人生切割术第一季

《人生切割術》集聰明、睿智、搞笑、引人入勝、陰森、不安和發人深省等諸多特質於一身。

這部劇的懸念推動著劇情不斷發展。

劇中有太多的疑問，但沒有任何信息會一次性全部呈現給你。

你必須親自體驗這部劇，一點一點地去揭開究竟發生了什麽的真相。

你越深入劇情，就越能發現真相，也會越發投入其中。

這部劇揭示情節的方式令人十分滿意且構思巧妙。

在攝影和場景設計方面投入了大量的心血。

拍攝手法和構思都非常精妙。

劇中這些創意的呈現方式、執行過程以及對這些創意的探索都堪稱完美。

演員們的表演堪稱一流，而且劇中的幽默元素也十分到位。

這部劇的概念非常引人入勝且獨具創意。

不僅如此，編劇們在挖掘這一概念時也做得極為出色。

他們采用了一種富有創意又貼近現實的手法，塑造的角色和設定的情景都極易讓觀眾產生共鳴。

這使得劇集內容極具感染力且引人入勝。

在這方面，這堪稱科幻題材的典範之作。

這才是優秀科幻作品應有的樣子。

我最喜歡的劇集之一是《絕命毒師》。

那部劇同樣具備這部劇所擁有的現實質感和角色代入感。

然而，《絕命毒師》並非科幻題材，而這恰恰是我最喜愛的類型。

正因如此，《絕命毒師》缺少了這部劇所能提供的東西——一個發人深省的概念，同時兼具優秀劇情應有的現實質感與角色代入感。

而《人生切割術》兩者兼而有之。

這部劇的整體氛圍也非常好，這一點常常被許多觀眾忽視，我所指的是一種整體格調，搭配適宜的音樂、燈光、攝影等元素。

它就像有一種魔力，能將你從平凡、或許枯燥或混亂的日常生活中抽離出來，帶你進入一個令人向往的奇妙世界。

而這部劇就能給你帶來這樣的體驗。

有一種獨特而怪異的氛圍，是我在其他劇集或電影中從未體驗過的。

這部劇仿佛存在於一個獨立的宇宙之中。

那種陰森的反烏托邦設定讓人感覺十分壓抑和不安，就好像所有的歡樂都被抽離了一樣。

這個世界看似與我們熟知的世界相似，但同時又很陌生，仿佛這部劇的故事發生在一個與我們世界類似的平行宇宙中。

劇中的某些場景、瞬間和創意是如此超現實，以至於會讓你開始質疑現實。

整部劇始終彌漫著一種潛在的陰森感，我甚至覺得有時候它既不祥又恐怖，感覺就像是在看一部A24電影公司製作的劇集。

《人生切割術》觸動了我們社會的神經，因為我們能對那些被呈現為「半存在」的人物產生共鳴。

在這部由本·斯蒂勒執導的原創劇中，人們的思維不知為何被分割開來，於是當這些人從事辦公室格子間工作時，負責工作的那一半大腦不記得工作之外的生活，反之亦然。

還有這樣一種理念：當我們分裂成兩個人時，我們就不再完整。

人們很快會遇到那些之前見過的人，但這些「分身」此前並未見過彼此。

這些被「切割」的人實際上就像是不同的人，左右腦的想法充滿了無限可能。

這些被奴役的思維最終能否掙脫束縛呢？

這正是我們在整個看似平凡的劇情中一直期待並支持的，比如偷偷摸摸穿過上鎖的門和走廊，這些情節緊張得超乎想象。

有些主要的生活狀態（仔細想想，這種情況下得花大量時間睡覺）或者說「外部人」（他們在外面的世界生活），這些「外部人」本身並無好壞之分，他們只是需要從工作的常規中解脫出來。

WLB,（work life balance,工作生活的平衡）想必是许多打工人的理想。

苹果TV+播出的职场惊悚剧《人生切割术》倒是精确完美地做到了这一点，可毕竟惊悚剧，又会多美好呢？

第一季共9集，前两集进入稍微需要点耐心。

第一集扑面而来的苹果美学，科技感、极简主义、清冷的画面，这种冷淡的开场及叙事，的确稍显无聊。

但，平静之下，必有暗涌，一切当然不会如看起来这般协调。

《人生切割术》中，要进大厂卢蒙公司就职，需要自愿实施一项分离手术，做完这个手术，记忆便会受到空间限制。

在公司大楼里不会有外面的记忆，出了大楼，不会记得与工作有关的一切事宜，哪怕最亲密的同事也互不相识。

男主马克因为受不了丧妻之痛，主动选择了分离手术。

他时常哭着开车到公司，一搭上到部门的电梯，便化身战斗力爆表的干活机器。

其他接受手术的人也如此，在公司的员工个个看起来精神抖擞、容光焕发。

但是很快，暗涌来袭。

首先，马克的老领导，他工作人格（马克A）的死党佩蒂突然离职，马克A被提拔为宏观数据精检部新主管。

但是现实中的佩蒂找到了马克B，原本作为分离技术坚定的拥护者的马克B，逐渐开始动摇。

（后文人物工作人格均用A表示）其次，新员工赫莉的到来打破了部门的平静，赫莉A三番五次尝试离职均以失败告终，最终，她选择自杀。

这些暴力行为也多少刺激到部门其他同事。

最后，部门还有两位成员，爱上光学设计部主管沃肯A的老员工欧文A，以及在家被唤起工作模式见到儿子的迪伦A。

如果说工作模式是没有感情的干活机器，那么在最终决定反抗前的阶段，宏观数据精检部的同事们的情感意识被激活了，这个号称永不可逆的分离手术，还是没有战胜人性。

最后一集，四人组计划让工作人格走出大厦寻求帮助，至于他们成功与否，就要等下一季才能揭晓了。

我预测不会成功，下一季还会有更大的骗局给主角几人。

他们依然需要重新认识，再次实施揭秘计划。

赫莉给我留下很深刻的印象，作为家族接班人，她原本是要以身试教，昭告天下分离手术是多么好。

结果当她的工作人格第一次醒来，整个人对眼前的一切都是怀疑和抗拒的态度。

为了成功离职，她甚至以死相逼赫莉B，真的太勇了。

也许这就是人之所以为人的原因，即便做了分离手术，仍然具有强烈的自我意识，我愿意，我不愿意，我喜欢，我不喜欢，一切都由我决定。

而至于那个把我送进地狱的自以为是的我，F**k me!

间歇性地抵触上班这件事，不管是因为工作上遇到的糟心的事还是人，但我倒从来没想象过如果有另外一个自己去上班会怎么样，这是《人生切割术》设想的场景，只要做一个小小的手术，上班的自己就从原有的记忆里切割出来，但我仔细想想又觉得不寒而栗，如果说一个人永远在休息时间，另一个人就是一睁眼就在上班，永无止境，这真的好吗？

剧中的设定很容易让我想到《黑镜》里有一集讲了一种高科技产品cookie，可以把人的部分意识储存在一个蛋里，这个有思想的蛋可以将家里布置得有条不紊，为主人安排好各项行程，因为这个意识是你本人的，谁能比你更知道自己想要的和合适的呢？

这个安排听起来很美好，但问题是cookie这个蛋中人有思想，他怎么能忍受得了被禁锢被剥夺自由呢？

于是出现一个新生职业，调测师，他们负责击垮蛋中人的心理防线，抹杀对方的人格和意识，最后让蛋中的意识真的沦为数据，僵化地执行自己被指派的任务。

看这一集的时候我就在想蛋中人好像缸中之脑，他的思维方式和原来的自己完全一样，他能被视为人吗，或者说还是原来那个人吗？

《人生切割术》在这方面没有留下太多讨论空间，它的设定相当于一个人拥有了两套记忆和意识，身体还是同一个人。

随着剧情展开，就会看到处于休息状态的Outie会莫名感受到压力，即使他们没有工作时的自己，也就是Innie的记忆，另一方的沉痛心情也不知不觉影响到了他们，那这样的意识切割意义何在呢？

这部剧以倒叙的方式展开，开头部分我看得疑惑，几个身份错置的人，对自己身处的环境很茫然，被另一方追击带来一触即发的紧张感，随着剧情深入，我的很多疑问得到了回答。

最直接的一个问题是这种分离手术真的像Lumon公司宣称的那么好吗？

我跟着Helly的视角观察，她是一个新加入的Innie，同事们平和友好，虽然做的事看起来毫无意义，上司似乎也很温和，但规矩森严，一旦触犯，就会被惩罚。

印象最深的是一个管理层说的，大意是给这些人一点点空间，他们就会有自己是自由的错觉。

事实正是如此，员工们学会融入规则，于是得到一些微不足道的奖赏。

虚伪的心理健康疗程给他们创造一个美好的外在自我的假象，让他们甘于Innie的状态。

管理层小心翼翼地把他们隔绝开来，不仅每个部门互不碰面，而且要营造一种部门间彼此仇视的气氛，他们在害怕什么？

这一切在Helly来到后被打破了，起初每个人有各自的坚持，但渐渐随着他们的信念被打碎后，他们走上了一条共同的逃离之路。

在公司内部已经能感觉出分离手术背后所含的恶意，而这种泯灭人性的做法一定会被滥用，剧里用两个细节就勾勒出被滥用的深度和广度。

Mark因为自己妻子过于悲伤，而选择分离自我，但直到最后我们才知道实际上他的妻子也在公司，被切割记忆的两人相见不相识。

带出的一个更大的疑问是为什么Lumon要刻意制造出这个假象，让Mark加入？

也许只是为了测试分离后的两人是否还有记忆，但因此就将他们抛入绝望中，这种恶意让人不寒而栗。

另一个细节是Mark的姐姐遇到的事，她和参议员的妻子有过两次交谈，分别在对方怀孕中和产后两个时期，结果产后的妻子对她们之前的谈话毫无印象。

一个很合理的猜测是妻子分离了怀孕时的记忆，对生养了3个孩子的她来说这样做轻松不少，可是对另一个意识的自己呢？

这就像蛋中人一样，是惨无人道的做法。

而且谁说这种做法不会反噬呢？

毕竟身体是同一个人的，记忆和情感也不因为意识分离就不产生影响。

可以想象这种分离手术一旦铺开，会怎样切割人的思想、精神状态和情感。

当作为Innie的Mark好不容易逃到外界，找到自己的姐姐，把一切都告诉她时，最让人心碎的一个问题是Outie的自己为什么要给他这样的痛苦呢，姐姐的回答也许能让他好受些，因为Mark想给8小时的自己另一种生活，逃离和他如影随形的悲伤，他完全是善意的，可是他的善意被利用被背叛了。

全剧最震撼我的一幕是另一个Innie Irving回到外界后的样子，他一边听嘈杂的音乐，一边不停地画着他本该毫无记忆的黑暗的通道，画完一副又一幅，他像座即将喷发的火山，沉默地宣泄无名的压力。

如果说他们选择分离手术是为了逃离现实生活的压力，那么他们只是奔向了更大的痛苦。

而对Helly来说，这里没有她的理想和信念。

活动地址：https://viff.org/whats-on/severance-talk/ 访问这个网站后注册一个账户就可以购买这个采访录像，费用是 0 元，只填写有效的邮箱信息即可，下单成功后不久邮箱会收到一个播放地址，然后就可以观看这个采访录像。

这个采访录像是经过 DRM 加密的，非常不容易下载（反正我没成功），而且有一定的有效期限（5 月 23 日之前有效），所以购买完毕后要尽快抽时间看完。

我从网站上下载到了这个采访的英文字幕，按照采访的格式重新整理了一遍，发到这里。

英文字幕应该是机器识别+人工校对实现的，大体上没问题，时不时会出现一些小错误。

访谈录音：May 9, 2022 - VIFF Creator Talk, Severance.mp3

Kinga Binkowska👩Kinga Binkowska: Good evening, everyone. And thank you for joining us. My name is Kinga Binkowska and I'm industry and live producer here at the Vancouver International Film Festival. I would like to start by giving thanks to the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations for the continued stewardship of the unceded, unoccupied land on which we live and work.From creators and showrunners to directors, writers, producers and craft people, the VIFF Talk series draws from a fine and creative group of key creators, whether they're responsible for critically acclaimed films, or groundbreaking TV series, our guests provide a treasure trove of information and inspiration for fellow creators, filmmakers, industry professionals, and of course, the fans.Right at 98% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, Apple TV+ Severance is one of the most acclaimed new shows of this year. Already greenlit for a second season, this mind and genre bending Series offers a heavy mix of sci fi, "dramedy", conspiracy, mystery and psychological thriller as it investigates the concept of work life balance in a speculative realm in which office workers personal and professional experiences are really siloed.We're thrilled to chat with creator Dan Erickson, whose inventive series features and unique and brilliant script, sublime direction by Ben Stiller and incredible casting highlighted by Adam Scott's note perfect centre performance and Christopher Walken biggest role on the small screen.Our hosts for this evening is Duana Taha, writer and producer. Welcome Dan and Duana!

Dan Erickson & Duana Taha👩🏻Duana Taha: Hi there, I'm Duana Taha, I am thrilled to be in conversation with Dan Erickson, courtesy of VIFF. A little intro for those of you who don't know, Dan Erickson began writing plays and making movies with his siblings and friends at a young age and went on to get his BA in English and creative writing from Western Washington University. He later attended NYU Tisch School, where he received a Masters in Dramatic Writing. Upon moving to LA, Dan delivered food and worked in string of office jobs, all while conceiving and writing the original pilot for Severance. The script became the first TV pilot ever selected for the annual bloodlist, which ultimately led to a creative partnership with Red Arrow productions, Endeavor Content and Apple. Dan splits his time between LA and New York while sneaking back to his beloved Washington State every chance he gets. The creator of Severance, please welcome Dan Erickson.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Hi Duana, How are you?👩🏻Duana Taha: I am pretty good. Thank you so much for coming and speaking with us. There is so much to chat about.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: It's so good to be here.👩🏻Duana Taha: Very excited. I asked you just before we began, which question you've been asked most often, and you said, you know, there was a lot about where did this idea come from? I don't have that question. Because I can imagine that, having worked one or many, many terrible jobs or jobs that thought they were pretty cute and great, fine. My question to you is, do the people at your real life Lumon know that they're the inspiration for Lumon? Are you getting DM's from everybody in your life going? It was us, wasn't it? Come on! 🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Oh, God. I hope not. No, I have gotten DM's from I haven't gotten DM's from any of the bad guys. I'll say that. And any of the mysterious higher ups represented on the show. I have gotten DM's from former co-workers and people who have sort of been in those particular trenches with me. And those have mostly been appreciative. Yeah.👩🏻Duana Taha: But they recognize that some of your jokes and references are just for that. Yeah?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah. Ya no, for sure, and it's all stuff I'm grateful for now, but, you know, little, just weird corporate idiosyncrasies that I collected along the way, you know, the people who I knew from those worlds will reach out and be like: Hey, I recognize that.👩🏻Duana Taha: You know, there's a kind of an obvious sentiment that the show might resonate with anybody who's ever been in kind of a terrible workplace dystopia? Was there anything that you actually had to explain to the showbiz world of Los Angeles? That yes, this is a real thing, or yes, this is a reference that people make?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah, I mean, a lot. A lot of the people, you know, who were producing the show, or who were working on the show had their own experience in those kinds of jobs, some of it years ago, some of it more recently. But there was some stuff like sort of the core principles and the slightly culty elements of the corporate world where I'm like, No, this is real, like. I basically didn't exaggerate that at all. The core principles are actually a less ridiculous version of something I really encountered at one of the jobs where there was just these themed principles, that didn't really make any sense. And they sent somebody around, someone came from the national office, and they came around to introduce the principles to us and the trip, I'm sure, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. You know, it's all stuff that if you're wanting to be a creative person, and eventually turn this into a story, you're just sort of putting all that in your pocket as you go along.👩🏻Duana Taha: If I understood you correctly, you're saying that, you toned everything down for Lumon?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Not everything, but some things.👩🏻Duana Taha: That's terrifying enough to be going on. I think that overall, it's very clear that this is coming from a couple of different pin points, including, you're speaking largely to a Canadian audience here, though, that we have many climates or this vast country, I in the East don't think we've ever seen winter portrayed more honestly, or brutally on screen. Was that important? Was that a real choice? How did that go down?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah, I mean, we did say we were like, If we get this wrong, the Canadians are going to come for us. They're going to know that we faked it. I am honestly really happy to hear you say that, because that was one of the hardest elements of this thing. Like really green writer, I'd never actually been in a writers room before. And so I had certainly never had to go out and be on a shoot, and sort of live the reality of the things I was writing before. So I would just very willy nilly be like, Okay, let's do another nighttime scene in the snow. And, you know, not realizing A) that that's always a nightmare to have to make that happen, you know, on any shoot, and B) that Ben Stiller is the most meticulous person in the world and is not going to do anything halfway, and so, you know, he and Aoife McArdle, our other director, they were very adamant that those seem do feel real, and that we shoot them out somewhere very cold at night. And so we had a great crew that were great. It was tough.👩🏻Duana Taha: And you started thinking about ways that move on, suddenly could have like, a climate control over the town in second season, I assume?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yes. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, they probably have an office in Phoenix or somewhere a little bit more warm.👩🏻Duana Taha: Well, speaking of, let's get into it, then. Let's talk about the specificities of Lumon. You know, this show has more than most developed an incredible number of fan theories. What is your process of that? Are you engaging with them? Are you laughing at them? Do you have to avoid them? Like, what's your sort of take on that?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah, I was, I was told right off the bat to avoid Reddit, because they're like, it will poison your brain, like you're gonna get totally in your head. It's going to become this weird feedback loop. That's going to drop, you know, drive you into the mouth of madness. And so I for about 10 minutes didn't go on Reddit. And then I caved, and I went once and I was surprised, cautiously surprised and delighted to find that it was this just wonderful, positive, delightful community of people who were just really excited about the show and it wasn't just a lot of people who made for various things I was like, Oh, this response is actually really positive. And it's just, it's sort of inspiring, because, you know, it's all this brand new art that's being created. And then the theories, which are, there are always some that are outlandish, but it's an outlandish show. So like, I sort of don't blame anybody for that. But then yeah, a lot of it is stuff that's really smart, and, in some cases, stuff where I'm like, Could I could I use that when I get in trouble if I just did that?👩🏻Duana Taha: How close is this? Versus how can I obfuscate it?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: But it's great. It's a great community. And it's really fun to to watch them do their thing.👩🏻Duana Taha: That's how you know when people are that engaged in that kind of a cypress about what they think is the truth. The one I see coming up most often is what's the real deal with the scary numbers in macro data refinement? And so my question to you is, I'm assuming you're not going to tell us what is really the deal. So what is your favorite incorrect assumption about what it might be?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Oh, boy, let's see. I'm trying to think because there have been a lot of really good ones. I'm trying to think if there's one that I want to admit is incorrect. I mean, definitely, a lot of people have have sort of assumed that it's kind of the first thing you would expect, which is some kind of like data mining or something like that. People's private records, which is, it may well be something like that. But I will say that when we were figuring out what the numbers are, that was sort of one of the first things that we thought, and it became this thing of like, what can we do that's either different or some kind of an elevation of that. So all I'll say is that I hope that it's something that people will be surprised by, I hope it's something that will feel both like it makes sense looking back, but that it also is a little bit counterintuitive. It's kind of what happens there.👩🏻Duana Taha: And one hopes that the truth will in some way align with Lumon's nine values. Let me say that for the audience, and I'll be watching to see if Dan malsum along with me, we have vision, verb, wit, cheer, humility, benevolence, nimbleness, probity, and wiles.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah. I had to listen to you say, at first on a couple of the middle, but I got there by the end.👩🏻Duana Taha: I consider myself pretty well read, but I still had to Google probity to make sure I was interpreting it correctly.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: I forget what it means. What does it mean?👩🏻Duana Taha: Let's say, you know, we'll have some research and bring that back later in the talk, you know, make sure we both internalize it. So I'm sure that those were, as you say, much debated and or that some went in and some some came out in terms of the final line when you were debating them. But I was shocked to find out that Lumon had a dress code. So I guess, first of all, the immediate question is, the dress code is black, white, maybe gray and pastels. As if you weren't already depressed, you're allowed to have pastels, at Lumon. How much of this do you expect that the characters themselves sort of taken on day one? Or are these things that have kind of been policed among the Lumon employees over time and become kind of facts and rules? Are there distinctions between some of the things that we hear?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah, I think so. And by the way, just just real quick, I looked it up probity, the quality of having strong moral principles, honesty and decency. So I think part of that is dressing right. Yeah, I mean, the dress code is a funny thing specifically because I think it is as it is, in real life, sort of a way of policing the way people express themselves and sort of the level of your own humanity that you're allowed to bring into the into the workplace and your individuality. But then, I think it is probably also artificially policed in Unit even more by the company itself. Where Yeah, like They probably are not, you know, there's a color scheme. But the other the other thing that we talked about that hasn't really come into play much in the show yet, is that it would all have to be closed without any sort of label or writing because it has to get through the code detectors, because, you know, any sort of written symbols whatsoever won't go. And so, you know, we've talked about is there, how there may be like a severance-friendly clothing stores, like where if you're, if you're working a separate job, there's a specific store you can go to that has stuck with no writing whatsoever. But yeah, that's all. You know, that's stuff that would have to be explained to the "outtie", whereas most of the actual in office behavior stuff would be explained to the "innie", and I imagine on both sides, it's a bit of an education, it takes a while to sort of, you know, we see Helly we sort of clumsily bumping up against the rules. And I think that's something that probably happens for all of them.👩🏻Duana Taha: Quite often. Yeah. And you've answered a few questions there in the sense that, obviously, we know that there's enough of a enough of a severed population, that there's also anti-Lumon sentiment and anti-severance kind of movements, and clearly a need for retail locations. So I guess, within the world of the show, what is your kind of estimate of how many people were talking about less as a number and more as a, is, does it approximate a percentage point? Is it you know, is it a part of a given town only or? Because, you bring up a lot of questions there.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Right, right, right. It's a really, really good question. I actually have never been asked that before, and I want to make sure that I don't get, you know, the Apple dart in my neck.👩🏻Duana Taha: Yes, this is kind of an occupational hazard for you throughout this whole talk. Right?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah, they're standing at the door with the blow dart thing. it's really overkill, in my opinion. But yeah, I think it's less than a percentage at this point. It's in the culture, it's like, you know, we see that it's something people are discussing at dinner parties or not dinner parties. And they're, you know, it's something that is debated, and is probably, you know, they're think pieces all over the internet about it and that kind of thing. But I think at this point, it's still very rare. There are other severed offices, there are other Lumon severed offices around the world, in various places. But like, for example, there are states where it's not legal for you, and there are others where it is. So you know, there's all a lot of that a lot of that is sort of world building stuff that we haven't even really gotten into on screen yet. But I think that's one of the most interesting parts, especially, if we do expand a little more into other parts of the "outie" world moving ahead, it's a deep sci-fi versus Armageddon sci-fi where I always think it's really interesting, when you're looking at how it would affect the culture in a society, which is Deep Impact, by the way. 👩🏻Duana Taha: Clearly, and don't, obviously, but yes, if you had to choose. And you confirmed something that I wasn't sure was, an actual narrative fact as opposed to a line for Mark. He's so earnest when he tells Helly about the code detectors, that I wasn't sure whether that was an immutably true fact or something that he had been told and digested, you know, but I appreciate A) that, that he pointed it out and B) that he knew what she was going to do with head cap because it took I think, is a little bit longer.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah, well, he's, he's speaking from experience.👩🏻Duana Taha: Yeah. Well, okay. I love this. And, I'm excited to get further into, that part of things. But I should have said this at the beginning, but clearly, to the degree that you are able to answer questions spoilers abound, from this point forward. But one of the things that I found so interesting is that when the show begins, the name Mark. S is so generic, with all respect to the wonderful Adam Scott, but the name is so generic that you sort of glaze over it right away. The name Helly on the other hand, pretty rare. I don't know if I've ever known a Helly? Have you? And was it intentional to kind of keep that nod to her birth name? Or, like, because I know you've lived with this script for a while, so I wasn't sure if that was something that you always wanted to be the case.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Right, right. I, it's funny, I was trying to remember this recently, and I honestly don't remember exactly where the name Helly came from. I think it had, you know, sometimes I'll do like a late night, like name search Google binge thing, and just like, find something, it's like, Oh, this means blank in this language. So there's those get, and then I'll forget the next day why I picked it. So that that may have happened a little bit, but I think it did have something to do with the, it's almost shortening of the word Helly and a bit and conscious or otherwise, is the fact that the name sort of stirs up this, idea of of raising hell and, appending things. So I think, but then Yeah, it did become. It wasn't until later that we actually concede that this turn that of her being an Eagan. And so then, you know, it's sort of that was sort of a happy accident, where it's like, her name almost feels incomplete. Like we're waiting to hear the other side. The other part of it, you know, waiting to find out who she really is. So I think it all it all worked out.👩🏻Duana Taha: Yeah, it definitely has sort of the air of anticipation in a way that a Dylan or an Irv doesn't. So yeah, definitely. That hit.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Well, and Mark was also that's the only character that's based on that this named after a real person because that character is named after my dad. So, yeah.👩🏻Duana Taha: Shout out to Mark. Okay🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Shout out to Mark Erickson. Yeah. A very hardworking person who I thought deserved to have a character named after him. But I feel bad because of all the terrible things that Mark ends up being put through.👩🏻Duana Taha: Yeah, did he have a real kind of relationship with him once he saw him on screen.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: I don't know if sharing a name made them feel an immediate bond or not. But yeah, I don't know. It was it was something it was funny in the writing process being like, okay, and then this next, Mark witnesses a murder? And I'm like, Oh, sorry, dad.👩🏻Duana Taha: Here we go again. Yeah, this episode.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah.👩🏻Duana Taha: Yeah, here we are. So you mentioned this was your first writing room? If I understood you correctly, is that right?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah.👩🏻Duana Taha: What, what was the most surprising thing that you went up going 18 Browns over? You know that? Well, I guess I should back up and ask you what was essential to be a writer in the Severance room? What were you looking for? What? What was sort of the quality that that meant to you? Yeah, this is somebody who's going to play well, in this sandbox.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: It was how was it tricky. It felt like a very narrow line to hit, you know, because it is a very specific tone. But you know, we wanted people who were funny, we knew that a lot of the language of the show is told through humor. And so I think that was a really important, whether or not, they were overtly comedic scripts, we wanted people who had that sort of ride, you know, even at times absurdist humor to their voice. But at the same time, I mean, we were creating such a world from scratch that we needed, people who knew were going to be good at that. And so we looked at, you know, really, people from really cool sci-fi shows that we liked and ultimately, though, it came down to every just everybody's sample and, you know, whether it was a play or, a pilot or, you know, whatever else a feature. It just had to be sort of an initial something at a click when we were reading it and make it and make us think, yeah, that's, they could they could operate in this in this world.👩🏻Duana Taha: And then so once you've assembled your sort of team of covert, covert, hilarious, world builders, yeah, were there big debates that were sort of constants that came up over and over again, or things that are fun activities. You know, when I think about the the euphemisms around, say, a wellness check, or the break room, I feel like that's kind of a writers room activity that might have gone on for for a long time, you know, the euphemism of what is HR, what is the commissary?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: No, it was fun. I mean, there was a lot, I wouldn't say that there was any. There wasn't much fighting or discord, we were all, I think, pretty much of the same mind on most of the stuff. But there were a lot of really fun debates. We talked about, like, Miss Casey in particular that that character, who, again, spoiler alert, we had to create a character that was sort of an important character hidden in plain sight, where, you know, by the time you realize who she actually is, and her relationship to Mark, you're, you're looking back and you're like, Oh, God, how did I miss that, and you're in a character, that seemed like they could exist, it's just kind of a funny, quirky side character. And we would accept her is that enough that we don't suspect there have been the other thing. And so there was like, at one point, she was gonna be this like, weird sort of traveling vendor, like selling things between departments. And there were a lot of sort of kooky different iterations of that character. And we just had a really good time. You know, improvising, and coming up with other other ways that we can portray her. And then the other thing that comes to mind is, so when Helly puts the, let me out on our arms, we had a lot of discussion about, like, how that would work, like, and at one point, it was like, we were all writing in pen on our fingers. And we were like, would she do it this way? You know, when she sort of tried to write it across the knuckles, but then we're like, no, because then the individual letter would still, so she'd have to cut up the letters. So maybe something like this. So there's a whole bunch of photos of from that time of just us various awkward, you know, appendages with with Sharpie writing on them.👩🏻Duana Taha: I'll be trying to get at that during the clip, of course, just try to write on my arm and see if I can manage it. There is I have one question about Ms. Casey. Before we get there, although we'll have many. My impression of her the way she ended up was that the the the name Miss Casey, when everybody else is used, as a first name implies almost like a, like a Romper Room kind of character or kindergarten teacher, you know, Miss Angela, or Miss Stephanie, somebody who is benevolently able to see everybody at all times. I don't know if that was sort of the the intent when she was, a traveling vendor as well? But definitely that separation and that sort of honorific that she has gave her that extra element.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah, no, I it's funny. I think she did have a different name back when she was like a traveling vendor. But yeah, she, the name Miss Casey was sort of supposed to invoke that off the bat. But then also, in hindsight, it is. It's like, almost the melding of a first name and a last name. And, you know, we have this convention where the severed characters have first names and the, the un-severed ones have last names. And the fact that her first name, or last name could also be a first name, you know, it's sort of meant to invoke this idea that she's she's of both worlds a little bit. 👩🏻Duana Taha: Well, let's get to know her a little bit. This is clip number one, please. I think that enjoy each fact equally is, is one of my very, very favorite moments of the show. And then one of my favorite rules. Do you think this one I'm attributing right here Egean? Do you think there's a reason behind it? an easily explained sort of moral reason.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah, I think there is, I think it's, yeah, I think it's about how sort of all qualities are, must be kept in balance, you know, and we can't let our passion for one thing overwhelmed the other thing. I'm sure Kier could say it more eloquently than that, if you asked him but I I agree that it comes right from him.👩🏻Duana Taha: The combination of these characters, obviously is brilliant link constructed from you, but I have to assume that in the context of the show, that each severed worker is put together carefully and on purpose. For example, is it an accident that Helly is placed in macro data refinement? even though we have we have a spot open because of Petey? It seems as though you know would would Helly work as well in a different department?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Right, it's a good question. My thought had been that Helena Eagan was was planning to join. And I think specifically was planning to join Macro Data Refinement. That's not to say that that cause Petey's ousting, I see it more as something where she was sort of waiting for an opening. But I don't think I can say any more beyond that.👩🏻Duana Taha: We will steer safely away, or not too far away. It was my opinion. But this is just me watching that, when we see Helly try and failed to resign, whether or not it might be possible for somebody to resign? Certainly it doesn't seem like any of our team have ever seen that. Is that a fair thing to say?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah, I mean, Dylan has that line towards the beginning where he says, you know, good luck getting it approved and Mark's like yeah, they tend to get rejected. I'm not sure if it's never worked. But I think it's it's sort of one of these things where it's like, they just assume it's like, yeah, you know, it's it's like putting a complaint in the complaint box. You'll never hear about it again. Yeah, I don't know if I'd say never. But certainly rarely.👩🏻Duana Taha: It makes it that much more exciting than the combination of people that you have in there because, for example, Mark is quite well indoctrinated, even though Petey was you know, as far as we know, trying to plot certainly make a map. Certainly, you know, trying to figure things out before he left. So it you kind of go, well, Marks earnestness must have been kind of a nice spot for people to hide behind, or was he trying to tell Mark things that Mark wasn't hearing?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah, well, it is interesting, I think the line is in there where where Petey says to Mark, you know, you tried to quit, which implies two things like it implies that his resignation request didn't come through, because he is out he didn't get it. And also that, he had sort of a rebel period, that this mark, who we now see who is this kind of, you know, snarky, but overall contented company man, that there was maybe something else before that, and that maybe he had an initial reaction that was a little more akin to how Helly is reacting. And that's something that we sort of talked about is, like, with the, with the flowchart, entry, you know, an entry, welcome that Mark has to do that sort of has all these different. You know, she says this, you have to do this, and you wonder how that was created. And you know, how many people have come in here and freaked out and threatened to kill somebody, that they've got it down to the science of like, well, no, if you just walk them through this way, they'll eventually calm down. So, it's fun, because to me, it speaks at a much longer history. Like you wonder how long they've been doing this to the point where they have it down to a science like that.👩🏻Duana Taha: Well, we do wonder, Dan, we're just here trying to wear you down.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: If only somebody knew, if only somebody knew. And they could say it, but no, Alas, no one knows.👩🏻Duana Taha: But the opening that opening sequence in the conference room. It you know, brings up I don't know whether this is an unpopular opinion or not, but in a show full of dread. For my mind, the the biggest dread and the creepiest guy in the place is Milchick. And his beautiful big smile. He has to carry around all the enthusiasm and all the enforcement, is there. I suspect there's more that we don't know about him. Is that true? Or did you have fun writing him in sort of doublespeak What's the origin of Milchick there?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: I don't think that's an unpopular opinion, or it shouldn't be because I completely agree with you. And that I mean, ultimately, you know, 99% of that is owed to Tramell Tillman, who is just this utter force of nature of an actor and created this really thoughtfully created this brilliantly enigmatic character. That could be both the funniest and the scariest thing on screen. You know in the same moment, and the fact that it worked that well, I would say that is the character. I think Tramell well is the actor who transformed the character, maybe more even than any other on the show, in terms of like, that was written as a, not a not a vastly different character but but just a little bit more of a kind of boring by the numbers HR guy, and a lot of the some of the malice was there, because it was, you know, it's sort of intrinsic and everything that that Lumon does this sort of smiling malice, but as soon as Tramell was in there doing his thing, we were sort of like, Oh, that's who he is. That's, that's who Milchick is and so yeah, a lot of it just happened on screen in front of me, and I just got to sit back and watch. But he was always supposed to be sort of this, smiling double speaking face of the company. Who was the one telling you everything was okay, while also telling you with his face that everything is not okay.👩🏻Duana Taha: And that's kind of the beauty of of getting to do TV on top of everything else is that when you see somebody do something like that, and you realize, Oh, the alchemy it's all coming together here. They have they fit in that last piece of the puzzle. We'll take a little bit of a look at that in our second clip. If we can have that one, please. So that is another one of those scenes that I think could have probably gone on for for half the episode, I would have spent all that time learning facts about about each and every person. Were there any other surprises for you in terms of casting? Or where the characters kind of went? Once their performers were in bed with him?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah, I mean, all of them to one extent or another? For sure. I mean, I mentioned Tramell. But but every, every actor sort of brought in something that I didn't know was there, And created something that was like, I mean, it's a really weird, unique feeling that that isn't like anything else. When when you when you sort of create half of something, and then the other person comes in and shows you what the other half of it is. And and it's not always what you expect. And in a way, that's scary, but it was so fun and rewarding, because all of these, you know, people did such great things with it. But yeah, like, you know, John Turturro brought in sort of this austere gentlemanly vibe that was in the character a little bit on the, but not, you know, maybe not quite to that extent. And, sort of turned, you know, created the mannerisms of the character. And it was just as soon as he was on screen doing it, we're like, Okay, now we know, Irving, and now as we're like writing the later episodes or rewriting stuff, it becomes easier, because it's like, now we know who Irving is. But yeah, I mean, every every single actor did that, did that in some way.👩🏻Duana Taha: Well, and you have some huge names that you might be wondering if the names kind of supersede the characters, but they really disappear within them. Patricia Arquette and Christopher Walken, and everybody really was in this type cast. What did you tell to whom? Some of your some of your actors are playing dual roles? Some of them kind of know that or we think they kind of know that and some do not? Was it to case by case or were you quite quite protective over? You know, there's some shows you here but scripts going out with under lock and key. So yeah, what was sort of your philosophy?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: It was it was sort of case by case and I let the actor sort of lead that conversation, because I wanted to help them in whatever way was best for them in sort of crafting the performance. I remember Britt, Britt Lower who plays Helly wanted to know very little. I think that she, she was sort of more of the mind of she wants to know exactly what her character knows. She wants to go on this, scary awakening and journey with Helly, without knowing too much of the context, I forget when we did actually tell her that that, spoiler alert, Helly is an Eagan. I forget when we shared that with her, but I think it was a bit into the process. She, certainly knew by the time that she was like, in episode one she records, this message back to herself, which was actually done a little later in production. But, but yeah, it was different for each actor, I think. And in some cases, we didn't fully know. I mean, we built a lot of these characters knowing that we wouldn't them on the outside this season, barely at all. And so, you know, in some cases, we had, like, a rough idea of, you know, for example, who Dylan is outside, but, but there were, there were gaps of it that we hadn't filled in ourselves yet. So we weren't able to fully have that conversation with Zach, you know, even if, if he had, had wanted to at that point.👩🏻Duana Taha: Speaking of Dylan, I always assumed that I don't know when you had sort of the the genesis of the waffle party and all that that entails kind of lined up. But, one of the things about it is that you know, you assume that under any other circumstances, a guy like Dylan is going to want to tell everybody every solitary detail, but it's so weird. He actually can't like, nobody would believe him. I don't know, if that was on. Whether that came first or whether there was a version of the waffle party that was less, less?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Less, less, less of that? Yeah, there there was. I think it may have started as a joke. And I don't I hesitate to say that, because I don't, I really liked what it ended up being but but there was at one point in the room where we were like, well, what if it was sort of this oddly sexual, perverse thing. But then the more I think we talked about it, the more that it kind of made sense, in terms of that, we're in this office where, basically, you're not allowed access to that part of yourself, that part of your psyche, and that, you know, like anything else, Lumon would Lumon would take it and sort of commodify it and use that as a way to sort of, you know, carrot to keep people going the right direction. And, you know, in a world where everything is commodified, that that would sort of be the ultimate prize. And, and so you know, it felt like sort of an appropriately terrifying exploration of what sex would look like, in a world like this. And then also the fact of course, that they are sort of playing out this this weird, bold, image from the from the paintings of Kier taming the Four tempers, and that is, it's like, well, this is the it's like, you can feel those feelings, but they have to come from the company, they have to, they have to be given to you from on high by the company. And so it all just, it was uncomfortable and weird, but it felt, it felt like what Lumon would do, but there were definitely moments that you know, talking through it in the development where we're like, okay, are we seriously doing this though? Are we seriously? That's what the waffle party is. Okay. All right, let's do it.👩🏻Duana Taha: Just somebody waiting for somebody else to say, maybe we, maybe we shouldn't? 🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: No one said it. So we're like,👩🏻Duana Taha: Nobody hated it. But it makes sense because as there are so many different ways that we see that Lumon is, there's a bigger religious parallel than anything else. To my to my eyes, at least from everything from the art to be, to the values, to the the soul bags, or Cobel's shrine. Potato potato. But the compunction statement was the one that really got me that was the one that that felt much less about, you know, that's sort of the the the real sort of crux of when work becomes more than just a workplace where it's the sorryness and the apology is that was that an evolution? Was that something you always knew you wanted to do sort of those religious overtones and the slightly weird sexual rewards as a result?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah, I mean, different different ideas came at different stages, certainly, but I think that the the religious and in some ways cult-like elements, I think they sort of evolved naturally because I think there is in some case, a weird blurry line between, a corporate culture and a cult. And, and, you know, when you when you are asked to work at a place where they tell you that, you know, your family here, and they give you a list of values of how to behave, and, and in some cases, you may work at a place with this, where there's a cult of personality around the CEO and almost a hero worship around the CEO and this idea that like, well, you know, this this person, it's okay to give yourself and give your labor over to this person, because there's some, this is someone who's going to save the world, you know, and we're not just making coffee here, we're supporting this figure who's going to go on and save the world. I'm not talking about anything specific, of course, but but I had just something I had noticed for for a while that like, there are these weird, the Venn diagram of how like a cult or even a religion will ask you to behave or ask you to think and you know, the way that that that certain workplaces operate, like there is overlap over there, there is overlap there. And and then of course, you know, we did look at different you know, what, like, real scary cults, people are made to, you know, do horrific things and, and the tactics that those people used. And so again, it was kind of it was kind of the slippery slope or the wavy line between those things that I was interested in, and you know, how Lumon could sort of bring, bring all those things together in a really spooky way?👩🏻Duana Taha: Well, like all cults, they are convinced they're doing the right thing, right. Like there's, I assumed that somewhere in the high up, Lumon brass that somewhere in the Egean's they believe that what they're doing is, is helping someone.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yes,👩🏻Duana Taha: Probably? Yeah. Yeah.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: I, well, wait, I don't want to confirm anything. I shouldn't. But no, I'll say in the vaguest terms, that that that was something we talked about, and that we thought was important was just this, like, you know, nobody is really evil for the sake of evil. There are people who are greedy and selfish and don't really have morals, per se, that come out in their behavior. But, it's more interesting, I think, if this big, scary shadowy conglomerate corporate villain actually believes in something twisted, though it is like that's going to create for more, interesting conflicts and more interesting sort of philosophical debates as, as our heroes tried to figure out and then, take down what this company is trying to do. So yeah, we, in coming up with, like, what their ultimate ethos is, and their ultimate goal is, we tried to make something that sort of made a moral sense, like that made some moral sense, even if it was really skewed and scary.👩🏻Duana Taha: Right, that for somebody, if you accept X, then also Y and then they think, yeah, well, speaking of moral quandaries and complex things, we're gonna be going to questions in just a couple of minutes. So please send them in. If you have questions for Dan about the show. And, you know, see if you can get around those those laser filters and Apple darts. In the meantime, though, a couple more questions for you. There's so much lore here, since there's so much depth. I wonder whether at this point in your press tour, whether there's anything that you desperately wish somebody would ask that nobody has yet?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Oh, that's a good question. Um I mean, no one, no one has asked, no one has asked me to take offense to this, how severance might be used in like, the process of getting in shape, or getting healthy, or, dieting or exercising. And I just want to say I think that there are some maybe really scary answers potentially, to that question. So that's something that maybe, maybe moving ahead will will add to the discourse.👩🏻Duana Taha: Sure, because I can see how you know if you if you have the technology, right, that somebody Lumon might say might Want to expand into? Yeah, that's a real that's a real market there.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: It's never your workout. If you could just, you know, it's okay. I'm gonna do we're gonna do three hours in the gym now.👩🏻Duana Taha: Yeah, I don't I don't think my answer is supposed to be sign me up. But you know, I can I can see where it would where it would turn heads for sure. Yeah. But okay, that's, that's really interesting that there are. Are there other places that you're debating whether Lumon can go, obviously we saw Gabby and the childbirth sort of conundrum that happened with the with she and Mark sister so we know that is beginning to be adopted elsewhere. But are there other places that have things that maybe people could outsource?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: I think that list is endless, which I think is why ultimately more than anything, that's why this was a TV show and not a not a film or a mini series. Because like, early in the process, like I spoke to my manager, like format for this and it was ultimately the fact that there are so many applications for this technology that that that's what really made us want to keep it going. Because yeah, I think that you know, Gabby in the birthing center, you know, that's really scary, the more you scratch at it, but it just opens the door to other things. It's like almost anything that you don't like, could theoretically be severed away. And I think that that just opens the door to a really cool world. A really a really interesting world.👩🏻Duana Taha: Yeah, especially when you think about the what haven't we thought about, who are we already seeing. Because it's not like people for severed are wearing any sort of indication just yet. So you know.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: "Innie"-casion? it was,👩🏻Duana Taha: Say that last one again?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: I made a joke. I said "innie"-occasion.👩🏻Duana Taha: Oh.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: I apologize.👩🏻Duana Taha: No, not at all. I'm just realizing that my own "outie" at this moment not somewhere, you know, relaxing and, and laughing at me.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: We're both at work. So we are technically both in "innie" form right now.👩🏻Duana Taha: Yeah, it's and it's nice to know that. I guess maybe this is the entry point, right that there's another me having a wonderful glamorous life out there. It's like Instagram, but all the time. So we have a question from Adam, who asks, did you have any input in the insanely detailed driven set design and prop creation process? Or did that come from Ben Stiller's meticulous tendencies? or a third option that's not in the binary, I guess.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Right. Right. Well, thank you for the question. actor Adam Scott, you could have just called me but I appreciate it. No, yeah, it was, some of that was in the, the script, I mean, that the script was definitely describe the sort of sterile maze like hallways, and I think the script did specify, like MDR being having these really big for these really weird proportions of this big, wide space, and then the small kind of cubicle sort of island in the middle. But beyond that, like the vast majority of it was, was, you know, stuff, like just meetings that we had with with with Ben and with Jeremy Hindle. And Jessica Gagné, who was our, our DP, and, you know, many, many others who were involved with sort of creating the overall look of it. So it was a mix. I mean, I think the basics of it were there but then it got really, it got really fleshed out through the communal process.👩🏻Duana Taha: I'm assuming that you were on set most of the time if not all the time. So how much of your life would you say that you spent watching people walk through hallways.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: All of it, for a while. I mean, that was all I was doing because it was in the pandemic so it was that and then I would I would go home and I but most of the yeah most of the space around us, the funny thing is we had the the set that had this, weird endless tiers of white hallways. And then in the soundstage. Beyond that were even more endless white hallways that like didn't look too dissimilar from from the set. So there was this really weird, you know. And then yeah, I would be sitting watching the monitors. So it's like there's the world of the show. And then it's really happening out here. It got very confusing after time, for a while, what was real and what was not.👩🏻Duana Taha: Yeah, I just I started thinking about, you know, if people were called just for walking days, you know that you could, you could see your actors just suiting up for four or five hours at a time of just hallways, happy hallways, curious hallways, alarmed hallways?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Every kind.👩🏻Duana Taha: Every kind and more to come. Here is, there's a great question from Sarah, who writes: Some of the "innie" vernacular is just a little bit off, for example, eager lemur, or Dewey mouth are both quite understandable, but a bit jarring. How did you come up with that linguistic vibe?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah, we sort of wanted to give a sense that there was, it's like an insular world, it's like, this is a town where the past was blocked off, you know, back in the 30s. And so these people sort of, created their own vernacular and their own language a little bit. You know, it is it is just such a cut off world that we wanted to make it feel like it had its own culture a little bit. But that also might have just been a justification for me to like, write goofy stuff that I thought was funny. In the moment, I didn't know that was sort of the language and the logic kind of informed each other mutually in that in that case.👩🏻Duana Taha: There's obviously we know that the the "innies" have no access to tech, or the any sort of online world or anything like that. But it seems as though even outside the, you know, the cars seem a little bit older, that the, the houses are not super decked out. So is that just in the the world of Kier? The town? Or does it extend further? Like, is this sort of Lumon world philosophy?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Right. Um, it's a, it's a really interesting question that I don't have a total firm answer to because, yeah, to some extent, it is just a slightly stylized world. But in another way, I mean, one thing we talked a lot about was giving the sense that, even when you're not in the company, like even when you're not down in the basement, you're still in Lumon, in a way, let like that, you know, you're not in the belly of the beast, but you still might be within its grasp, you know, if you're out in the town, and that, in a way, in a way that's maybe more in than we realize the town, the town really is an extension of the company, and in some ways, so, once we had established that, the inside had this aesthetic of being a little bit out of space and time, and sort of a little bit intentionally disorienting and space and time where you couldn't, they don't know where and where they are, or exactly when they are. But but that some of that sort of bled into the outside so that, like, we never specify the exact year in the show, we never specify the exact state. And so there's, we wanted to maintain some of that. Now, if we were to go to New York City in this world, Would it? be similarly sort of quirky and strange? I honestly don't know yet. We don't. I don't have a I don't have an answer. But I think it's a really, it's a interesting question in regard to the world building.👩🏻Duana Taha: Well, and one more that, largely for me is there's very specific language all the time around, some people live in the town of Kier. And it's specified more than once some people do. Is that true? Are there people who live outside of the town who who make it to to Lumon?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Like, like people who work at Lumon but don't live in in the city of Kier proper? I think so.👩🏻Duana Taha: Okay.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: In theory, yeah. Most of them probably live in Kier but you could have someone from like the wider county area.👩🏻Duana Taha: That would pass the screening process if they if they weren't, you know, too immersed in a in the outside world.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Good question. It's a good question.👩🏻Duana Taha: I mean, a little bit to put you on the spot, but mostly not. We have a question from Jeff wants to know who are your favorite short story and novel writers and have any of them fed into your conception or style of Severance?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Hmm, that's a really good question. And I always freeze up the moment anybody asks me something like that. And then later I'm like, Oh, I should have said this person. I mean, Vonnegut is an easy choice, and certainly was inspirational, you know, somebody that I read when I was, in my early 20s, and got obsessed with and informed a lot of my language and style and tone. I like to think, and then, like, George Saunders is someone I really like. Yeah, I mean, those would be the first that come to mind. And then I mean, there's, you know, you know, people everyone knows, it's, you know, Kafka and people like that, who definitely made their way into the tone.👩🏻Duana Taha: And I would assume too that, the same goes for people who ask about TV influences. Everybody knows when you're working, you have no time to watch anything. But in between, brief hiatuses, or, or whatnot, what have you, what have you enjoyed?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Oh, man.👩🏻Duana Taha: Whether similar or far away.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Recent stuff?👩🏻Duana Taha: Like real show. Yeah. Like when you were talking, for example, about the hero worship of a CEO. I thought, Oh, well, you've also seen the "Drop out" then. But, you know, what have you been enjoying in terms of? Yeah, just other stuff that sort of in the same in the same yearly demo as Severance that's been in the kind of the same zeitgeist.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: I did. I love the "Drop out." I thought it was great. It's, it's so it's interesting to be making the show at a time when there are a couple of those like, true life, you know, fraudulent CEO, miniseries happening. I mean, there's, you know, there's that there's, "WeCrashed", there's others, but I think that I also really, I love all those shows, and I also absolutely am obsessed with "Succession" I think is terrific. And I think like at our, you know, at our highest aspiration, we would be sort of another side of the coin of because I think people are really interested right now, in, in those, big huge capitalists doing terrible things, stories. And I think that that's because there's a lot of people questioning, like, Oh my god, is this system really benefiting any of us? Is this, you know, is this something where corruption is just able to run rampant and why I think that shows like that are looking at that. And sort of, but you know, we're seeing sort of the CEO side of it, you know, where something like "Severance," obviously, it's different tonally and genre wise. But, you know, it is a story that I think, looks at some of those same themes, but you know, we're with the workers on this one. And we're, you know, we're down and the focus is basically the effects that this system has have having on these people who are trying to live their lives. So I think it's really exciting to be it's a really exciting time to be making TV and especially making TV about work and about, you know, the system that employs us, because I think that that's something a lot of people are talking about right now. I also love "YellowJackets." I thought "YellowJackets" was terrific. I thought it was really scary.👩🏻Duana Taha: It was scary and delicious. And Bart and Ashley, the creators were here with us doing a talk a few months ago, and yeah, they're amazing.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah. I'm fanboying over that, because that that was a that was a really cool show.👩🏻Duana Taha: Yeah, the delicious also, but, yeah, to your earlier point. I am not the creator of this term. But I really enjoyed the somebody said we're really in the middle of a "scam-demic" television, you know, starting with "Fire fest", so yeah, they're right.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: "Fire fest" kind of kick it off. Yeah.👩🏻Duana Taha: Then it was like, well, like we need more we just want we just want to cringe more.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah.👩🏻Duana Taha: We have a question from Spanic, I hope I'm pronouncing your name correctly. Who writes: Was it your original intention to write episode nine as a breaking away from the traditional ABC screenplay structure of the first eight episodes?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: That's a that's a really good question. Kind of, but not really. I'm not not consciously like. We weren't like, you know, screw you "Seinfeld", we're gonna we're gonna go our own way on this last one. But it was more like we wanted to do something where we could have done all the structural work of sort of setting up every single Domino and then just let it tip. And we wanted the last episode to feel extremely visceral and fast. And like, you know, we were experiencing it in the same crazy confused state as the "innies" were. So I think that that sort of naturally led to something that that didn't feel as sort of rigorously or carefully structured as the previous episodes. So yeah, again, it wasn't that it wasn't totally conscious. But I think that I think that we got there because we wanted this to feel like just a absolute visceral kind of panic show.👩🏻Duana Taha: Speaking up, we talked about kind of the zeitgeist of work shows that you're in, but also, in the zeitgeist of it used to be that shows like this had eight episodes, maybe six, maybe 10. Now we're in this odd numbered sequence was that? Did it? Did it keep you up at night to go? Yeah, we're gonna end on episode nine.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah, just the OCD. You're like, Oh, yeah, come on. Yeah, no, we were. And I've said this before, I'm pretty sure I can say this, we were originally going to do 10 episodes. And part of that was, you know, over the course of the pandemic, like we had to sort of tighten some things in order, for budgetary or production reasons. But we also just, I think we reached a point where it felt like the right number, let like it just sort of, in order to tell everything we wanted to tell at the pace, we wanted to tell it, you know, we got to this point, it was like this, this just feels right. So you know, we could have, we could have pushed to keep it at 10. But I think that we we sort of had this instinct that it was, this was this was the place to get out.👩🏻Duana Taha: I think it was a good call the cry of outrage when you realize it's the last one and where it stops is, is sort of heard throughout. So I think well done. We've got five minutes time for just a couple of questions. And Megan wants to know, what was the development process for the show? Who was the first person to say yes.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Um, wow. Well, the first person to say yes, was my manager, Ben Blake, who was extremely supportive again, I was driving for Postmates when he took me on. And and he saw something special in this in this show, and really, really helped me sort of get things moving. This publication called the "Bloodlist" said yes, they were they were, you know, they're a genre specific take on on something like the blacklist where they, they take on produce scripts that people are into, but no one's made. And they sort of elevate them, which is, you know, they've been doing for years is great. And then yet, Jackie Cohen, who's a producer at Red hour was the first person to actually like, read the script and be like, I think we can make this like, I think we could make this and then she brought it to Ben. And then, you know, once once Ben said, yes, then a lot of other people said, yes. But yeah, Ben, I mean, the really exciting thing was in meeting with Ben, how, immediately, like thoughtful, he was about it. And you know, sort of the opposite of this celebrity who comes in and sort of slaps their name on something. It was like, right away, he was like, Okay, we need to, you know, if we're going to do this, we need to get into this and this, and we need to figure all this stuff out. And I was very happy to do so I was like, Yeah, let's hit the ground running. But yeah, it was it was it was a long time. I mean, it took it took from when our first version the pilot to where it got it was like almost 10 years.👩🏻Duana Taha: And, you know, the that's that's the reality of the quote unquote, overnight success, right? It takes a little bit sometimes. Yeah, exactly.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: "Many hungry nights."👩🏻Duana Taha: I think, as a as I guess, a final question there. So over 10 years, there's going to be so many permutations and notes and versions and things of that nature. And now you're in the position of not only did you make it, not only is it a complete critical success, but you get to make more. Is there one element, you mentioned a little hint of one, is there one thing that you sort of had to leave by the wayside for space or time or availability that you're excited to get back to in season two or subsequent seasons.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: Yeah, sure, there are a lot. And I don't think I can say anything about any of them. But, yeah, there's there's definitely plenty of, you know, Ben is a very, he wanted us to make sure that we were giving the show room to breathe and giving the characters room to feel organic, and that we weren't rushing from one thriller beat to another. So, you know, there's plenty of story, that we had talked about first for season one that that may well end up in season two. Because, you know, but ultimately, the most exciting thing is just what, what's going to happen to these characters that we've come to love and really care about?👩🏻Duana Taha: And are they going to be able to find the goats again?🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: I mean, I, It's "chekhov's goat", you know, you can't put a goat on screen and then do nothing with it. But who knows? 👩🏻Duana Taha: There's no greater promise than that. Dan Erickson. Thank you so so much for being with us. Here at "VIFF creator talks." This is absolutely fantastic. Thank you.🧔🏻‍♂️Dan Erickson: It's been so much fun. Thank you so much for having me and everybody. This has been great.

S04这集赫利终于获得了和外面自己商议辞职的权利，搓手手等待正义感十足的自己让自己解脱的时候，收到了外面helly拒绝了并反过来威胁自己的视频讯息🙃影片的惊悚度瞬间拉升，外面没有人，有的只是你自己。

最令人恐惧的不是别人，而是你对自己的宣判。

你别说，现实中我们没有被植入芯片，人们也如此麻痹自己，在清晨起床踏上地铁的那一刻，实现了自我分割。

一方是源源不断的生活欲望，一方是对于不卷就会被淘汰的大浪趋势，我们如何从中获得平衡呢？

期待能从接下来的剧集中找到灵感。

在“切割”中，Mark等人展现work life balance的自我麻醉，但Helly更深一层，展现了阶级立场不同而造就的自我异化以及对自我异化的凝视。

她不需要像其他人一样通过“切割”来逃避现实的痛苦，她为了家族企业的利益而去“体验生活”。

她是唯一一个能看到inny的outty，但看到inny自杀未遂后无动于衷，继续“看戏”，这点令人细思恐极。

她觉得inny不是自己，只是一个“工作状态的自己”，她感受不到inny生理和心理的痛苦。

这种对“工作中的自己”的切割、异化和凝视，自然来自于她的privilege，但在我们的生活中也比比皆是。

我们觉得在“狗屁工作”里吃再多苦受再多委屈都可以接受，因为“这只是一份工作”、“工作就是这样的”，以及我们可以在工作外的消费、玩乐、甚至兴趣爱好自我提升里获得补偿。

但事实上，痛苦是不可抵消也不可补偿的。

工作里再多的苦，不会因为你下班后拥有的快乐生活而抵消。

这种自我切割、自我麻醉，只会正当化公司和资本的进一步剥削。

影片中还有更多有趣的细节，比如环形监狱监视法，让员工感到无时无刻不在被监视中，但其实只有一个保安；部门之间被塑造成陌生、割裂和争斗的状态，以至于每个员工都是一个原子化的个体；称呼彼此名+姓的首字母，以至于变成一个代号（英文和中文相反，重名很多，区分人与人本质靠姓），这些现象似乎在中国的互联网大厂（尤其是拼多多）已经上演。

最黑色幽默的，是Mark的大舅子Deven写的心灵鸡汤，变成了公司里的《工人宣言》。

在一个极端异化的剥削世界里，认识自我、人格尊严，已然变成了最具有反抗性和革命性的斗争。

《人生切割术》 《人生切割术》——资本主义与技术垄断的合谋 作者：Luxuan简介：爱电影但从没想过拍电影的摄影迷或许，《人生切割术》是另一部《摩登时代》。

卓别林那部旷世名作开片处关于羊群与工人的蒙太奇片段，与《人生切割术》的主角们在现代化办公大楼走廊中偶遇羊只的场景，是跨越80多年长河的呼应和重合。

世界在不断进步：从技术的向度望去；世界也在不断回旋式重复，甚至倒退：从关于人的主体性角度去思考。

《摩登时代》 剧照《人生切割术》，这部由Apple TV出品的剧集，拥有Apple的美学基因。

拉姆斯式极简设计与上世纪60年代复古美学，结合未来主义味道的记忆分离技术，令这部作品的时空锚点如一块滴入水中的墨汁，涣散模糊如被悬置。

在空间设计上，剧集拍摄取景位于美国纽泽西州的Bell Works（原为old Bell Labs Building in Holmdel）。

干脆利落的空间分割、洁白光滑的大楼内部是邪恶滋生长成的宁静之地：灯火通明、干净舒适的办公大楼正是现代工业社会通过技艺不断发展赐予人类舒适与便利的缩影，如同口感绵密的奶酪，柔软细腻给予无限的感官舒适；而公司那间臭名昭著的休息室则是现代人应直视的现代工业社会之内核：科学管理体系与技术跃进联手达成对人的全面压榨和物化。

《人生切割术》 剧照资本主义社会起始于钟表的发明，因为后者实现了标准化工作作息；现代工业社会则起源于泰勒及其科学管理体系，根据美国批评家尼尔·波斯曼的观点，虽说科学管理体系的初衷在于提高生产效率，但它的出现剥夺了人的主体性，将标准化体系置于人之上，让体系的运转来代替人的思考。

赫伯特·马尔库塞在《单向度的人》一书断定人沦为发达工业社会的奴隶的证据在于，人开始“作为一种工具、一种物而存在，是奴役状态的纯粹形式。

”（《单向度的人》第39页）卡夫卡《变形记》中主人公格里高利变成的那只甲虫虽然骇人实则脆弱，小说虽看起来悲观消沉，实则极具抗争意识。

虽说格里高利无法与卡夫卡后期作品《审判》中的约瑟夫·K和他未完成遗作《城堡》中的人物K（剧集中四位接受分离术的主人公的姓名灵感应该是来源于卡夫卡，意指人被极度压缩至一个指代功能的可怕状态）拥有同一份西西弗斯般的韧性，但格里高利在重压之下选择异化为一只格格不入的甲虫，进而摒弃掉自己被物化的命运，也不能不视作一种抗争。

在《人生切割术》中，马克的姐夫里肯是技术垄断时代的后技术文化代表人物：具有浪漫主义气质，短暂逃逸出社会的资本主义机制（曾和流浪汉一起生活），不以主流方式谋生，因此也不收其束缚，具有反思内省能力，成为社会反叛者的代表。

他以清晰决断的语句揭示出现代工业社会的核心是“灰烬”。

而里肯试图唤起的人对于自身主体性的自觉曾是前技术时代里人所拥有的庸常财富。

《人生切割术》 剧照能够从现代工业社会的剥削维度去欣赏此剧，是大家喜爱这部剧集的主要原因，因为它所描画的与每一位观者自身所处的现实是如此之近，或者说这就是大家的生活之全貌，极易引起共鸣。

但导演本·斯蒂勒的野心不止于此。

本季的最后一集更暴露出他一直试图将资本异化的阴暗画卷继续描绘下去，深入下去，引入技术垄断的概念，让画幅更加暗黑也更具想象力。

而稍加思考，观者会发现自己的生活与之也并不遥远。

《人生切割术》 剧照波斯曼曾在《技术垄断》一书中论述的“技术垄断时代”的确能够成为本剧核心思想的原型。

波斯曼曾在书中明晰指出奠定技术垄断基石的三大原则——即唯科学主义的三大原则： 1. 自然科学提供的方法能够揭示人心的秘密，也可以揭示社会生活的方向；2. 社会科学揭示的原理可以合情合理地用来重组人类社会。

“社会工程学”的思想在这些人身上滥觞，唯科学主义的种子在他们的身上萌芽。

（……）3. 科学可以用作一个全面的信仰系统，赋予生命意义，使人安宁，使人获得道德上的满足，甚至使人产生不朽的感觉媒介批评三部曲：娱乐至死+童年的消逝+技术垄断第515-516页

《人生切割术》 剧照这三大原则与《人生切割术》的恐怖之所在契合，也是创造出分离术的卢蒙创始人基尔何以身居“上帝”的位置并拥有一众信徒的原由。

科贝尔在家中设立的神坛更是将技术重塑信仰的可怕影响力具像化。

如果说伽利略在研究天文理论的同时依然没有动摇他本人对神学上帝的信仰根基，是因为科学真理与灵魂居所在他心中泾渭分明。

反观剧中，以基尔为首的伊根家族将一切价值体系摧毁，自己转而成为上帝，试图创造一场技术创世纪奇观，重建一切伦理道德意识形态。

卢蒙公司所用的圣人驯服图、以及弗里德里希浪漫主义名作——《雾海上的漫游者》透露出其征服一切的激进态度。

而这种企图已接近成功的边缘。

圣人驯服四种情绪的油画当然是意味深长的，它暗示着人异化后接近机器，剥离四种情绪。

自奥古斯特·孔德开创实证主义的那一刻起便是铺设好了人类被当作客体这一演变之路的第一块砖。

而自弗朗西斯·培根开始系统思考科学的实用主义潜力，人类便开始通过权力的让渡以自身主体性完整性作为交换的砝码去换取物质生活上的舒适便捷，并在这条路上渐行渐远，缺乏谨慎足够乐观。

《人生切割术》 剧照剧中的分离术，作为金字塔尖技术，完美呈现了技术赋予谁更大的权力和自由，以及相应的，削弱了谁的权利与自由。

如果说在《摩登时代》中，工人们如同机器般可被分离以及替换；那么在《人生切割术》中，这一分离随着科技的进步，达到登峰造极的程度——个体的内部遭到分离。

这项分离术依靠一片植入人脑中的芯片，以电脑简单切换内部及外部模式，即可将人的大脑相应地切换到公司内部以及公司外部模式，人的记忆也被分别隔离在两个时空内。

记忆是人建立自我的基石，正如历史是人类社会不可或缺的部分，这也是为什么随着剧情的发展，观众会发现实际上并不存在分离术科学理论所描述的完美的内外部模式，存在的是作为本体的“我”与分割出的那一部分“我”的时间，而存活在这一段时间中的生物并非完全是原本的“我”，而是一个由于记忆空白导致思辨能力如婴孩般的脆弱个体，一个技术试图创造的白纸人、听话的奴隶。

当然，人类并非是还原主义所认为的能够被机械地分离，人类是一整个神秘复杂的有机体。

于是，剧中这些遭受分离术的主人公意识到自己是无根的浮萍，成为出于本能急于寻找记忆的反骨，而这也是整部剧集戏剧张力的来源。

剧集集中地表现这些白纸人的囚徒状态，例如一个跳接将海莉下班以及第二天上班的场景进行无缝连接以表内部模式“人格”的疲惫感；以激烈的戏剧张力来表现他们所受到的规训和洗脑，例如廉价无聊的小奖品成为鼓励努力工作的诱饵，例如休息室中的精神折磨与洗脑灌输。

而提到完整的个人，那更是早已被分割得支离破碎，这是马克的姐夫——里肯在自己的著作中所探讨的命题也是整部剧集所讨论的核心：人何以为人。

《人生切割术》 剧照分割术不仅被资本家用于奴役打工一族。

在本季最后一集，上流阶层运用分割术试图让自己的一切体验更为舒适的工具，自愿分割出一个奴隶来承担一切痛苦之事；伊根家族成员则将分割术变为自己拥有不朽意识的恐怖手腕。

奴役者不再是前几集中滋滋发响却无人回应的电话，如《城堡》中代表着无上权力、K永远无法到达的城堡；所有人都怀揣着成为奴役者的梦想，却沦为奴隶，跪拜在充满诱惑的技术的皮鞭下。

埃及法老塔姆斯曾说：“技艺发明人并不是评判发明利弊的最佳人选，使用者才能够做出恰当的评判。

”但他或许也没有料想到，有朝一日，使用者已被割裂为碎片，无法保持为一个完整的个体，去述说自己真实的体验。

好的科幻并不是凭空创造，而是将现在与现实推到未来，推向极致。

那样一来，即便是最硬核的科技故事也有了神话童话般的隐喻与象征。

那些看完惊呼神作，然后就显摆自己深邃目光看出了资本主义对人进行终极剥削的，在某方面的受教育和认知程度没超过初中。

当然有可能是他们由于短评字数的限制或是标题未能准确反映全文的想法而造成误解，但是正如之前说到的语言精确性的重要，如果无法或怠于使用能最正确表达想法，或者低限是尽量不引起歧义的遣造词句，那活该被误会。

那些明知是可笑的却被习以为常，那些分明的无意义却被郑重其事，剩下的唯一问题就是：组织的目的究竟是什么？

迷雾和解谜总让人着迷。

永远不要低估组织的恶意，当你把自决的权利交出，交得越多，恶意越多。

进一步讲，如果认真的能将自己一分为二，一部分为另一部分劳作，自己对自己有多狠，他者就会对他者有多狠。

还有人说，看得一身冷汗，毛骨悚然。

太夸张了，我的蜘蛛感应怎么就一根汗毛也没竖立。

别装外宾了。

“特别是要设定框架，不要让纯正的批判力量获得有力的成长，就是要培育顺服的心理与习惯”。

为什么作为“打工人”、作为年轻人，强烈推荐观看品味此剧呢？

在这个剧里我看到了《美丽新世界》、《1984》的精神，我看到了《西部世界》、《鱿鱼游戏》的影子。

不仅在于它的烧脑程度、它的画面场景布置、它的剧情起承转合；更在于它所体现的深度、诱发的思考，是丰沛而充足的，是荡气回肠的。

布雷夫曼（Harry Braverman）说，“资本主义生产模式的分工有一个最为关键的阶段，就是手与脑、劳力与劳心分了家。

”这可以说是对资本主义生产分工的经典论调了。

工业革命后工业与农业被分割开，西欧国家从农业国脱胎为工业国（后来在20世纪初期苏联也做了更刚烈的实践）；第二次工业革命后生产资料的生产和使用被分割开，“打工人”开始被分成“蓝领”与“白领”（后者开始滋生了莫名其妙的优越感）；科技革命后社会分工彻底被切割细碎，诞生了“螺丝钉”的概念，直到现在，写代码的程序员是螺丝钉，编文案的新媒体运营是螺丝钉，跑客户的房地产中介也是螺丝钉。

本剧中的卢蒙公司严禁部门间互相串通交流，完全杜绝“跨部门协作”，每个人都在封闭的格子间做自己的一份工，成为一颗颗不能、也不愿思考的冰冷的螺丝钉。

相信对社会科学感兴趣的人们已经对马克思主义的“异化”理论熟稔于心了，“文化工业”是如何收编工人的反抗思想的、“大众文化”是如何将工人团体打散成“乌合之众”的，我们在做文化研究的时候也饱经哈贝马斯、阿尔都塞、斯图尔特霍尔、齐泽克等人的“教育”。

那么回到本剧，“卢蒙工业”这个“大魔头”是如何吸引主角们心甘情愿的应聘入职，又数十年如一日的忠诚打工呢？

“走火入魔”似的“宣传洗脑”很重要。

每个新员工都要学习企业文化，而老员工则以创始人“基尔”的精神纲领与企业愿景为荣。

正如拉扎斯菲尔德与默顿所言：“特别是要设定框架，不要让纯正的批判力量获得有力的成长，就是要培育顺服的心理与习惯”。

枯燥的工作（精检数据）、自由的灵魂（离职被拒）、好奇的心理（上级来访）等多重因素的作用下，男主作为小组长，带领整个部门发起对公司的反抗。

劳资冲突淋漓尽致的在剧中体现，公司的手段无非是监视与控制，规训与惩罚，而主角们的招数则层出不穷，上演一出“猫抓老鼠”的大戏。

值得一提的是，在高压的环境下，在“动辄得咎”的制度下，主角们仍以顽强的精神进行着“聪明的罢工”。

伊恩纳吉写道，“聪明的罢工瞄准公司的声誉，精心设计罢工细节，既损害公司品牌形象而又不破坏生产目标。

考虑到大众对大企业都普遍抱有怀疑的态度，打击公司的声誉和股价可能会更加有效”。

这一论断也是现在欧美刻画劳资关系的“爽剧”的主要套路。

抹黑、打倒大公司仿佛成了“政治正确”（近期还有一部剧叫《suspicion》，改编自电影《假旗行动》，讲的也是如何揭发大公司的罪恶），结局通常是小人物获胜，人文关怀和“自由主义”的价值焕发容光。

剧中一次经典的对抗行动，依托自一场“狂欢”。

主角的一名同事终于忍不住爆发愤怒，肢体袭击了高层领导，打响了罢工的“第一枪”（苹果官方在介绍剧集背景的时候用了“the Lexington letter”的比喻，真是恰当）。

巴赫金指出，“在狂欢期间，阶层等级的废除具有特别的意义。

生命仅仅只受自己的法律支配，即自己的自由的法律。

它有一个普遍的精神，它是整个世界中的特殊情况，也是世界的复兴与重建的特殊情况，所有人都参与其中。

这就是狂欢的本质，所有的参与者生动地感受着”。

《人生切割术》里的四位主角都是自愿为“工”。

工作成为了他们对痛苦生活的逃避，而不是相反。

既然生活的每时每刻都无法承受，那么何不发明一种机制来抹去这些痛苦的时间，至少是部分？

仅从此点看，这部剧似乎反转了“工作”在当今时代背负的骂名，对其进行了一场乌托邦式的颂歌。

但真的如此吗？

工作的历史，本就是“蒙骗”人民劳动的历史。

劳动违反人性，想要让人心甘情愿工作，必须发明谎言。

这类谎言随着时代的更替发生变化，但首要的原则始终如一：工作对人有好处。

在宗教统摄一起的年代，劳动是对上帝的奉献；而在工业化时代，劳动成为完善自我、谋求美好生活的途径。

如今（在《人生切割术》构想的世界里），这种“蒙骗”之术有了新的发展——工作既不是对他者的奉献，也不是自我提升，而是为了逃避无聊而痛苦的生活。

就像睡眠中止了白日的延续，让人在一片空白中得到休息。

《人生切割术》构想的工作有类似的效果：让不可忍受的日常生活变成一片失忆的空白。

现实中的主角并不知道自己在卢蒙公司做的具体工作；卢蒙公司的员工也不知道现实中的自己是什么样的。

一条不可逾越的界限在此划立，为了确保生活和工作的绝对分离。

对于卢蒙公司，这种机制能产生绝对效益，使它能够进行不被现实世界允准的项目。

员工在工作与生活间的交流意味着秘密的暴露，这将对公司带来损害。

但问题是，被困厄在公司内部的员工，就像《楚门世界》里的楚门，终有一天会发现自己只是被囚禁的肉体。

他们没有自由，也无法获悉外面世界的面貌。

只有在工作的时段，他们被赋予一定的意识。

当一个人发现自己被困在系统，有更强大的力量操控他，某种程度上，他的意识将获得觉醒。

就像人类在最初阶段发现宗教那样，千方百计想要知道创造他们的“上帝”是什么样子，即便注定是徒劳。

这是剧中四位主角合力反抗体系，发生暴动的原因。

当他们发现公司可以通过某种操作与外面的原身进行交流，无疑找到了一条逃遁的出路。

他们急于让外面的自己获知他们的肉身在公司遭受的非人待遇。

而这很可能让外面的自己放弃继续在卢蒙公司工作，进而揭穿卢蒙公司用美好愿景和价值观在世人面前伪装的假象，它无非是另一套剥削机器。

而主角们被蒙在鼓里，并非自愿为“工”，而是受到了蒙骗。

让我们再申明一遍：工作的历史，是“蒙骗”人民劳动的历史。

《人生切割术》同样遵循这条原则：把违背人性和触犯法律的工作包装成高尚的事业，卢蒙公司找到了那些在日常生活中失意的人，以提供抹除时间（记忆、痛苦）的方式向他们提供“工作”，实际上是借他们的肉体来创造价值。