Severance is one of those shows that brings a great mixture of life and sci-fi. The second season premiered on Friday, Jan. 17 on Apple TV+, and you’ll want more shows just like it afterward.
The series follows a group of people who work for a mysterious tech company. To work there, they have to go through a procedure that allows them to separate their work memories from their life memories. There are all sorts of themes going on, including corporate overreach and discussions of free will.
Severance is one of those shows that leaves you feeling a little icky but also completely engrossed in each of the storylines. There are plenty of shows like that out there, and here are five that you need to watch as well.
Upload
Let’s start with another show that mixes life and technology. Set in a world in the future, Upload starts with Robbie Amell’s Nathan finding himself injured in a car accident that is going to lead to death. Rather than death, he can be uploaded into the digital afterlife. It’s a way for people to cheat death in a way. They live for eternity elsewhere, but not everyone gets as great an afterlife as others.
Some people have the luxury of unlimited food and drink. Others will only get two gigabytes of data a day, and after that they’re frozen until the next day. It’s a look at how money is still important in the afterlife, but Nathan wanted to change that. He wanted a place that was completely free, so everyone had an opportunity at a good afterlife. Of course, there were people against that, leading to his death.
The first season includes us learning the rules of the digital afterlife, the Angels who look after them, and finding out who killed Nathan. After that, we go into more themes, such as political conspiracies and downloading after uploading.
Upload is available to stream on Prime Video.
Made for Love
As technology advances, what could be possible? We hear a lot about people having chips placed in their brains, and Made for Love takes that idea and runs with it. We can see the darker side of technology, as a woman meets a man and ends up going through a procedure that she never consented to.
Hazel realizes that for the last 10 years she has had a chip in her brain. She’s been controlled in everything that she does by a man she went on a date with. There’s even a tracking device, so when she escapes and gets to her dad’s, who hasn’t seen her this whole time, she doesn’t really get to get away.
The dark comedy delves into consent, accountability, and much more. It gives us a look at toxic love, while also taking us into the world of technology in the hands of a billionaire.
Made for Love is available to stream on Max.
Orphan Black
Tatiana Maslany is outstanding in Orphan Black, and if you haven’t watched it yet, you need to right now. She plays Sarah Manning, a streetwise hustler who is shocked to witness the suicide of a woman who looks just like her.
She finds herself thrown into a world of conspiracy and question. There are five other clones out there, and they come together with Sarah to work on figuring out what and who they are. Who created them, and what were they created for? Why have their lives been manufactured the way they are?
Now they are all being targeted for destruction. What happened for them to be destroyed? That’s the biggest question they need answered if they want to remain alive֫—or functioning, depending on your viewpoint as you figure out that they may not be completely human.
Orphan Black is available on AMC+.
Homecoming
If you like the idea of a storyline that involves a company affecting memory, then you’ll want to turn to Homecoming. The first season stars Julia Roberts, who plays a Heidi, a waitress who learns that she used to work for a company called Geist Corporation. He would help soldiers transition into civilian life, but she has no memory of this.
Well, the company is able to block people from recalling who they are and what they do once people leave. And so, Heidi has to figure out what happened to her in the past. The second season stars Janelle Monáe, who plays a soldier who has lost all her memories. She doesn’t even remember who she is, and now she has to figure out what happened to her.
This series continues the themes of Severance, focusing on corporate (and government) manipulation and how technology can affect memory.
Homecoming is available on Prime Video.
Mr. Robot
How about the series that made Rami Malek the household name he is today? He is recruited by Christian Slater’s “Mr. Robot” thanks to his computer hacking skills, and ends up joining an group of underground hackers who want to level the corporate playing field.
They work on eliminating consumer debt to help people start from zero again. As Elliot gets more and more immersed into the world, he gets involved in activities that could get him killed. And this is just the start of the series. He soon finds him deeper into the world of intrigue and conspiracy.
This series is more realistic compared to other shows on the list. It involves hacking in ways that people can do today. There is more of a real-world look in terms of social justice and class warfare, which is why Mr. Robot quickly became the series to watch.
Mr. Robot is available to stream on Prime Video.