Few comedies have the guts to take on life’s biggest questions — but when they do, they tend to be really good. With Apple TV+‘sSeverancefinally making its return for Season 2, now is also the perfect time to revisit another series with twists and surprisingly dark themes — or watch it for the first time, if you somehow missed out on it before. NBC’sThe Good Placemight seem different at initial glance, but there are actually a lot of similarities between the two series.
Structurally, the shows certainly differ. WhileThe Good Placeis a sitcom,Severanceis an absurd, satirical dark comedy.The Good Placeoften uses flashbacks to tell simultaneous story lines in different timelines, whileSeveranceoften switches back and forth between its characters’ “innie” and “outie” experiences. While the characters inThe Good Placemeet a fate that the characters ofSeverancehave yet to (at least, not as of this writing),the two shows play with similar themes, including a preoccupation with philosophy. Oh, and for what it’s worth,SeverancestarAdam Scottappears inThe Good Placeas a demon named Trevor. Coincidentally, he andKristen Bellhave now played adversaries onVeronica Mars,Party Down,Parks and Recreation,in addition toThe Good Place. Maybe this meansSeveranceshould be next?
‘Severance’ and ‘The Good Place’ Each Have a “Core Four”
The Good Placefollows Eleanor (Bell), Chidi (William Jackson Harper), Jason (Manny Jacinto), and Tahani (Jameela Jamil) asthey navigate an at-first idyllic afterlife that feels off in a waythey can’t immediately define. They’re seemingly trapped. The higher ups, Michael (Ted Danson) and Janet (D’Arcy Carden), are alarmingly chipper but more than likely nefarious. There are big twists and episodes that completely rewrite the characters' circumstances that, without giving anything away, keep things from getting boring.
Similarly, onSeverance, four Lumon Industries employees, Mark (Scott), Irving (John Turturro), Dylan (Zach Cherry), and Helly (Britt Lower), aretrapped in a seemingly idyllic space. The higher-ups, Ms. Cobel (Patricia Arquette), Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman), and later Ms. Huang (Sarah Bock), are chipper in a way that’s even more unsettling. Thetwists and reversals inSeverancecome at a different pace so far, but they’re just as delicious. There isn’t a 1:1 comparison between the groups onSeveranceandThe Good Place. Butthe quartets on both shows are trying to figure out their purpose and identityin disparate, desperate circumstances.
It’s Good That ‘Severance’ Didn’t Waste Any Time Resolving This Major Question
Season 2 is already keeping us on our toes.
Hell Is Bureaucracy in Both ‘Severance’ and ‘The Good Place’
At the beginning ofSeverance, Cobel says that “the good news is Hell is just the product of a morbid human imagination. The bad news is whatever humans can imagine, they can usually create.” That Hell on Earth isa sinister office buildingwhere human beings outsource work to newborn personalities who aren’t allowed to sleep, have families, or even see the sun.
InThe Good Place,Hell, a.k.a. “The Bad Place"isan office with cubicles. The bureaucracy is more literal. There’s also aneutral zone onThe Good Place, a DMV-esque accounting department with an office space that’s even more like the severed floor. Even the titular “good place” has an ineffectual committee who prefers brainstorming and paperwork to actual change. “The Titanic is sinking,” Michael says in one episode, “and they’re writing a strongly worded note to the iceberg.”
‘Severance’ and ‘The Good Place’ Were Both Inspired by ‘Lost’
BothSeveranceandThe Good Placeare like a “comedyLost"in their own special ways;The Good PlacecreatorMike Schurreferenced the long-running Fox drama’s spiritual themes and twists as a guide,per Variety. He even tookLostco-showrunnerDamon Lindelofto lunch while developing the series to pick his brain. According to The Ringer,Severanceco-creator Dan Erickson is also a noted fanofLost— which has drawn comparisons between the two shows, for better or worse, since the beginning. The waySeverance’s mysteries have fans theorizing around a proverbial watercooler week after week feels a lot likeLost’s heyday.
Additionally,both shows have referencedLostwith hidden Easter eggs. The iconicLostsequence “4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42” has showed up on both series. The old-timey computers onSeveranceare similar to the analog technology on theLostisland. Characters onThe Good Placeleave each other messages that bear resemblance to Daniel Faraday’s “if anything goes wrong,Desmond Hume will be my constant” note onLost.
As for the romance department, many of the couples onThe Good Placeare separated from each other because they’ve had their memories erased. Sound familiar?Burt and Irving, Mark and Helly R. and/or Mark and Gemma have a similar problem inSeverance.They have to overcome those obstacles to find each other.It’s just as angst-producing as the obstacles we experience. You’ll have to watchThe Good Placeto learn who those couples are, however. Just likeSeverance,there’s nothing like watching this incredible seriesfor the first time; we wouldn’t want to ruin it.
The Good Placeis available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
