The Reel Rejects - SEVERANCE SEASON 1 Episodes 1, 2, & 3 REVIEW!!

Episode Date: August 17, 2025

LET'S SEE WHAT ALL THE HYPE IS ABOUT!! Severance Full Movie Reaction Watch Along:   / thereelrejects   Start your online business with a $1 per-month trial when you visit https://www.shopify.com/rejects! Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Aparrel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ With the Severance Season 2 garnering HUGE critical acclaim and a slew of Emmy Nominations (including Outstanding Drama Series + Lead & Supporting Actors), Greg & John clock in at last for their Severance Reaction, Recap, Commentary, Analysis & Series Movie Spoiler Review!! Join us as we dive into the mind-bending world of Severance, the hit Apple TV+ sci-fi thriller series created by Dan Erickson and directed in its early episodes by Ben Stiller (Tropic Thunder, Escape at Dannemora). The show follows Mark Scout (Adam Scott – Parks and Recreation, Step Brothers), an employee at Lumon Industries who has undergone a mysterious “severance” procedure separating his work and personal memories into two distinct consciousnesses. In Episode 1 (“Good News About Hell”), we’re introduced to Mark’s eerie work environment, his co-workers Helly R. (Britt Lower – Man Seeking Woman, High Maintenance), Irving Bailiff (John Turturro – The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?), and Dylan George (Zach Cherry – You, Crashing), as well as his enigmatic boss Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette – The Green Mile, Sharp Objects). The unsettling onboarding of Helly R. sets the tone for Lumon’s strange corporate culture. Episode 2 (“Half Loop”) delves deeper into the rules and restrictions of the severed floor, with tense moments like Helly’s repeated escape attempts, Irving’s mysterious hallway wanderings, and the ominous first hints of “the break room.” Outside of work, Mark begins to question the limits of his own divided life. The dual timelines and haunting tone make for standout sequences that have quickly become fan favorites. Greg & John unpack the symbolism, foreshadowing, and corporate dystopia while spotlighting standout performances from the cast, including Christopher Walken (Catch Me If You Can, The Deer Hunter) as Burt Goodman and Tramell Tillman (Hunters, Elementary) as the intimidating Mr. Milchick. From Lumon’s cryptic slogans to Helly’s chilling resignation video, we break down all the details in this Severance deep-dive. Intense Suspense by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/reelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ Music Used In Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Happy Alley by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you to Shopify for sponsoring this video. More on them in just a bit. Let's be smart. Let's be smart. Get our minds bent. All right, guys. Well, we just watched the first three episodes of Severance. Thanks, Prepper, for editing down these highlights.

This is the first Apple TV show that we are covering over here. So we don't know what the copyright is like when it comes. to Apple TV, but hey, hopefully we're able to get all three of these in one video. We have an upload schedule plan for this. As we said, normally, this is going to go up on Sundays. There's going to be like one or two weeks where it's going to be a Saturday and a Sunday, I think, because I want to make sure we get this all up before the Emmys start. But, yeah, we have so many questions from our Royal Rejects.

They drive these reviews, and with something like this, I want to make sure that we can keep it at a reasonably good time frame. here but before we go into any of the questions i which will because i know i know how this goes whatever questions they get some of them might be a little off tangent and then a lot of them will be covering primarily what we probably want to talk about so um john uh just really quick whatever you've been your first impressions over uh this series yeah i'm definitely immensely sucked in and intrigued and it is certainly living up to my hope of the feeling it might be able to conjure up in me.

This is a kind of science fiction, a kind of tone that I really enjoy, love a mindbender and something with a little bit of commentary to pull out of it. So I'm really enjoying this so far. Yeah, I think this is a really great show. It's every episode is, I mean, for a show about like what's going on

in someone's brain and head and the separation there, I am finding this show is hurting my head. like kind of a lot you know it's like man the more we go the less I know and that that kind of feels it's weird it's it's such a challenge because you got to do that with the audience where you want them to be hooked and questioning I haven't really this is what I imagine what people feel like when they're hooked on lost yeah and with this journey that's that is how I've been feeling and you know like I love all the least when I'm thinking are some of the commentary and the metaphors like with corporate work life and how it seems more like religious sort of like dogma cult indoctrination

um i mean that seems like very apparent uh this this also like workplace satire where and uh how like they take so seriously shit they don't even understand or doesn't even seem like a big deal and um you know also the commentary of like you're any being a person who feels like they have no life outside of work and how that can rob your soul of so much so um at the same time it's like while picking up on that in terms of like plot and characters and then whenever they introduce stuff I'm like man this is really hurting my head like there's so much to try to process and like what's going to come I feel like everything is important and I have so much dread and I don't know where to point it yeah everything's important and I don't know what it most of it means

I'm working overtime, so I catch everything, but also feel the vibe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's like, oh, I got to, like, surrender to the experience and just sort of watch what's happening with, like, some great performances here. But, yeah, and also, you know, it's pretty crazy. Like, Ben Stiller is an incredible director. He really is, man. And this show is, I think, from, like, with Seth Rogen and Ben Stiller, two directors who have been, able to make some movies that showcase their true talents as directors.

I think it isn't until they started doing their Apple TV shows and people are like, These guys are really good director. Apple's really good at recognizing comedy guys with other stuff to say, other tones to play. Yeah. Yeah. And this is like a prime example of that because, yeah,

I'm excited to finish this because, like, I love Conan O'Brien needs a friend and Adam Scott and Ben Still were both on, and I couldn't listen to a lot of it because they were talking about several. Oh, okay. And so I was like, ah, man. Bummer. That's really why we're watching.

Yeah. So you can catch them on Codin. I want to be able to listen to the talks about it. I do too. Let's dive into some cubes here. Might hop around a little bit, but I won't forget because we got a lot. J.W. He says, Greg and John.

First off, I want to say how excited to see you guys react to this show. It's really one of the best currently running, in my opinion. For the question, which character he currently most invested in and which one are you most interested in learning more about? So which one of you most invested in, first off? So far, I mean, I'm most invested, I would say, in Adam Scott, I would say. Mark. Yeah, we have to cast here. Yeah, I think he's doing a great job leading this and, you know, representing both sides of this guy trying to, you know, make his way in this, in each element of life.

And he's, yeah, it's very engrossing, very nuanced. And I think it's interesting to have him in a show like this that, in a way is another workplace. Like, I think it's intentionally kind of loaded that he's well associated with something like a Parks and Rec, which is a workplace comedy, and is now in this sort of workplace sci-fi satire.

I think that's really, like, this to me is kind of like the office meets me on the Black Rainbow, which is like a lovely combo. So I'm most invested in him right now, and I, him or, I guess, Petey, but the one I want to know more about is Milchick. Yes, I mean, I would at this current stage after three episodes

I would say yes to both of those because I think Adam Scott's doing an incredible job and you know he has to play we haven't really seen him with the other characters but you know Adam Scott has to play the iny and the Audi version of this guy but they're supposed to be simpatico

at the same time they have to be reflections of themselves you know and it's kind of cool when you see like what Patricia Arquette is doing is intentionally putting up a very like it is so jarringly different, you know, like two very different people, and it's so purposeful,

but artificial. And Adam Scott has a different order here, you know, and I like, I love seeing what he's doing. And I like the contrast, too, of how, like, the Audi in him is such an avoidant, and the iny and him is coming to terms of truth.

Yeah. And it is, like, a psychological mind bend of how life works like that. Uh-huh. Like, side that is being pushed down will come out. Yeah. The inside will come to the out. It's like he's so listless

in life and yet in the side loom and he's trying to manage everything and trying to distinguish himself and yeah. Find purpose and all that. Sometimes I say shit like that and I'm like I'm getting this show and then I continue the show and then I'm like I don't understand what I'm watching. That's the thing. It's rich with subtexts

all right. It's multiple but you know I mean Hallie is incredible too. I like I I I like what the who is we only got a glimpse of her on the outside and I'm like why would she is she the one rejected it's just like that the the the the head scratchers but her perform I root for her to get out even though I'm like I know you're not going to like at least in this season like I'm rooting for you I'm rooting for you and I like how she feels you know you're watching you got someone like John to Toro Irving who who really succumbs to the religion and who you know probably been here the longest yeah it's like he he's like almost like satirically devout um and then you have adam scott who's like in the middle conflict side then you got like the slacker guy of dylan and you got hellie who really does feel like a real person he has the most real eye line and i'm like oh wow how far they're going to go with this show with how are they going to be able to brainwash her in the way they

want to you know um but everyone's interesting but yeah i mean set is like fuck Tremel Tillman, Seth is like captivating as hell because he is charming, funny, but sinister and creepy. He's everything. And I'm like, I don't know who you are but God damn. I get why

when you showed up, he's a mission impossible I haven't seen it yet, but he's in Final Reckoning for a little bit. And like both times I saw it when he shows up on screen everyone just kind of like laughs a little bit when they see him. Oh, sure. I'm like, I don't know who this guy is. I was expecting him to come in and pull the

Yeah, that's great. Lumen makes the freaking AI thing. But yeah, all right. Thanks to that first question. Eric Horsman, R.O.G., man with the R.R. Tatooey. You want to read this one, John? Yeah, I'd love to. Thank you, Eric. So many questions, but all spoilery.

So, Severance is one of the most imaginative original shows ever. What, in your opinion, is another show that really doesn't have a comparison that is wholly original and unique. For me, that is Twin Peaks. especially season three with the X-Files in a close second. Also, have you watched Twin Peaks yet? I'm still obsessed probably too much. Oh, goodness. I'm a show that is, well, I mean,

I experience a lot of shows that I'm not aware are inspired by other shows, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I can't quite put my finger on the pulse of that, you know? It's like, there was really show like stranger things when you think about it but uh you know but it's inspired by a lot of movies primarily um breaking bad at the time there was like to me there was nothing like it but then people would be like you know it's kind of like soprano it's anti-hero like like not really you know

i guess you know at the time soprano's there was nothing like it but they're like oh but it's kind of like good feels there's always something kind of like it but even even watching severance you know you were saying it's like i haven't seen beyond the black rainbow but beyond the black rainbow meets the office meets something else I don't know I like things that are about the labyrinth of the mind they really hurt my brain

my noggin a lot and that's why I didn't like the matrix is the coolest shit because it is like the action movie version of the labyrinth of the mind you know so yeah I don't have an answer for this um I mean I uh my my lady companion has been showing me Twin Peaks lately which

uh is definitely one I would agree with you on insofar as I've seen it what comes to my mind right now is because yeah it's like how do you approach this there's so many ways to compare and contrast telly what comes to my mind right now is like there's a guy named Julio Torres who made a show called Los Espookies on HBO and then had a follow-up show called

Fantasmas and his style is comedic but also very surrealist and dreamlike and to me like it's wholly in a lane of its own in a way that I very much enjoy and get a lot out of you know or even just like watching new episodes of King of the Hill like it struck me like nothing is quite like this I mean like it's a mainstream show

but like you know the convergence of things that that is animation but this also kind of rye sneaky wholesome thing that it does and still has somehow managed in so far as I've seen no shoot today is pretty unique so it's come to mind that's true that's true those are fair fair points all around

let's see here cricket coal hey guys I was just curious to what your thoughts would be waking up on the table and who do you think of the reject who would be the voice waking you who hope you guys enjoy the show curious to what your thoughts would be waking up on the table oh my

why do they wake them up on the table do you think why the table like this is I would sit them in a chair and is it like supposed to be sort of metaphorical for this is where you live now like your your life belongs to sitting at a table all day maybe because it is like a boardroom almost like it it's great because it inspires so many potential questions in your mind so yeah waking up on the table in a way certainly feels like some kind of birthing process yeah but also i don't know like do they bring the board in there to like

poke and prod at you do they originally start by sitting people in chairs but then they would fall out of the chairs because of whatever anesthesia they give you you know i gotta say i think it's great that it starts there with hellie's point of view and not adam scott's even though he's the main character um because helie is constantly rebelling against adam scott and as an audience member i'm here going like i i know mark just wants to help her and likes her and it cares about her and she does not feel that and when she first sees him he is a

she feels like he's her captor and when he's introduced he is a shadow behind a door you know and that interpretation of him sort of lingers throughout this entire experience for her

you know so I think that's really really strong and they must all wake up like that I don't mean if I woke up like that I'd be just like hellie I'd be yeah I imagine I imagine everyone probably has the same kind of reaction. Yeah.

The reject crew, the voice be waking me. I think it would be, uh, Tara Erickson. I think Tara probably would be really good at that job. I would love it. I think she'd be pretty good at running protocol on that job. I think she would whip that. Yeah, yeah, actually. It would be a little disconcerting at first.

She would, she would whip you into shape. I guess I would also nominate if you wanted to go the opposite direction. I think Andrew could do a good job of staying on task, but also being like very understanding, very personable about it you know if you yeah don't want to lead with like a burst of fun energy and you just want to kind of ease into maybe Andrew could do that

well Jay Rushden's Jay rushed in thank you so much okay would you guys be severed and would any of the rejects be severed program be deprogramed goodness I

well no I would never do that and I love the way the world incorporates this this subject like it's the story the world that it's

inhabiting it doesn't really feel like it's about the Lumen Company it seems all about this one process this the severance process and the debates that it has about autonomy and

about abuse of consent you know like it's like so it's like there's an irony corporate brainwashing corporate brainwashing exactly and uh is it is it is it a way and and very cult like is it a way to prey on people and take advantage of people as as well and create a perfect cycle through which they can never escape yes like and so when you take your main character like mark who clearly uses this because he can't not deal with the amount of pain he has in the real world. It is not about like, oh, I want the job.

I need the money. I want to climb the ladder. I'm passionate about this gig. It is just some corporate nothing job that he is committed to and has cut off a part of himself because he can't deal with his real pain. And then it begs the question. It's such a clever show because it makes you go, why did all these other people agree to it too? And we don't know anything about them. Why did Pedy agree to this? Yeah. You know, and... What part of the that you can see on all the other innies

gives you the clue as to why they might be here in the first place? I am too much about dealing when facing one's own emotions, no matter how hard it is, and that's kind of like my mantra. Like, I'm not... I have not been okay, like, for a... I feel like a few weeks now, and I...

As far as Mark Merrin's latest stand-up special is It's like, it is exactly the standard of special I needed. I was just like, it was like, one in the morning couldn't sleep again. I started like, I haven't laughed that hard at a while. And it was like, so like, this is my mindset these days. Sure, sure. And you had this whole thing about like, I don't want to ruin the bit, but it is, it is, the context is about like, usually on the other side of like obsession with your own anxiety is this, the same calmness of a sadness.

being your comfort sounds i was like and that the truth because that's kind of me all week is like yeah i've been really sad all week and um you know but being honest about that is is like so so important to me and i would never do the severance process do i want to is there something tempting about it i i suppose um i don't know would you do something something like that there are some people here i want to be severed hey fucking show up to your job i want to hear about or shen. Yeah. We're all the team.

No, I'd be like, so I never know anybody on the outside. I'd crank those videos. Trammell Tillman in this. Yeah. Oh, my God. No. Yeah, it's like any possible reason I could come up with for why this might be enticing is undone by a thousand million.

I don't want anything in my brain implanted in my brain. Yeah. And like that, that kind of, anytime they put a. bombing somebody's head in a movie or something like that. It just makes my skin crawl. It freaks me out a little bit. And yeah, just the idea that you would then create this other part of your mind that you know to some degree is like not going to have an understanding of what has happened.

There's just too many moral and ethical implications. And like, yeah, I wouldn't want to be working in a place where I'm not allowed to know anything about it because it's already hard to know all the things you need to know when you're allowed to know things. So if you're not allowed to know things, yeah, I wouldn't be enticed by this. Yeah, let's see here. It's an interesting debate.

It's a good debate, though, because I bet people have different answers for whether or not. Billy Barnes. My brother harassed me to watch Sabrin, so it wasn't my typical niche, but by God it shot into my top five almost instantly. The camera work is immaculate. The story fascinated I'm binging in two weeks.

Lived up to the hype, no doubt. Can't wait to rewatch it with you, folks. Thank you so much. I mean, this is a great opportunity to talk about... I love when John talks about cinematography. I think much better at the language than I am. I'm pretty good at picking up on, like, symbolic shots and whatever the fuck. But, I mean, please talk about the camera work here.

Yeah, it's really fun. You know, I mean... Yep, it's fun. It's fun. It looks good. Good camera work. Give that guy. Oh, raise.

No, it's really delightful, obviously. Like, as a per... You know, it's... It's the easiest, in some ways, part to be enamored with of anything that you're watching if there's beautiful photography. But I love here that, yeah, it's beautiful. And it's one of the, you know, the joke when you're in camera classes in film school or something is always like, what's the intention behind this reverse shot? And sometimes you're just like, oh, you just need a reverse shot. This show is such that you feel like everything, yeah, is really sculpted and is thought out, even if on the day it was improv with the space or whatever.

and every space is so well chosen and yeah it's the symmetry it's the lines it's the constant grids and the constant frames and the constant isolating disorienting qualities and they really know as you've often you're usually you immediately respond when

they switch to like okay here's a handheld shot or a change in the language all of a sudden and they're really good at yeah making all those things feel so intentional but also just within the rhythm of the show and two it's not full-on

sci-fi but like the way that they in the break room sequence like use those lens flares to make it look like he's got a third eye and they've got these like arcing you know like angelic looking lights like it's it's really masterful you know you got to like work to achieve that in camera

and it's really masterful the way they do this stuff I think I agree I agree a common thing I mean beyond like the consistency of like the splits in the shots that I keep noticing especially with Mark is like the amount of negative space

they surround him with you know like this constant everything's so plain in his life so much of the set designs especially in the Lumen job is intentionally very just simple solid color plain you know and

with Mark he's often framed with so much negative space especially in the real world to just kind of put him at a spot of like emptiness I feel you know like there's so much he's a he's a small he's a he is a small fish in this pond and there's so much like a vast emptiness around him and uh i love the way they love the way they handle it like the

shots here i feel like demonstrate ben stiller's ability to visually do something that doesn't feel like pretentious but evokes an emotion that is fitting for this show as well as being like what the fuck are we watching yeah i think it's really cool Rett's. Yeah, Rhett, thank you kindly. I'm struggling to ask a question without revealing a part of the series. Amazing plot. So here's a vague one. What are your early theories on what the workers are actually doing with those numbers? Oh, God. Yeah, good question. Esky numbers. Hmm. I mean, I have one theory off the top of the head. I wonder if, and this is kind of a broad one, but I wonder if like, because the severance process is, like, so heavily debated anyway. It's like, it's one thing to be working on something sinister,

but part of me wonders if, like, the numbers and the mumbo-jumbo of the work isn't even something encrypted. It's just, like, busy work. Like, this is a petri dish to experiment on people. Rather than this being something that they're, like, pumping out into the world. Maybe this is, like, just some weird research human rat lab or something like that. Because there's that whole, like, lab rat maze thing. keep doing and that would work as commentary

anyway. But I don't know that just crossed my mind as like what if it was this because it seems likely er that there's some kind of weird pharmaceutical slash I don't know oil or who knows company toxic waste

who do you know like yeah scary numbers why would the numbers be scary? I know God, I, it is so hard to pinpoint. What the hell, any of that? I don't even know what thematically that means. I don't even get it.

Because the idea is to like get rid of the numbers. I wonder if it's just like identifying tasks and then like tasks bring you anxiety. So you got to get the task done and into the bin as much as possible. And you got to get your quotas as high. You got to complete as many tasks. But it's like the satire is that it doesn't even really matter what the task are. it's just you know i mean that's just honestly like a very solid uh that's a very solid idea i think i'm just going to go with what you said that's a really solid solid idea shit all right keb

always given a trivia here uh when the cast first started filming in the lumen hallways for the opening episodes of severance they quickly learned there was an unspoken no smiling rule hanging in the air adam scott has sure how surprisingly tough it was to keep a perfectly straight face while silently passing other cast members down those endless corridors the effort to stay stone foes smart bursts of laughter weird honey um after that was the intent right after watching the first couple episodes did you find yourself more rooting for the any version of the character stuck inside lumen or the outy version living their outside worlds was there a moment that made you really stop and think wow whose life is actually harder here and honestly if you're in their sues which side of that severed life do you think you'd handle better uh I mean, I think the any life is designed to make it seem like you can handle this side better. Like, it doesn't look like most people are going crazy down there. If they get too caught up on their heads, the benefits of brainwashing. Did you find yourself more rooting for the any version of the character second son?

I mean, I didn't really like separate the two. I feel them one and the same. They are one and the same. It's kind of the point is that they're being separated. Yeah, it's like you're rooting for them to come together in the, middle or something like that you know i guess in a sense like adam scott mark marks any is like a lot of the parts of mark that are easiest to root for because he has a little less despondency but uh but yeah it's all for this guy to like embrace and you know finally deal with his grief

yeah you know it's all for the sake of it is an interesting but i feel like you can it's weird like you can kind of get caught up in like yeah they are the same and there's not really one or the other to root for but there kind of can be I don't view it like the substance like the substance they're one and the same that's kind of like the point

but to me it's not to me that's even more physically like literal that they're like oh these are still two separate bodies that are functioning they're tethered through the mind but they're two separate bodies

whereas this is yeah this is all one brain he's all one brain body walking in yeah exactly and because it's one brain uh i'm not really viewing it as as the separation uh so yeah i mean i i think everyone's life here is hard and and if you were in their shoes which side of the server life do you think you can handle better i mean uh i i think i'd be going crazy if i was an outy if i had this i'd be going nuts not knowing what's going on the inside i'd be going crazy and i feel like as any i i you know i'd I'd be the mundity, the routine, the trapped indoors. I would also be going crazy, but at least I have weird overlords to come

a structural purpose, you know. It's a tricky. Yeah, yeah, because like a part of me is like, well, I guess if I was in such a mindset to sign up here, I guess it might be easier to be on the outside because that's what I signed up for, but then that would start to haunt me to. It was like, what am I doing down there? How do I feel about it? And I guess, yeah, you have to weigh like the moral.

implications of that against like yeah having structure but just like accepting like a consistent base level of like traumatic brainwashing I don't know like the any feels like there doesn't feel like they got rest and came in the next day

it just feels like it's a constant continuation and the Audi every day you're missing so much of your life and you don't know what to happen you're not even forming memories you know I think that would drive me insane I'd hate that I'd absolutely hate it

Stephanie Horton, John. Yes, thank you so much. Greg and John. I am so excited that you all are going to be watching Severance. I started it just last month, and I'm not too far along, so I can go on most of the journey with you. That's awesome. Sweet. Question.

The direction, cinematography, and production design all feel like characters in and of themselves. They do. What do you think in particular of the design of Lumen Industries? Do you feel like there is some meaning to the starkness and the colors that are included? Why the heck are the cubicles in the center of the? room in that way and what do you think is being conveyed by the way the shots are done when

focusing on the cubicle space the hallways and the elevator good questions uh i think everything is sort of symmetrically designed to reflect out of a maze yeah that's how it all supposed to feel it's supposed to be sterile and streamlined and like just interesting enough not to be noticeably bland yeah yeah yeah i mean because that's the ideal when you look at pete's drawing and And he's like, look, from the outside looking in, it looks like a mace. Even like the cubicle stack feels like a reflection of that type of drawing. Well, and yeah, that cubicle, it's like they're in like a continuum of like everyone just can forever look to the right. Yeah.

And like, I love that satirical approach to the idea of, um, of like you got all this space in there. But we are not going to allow you to have space. yeah yeah yeah yeah we are going to like grid and and conduct all that space around you for you because i don't know my mom has worked in um i've never worked in an office like that i mean i've worked in a doctor's office and it is like crammed and everyone's in your you don't have like a private space you know um my mom has worked in a very traditional corporate office space and it does feel like everyone just kind of stacked together you got you know you got no uh privacy but those floors are big so i love the idea that like

they're that they want it to feel that way they want it to be that way you know and then you always got that one guy who's got the office and they're special because they got the private office you know um but yeah i love the i love the way that it's like it's so it triggers something when they walk in there to me like this uh the again the feeling i keep coming to is emptiness um it triggers an emptiness in me well yeah you know and it's like the symbology the iconography of it It's like it's a fun satire because obviously this corporation is going to have their corporate logo, their, you know, letterhead and their designed, you know, branded materials. But those are also tools of cultism. You know, you have your symbols that you attach ideas to.

And the last thing, because you did bring up like the look in the city and stuff, when the focus and everything, the focus, the lens is that all that stuff is like really well chosen. And I want to know about the how they do the shot in the elevator. because I know you can with changing focus and distance like literally make someone's face look a different way and that way he warps in cameras so striking and I want to say that they're able to do that you know practically wild it's a very you know lumine

it's beautiful thing it's fucking awesome Michael Medina Catheria he is saying the real OGs will forever be thankful for your leap of faith and start in this channel I haven't watched this and your reaction may lead to a full watch, no way.

Have these two episodes brought you enough to be excited for the rest of the show or do you need more to feel sufficiently hooked? No, we're hooked. Not hooked. I was hooked a few minutes in the first episode. Honestly, when they did the shot

and the elevator going down, I was like, the hell is this? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's already the kind of tone that would lure me in and the fact that it is so well written and so well assembled so far

is just only pulling me further in. Yeah, and I like how I feel like a not too distant future. Yeah. Yeah, I liked it a lot right away. Mike Joyce. Oh, please go, sorry. Mike Joyce, glad we can do it together at the same time. Glad you're doing severance.

Hope it does well. View-wise, always do as well. I don't think this is a spoiler question. If you met someone's in real life, would you treat them the same way as if they were their Audi? Oh, golly. I mean, it depends if I'm severed, too. I wouldn't know. the difference.

Do I, do, well, yeah, if you're severed too, okay, yeah, it's like if I'm not severed, do I know they're severed? And if I'm meeting there, any, yeah, do I? I mean, I guess the approach would be if we are not severed. I would coordinate with their Audi. And then I would observe the in and see if they need help. I would probably have a set of go-to questions, and I would ask the same questions just to see, like, like on my diary of a real reject.

who's your celebrity crush they don't know so celebrities the anise they don't know anything about their business they know office celebrities like us who's the most who's the best office cloud he's probably my favorites isn't helping me at all uh yeah i would i don't think i don't think you could no i mean it would be like two different people i i don't think you could just treat them i would i would approach of course kindness um but i wouldn't talk to them the same way way i don't i don't feel like that's possible you'd be just so i think your mind would just so quickly get to the idea that this person is being in prison somehow yeah yeah it would be hard to just chat for sure for sure rejagnation when we first launch our merch shop i had no clue what i was

doing we were just passionate about our brand and wanted to create something that fans could connect with suddenly i had to learn how to handle inventory page design payment systems shipping marketing and on top of that keep the main content going now the shop has actually become a part of our business. We've hired new artists for designing more original designs. And it's all because Shopify gave us the tools to reinvest in ourselves. I've been absolutely grateful to be partnering in them because we have already been using Shopify way before this partnership ever happened. In case you don't know, what Shopify is is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S. from household names like Mattel and

Jim Shark to creators and creators and the best part, Shopify is built for creators. It gives you the tools to turn your audience into customers and your product into a real business. They've got hundreds of ready to use templates so you can build the beautiful online store that fits your brand. No design skills needed, thank God. Plus, their AI tools helps you write product descriptions, headlines, and even enhance product photography. And now they've added powerful social commerce tools.

So you can sell directly on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Follow us on all three, by the way. So from running email and social campaigns, Shopify makes it all seamless. So if you're ready to sell, you're ready for Shopify. So you can turn your big business idea into with Shopify on your side. Set up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com slash rejects. Thank you, Shopify for sponsoring this video. Jeff Sorens, the opening title sequence and theme for severance is one of my favorite.

The theme is simple, but it sets the tone for the show so well. The visuals are so intriguing. How important do you think the good opening theme are title sequences to a show? I think it can kind of be everything. And sometimes it can be cooler than the show itself. And, you know, I've discovered a lot of cool songs from there. The Punisher one, the Daredevil one. The True Blood one.

True Blood one. Sopranos. Yeah. And I think some of them become, like, more iconic. That's a Fresh Prince of Bel Air song is super famous because of, it's a good song. But it's also the intro, you know? Kids in the Hall, King of the Hill. Dexter is a great intro. Dexter is fucking amazing.

Amazing intro. Mad Men, great intro. So, yeah, like, intros are everything. But this intro is very different because I, like how this special effects feel the visuals feel intentionally outdated and it makes it more eerie feel rough in the yeah like roughly rendered like yeah like someone just made some weird youtube video like maxed out their computers so like stuff is like glitching out and going wrong which is supposed to yeah so i mean it's evoking this this struggle of the mind yeah and uh and how

like unclean it is and it's chaotic and it feels like there's clues to one pack not on like a Marvel cinematic universe show kind of way you know like a Roorshack yeah yeah yeah it is

it is very poignant and it's cool that they didn't give you that to the second episode I like that choice yeah that's really cool because then it's like what the fuck this is the first episode yeah and it tells it's a lot and I feel like it kind of

gives away it would give away a little much about the experience of being of the eyeline through hellie if you did if they gave you that intro in the first episode so i love that they reserved that for the second yeah and i mean like i feel like a great title sequence like this one is one that like feels like a parent like a part of the show each tie like it feels like it wouldn't be complete if we didn't see the intro unless they intentionally didn't give it to us it's like some intros you're like i'm fine to skip this but some shows i'm like no it's like part of getting in the mood and seeing the intro for a taking that breather and you know

and I think this yeah is like so in a day and age where there are types of intros you see a lot and not to say that this is entirely completely different from anything you've seen before yeah it's really striking it perfectly sets the tone and like they must award these things give that

an award because it's like it's a terrific it's a perfect title sequence for this show and it's a good title sequence on its own the music is so chilly and yeah eerie and enticing absolutely man Fully agree.

Thomas Doherty. Thank you so much. Severance, if you chose to go under the severance procedure, how would you mentally deal with the fact that you were missing several hours of the day and could have happened and what could have happened during those hours? Also, could you resist wanting to find out more about your severed self? No, I mean, we touched on this earlier, and this is exactly why I would hate it. With being an outy, you know, Kevin Kep Beas asking us a question earlier.

We were elaborating on it. So it happens when you elaborate too much on the question. Oh, no. Isn't someone else that's a question? Now you've answered it. But no, I could not. There's no way for the kind of individual I am. I mean, I have thought about it.

You know, I think, like, if I were to lose my wife before I die, or even, like, next few years or something, like, that is one where I'm like, I don't know if I could handle that. And that is, like, attempt. I'm not, I'm not just such a fictional thing that's making me want to cry. I'm like, all right. Like, you lost her at that. Like so the idea of like Mark's going through I'm like I get it But I don't know I just I just know me well enough to know I could not be that person You know and I it would drive me nuts it would be up I've just I one of my one of those first

Screenplays I truly finished dealt with that of a person who like had a night one day and they this thing happened and it's just really nod at them like what happened like why did I go do that I just want to know why even though I'm a lot if I want to know why. And that would be me all the time. Yeah, I would be able to help wondering about the time lost and what happened there and what might have happened to me. And if I come back with some random scars or something like that, where's that from? Yeah. And yeah, just like the effects I'm having on my selves would be too much. For sure.

Oh, my God, Landon Miller. I've been wanting for you guys to hop on severance. Hope you guys enjoyed the first few apps after watching. Do you think you'd ever agree to undergo this? No. And what do you think is really going on behind the scenes at Lumen? I feel like this is, I mean, it definitely feels like some type of, like, cult takeover. And I think they want to, the way how corporations kind of want to, like, dominate everything.

I would love the idea of that if it is just a, it is a corporation. Like, I want it to be a corporation. Like, at times it feels like our aliens doing this. Yeah. But I would love it if it is a corporation. and their plan is just to sell people on this idea of severance being, like, the path forward, the way forward, the way how, like, corporations try to sell you on technological advances that are actually detrimental to society or people's livelihoods. And I hope that that's kind of just what they're commenting on is, like, it doesn't really even matter what they're doing. yeah um it feels like they it feels like they ought to be just like simultaneously creating like bio

weapons and drilling for oil in places they shouldn't and you know making weapons like other physical weapons and stuff like that it just feels like they should be making all those like big global commodities or something yeah because it's so much about like corporations taking control over human beings and really and that's why they say stuff like quarterly's numbers and duh, da, da, da, da, just like the same shit you hear at every corporation with some, like, inspiring bullshit mantras that, you know, sound like nice and cool Instagram quotes. But, you know, they're really just a way to motivate your worker bees to keep doing what you want them to do. And I kind of like the idea if you don't really ever know what they do. Yeah, it's just left a mystery.

I kind of would be happy if we don't. Yeah, it's like it could go either way. It's kind of a charming novelty at this point. Yeah, but, yeah, I mean, we've got some other, there's some comments here that are definitely shout out, but we've got another page here. This is when you had your two-hour shoot for Dexter. Is this what it was like?

There was just so many questions. Yeah, there's just so many questions. All right, yeah, here we go. Emily. Emily Huxstable, thank you so much. So, excited that you're watching this show. This is one of the best shows that I have seen in years. First question.

Why do you think that Mrs. Selvig took the package off of Mark's porch that ended up being his brother-in-law's book. Second, do you believe that having the severance procedure has truly helped Mark with the loss of his wife? I think we were about to say no to that. Third, what do you think is calling at the who, sorry, do you think he's calling at the end of the

episode? Thank you. I think it's his daughter. Because he was talking about his daughter, June. Definitely didn't look that way when we were trying to, like, slow down the frame. Yeah. Do you, but it also might have said restricted on there.

I can't tell. I don't know who would be trying to reach him. That would be fucking bizarre. Yeah. Toddor or somebody involved with the reintegration station. Yeah, yeah. No, I don't believe on the second one. I was more, I think the thing that's more telling is that Mrs. Selvig took the candle.

Because a candle like that, more than visual, there's a sense memory. that goes off in one's brain and there's more control to be had over Mark the more you take away the more Audi Mark stays away from dealing what he's what he's really got to deal with the longer the more they can

have the out the NEP be the dominant personality and that book is about how to get in touch with the real you and yeah so to mean the candle spoke a little bit more volumes uh and at least in this episode like we were saying during the episode that the book is going to is going to come into to the fold and also you asking this question kind of feels like like yeah we were saying the book has to come

into the fall otherwise like it wouldn't be in the office they wouldn't come back to it like they draw attention he hides the book so clearly it's got to come in in some way um but um yeah i think it has to do more with like the more you can repress him healing on the outside the more we can control the inside. And part of me wonders, especially with the candle, because yeah, like the deprivation in his Audi life, and I wonder if they might even use it in some messed up way in like a torturous breakroom kind of way inside,

you know, as a means of ambushing him in a vulnerable moment and then, you know, coming in and providing a solution that'll endear him more to them or whatever. For sure. Jay Rushden, Severance. Oh, wait. Oh, I read this one. You're up for Jay.

If you notice gas is 1.10, that's a $1.10? Does this mean it's in the past? Either that or wherever state they're in is just, you know, got real great gas prices. Is there something to those numbers that we don't know about? Yeah, I was going to say. What character are you the most alike in personality there? In this moment in time, I feel a lot like, Mark.

I'm not going to bullshit you, man. like especially for the when you compare if i'm a little down you know i see it in the comments you know gregg looks sad gregg looks down great doesn't look like his usual self or if you don't know my name that guy in the middle that guy yeah uh and it's so weird because it is the most akin to the this the tiniest of fractions i feel whenever that that thing with women when they're like smile for me you got to smile and that's how i feel with this I'm like, you know, sad people watch movies and shows, too. And sometimes it's a good therapy.

Yeah, so, and, and I feel like in the day and age we are with, like, fucking influencers and YouTubers and whatever, it's like, whatever, I don't have to be sad when I'm filming. It's like, I don't have to, like, fake it or, or, you know. It's also a diary of my, like, a snapshot of how I was that day. So, yeah, no. And then, but anyway, my point with that is, clearly I'm a little bothered by his comments I'm going to find out. But, yeah, wow.

You're going to get severed so you don't have to worry about the comments on your outside life. Because it doesn't feel like, my mind did not go. They're concerned about me. My mind is like, they want me to be different. The character, you might as like it. Yeah, I would say, I would say probably the average person would say, Mark. And I would say, yeah, I'm that person and most here. The average person would say, Mark.

But if we were at school as kids and we were all picking, I know I would get stuck as Irving. Yeah. Yeah, you would definitely be Irving. I would definitely be a fucking do a flip guy. I think that's what people want me to be. We'd all like to think we'd be helly. All right, J.W. Thank you so much.

John and Greg, are curious about your thoughts on the break room and what insight do you think it provides about Lumen? Secondly, how do you think you would personally handle this form of punishment? I'm drawn to cult stories because I've definitely been in a couple of cults in its own right.

And, you know, it's the other thing that John and I've been shooting, and we haven't shot it in a while. But if we don't know when the hell those are going up, the whole fucking thing that is out of our control. Anyway, that's another subject. I've talked about that extensively, not like cults that are, like, going out there and, like, fucking killing people or some shit. I don't want to, like, give that impression. But cultism, as it affects society, is fascinating. Yes, and how it definitely, like, tore me away from my family. family and friends and financial well-being.

Like, there's a lot I've been down the paths of and definitely still dealing with, like, the repercussions of it and mentally. And so that's why being honest to myself is very important. That's why I value it so much, because I've seen what happens when I, I know what it's like when you don't. And not just from other people, but for myself. So the break room and what insights, I mean,

that is clearly like the punishment. it's very religious. That's form. Scientology coded? Yeah, and I feel like that's probably the most thing, but I think you can honestly apply it with like most fucking. Yeah, go into the closet

and whip yourself and say five Hail Mary's. Yeah, like, you start a confession off in church and get the thoughts as if you give me father it's, I haven't confessed in a while. Yeah, and that is the idea of

repetitive mantra turning into to affirmations to try to trick your brain into belief systems is scary. It could be good if you like, you know, how to use it in real life. Choose the right mantra. If you choose the right mantra, you know, like I do believe words speak power. And forcing someone to say the words until their brain waves can, I just look at it. Like, oh, okay, now you are no longer lying. Terrifying.

And, yeah, I think that's, I didn't know that's what they were doing, but that makes a lot of sense. It's conditioning. yeah that's fucking crazy how would I handle this form of punishment I know I would not handle it well and I would definitely have a hard time breaking free I would just yeah try to break some stuff I feel like too it's gotta be a hard exercise for an actor

yeah they did those scenes so props to them Rhett if you had the chance to tour the perpetuity wing what's one question you want to ask the tour guide what the fuck is what's going on? What is living here? What do we do here? I would ask if there was a wing for like, you know, discarded Lumen experience, like, you know, things in the company history that, like, they tried and decided to leave behind or whatever, like, you know, weird R&D oddities or anything like that. Well, you know, when they, whatever the, what's the Christopher walking room, objects and design or something like that, O&D? I would want to know who was, which corporate person was running it at the time and asked them.

happened. Yeah, about the riot? Yeah, like, because it seems like mystified at this point, I would want to know, like, was there a coup that took place? Yeah. Well, that's a cool thing about the deep, the world and building of the show, too, is that you do get the sense that this is, like, there are business, not only is this corporate culture, but this is a corporation that seems to have,

like, generational roots. And it feels like, you know, from much older centuries, almost. so it feels like one of those like old steel dynasties or oil dynasties or something like that which is like its own it goes even further toward the capitalist culting that we can do in america especially in a fun interesting way yeah i mean it's it's it's in a lot of ways this whole place at lumen just seems like a place about freedom uh suppression of freedom um and like the idea that there was a coup one day shows that people probably were a little more free thinking down here. And then they had to find a way to remove them from that in order to make sure they can keep production up. When they say that thing, the last thing

I'll say is like they're that thing. It's like there's only two of them now. And what I realize is four of them standing here and two of them standing there. I'm like, there's only four of you. And so maybe part of it too is like the coup happened because maybe they just had too many people together. So maybe they have to keep the severed people like Captain Ford, you know,

something like that so that not too many people get ideas and overpower the guy, the, you know, muscle guy. I mean, it's so big down there. There was the person who you see interacting with John Totoro with the, with talking and like reaffirming on who they are

as the Audi, so being good of the iny here is important. And it's weirdly getting like the validation of the any is coming from whatever this person outside that he has nothing, no idea what their life is like, really. Yeah. It's just like generalizations about this individual. It's literally that

thing where you're like, I would clone myself and make it do my work. Yeah. It's literally that. A thousand percent. No, yeah. That is, it's eerie.

But they're always like so separated, right? Yeah. So you might have, you're probably on to something there because it's so vast down here. Yeah. Yet they don't want people congregating at all. Yeah. And they keep this group so tight knit.

Even the friggin' picture frame. It's like the four of them. You can't change that photo until we get the new person and we take the new photo. Yeah. This is your team. uh law and order oh shit all right guys well thank you so much for all the questions thank you for being patient on uh john and i covering this after all these years um but i'm happy we're here i'm enjoying the show a lot uh this is a mind boggle is a mind fuck and uh i'm loving it's living up

to the hype in terms of like oh god i'll take a while i got to finish this yeah and i'm sure by the time i finish it i'm still going to be like nope I don't know I still don't have any idea of where I began or where I'm going I'm more confused than when I started yeah it's a fun feeling though it's fun

when a show can put you in that way it's a unique it's a hard thing for a show to pull off right where you feel like I know more no I don't I know less than I did before the further I go the less I know yeah horrifying down the rabbit hole we are

thank you so much guys for being here thank you for supporting us and seriously thank you for supporting us especially Royal Rejects for everything you've been doing and for those who are not who you don't like you know get along with the brand deals

or the Patreon or the rejectionation shop and we shop and we shop that we shut that shit out all the time just know that if you made it this far it's all that fucking matters thanks yeah leave a like on this video keep watching keep giving us them views

and uh... watch time see you guys soon peace You've seen the movie War Dogs, two guys, one laptop, and a $300 million arms deal, but Hollywood only told half the story. David Packowls got played by his own best friend, but here's what the movie never showed you. I did time with Ephraim Devoroli, the guy who screwed over Packowls. And what he told me, David Packowls had no idea until he came on the podcast.

Join me, Matthew Cox, a former con. man on inside true crime a podcast where criminals law enforcement and victims share wild firsthand stories you won't hear anywhere else listen anywhere you get your podcast