Opinion Today: Why “Severance” strikes a nerve (and, maybe, should end)

Some shows are just more interesting to talk about.

nytimes.com March 31, 2025 By Adam Sternbergh Culture Editor, Opinion There's an argument that often pops up about whether people (like me) who are at least partially obligated for professional reasons to watch and talk about TV are watching and talking about the shows people care about most. When "Succession" ended, more than a few people pointed out that the show, which drew nearly three million viewers for its finale — as well as innumerable responses — had appreciably lower ratings than, say, the finale of "Young Sheldon," which drew triple that amount. It's the wrong argument. Some shows, regardless of the size of their audience, are just more interesting to talk about. No shade to "Young Sheldon," but "Succession" was a show that captured the tenor of its time, and which, I think, people will be referencing for decades as a useful Rosetta Stone for better comprehending its cultural moment. Another such show is "Severance." We can't say for sure how many people watch "Severance," since it streams on Apple TV+, and the ratings for streaming shows tend to be obtusely self-referential. (We do know it's become Apple's most watched series.) But "Severance," with its compelling premise about workers at a shadowy company whose minds have been split into two distinct selves, hit a cultural nerve. Why that's happened is debatable: It could be, as Ross Douthat recently argued, because the show lampoons America's cultlike relationship to work. Or it could be, as I wrote in a recent essay, because it touches on a very contemporary paranoia: No one is quite who they seem to be. It may also be time to end the show in exactly this spirit of ambiguity, as Lisa Schwarzbaum argued in a recent essay. Don't misunderstand: She loves the show. She also feels that some questions are best left unanswered. 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