Severance

Full Series Synopsis Severance (Until The First Season)

1. Mark Scout (Adam Scott)
   The main protagonist, a docile and friendly MDR employee as “Innie”. Mark loses his wife, Gemma, in a car accident before the story begins, which prompts him to undergo severance to escape grief. As” Outie“, Mark is a lonely man and struggles with trauma, but as” Innie", he appears cheerful despite beginning to be suspicious of Lumon.
2. Helly Riggs (Britt Lower)
   A new member of the MDR team who passionately but soon rebelled against oppressive working conditions. Helly struggles to understand why her “Outie”chose to work at Lumon, and her challenging attitude triggers a change in team dynamics.
3. Dylan George (Zach Cherry)
   MDR members are charismatic and competitive, often seeking awards from Lumon such as “waffle party”. When Dylan begins to find clues about their work, he becomes the catalyst to unearth the truth.
4. Irving Bailiff (John Turturro)
   MDR employees are fiercely loyal to Lumon's rules and obsessed with the company's handbook. Irving has a deep emotional connection to his coworker, Burt, from another department, which adds a layer of complexity to his character.
5. Seth Milchick (Jen Tullock)
   MDR supervisors are always smiling yet manipulative. Milchick strictly enforced Lumon's rules, often using a psychological approach to maintain employee compliance.
6. Harmony Cobel/Mrs. Selvig (Patricia Arquette)
   The mysterious and cold boss of MDR, Harmony has a hidden agenda and seems very faithful to Lumon's vision. Outside the office, she disguises herself as Mrs. Selvig, tetangga Mark, yang memperumit hubungan antara dunia “Innie” dan “Outie”.
7. Burt Goodman (Christopher Walken)
   Kepala departemen Optics and Design, yang memiliki hubungan dekat dengan Irving. Burt is a gentle but secretive character, reflecting an inner conflict about loyalty to Lumon.

• The Beginning Of The Story: The series opens with Mark Scout going about his routine as “Innie” at Lumon, working alongside Irving and Dylan at MDR. Their task involves sorting out the numbers on a computer screen based on a certain “feeling”, without a clear explanation of the purpose. Helly's arrival as a replacement for the mysteriously departed team members introduces tension, as Helly refuses to abide by the rules and begins to question the strange work environment.
• Atmosphere and mystery of Lumon: Lumon's office is described as an endless maze of white corridors, with a retro-futuristic design that mixes modern technology and 1960s aesthetics. Employees are closely watched, and minor infractions such as talking about the outside world or trying to explore restricted areas are punished with Sessions in the “Break Room”, a psychological interrogation room. Lumon also worships its founder, Kier Eagan, with a cult of personality that includes sculptures, quotes and bizarre rituals such as the “waffle party” or a visit to the “Perpetuity Wing”, a museum that glorifies the company's history.
• Rebellion and Discovery: When the MDR team began to find clues about the nature of their work—including secret maps of the office, interactions with other departments such as Optics and Design, and information from outside—they realized that Lumon was hiding something much bigger. Mark, Helly, Dylan, and Irving begin to work together to uncover the truth, despite their actions endangering their “Innie” and “Outie”. Meanwhile, in the outside world, Mark unknowingly begins to connect with people who oppose Lumon, including a mysterious contact who knows more about severance.
• Identity Conflict: The essence of Severance is a question of identity and autonomy. The characters grapple with the fact that their “Innie” is a separate entity that has no control over the decisions of the “Outie”. Helly, in particular, faces an existential crisis about whether she is truly “human” if only inside the office. Emotional connections, like the romance between Irving and Burt, add a humanitarian dimension to their struggle against a dehumanizing system.
• Tension Peak: The first season builds towards a climax where the MDR team attempts to break the severance barrier to connect the worlds of” Innie “and”Outie". Their efforts uncover secrets about Lumon's goals, severance procedures, and even Mark's own past. Cobel's harmony, seemingly loyal to Lumon, begins to show complex motives, while close scrutiny from Milchick and other Lumon executives raises the stakes.

• Identity and memory: The series explores what it means to be human when memory and experience are separated. Is "Innie “the same person as”Outie"? Who has the right to their body and mind?
• Corporatism and exploitation: Lumon is a metaphor for modern companies that control employees through toxic work cultures, surveillance, and psychological manipulation.
• Freedom vs. Control: The severance procedure describes the loss of autonomy, in which individuals give up their freedom in favor of comfort or escape from trauma.
• Mystery and conspiracy: The series is full of questions about what Lumon actually does, why severance was created, and what is the relationship between employees and the founder of the company, Kier Eagan.

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