The Answer Severance Fans Have Been Looking For Was There All Along

Apple TV ’s sci-fi hit Severance starring Adam Scott as the leader of Lumon Industries’ Macrodata Refinement department has been stuck in its viewers’ head for 2 years straight, until the second season landed on the platform a couple of weeks ago.

A true sci-fi delicacy, Severance transforms the “life-work balance” notion and takes it to another, way more technological and absurdist level while never making it clear whether the whole story unfolds in the near or probably quite distant future.

This was the one thought that kept Severance’s fans awake at night, yet the answer they have been looking for was actually given years ago.

Severance Timeline Has Been Confusing the Show’s Fans Ever Since Season 1

Given that Severance’s plot revolves around a technology that has no ways to be implemented in modern-day office routine (yet…), the series’ fans have been wondering whether everything that happens in Severance takes place in future or rather not, since Lumon Industries’ office looks pretty much modern, if not outdated.

Some viewers couldn’t resolve the puzzle themselves, turning the whole matter into discussions on Reddit.

“It’s interesting that Lumon is technologically advanced enough to be able to sever the minds of their employees, but the office and even its equipment are so outdated,” said Reddit user orangefreckle-.

Another fan started another Reddit conversation, pointing out that it is really difficult to understand the timeline in which the show takes place.

“I haven't been able to establish what year it is. The technology exists to create the severance so I feel that could be now or in the future however the computers they use, AV technology are dated,” added Redditor ItchyMitchy101.

Others also tuned it sharing their own thoughts about the narrative, yet no one in there seemed to be completely sure about their guesses.

Severance’s Creator Made it All Clear Back in 2022

The fans’ confusion is pretty understandable, especially since Lumon’s office and devices do look outdated, but the outer world looks pretty normal and modern.

However, it’s Lumon Industries that seems to have been complicating things for the viewers as, like Severance’s creator Dan Erickson revealed upon the first season’s arrival back in 2022, the whole story unfolds “around now, it’s like vaguely now-ish. We’re not going for something where this is 10 years in the future where severance has been invented and already exists. It’s sort of an alternate, vaguely now-ish timeline.”

This actually comes as some kind of a nod to the show’s generally surrealistic narrative which brings the characters and the viewers closer by, well, confusing them all even more.

Source: TheWrap