If I had a nickel for every time one of Lumon’s Severed floor managers wanted to burn the place to the ground on Apple TV+‘s hit workplace thriller, Severance, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.
When Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) was fired from Lumon in Season 1 and walked away from the company again after realizing the Eagans didn’t properly appreciate her in Season 2, she may have assumed her replacement, Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman), was getting the better deal. But ever since his OTC mishap with Dylan led to the innies’ finale rebellion, Milchick has been cleaning up mess after mess — all while being disrespected by his subordinates and his superiors.
On the heels of the Board’s upsetting Episode 203 gift and his Episode 204 ORTBO gone wrong, Episode 205 showed Milchick receiving his first performance review as department chief, during which Mr. Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) berated him in front of Natalie (Sydney Cole Alexander) for anonymous contentions reported against him. After being told he uses too many big words, incorrectly uses paper clips, and needs to tighten the leash, Milchick left the board room visibly shaken and deeply disheartened.
At first, he took his frustration out with Mark (Adam Scott) — who dared leave work six minutes early. During their tense elevator conflict, Milchick uttered one of Season 2’s most gasp-worthy lines while asking Mark if he caught up with Helly: “Did you tell her you fucked her outie at the ORTBO?” MR. MILCHICK!
In Episode 206, Milchick gave Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) attitude as well, essentially threatening to flunk her fellowship if she didn’t shape up. After leaving her in charge, he excused himself and addressed the issues raised in his review. In a haunting scene, Milchick practiced putting paper clips on papers until his hands shook, then moved over to a mirror where he coached himself out of using unnecessarily large words. It’s clear that the company, Lumon’s leadership, and the blatant disrespect is taking a toll on him, and Tillman feels “he’s in a place where he’s starting to awaken.”
“He’s learning so much more about this organization. He has been indoctrinated into Lumon for such a long time. And there’s something about his ability to adopt a blind faith and just press forward and produce and produce. But now, because his position has changed, he’s in a place of leadership,” Tillman told Decider earlier this season. “If anything happens on his watch, it’s his fault. He can’t blame anybody else. He’s now susceptible to his own vulnerabilities. And we see how the cracks are starting to spread with this. And his veneer is starting to crumble. But he has such strength of character, such will, that he’s willing to continue to go back and serve and do what he wants to do and do the best for care.”
Arquette, who played Milchick’s former boss, chimed in to weigh in on Milchick and Cobel’s shared Lumon experiences.
“What’s very difficult about these kind of organizations or structures — whether it’s military or if it’s a religion or a cult or whatever it is — there’s always these rules and then they change the rules and they don’t tell you. But somehow, you did something wrong, and you keep getting in trouble and then you’re clawing your way back to try to get in their good graces and then they knock you down again,” Arquette told Decider. “You’re confused, because you’re doing what you thought you were supposed to be doing. But the rules just keep changing. You see that with a lot of organizations. And I think that’s part of the game of Lumon.”
When asked if we could see a Milchick/Cobel rebellion against the evil corporation in the future, both actors laughed, grabbed each other, and Arquette joked, “We’re gonna get them!”
There’s a very good chance that Milchick threw Cobel under the bus in Season 1 in hopes of taking her position, so Cobel might not give him the warmest of welcomes. But Tillman said he’d be love to reunite with Arquette on the show down the line.
“I love Patricia. She’s such a delight to work with, and she has this mother hen quality. Anytime we’re on set, she always comes in and checks on me and see how I’m doing. And so it’s just lovely,” Tillman shared. “I do wonder if there is a world where they do come back together or chat or meet up somewhere. We joke about if they went on a date, what that would look like. But we’ll see how it goes.”
BRB. If you need me, I’ll be manifesting a Cobel/Milchick DATE, during which they plot their joint revenge against Lumon.
New episodes of Severance Season 2 premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.
The post ‘Severance’s Tramell Tillman And Patricia Arquette Unpack Milchick’s Haunting Performance Review: “The Rules Just Keep Changing” appeared first on Decider.
