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Time for another tv recommendation: Severance. In my opinion it's the first show in a while that quality-wise stands among the other greats of the "golden age of television"; or at least it has done so far. It has an interesting combination of dark comedy, satire, character work, and philosophical introspection with a heaping dose of mystery. If you're unaware what the show is about or have heard nothing about it, here's a teaser; I wouldn't seek out more for fear of spoilers.
It was a long, long gap between seasons 1 and 2 (the former aired near the end of 2022, the latter is airing now). But it's the first sort of "appointment viewing" for me and my friends in a while, and we've decided to get together as a group every other week or so and watch the new episodes. It's nice to experience these things with other people and it's the kind of show that very much benefits from group discussion/reflection.
I watched S1 a while ago, and I just couldn't understand the hype. The basic premise and mystery seemed interesting enough, but they didn't really explore enough to carry an entire show. The cast of characters could've carried it, but they just didn't, and I found myself just not caring about them, especially involving that romantic subplot with Christopher Walken's character. The strongest part was probably with that woman early on in the season exploring the premise as sort of the audience-surrogate rookie entering the job for the first time, but even that felt stronger on shock value than actually playing with the premise interestingly. In the end, I think I wished that S1 had been the first third of a season, setting up things for actual story that used the premise in a fun way.
Just from this alone, you would probably enjoy what they're doing in S2 far more. Most of S1 is setup, whereas S2 dives into far more of the lingering questions that were set up in previous episodes (and in doing so creates more questions than before). The pacing feels much faster in this one, significantly so, and several things have already happened within the first couple episodes of the season that I only expected to happen in the season finale.
I won't say they never string the audience along with plot points, but there's certainly a lot more moving parts in this season than in the deliberately slow pacing of the previous one.
I liked season 1, but then I've stayed with From like an abused partner. That show is the worst mystery box Lost writer's nightmare I've ever watched. Nothing ever happens.
I'm looking forward to season 2 of Severance though. I watched the first episode and thought they replaced most of the main cast until the end haha.
Is your plan to refrain from watching on the weekly episode release dates and wait for the whole thing to release before consuming it? Because I actually think that might be a good idea (if you're confident about not stumbling upon spoilers). One of my biggest gripes about this show is the way Apple TV has decided to release it - I find Severance hugely benefits from being able to build momentum through a couple of episodes, and watching episodically is a good bit more disjointed than having an experience where one episode dovetails into the next. I watched S1 in one go and prefer that experience, as opposed to S2 which I'm watching as the episodes are being released.
Honestly, I would probably have DNF'd the first season if I had been forced to consume it episodically. This season, in contrast with the previous, seems like it's trying to mess with your head every episode - the weekly instalments feel much more idea-rich and complete narratively, and I still feel slightly frustrated with having to wait through a week-long break every single time.
If I'm honest I'll probably watch haphazardly. I've already saved up a couple of episodes due to other entertainment priorities.
I do feel your pain with showrunners doing BS cliffhangers. Except for a few series that benefit from digestion and watercoolers, I think binging at your own pace is the superior watching strategy.
Not that'll deliberately wait until seasons end for a weekly release I'm hooked on..
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