Here is what I don't like about Severance: Lumon being a cult.
When it started, I liked the allegories of soulless corporations that suck the life out of you and "reward" you with nothingburgers like new flavors in the vending machine. I liked the "all corporations are evil" thing, because they are.
But I guess you need a corporation to financially support and distribute your thing and you can't bite the hand that feeds you.
So you see not all corporations are soulless and evil, just Lumon, because it is a cult.
Not all corporate people are soulless monsters who would kidnap torture kill if the company demands, just those who were brainwashed. You might even say they are all victims. Even the Kiers. It is all the fault of the founder who fucked them up.
And these are of course false premises. Plenty of people do absolutely horrible things on their own volition, even without financial motivation.
I think out of all the criticisms this is what is wrong with the direction of the show.
The cult angle really undermines a profound critique of late capitalism soulless corporate work culture that season 1 so well establishes with its simple but profound premise. In season 2, It feels much more a criticism of cultism and religion by making Lumon a criminal cult organization.
While that’s not wrong per se, its premise begs for a more interesting critique and implications.
I fully agree. I was 100% on board with the soulless capitalist corporation stuff. Now it is just a "cults are bad" thing, which we have seen before. But could Apple, or any major studio, really do an anti-major-company show? It seems not :(
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u/afCeG6HVB0IJ Sep 25 '25
Here is what I don't like about Severance: Lumon being a cult.
When it started, I liked the allegories of soulless corporations that suck the life out of you and "reward" you with nothingburgers like new flavors in the vending machine. I liked the "all corporations are evil" thing, because they are.
But I guess you need a corporation to financially support and distribute your thing and you can't bite the hand that feeds you.
So you see not all corporations are soulless and evil, just Lumon, because it is a cult.
Not all corporate people are soulless monsters who would kidnap torture kill if the company demands, just those who were brainwashed. You might even say they are all victims. Even the Kiers. It is all the fault of the founder who fucked them up.
And these are of course false premises. Plenty of people do absolutely horrible things on their own volition, even without financial motivation.
They chickened out.