The real "Severance" headquarters is in New Jersey

The big picture: The show's creators picked the Bell Works complex in Holmdel, New Jersey, as the ominous backdrop for Lumon Industries — the company revolutionizing work-life balance by severing those parts of people's lives through a simple, non-invasive brain procedure.

• The building was once the "creative powerhouse" for the Bell Telephone Laboratories, AT&T's research arm, employing more than 15,000 people, per the New York Times.
• People took to calling it the "Black Box," because of the mysterious allure of what happened behind its sprawling, glass-mirrored doors.

Flashback: The building went into decline after the federal government settled antitrust cases that broke up AT&T's telecommunications monopoly.

• But the science community helped save the building. It's now a mixed-used building with shops, a food court, a library and office space.

The bottom line: The building's odd shape and reflective qualities have made it an Instagrammable star for "Severance" enthusiasts.