Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Bring out the celebratory waffles and turn up the defiant jazz because Severance, the absurd office satire-cum-eerie dystopian thriller, is finally back.Three years after leaving us with a scream-at-the-screen cliffhanger season finale, the superlative Apple TV+ series returns with a long-awaited sequel after repeated delays and reported behind-the-scenes discord that landed the second season in a development limbo (that almost mirrored the show’s vision of work as a kind of inescapable purgatory). That last episode, however, saw our heroes from the Macro-Data Refinement department at Lumon Industries briefly leave their carceral corporate surroundings and inhabit the bodies of their “outies”: those other selves who underwent a procedure offered to Lumon employees that splits one mind into two distinct, irreconcilable identities. One experiences everything save for the hours at work. The other, the office-bound “innie”, remains oblivious to anything about life beyond their “mysterious and important” jobs which are occasionally punctuated by breakfast bars and dance parties — or else cruel “re-education” practices.But having managed to breach the consciousness barrier, the innies Mark (Adam Scott), Helly (Britt Lower), Dylan (Zach Cherry) and Irving (John Turturro) are, as the season begins, now back under the supervision of Mr Milchick (Tramell Tillman) at Lumon, reeling from what they gleaned about their alter egos. While Mark shares the bewildering news that his outie’s supposedly late wife is a living Lumon employee, Helly is suspiciously tight-lipped about her discovery that her “real” self is in fact the more austere Helena Eagan: heir to the company.The outstanding ensemble ably handle the strain of switching between the innies and outies this season, as the boundaries begin to blur and both sides start to pick at the warped reality that Lumon has created. Mysteries and oddities introduced in season one — like the hellish hallway that Irving keeps painting unconsciously; the semi-religious cult surrounding the Eagens; or the goat-filled room — are probed as the rich Lumon lore deepens.That the intrigue never dissipates is testament to series creator-writer Dan Erickson’s assured stewardship. But what makes Severance stand out is not just its accomplished execution but the artistry and imagination with which the claustrophobic confines of an office are turned into an atmospheric, idiosyncratic world in its own right.Much of that is due to the deft writing that trusts viewers to piece together theories rather than bombard them with exposition even as things get more surreal. The visual element too — off-kilter angles, lingering shots and chiaroscuro lighting — is more striking than anything else on the small screen right now, thanks in part to the long-untapped directorial nous of Ben Stiller, who again helms several episodes.Underpinning the absorbing story is philosophical substance. Beyond the show’s pointed send-up of corporate culture, there are thoughtful, occasionally moving meditations on human identity and existence that leave us pondering the big questions. What is the self? What is the value of transient life? And when will season three be released?★★★★★Episode 1 on Apple TV+ from January 17. New episodes weekly
