But when the larger mystery unfolds like an unraveling seam being perpetually yanked on, “Severance” draws viewers in and doesn’t let go.

Even New York Times columnist David Brooks weighed in, declaring that estrangement contributes to "the psychological unraveling of America."

If it felt overwhelming to shoot the “Anna Bolena” sequence, Jolie says she could at least tell herself, “It’s a mad scene” — a sequence where her character in the opera is supposed to be unraveling.

And examining the death of this era of celebrity — which in my estimation has been about 50 years, from incipient to unraveling — is a way to mourn it openly, so it’s forced to finish dying.

There are plenty of unraveling mysteries and bloody shootouts along the way, but “Black Doves” is keen to keep the close relationship between its central characters at the forefront of the show’s six-episode first season.