When talking about what genre a television show or movie should be considered, there are some shows that are simply not going to be 100 percent one genre or another. One show on television today that might in fact be near impossible to tag with just one genre is the Apple TV Plus series, Severance. When trying to put the show in one box or another, it quickly becomes obvious that the program has very expertly found a way to cross off a couple of different boxes. The Apple TV Plus show actually does this so well, it’s not a stretch to think that other shows are going to be trying to copy what Severance does in some way shape, or form for years to come.
Most people agree there are 11 different genres that any movie or television series can fit into it. Action, Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction, Slice of Life, Sports, Thriller, War and Western are the ones that programs are usually divided into these days, though there are some who think there are more. There are some who think there are less. But 11 genres appear to be about the best number someone can come up with when it comes to defining what sort of movie or television show a property is these days. There is an argument to be made that this first season of Severance fits into six of those genres over the course of its initial run.
Severance As Horror
While Severance was first billed as a series that would focus on work/life balance, it doesn’t take long for the show to go down the horror path completely. Things at Lumon start out just being weird. But when employees at the company start getting sent to the “breakroom” the show takes a very dark turn.
It’s here that the show gets quite spooky. There’s the fact that people are made to repeat a kind of apology over and over while there is some kind of mumbling or moaning or crying going on in the background. While weirdness is the name of the game when it comes to Severance, this is more than a little weird.
If that doesn’t allow the show to go from merely being a thriller to actually embracing horror, then the scene where the man is feeding baby goats in Episode 5 of Severance certainly takes the show there. That scene starts off spooky enough, with Mark and Helly hearing a very odd sound as they walk the halls of Lumon that are already built to be a kind of maze that is freaky enough. Then they run into a man who is feeding baby goats and tell the pair that the goats “aren’t ready” several times. For now, the Apple TV series hasn’t filled in any of the dots on just what the goats are for, and allowing the audience to try and figure that out will certainly push people down some dark roads.
Severance As Romance
Considering that Severance goes out of its way to be weird, it’s a bit surprising to really stop and thing about how much of the show involves romance. However, it turns out that romance is at the very heart of the show. The very first episode of Severance starts off with Mark clearly not over the loss of his wife.
Then there are the workplace romances. Because this is Lumon, those romances are set up in a way that is far from normal, but they are still very interesting. There’s Mark trying to make another relationship work when he meets a friend of his sister. That has some rather up and down moments before it’s eventually nuked by his continued love for his wife and the weirdness that is his workplace. There’s also Mark and Helly, who seemed to have finally realized their Innies were a romantic match towards the end of the season, just in time for the audience to wonder what’s going to happen to split them up in Severance Season 2
There’s also the Burt and Irving storyline that is all about tragic star-crossed lovers who met at the wrong time and in the wrong place. It might be the cutest romance of the whole show and it’s cut short after Lumon finds out that it’s going on and decides that Burt needs to “retire.”
There might even be a romance that isn’t really addressed but could exist when it comes to Mr. Milchick and Dylan. There are still some real questions about why Milchick was in Dylan’s house and closet when he invoked the Overtime Protocol. It seems like the fact that both men were literally in a closet and neither seemed to find that all too strange has some implications for Season 2.
Blending The Genres
There are other genres that this season of Severance covered that are quite obvious, including the thriller and science fiction genres. It doesn’t take much to see how those two boxes are checked off rather quickly, considering the show is about a procedure that allows people to have no memory of their private lives while working and no memory of their work lives when they are at home in Severance. The thriller part of the show is also not a hard one to figure out considering there are some actual chase scenes and weird mysteries to unravel right from the jump.
That Severance is able to combine so many genres into one show the way that it does is why it could very well be the best new show on “television” in the last few years. Ben Stiller and the rest of the people that are behind the show have done a masterful job of keeping people who enjoy all those different genres engaged and wanting to come back for more. Luckily for the loyal audience, they will indeed be able to come back so they can see how a few of the bigger questions are answered in its second season.
Severance Season 1 is available now on Apple TV Plus.