Severance (Apple TV+)
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 9 of 60 TV series by recommenders
Workplace sci-fi drama that many readers call some of the best TV they have seen. Critics say the second season stretches the story thin and loses focus.
Workplace sci-fi drama that many readers call some of the best TV they have seen. Critics say the second season stretches the story thin and loses focus.
38 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 29
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 76%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 29 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Called some of the best TV
“Ted Lasso , Severance , and For All Mankind are huge stand-outs in their scope, depth, and ambition”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “Another Day Has Come” “Severance is some of the best television I've seen in a long time.”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “I Now Assume That All Ads on Apple News Are Scams” “My favorite TV of the past five years is probably Severance.”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “Paramount Skydance has completed its $111B merger with Warner Bros. Discovery” - Comment from 13 Dec 2025 in “How the Bell Labs Holmdel Complex Inspired 'Severance'”
- Comment from 25 Dec 2025 in “Tell HN: Merry Christmas!”
- Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “Tim Cook to become Apple Executive Chairman”
- Comment from 31 Jul 2026 in “Severance”
Sharp satire of workplace identity
“Severance considers things like self-identity and the fake personalities, and fake social constructs of our workplaces”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros” “Big shout out to Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller for speaking to my soul in Severance.”
Comment from 6 Apr 2026 in “Book Review: There Is No Antimemetics Division” “It's a wonderful show that shows us a sick truth”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “Sixty percent of US consumers say 'AI' in brand messaging is a turnoff” Strong, innovative sci-fi storytelling
“some superb sci-fi on the screen in recent years like Severance”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “Where did all the starships go?” “Severance really captured that vibe.”
Comment from 10 Jun 2026 in “More Molly Guards” “Innovative? Check Blade/Severance.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “PlayStation 2 Recompilation Project Is Absolutely Incredible” - Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Tim Cook to become Apple Executive Chairman”
Eye-opening and worth watching
“it is good time to start watching that show”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “Meta capturing employee mouse movements, keystrokes for AI training data” “Give it a watch, it's very eye opening”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “Weeping whales: Stillborn humpback whale grieving documented”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Second season weaker than first
“Further complexity to the show to stretch it for two seasons, or worse dillute it, really feels now like a net negative for the show.”
Comment from 12 Feb 2026 in “Apple Takes Full Control of 'Severance' in Surprise Deal” “Too much "weird for the sake of being weird". You could tell the first season had a plan, and the second was just winging it.”
Comment from 12 Feb 2026 in “Apple Takes Full Control of 'Severance' in Surprise Deal” “things that started strong but lost their way (stranger things, severance)”
Comment from 2 Aug 2026 in “The End of an Era” - Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “Your Smart TV is taking screenshots of your screen every 15 seconds”
Story stretched thin, threads unresolved
“they opened much more new story than they resolved”
Comment from 12 Feb 2026 in “Apple Takes Full Control of 'Severance' in Surprise Deal” “the show has now turned into Lost and nothing will get resolved”
Comment from 12 Feb 2026 in “Apple Takes Full Control of 'Severance' in Surprise Deal” “stretch a 2 hour movie's plot across a 12 - 16 hour season”
Comment from 27 Mar 2026 in “Netflix raises prices for every subscription tier by up to 12.5 percent” - Comment from 12 Feb 2026 in “Apple Takes Full Control of 'Severance' in Surprise Deal”
Other TV series people recommend
The four most recommended other TV series, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halt and Catch Fire | 166 | 20 | 89% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Babylon 5 | 86 | 21 | 80% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Silicon Valley (TV series) | 52 | 1 | 98% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Andor | 52 | 5 | 91% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Severance (Apple TV+)This page | 29 | 9 | 76% | 10 | — | Approved |
What people said
33 of the 42 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“My favorite TV of the past five years is probably Severance.”
“Silo, Ted Lasso, Severance and Slow Horses do not have purchasable releases at all.”
“Give it a watch, it's very eye opening”
“things that started strong but lost their way (stranger things, severance)”
“Severance is a truly amazing tv show”
“They are bland and unoriginal.”
“Crazy take. Severance, Silo, Pluribus just off the top of my head. You don't think they are high quality shows?”
“It's a wonderful show that shows us a sick truth”
“Severance really captured that vibe.”
“But we have things like Severance and Silo so maybe there's hope.”
“Ted Lasso , Severance , and For All Mankind are huge stand-outs in their scope, depth, and ambition”
“severance might even be a masterpiece”
“it is good time to start watching that show”
“Severance second season made me question the show's quality”
“I love their SciFi material”
“Big shout out to Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller for speaking to my soul in Severance.”
“stretch a 2 hour movie's plot across a 12 - 16 hour season”
“Severance (Apple TV) and Fallout (Amazon Prime) are pretty amazing TV shows that came out somewhat recently”
“Further complexity to the show to stretch it for two seasons, or worse dillute it, really feels now like a net negative for the show.”
“Too much "weird for the sake of being weird". You could tell the first season had a plan, and the second was just winging it.”
“making a solid pace for the story including answering more questions than I expected”
“they opened much more new story than they resolved”
“it felt like a 1-2 season premise”
“the show has now turned into Lost and nothing will get resolved”
“some superb sci-fi on the screen in recent years like Severance”
“Severance is some of the best television I've seen in a long time.”
“Innovative? Check Blade/Severance.”
“you might enjoy the tv series Severance”
“Jumping on to agree with Severance”
“my best 2 tv shows of last couple of years”
“That there is no unnecessary nudity probably helps the story.”
“I found it exceptionally good (season 1 at least).”
“Severance considers things like self-identity and the fake personalities, and fake social constructs of our workplaces”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.