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Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
January 5, 2023     Shelton Mason County Journal
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January 5, 2023
 
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Page 16 Shelton-Mason Journal Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023 Review: ‘Severance’ is a nightmare of modern tech continued from page megalithic headquarters for the Ea- gans’ company, Lumon Industries, but also to the point that various area locales are named after their family. Beneath the towering Lumon In- dustries building lies a labyrinthine subterranean workplace facility of oversized offices stocked with oddly antiquated desktop computers, and even more voluminous production and manufacturing spaces, that manage to feel both industrial and clinically antiseptic. . The cubicle drones of what Lumon calls its “Macrodata Refinement” divi- sion crunch numbers they don’t une derstand, for reasons they’re never told. Meanwhile, the labcoat-clad engineers and developers of Lumon’s “Optics and’Design” division churn out everything from painstakingly detailed corporate propaganda art- work, bordering on religious idolatry, to seemingly random tools and trin- kets, with no clue as to their possible broader purpose. Lumon seems to produce every— thing and nothing, and its employees are forbidden from making maps of their own workplace’s virtually end- less hallways, whose motion—sensing lights ensure those halls grow darker the longer they’re disused. A pair of wandering workers discover an iso- lated department staffed by a single employee, whose sole function is to feed baby goats. Lumon is so secretive, it’s 360.898.248l l www.hcc.net pioneered a “severance” program that separates its employees’ working and nonworking memories, so employees can’t remember anything they do at work, and when they’re at work, they can’t remember any aspect of their lives outside of Lumon. Should I have led with that exis- tentially terrifying premise? “Severance” feels like the dark dream of modern tech executives come true. What better way to pre- clude the complaints of worker bees who want to telecommute from home than to ensure they forget all their workplace miseries as soon as they’re off the clock for the day? The show’s aesthetic reads at least partially like a satire of the Steve Jobs era of Apple - ironically enough, given the streaming service that’s hosting it —— while also drawing from the zeitgeist of the 1970s and ’803, as well as a Soviet Bloc coldness. Sci-fl author Philip K. Dick, whose stories became the basis for “Blade Runner” and “Total Recall,” would have loved how “Severance” plays with the nature of how memory af- fects identity. The Lumon employees are depicted as becoming practically different people at work, versus at home, to the degree that one dis- gruntled worker plots against her off- . hours self, who in turn treats her own workplace self like a slave, and less than human. The cast is impeccable. Adam Scott transforms his comically se- date bewilderment from “Parks and AchieVe yocir goals With fast internet and strong WIFl. Dis,Count applied as 12 monthly credits based on service. Services , must remain active to receive full discount. Some restrictions may . apply. Offer subject to change without notice.Cannot be combined With other offers. Offer ends 3/31/23. I 006': .C‘o O. l ‘1 t Recreation” into a depressed yet re- signed weariness that I suspect will feel uncomfortably familiar to those who have weathered stretches in their lives when simply waking up was a slog. Patricia Arquette is as compelling and forbidding as Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel, in playing the core charac- ters’ ruthlessly duplicitous boss, and Tramell Tillman is intimidatingly insincere in his plastic positivity as the floor supervisor for the “severed” employees. This is the first role I’ve seen Till- man in, but his fixed grin and artifi- cially forced casualness are chilling recreations of every middle manager who makes a performance out of wanting to be his workers’ “friend.” Britt Lower delivers another standout performance from an actor with whom I was previously unfamil- iar, as the appropriately nicknamed “Helly,” a new hire in Lumon’s Macro- data Refinement division, whose war between her “innie” and “outie” selves takes on nationwide political stakes when her secrets are revealed. John Turturro and Christopher Walken are deservedly known for their dramatic excesses as actors, and while their characters share a humor- ous meticulousness in “Severance,” the mutual attraction that grows from this trait is understated and genuinely moving, especially when. they’re confronted with the implica— tions of “retirement” for “severed” employees, whose workplace selves ROOFERS & LABORERS -* Competitive wages D.0.E. 401k/ROTH (after 1 year) * Health insurance (after 2 months) * Vacation Pay (alterl year) * Quarterly Safety Bonus Year-Round ONE DAY Services in most cases ' 24 hour EMERGENCY services available 0 COMPLETE roofing services for all your residential, commercial and industrial roofing needs (roofing experience reeommended’but not necessary) , Low interest financing 0.A.c. or 10% Cash Back Bonus available. Your Full Service Roofer Since 1959/ w , ,cnu. 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But what’s been hinted at has been more than enough to keep my inter- est engaged, and what’s disclosed by the end of the first season makes it worth your while to watch it more than once. Moving onto the reader participa— tion portion of this column, the post- New Year winter months are always a bit lean for new onscreen entertain- ment, and that looks to be especially true this year. So, just as you help— fully chimed in with your preferences about whether I should watch more big-screen or streaming content, so too will I now ask for your sugges- tions about any films or TV shows in particular that you believe I should be watching. With any luck, we might both dis— cover something fun and new. 1131 w. 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