Loki & Severance Both Nail Gen Z's Worst Nightmare | Screen Rant
Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Severance.
While they are completely different shows, both Loki and Severance offer a similar look at a growing Gen Z concern about work-life balance. The newest Apple TV+ series follows the story of Mark Scout, an employee of a large but mysterious company in which personal and professional life cannot intersect, and has been produced and mostly directed by Hubie Halloween and Happy Gilmore actor Ben Stiller. Although Severance still has many questions left to be answered, it is already possible to draw a parallel between the shows and elements present both in real life and in other works of fiction.
Released in June 2021 as one of Disney+ Marvel shows, Loki saw the sometimes-villain, sometimes-antihero Loki taken from its original MCU timeline and placed in a very different context than what audiences associated with the character. The stories about Asgard as well as the combats against demigods and superheroes gave way to an intimate sci-fi journey that led to an in-depth study of Loki’s character. By adapting whimsical concepts from comics such as the Multiverse and different timelines into a more restrained and rule-filled entity known as the TVA, Loki flirted with horror elements and created one of the most distinct productions in the MCU.
This distinctive tone of Loki's TVA, however, can be compared to the recently-released Severance. Both the Disney+ and Apple TV+ series portray a bucolic, almost claustrophobic work environment that is connected to an even bigger problem. The contemporary fear of being swallowed up by a dull work routine that robs a person of their true personality is an angle that both Loki and Severance explore. In Loki, it is revealed that the TVA employees are actually normal humans captured from their original timelines whose memories have been erased and replaced with a work mindset only. In Severance, those willing to work in certain departments of Lumon Industries must undergo a process called “severance” in which their personal memories and work memories are irreversibly separated.
Another way in which Loki and Severance showcase the loss of individuality for the sake of productivity at work is through their set designs. Both Loki's TVA and Severance's Lumon Industries are made up of small, claustrophobic, and low-light environments that restrict the characters from any meaningful interaction with peers or the outside world. The architecture of work tools such as desks and computers, closer to a design from the late 90s than to something more contemporary, is also a clear intentional choice made by both shows. Loki and Severance also share a common theme of working for an unknown overlord boss. For Loki, it was the Time Keepers and later Kang The Conqueror while for Severance is the mysterious person known as Kier Egan.
Both Severance and Loki manage to transpose a problem from the real world to fiction through their sci-fi elements. Although not the only themes of both shows, the theme of the loss of individuality and an oppressive work routine are present in the productions from their scripts to their set designs. It will be interesting now to see how Severance's mysteries unfold, and whether the characters manage to break free as some of Loki did.
Severance releases new episodes every Friday on Apple TV+.