The new footage from Severance season 2 just dropped and I’m already excited. This show’s premise is genius, especially when you compare it to dissociative disorders like DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder, commonly referred to as “split personality”).
For those who haven’t seen it, the basic idea is that people undergo a procedure called “severance” that splits their consciousness in two. They have an “innie” self for work and an “outie” self for…well, the rest of life. It’s like voluntary dissociation.But here’s where it gets really interesting.
Some characters choose to “sever” as a way to cope with trauma. They can literally leave their traumatic memories and live a few hours a day in blissful ignorance. It’s like they’re protecting their “innie” self from pain.
This is SO similar to how people with DID often develop alters as a response to trauma. The new identity acts as a shield, taking on the painful experiences so the rest of the system doesn’t have to. It’s involuntary for people with DID, of course, but the underlying drive to escape trauma is the same.
And then there’s the added layer of control. With severance, it’s a choice, albeit a complicated one (ethically, socially, morally, and scientifically 😉) In the real world this is usually considered a maladaptive mechanism and it’s interesting to explore how the company, and society at large, find it effective and desirable.
There’s more to the plot, but this is one aspect I love exploring. There are many more aspects of the show’s mental landscape I find fascinating, for instance the delicate steps taken to manage and control the emotional state of the innies, who are only familiar with their work life (Setting work quotas, rewarding the workers with seemingly meaningless incentives. Like totalitarian regimes, they fulfill urges in order to prevent rebellion, even going as far as granting sexual perks, creating fake enemies to and other forms of emotional manipulation), but that’s for another time.
Curious to see how Severance explores these themes further. Will the characters start to blur the lines between their selves? How much emotional pain would that entail? Will they legalize severance and expand, if so how will the innies feel for their first time in a large group?
In any case, looking forward to the new season. If you haven’t watched Severance yet, I highly recommend it. It’s like nothing you’ve seen before. And if you have…let’s theorize in the comments! What do you think will happen next?
