by David Lorehound
Introduction
In The White Lotus season 3 finale, Laurie Duffy sits at dinner with her longtime friends and shares an epiphany: “I don't need religion or God to give my life meaning... because time gives it meaning.” Meanwhile, in Severance’s season 1 finale, Mark and Helly make a desperate escape attempt, trying to steal whatever moments they can together in a world where their time has been artificially fragmented and controlled.
These two scenes, from two exquisitely crafted yet very different shows, offer contrasting perspectives on finding meaning within the constraints of our lives: Laurie and her friends have no idea how much time they have. At the same time, Mark and Helly know their time is artificially constrained.
And how each set of characters accepts their fates— “Amor Fati”—is a fascinating and beautiful exploration of the one constant that defines and frames all our experiences.
Finding Meaning Within Time
Laurie’s monologue in The White Lotus comes at a pivotal moment. After a week of vacation that hasn't lived up to expectations, she arrives at a profound realization:
“We started this life together. I mean, we're going through it apart, but we're still together, and I look at you guys and it feels meaningful. And I can't explain it, but even when we're just sitting around the pool talking about whatever inane shit, it still feels very fucking deep.”
What makes Laurie’s perspective so powerful is her implicit acknowledgment of mortality as the universal, natural constraint on time. Without directly mentioning death, her emphasis on the passage of time (“we started this life together”) acknowledges that this shared journey has an end. This awareness doesn't diminish her appreciation for mundane moments; it enhances them.
The episode’s title, “Amor Fati” (love of fate), reinforces this theme. The concept, popularized by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, suggests embracing one’s destiny, including its hardships and inevitabilities. For Laurie, this means accepting time's natural limitations while finding profound meaning within them.
Her perspective represents a mature relationship with time that acknowledges constraints but doesn't fight them. By accepting mortality as the natural boundary of human experience, she discovers that even seemingly insignificant shared moments become meaningful within this context.
Yet, there's an inherent paradox in her realization that reflects our complicated relationship with time. When we perceive time as relatively abundant, we often fail to appreciate it truly. We fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way[1], postpone meaningful experiences, and ignore the inevitable end that gives our time its value. Laurie's epiphany comes after decades of friendship, suggesting that this appreciation for “inane shit” wasn’t always present. It took years—perhaps the growing awareness of middle age and mortality—to realize what had been there all along.
This is the bittersweet truth of natural temporal constraints: we often only appreciate their significance when we begin to feel their pressure.
Meaning Under Artificial Time
In stark contrast, Severance presents a world where natural temporal limitations aren’t enough. Lumon Industries has implemented an additional, artificial constraint—the severance procedure, which creates a separate consciousness that exists only during work hours, with no memory or awareness of life outside. Mark and Helly’s growing connection develops despite these severe artificial limitations on their shared time.
What makes their connection so poignant is how they find meaning despite—or perhaps because of—these extreme constraints. Their time together isn’t just limited by mortality; it’s artificially rationed in a way that shouldn't exist naturally.
Their escape attempt in the Season 1 finale represents their initial rebellion against these imposed constraints. By activating the “overtime contingency,” they essentially steal time artificially denied them.
But it’s in season 2’s finale where their relationship with time takes a truly radical turn. Faced with the imminent threat of reintegration and/or separation, Mark and Helly make the desperate choice to run away together within Lumon’s facility. They recognize that time is the fire in which we burn[2], and they choose to burn as brightly as they can for whatever little time they might have left.
This decision represents a complete rejection of their Lumon-controlled fate. Rather than passively accepting the artificial temporal boundaries imposed on them, they actively seize whatever moments remain. Their choice isn’t just about resistance—it’s about creating meaning through radical agency in the face of artificial constraints.
Unlike Laurie and her friends, who have the luxury of finding meaning in “inane shit” because their time together spans decades, Mark and Helly don’t have the option to waste a moment. The brutal nature of Lumon’s control impels them toward a different relationship with time—one where every second must count, where meaning must be seized through decisive action.
This is perhaps the most powerful distinction between natural and artificial constraints. When faced with the brutality of artificial limitations, we’re driven to define our meaning with an urgency that natural constraints rarely evoke until it’s too late.
Natural vs. Artificial Temporal Boundaries
The difference between these approaches to temporal limitation reveals something profound about meaning-making. When constraints are natural, as with mortality, acceptance can lead to deeper appreciation—yet that appreciation often comes too late (as it almost does for Ivan Ilyich, another reference used by Severance in S02E07). Resistance becomes appropriate and necessary for authentic meaning when constraints are artificial and immediately felt.
Laurie finds value in shared history—the accumulated moments that gain significance through continuity. For her, meaning emerges from the tapestry of time, where even mundane experiences contribute to a larger pattern. The natural constraint of mortality gives this tapestry its poignancy and value. Yet how many of us, like Laurie and her friends, spend decades before fully appreciating the depth hidden in everyday moments?
Mark and Helly denied this continuity and must find meaning in intensity rather than breadth. Each moment together carries amplified significance because their shared time is so severely and artificially limited. Their connection forms not through accumulated history but through the concentrated experience of present moments against constraints that shouldn’t exist. They don’t have the luxury of waiting decades to recognize what matters.
This contrast raises profound questions about agency and choice. Laurie chooses to embrace natural temporal limitations—her “amor fati” is an affirmative act after years of perhaps not fully appreciating what she had. Mark and Helly have no choice about their temporal fragmentation; their resistance is their only path to agency. When they run off together at the end of season 2, they're not just fighting against constraints—they're creating their own version of “amor fati,” loving their chosen fate rather than the one imposed upon them.
Their rebellion stems from a fundamental part of human nature that recognizes the difference between natural boundaries and artificial cages. While we might accept the former with grace, the latter demands defiance. Mark and Helly seek to define their mortality—to determine how their limited time will be spent—rather than submit to Lumon’s unnatural control.
Finding Meaning Within and Despite Constraints
Despite their differences, both narratives affirm time’s centrality to meaning-making. Whether we accept natural constraints or resist artificial ones, our relationship with time fundamentally shapes how we create meaning.
The White Lotus suggests that embracing the natural limitations of human existence—particularly mortality—can deepen our appreciation for shared experience, even if that appreciation often comes later than it should. Severance demonstrates how, under the most severely constrained circumstances, humans still seek connection and meaning, perhaps with even greater intensity when time is visibly limited.
Together, these stories remind us that time's value isn't diminished by limitation—it’s defined by it. The quality of meaning we find differs depending on whether those limitations align with the natural human condition or represent artificial impositions on our experience.
Perhaps the most powerful lesson from this contrast is that we needn’t wait for artificial constraints to appreciate the value of our time. We can learn from Laurie’s belated appreciation and Mark and Helly’s urgent rebellion—finding depth in everyday moments while maintaining the courage to fight against limitations that diminish our humanity.
Postscript
If you enjoyed this analysis, you might want to read my companion piece examining the connections between Severance, the Tibetan Buddhist concept of Bardo, and Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilyich.” In that essay, I explore how Severance uses these literary and spiritual references to frame its exploration of consciousness in transition and the search for authentic identity.
Also, I couldn't help but throw in a couple more nerdy references that came to me while drafting this post. See the endnotes below.
Endnotes
[1] A reference to Pink Floyd’s “Time” from their album “The Dark Side of the Moon” (1973). The song’s lyrics explore many of the themes in this essay, particularly how we often waste time until suddenly realizing how quickly it has passed.
[2] A quote from Dr. Tolian Soran in “Star Trek: Generations” (1994). The villain's perspective on time's relentless passage drives his actions throughout the film, similar to how Mark and Helly’s awareness of their limited time together motivates their desperate choices.