Exciting news for enthusiasts of Apple TV+’s Severance: Apple has launched eight segments of The You You Are, a fictional self-improvement guide authored by Dr. Ricken Lazlo Hale, a pivotal element within the series’ narrative. For those keen on exploring its contents, the book can be downloaded at no cost, or you may enjoy the audiobook version, narrated by Ricken himself, played by actor Michael Chernus.

The brief snippets of The You You Are that have emerged throughout Severance provide moments of humor, adding to the show’s clever wit. However, the book does more than entertain; it serves as an insightful reflection on the mechanisms of propaganda, both in the fictional realm of Severance and our real world.

Within the show’s “outie” setting, The You You Are is perceived as a comedic farce, a self-help manual dismissed by discerning individuals. Conversely, in the “innie” world, a dubious copy of the book garners admiration, deemed a transformative masterpiece capable of altering lives for the better. This perception arises, in part, because the singular other reference in the Lumon office is the cumbersome Compliance Handbook, a text designed purely for Lumon’s control over its workforce. The innies’ enthusiasm for Ricken’s book is akin to those who skim a headline or a few pages and suddenly believe they grasp the entirety of a complex issue—an all-too-common phenomenon.

What Themes Are Explored in The You You Are?

The selections from Ricken’s book resonate with the series’ dark humor, opening with an unexpected statement: “As a child, Wolfgang Mozart allegedly caused the death of another boy by slamming his head with a piano. Fear not; my research confirms this claim is false.” The book progresses with a similar tone, blending absurdity with insight.

In its essence, Ricken’s text is formulated as a manual for personal growth, guiding readers through various steps to achieve greater self-awareness:

• Determine your YouType (details ahead), jot it down, and display it prominently on your vanity.
• On another sticky note, write your name and position it alongside your YouType.
• Select a personal theology and adorn your YouShrine with a related “totem.” Ricken suggests items ranging from a Christian cross to a Masonic square, or even a picture of himself.
• Include an item that you find alluring: “Something that speaks to your inner self in a tone only they can understand,” like a vintage pinup or a cherished piece of clothing.
• Reflect on an insult you’ve received and craft an acrostic poem using the letters of that insult, to be displayed on your vanity. Ricken humorously cites a remark once made to him: “Everyone laughs at you the second you walk out of the fucking room.”
• Paste a poem written by Ricken onto your vanity.
• “Create and establish a charitable foundation for a cause that resonates with you. Whether it’s reducing bear numbers or providing bottled water to astronauts, persist until your organization is operational. Once you have the necessary paperwork, showcase it among your other memorabilia.”

This excerpt concludes here, leaving readers intrigued—rumor has it page 197 is particularly impressive.

Are There Any Plot Hints in The You You Are Regarding Severance?

In Chapter 3, Ricken references attending a cinema screening of “an American religious satire that I deem the most overrated piece of commercial filmmaking ever,” which we can identify as Sister Act. This detail, along with others, indicates that Severance is set in a world that mirrors ours, despite the anachronistic technology and vintage automobiles.

Furthermore, The You You Are reveals extensive background information about Ricken’s life. It humorously notes that he was conceived during a “nine-month performance art project by [his] parents titled ‘Smells Like Afterbirth, F**ker.’”

There’s also a conspicuous lack of clarity surrounding Ricken’s financial means, as his lifestyle appears too affluent to stem from book sales or parental support. Speculation suggests that he may belong to the infamous Eagan family.

Notably, the book contains passages that hint at Ricken’s affections toward Mark’s possibly deceased spouse, Gemma. His writings about her convey a sense of love, which could serve as a crucial narrative thread as the series continues to unfold.

Exploring the Underlying Themes of The You You Are in the Severance Context

The central concept of Ricken’s book is the notion of “YouType,” a fabricated psychological idea found in self-help literature, pseudo-science, and cults—similar to concepts like “love languages” and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Ricken claims that individuals can be categorized into one of five YouTypes: The Coward, The Warrior, The Dove, The Scribe, and The Vestal. This classification parallels Lumon’s Compliance Manual, which identifies four temperaments: Woe, Frolic, Dread, and Malice, with individuals assessed based on their relative proportions. The vacuous philosophies of Ricken and the serious tone of Kier Eagan’s teachings provide a thought-provoking comparison.

Interestingly, when the management at Lumon realizes that Ricken’s book has sparked unrest among the innies, their response is not to suppress or discredit it. Instead, they entice Ricken with a proposal to craft a revised edition aimed at innies. Eager for validation, Ricken is keen to proceed, unaware that Lumon’s intentions involve appropriating the inadvertently revolutionary ideas within his text to fortify their control. Given that the work includes sentiments like, “A society with troubled workers cannot thrive, just as a man with decayed toes cannot skip,” this is a deliberate maneuver.

This subplot serves as a clever commentary on how transformative ideas are often distorted to serve the interests of the elite, highlighting the ease with which individuals can be misled into believing they are challenging the status quo while, in reality, they are benefiting it. This parallels the phenomenon of corporations commercializing radical symbols, as seen with Che Guevara merchandise, or the irony of a leading corporation exploring the theme of corporate dehumanization through entertainment.