin Bucksey, Daniel Sackheim, David Petrarca, Ernest R. Dickerson, Fred Toye, Jennifer Getzinger, Ken Olin, Michael Rymer, Michael Slovis, Paul Holahan, Richard Heus, Deborah Chow, Steph Green, Meera Menon
- Writers
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Wesley Strick, Rob Williams, David Scarpa, Erik Oleson, Jace Richdale, Rick Cleveland, Thomas Schnauz, Mark Richard, Chris Collins, Kalen Egan, Elizabeth Benjamin, Emma Frost, Eric Overmyer, Eric Simonson, Julie Hébert, Walon Green, William N. Fordes, Evan Wright, Lolis Eric Elie, Francesca Gardiner, Dre Ryan, Chris Wu
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