Latest news with #Cobel
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Patricia Arquette on If Cobel Did a Better Job Than Mr. Milchick, and Why Mrs. Selvig Is So Bad at Recycling
Patricia Arquette is really, really into the world of Severance. What she's really, really not into is discussing fan theories. Not because she doesn't care, rather because she cares too much to risk spoiling anything. In another world, Arquette might be racking up karma way down your Reddit rabbit hole. But in this world, Lumon (and Apple TV+) is listening. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio' Guest Star Martin Scorsese Thought a Scene Was "Wrong" But Didn't Want to Be a "Backseat Director," Says Creator 'Echo Valley' Review: Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney Star in Apple TV+'s Satisfyingly Tense Domestic Thriller Ted Sarandos' 'Studio' Appearance Is a Wink - And a Flex Here's the thing though: with all due respect to other terrific (and eligible) dramas like The White Lotus and The Diplomat, Severance deserves all of the Emmys. But first, it needs the votes. Part of that process includes putting talent front-and-center in the press. Fear not, fellow Outties, we've got you. Was season one or more of a challenge for you as an actor? I don't even know how to really parcel out the first season from the reality of the world of the first season. We were shooting during COVID. I got contact-traced, I don't know, six or seven times or something. So I ended up— I kept getting put alone in a room for like 10 days at a time, and I started to kind of lose my cool. We didn't have [vaccines] yet. We were all wearing those plastic masks. Nobody could see you smile. It was a very dystopian experience on the set. Should viewers be rooting for Cobel at this point? Do you want fans of the show to like her? I don't really care if they like you or not like you. I mean, people go through life making 'the bad guy,' making 'the good guy,' and then the bad guy's the good guy and the good guy's the bad guy. She just has to have her perspective on why she's doing what she's doing. We go through life looking at people in the certain way that we frame them, and then they say or do something, and we reframe them. And so I think that we're going to do the same thing with Cobel. Cobel is at a very weird precipice right now where it's like it really could go either way. She could go to supporting Mark and all those guys, sticking one to Lumon, or she could consolidate her power at Lumon, get more respect there and be in a more powerful position, like she had been at one point in time. Did Mrs. Selvig legitimately care for Mark Scout? Yeah. I mean, I approached Mrs. Selvig in many ways. Yes, I think both sides of her care about Mark and are interested in what he's doing, both personally but also academically. What she was surprised by with Mrs. Selvig was— she got to put down the laws of Lumon. So it's like, 'Oh, we're kind of chummy. Is this what it's like to be not indoctrinated into this? Is this how people make friends? We're real friends and we're going somewhere together and it's not to a Kier Remembrance Day.' So, yeah, I think there's a part of her that's really fascinated and comes alive, but it's awkward and uncomfortable because it doesn't really know what it's doing. It's also that weird mixture of stalker and friend…there's a weird energy to that. Why is she so bad at recycling? We definitely talked about making her fumbling, bumbling. To insinuate yourself into someone's life, the biggest manipulators act like the most innocent victims. The most dangerous manipulators act like they're just this sweet, innocent, couldn't-hurt-a-fly person. That really can be very scary. She's got some element of that, like, I have to disarm him by being the fumbling, bumbling aunt from next door. And, 'Oh, I need your help' and 'I'm an older woman than you' and 'Oh, you don't have to worry about me.' So there is a damsel in distress device. Did Cobel do a better job than Milchick? Oh yes, come on now! What kind of question is that? Yeah, I mean, I think that like such a horrible betrayal to her. Because she felt like he was under her tutelage. And even though she was a tough and mean kind of boss, sometimes she was doing it for his own good. And she was also weird in this way, of like, almost like a drill sergeant. They're supposed to be kind of mean. It's a little bit part of the protocol within Lumon — of the old school, especially that she came up in — there's a certain way of treating people you're training. But she's pretty sad that Milchick stabbed her in the back. That he usurped her. Why is the MDR team allowed to roam the halls of Lumon so freely? I've had that conversation also, a concern in a weird way, where the viewer would be like, 'Wait a minute, wouldn't [Cobel] have seen this? They're doing that — can't Cobel see that?' There's something about— I don't know, I don't want to give away things. What they do, informs. Also, here's the thing. I don't think Lumon was so aware of what Cobel was doing and experimenting with. They have a very fine, limited view of what they thought was going on in this experiment, which is not the same idea of the experiment as to what Cobel is doing. How did you come up with Cobel's unique affectation? I was like, watching Maude and all these weird shows. It was sort of a little bit of a tip of the hat to Bea Arthur. And this idea of, like, this world where upper management sounded a certain way. That power sounded a certain way. And maybe how that wouldn't quite be right — it wouldn't sound exactly authentic if it came from a poor kid who was looking up at this rich family, imagining what they sounded like, imagining what they talked like, imagining what this thing was. So, yeah, it's not completely authentic. But she also grew up in this school in a weird way, like with nuns, or with, you know, being indoctrinated by these kind of people who were zealots. So they sounded the most like this. This is her child interpretation of that. You're really into this world huh? I am really into it. But I have to say, Cobel is— she has a whole things going on on her own. She is not somebody who feels comfortable telling people, letting people in, or any of that. And yet she also has incredible hubris and is driven and convinced that she's right. So it's like, in a weird way, it's very lonely, because she's got her whole own agenda, and she doesn't share it with anybody. This might be a stupid question, but did you write any of Cobel's notebook? I love this question, actually. Oh, thank you. It's part of what I love so much about being in the movie business and all the different departments. Our prop department is off-the-hook insane accomplished. Cat (PMG Property Master Catherine Miller) is amazing. So, no. They actually hire people to write stuff. Like, 'I need 10 pages written about blah, blah, blah.' I've seen it throughout my career on different sets. On some, they're actually sticking with the agenda of what the scene is about. And some they're just writing shit so you're rifling through and they're like, 'It's 4 a.m. I'm so sick of this job. How many more pages left do I have to write?' They're pretty hilarious. But this— anything on [Severance] is really drilled-down right. You actually could focus on each page. You could print a book out of it. What they're coming up with and writing is really good. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Patricia Arquette's ‘Severance' character talks like that because ‘she thinks that's what power sounds like'
Even after two seasons of Severance, Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) remains an enigma. The woman occasionally known as 'Mrs. Selvig' seems like the ultimate example of Lumon's management style, and yet she herself is constantly at loggerheads with her superiors. She apparently invented the severance procedure as we know it, and yet helps Mark Scout (Adam Scott) break through it. Many mysteries remain as Severance fans look forward to Season 3, but certain things about Cobel can be explained in the meantime. In a new interview with Gold Derby, Arquette says that she is responsible for both the character's look and her mannered way of speaking. More from GoldDerby 'Ballerina' targets $35 million opening in box-office clash with 'Lilo & Stitch' 'Brilliant Minds' creator Michael Grassi on how his love of Oliver Sacks inspired NBC's new medical drama The Making of 'The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day': PBS variety special 'comes from the heart' READ: 'When I was first thinking of building that character, I saw her with silver hair, white hair,' Arquette says. 'I felt like her hair should be a little older than she is. But also I wanted to have this affected, weird voice. I liked this idea that she's got this affected voice because she thinks that's what power sounds like. That's what these middle managers sound like. It's probably something she heard in school and you hear it a little bit from her aunt when you see the squalor she actually grew up in. So this is a made-up voice, a voice of success, and it's become this corporate sound.' Arquette continues, 'there's also an inscrutability when you're raised in an organization or structure [like Lumon], where you're not supposed to feel your feelings. You're supposed to swallow your feelings and you're not supposed to tell everyone what's going on or you'll get in trouble. You learn to play things close to the vest. I don't think Harmony's ever been really safe in her life anywhere or with anyone. And then when we went to Salt's Neck, it was like, 'Wow, this is a very Bergman-looking color palette, with actual icebergs floating by.' If your character looked like a piece of nature, she would look like an iceberg.' Cobel was not as prominent in Severance Season 2 as she was in Season 1, since she lost her position both at Lumon and as Mark's next-door neighbor. But she was able to take the spotlight in the episode 'Sweet Vitriol,' in which viewers followed Cobel back to her hometown of Salt's Neck — once the location of a major Lumon ether factory, now a left-behind wasteland full of poverty and addiction. Among other things, the episode revealed that Cobel basically invented the severance chip, despite getting little credit for it. It seems like a paradox that the Lumon employee responsible for its most important technology also defies upper management as often as Harmony does, but Arquette says that paradox is central to Severance. 'It may seem like a perversion, but honestly, her interior unresolved story informs the creation of the severance chip,' Arquette says. 'She's trying to prove something through this thing. There is a synchronicity between the severance chip and her interior landscape. They are very closely wedded to each other, these two things. It's not accidental.' The epidemic of ether addiction that pervades present-day Salt Neck is also no accident. Think of it, Arquette says, like an earlier attempt at separating people's work memories from the rest of their life. 'Ben [Stiller] wanted this rotting factory town,' Arquette says of Salt Neck. 'This is an early version of Lumon's attempt to create a corporate town, and these are the vestiges left over after the poisoning of the water and the ether factory and everyone becoming addicts. In a weird way, ether is an early form of severance. It's like the drug of forgetting. So what if you could forget, like with ether, but without the drug? Well then you would need a chip, and that's severance.' Best of GoldDerby The Making of 'The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day': PBS variety special 'comes from the heart' From 'Hot Rod' to 'Eastbound' to 'Gemstones,' Danny McBride breaks down his most righteous roles: 'It's been an absolute blast' Jay Duplass on exposing his 'dad bod' and playing a 'soft villain' in 'Dying for Sex': 'Easily one of my biggest acting challenges' Click here to read the full article.
CNN
22-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
People aren't just laughing at corporate culture in ‘Severance' Season 2. They're pushing back
There's a moment early on in Season 2 of Apple TV+'s workplace drama 'Severance' where character Harmony Cobel is at a crossroads. Cobel (Patricia Arquette) stands in front of the future boss of Lumon, the company she has dedicated her life to. She's just been offered a promotion, one that she rejects in an effort to advocate for her old job. She wants to finish what she started, she says, voice steady and unwavering. Her boss, Helena Eagan (Britt Lower), is set to inherit the company. For reasons not revealed until later in the season, Helena denies Cobel's wishes and reminds her to be grateful for what the company has already given her. 'I think you've overestimated your contributions,' Helena says, her tone almost menacing. 'And underestimated your blessings.' Her words are a slap in the face for Cobel, who is later revealed to be the creator of the company's premier 'severance' technology, which cleaves employees' memories into two distinct personas that keep their work and personal lives separate. And looking back on the second season of 'Severance,' which concluded its record-breaking run Thursday, that moment between Cobel and Helena underscores a consistent theme through the season: As a worker, you are disposable. 'Severance,' which follows a team of 'severed' workers led by Mark S. (Adam Scott) as they try to uncover the truth about the company they work for, returned after three years for its second season. And coincidentally, it met audiences at a time of economic upheaval. An unsteady job market has contributed to rising scrutiny around large corporations, also a driving theme of the season. Now, the show reflects reality back to us, revealing the eerie ways modern corporate culture has become a villain. The first season of 'Severance' debuted when 'quiet quitting' was becoming a popular trend, as workers — fresh off going through the mental stress of a worldwide pandemic — drew more explicit boundaries between work and home. This season came at an even more fraught time. In 2023, highly publicized strikes by the United Auto Workers union, Hollywood writers and actors, and airline workers against their respective corporations led to the largest number of work stoppages in America in more than 20 years. More recently, as threats of an impending recession mount, US-based employers are tightening their belts, cutting more jobs in February than any other February since 2009, spurred in part by the massive layoffs of federal workers being carried out by the Trump administration and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Even those who are working may feel stuck. Anti-corporate sentiment has grown in recent years, including a period following the pandemic when so many Americans left their jobs, it was dubbed the 'great resignation.' Now, amid a cooling job market, employees across the country are seeking new jobs at the highest rate since 2015, according to Gallup, and overall satisfaction with employers has hit a record low. It's fitting, then, that people can't seem to get enough of 'Severance.' It's a significant departure from series about corporate culture that tend to either be episodic pursuits à la 'Suits' or grounded comedies like 'The Office.' Unlike these other popular shows, where the workplace might act more as a backdrop than as an opposing entity, 'Severance' confronts the exploitative nature of giant corporations, veiled by dangled benefits like free food and company retreats. Who hasn't been placated with corporate platitudes or company swag when advocating for concrete change? One online resource advises companies to offer free snacks, beverages and even lunchtime yoga when pay raises aren't possible. 'Severance' not only highlights the absurdity of corporate culture, it emphasizes the illicit underbelly. Everything is in service to Lumon, and Mark S. and his team now see that. The workplace woes highlighted on 'Severance' have audiences drawing parallels to their own jobs. Social media is filled with quips and notes about the agonizing ways in which the show nails the corporate experience. Details like melon-only fruit parties and branded finger traps are just the beginning. One person online compared being severed to code switching at work; another compared it to switching between a public work social media account and a private one. The popularity of this season of 'Severance' points to a shift not just in television, but in our society: People aren't just laughing at corporate culture anymore, they're pushing back. The fictional Lumon's exaggerated corporate environment is intentional. Series creator Dan Erickson and his team studied the ways corporate and government whistleblowers have been treated by these entities in real life — dissenters are first fought, and then made to assimilate, Erickson noted. They used that information to form the basis of the second season, he told The Hollywood Reporter, as Lumon responds to the planned breach by the four main employees in the first season's finale. 'It always struck me as a very specific kind of manipulation,' Erickson said ahead of the second season's premiere. 'At the end of the day, a company like Lumon wants to be the good guy, and there's the sense that even this rebellion — they take credit for it.' Throughout this season, as Lumon attempts to squeeze as much work out of its key employee Mark S., we see the ways workers at every level are treated like kitchen rags, wrung dry and tossed aside. Beyond Cobel, Milchick (Tramell Tillman), another manager within the company, is treated similarly, forced into an impossible role and thanked with underhanded compliments that steadily, if the tension in his jaw is any indication, raise his blood pressure. At another point, Lumon begs for the return of one employee (Irving, played by John Turturro), only to call for his murder once he begins to ask uncomfortable questions about the company's plans. The critiques 'Severance' poses against corporate culture shouldn't obscure the show's thesis: that your fellow workers are a saving grace. Throughout the second season, the characters of 'Severance' must rely on each other to fight Lumon. Indeed, when they don't, things fall apart (just see Dylan G.'s remorse at dismissing Irving's instincts). The arc mimics reality. Before the UAW announced its strike in 2023, President Shawn Fain had to first explain the decision and announce the vote. Fain was clear in his thoughts that a strike was the best way forward; his remarks to the union rail against the billionaire class and the abandonment of auto workers. 'Nobody is coming to save us,' Fain said at the time. 'Nobody can win this fight for us. Our greatest hope — our only hope — is each other.' Mark S. might as well have uttered those same words himself.
CNN
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
People aren't just laughing at corporate culture in ‘Severance' Season 2. They're pushing back
There's a moment early on in Season 2 of Apple TV+'s workplace drama 'Severance' where character Harmony Cobel is at a crossroads. Cobel (Patricia Arquette) stands in front of the future boss of Lumon, the company she has dedicated her life to. She's just been offered a promotion, one that she rejects in an effort to advocate for her old job. She wants to finish what she started, she says, voice steady and unwavering. Her boss, Helena Eagan (Britt Lower), is set to inherit the company. For reasons not revealed until later in the season, Helena denies Cobel's wishes and reminds her to be grateful for what the company has already given her. 'I think you've overestimated your contributions,' Helena says, her tone almost menacing. 'And underestimated your blessings.' Her words are a slap in the face for Cobel, who is later revealed to be the creator of the company's premier 'severance' technology, which cleaves employees' memories into two distinct personas that keep their work and personal lives separate. And looking back on the second season of 'Severance,' which concluded its record-breaking run Thursday, that moment between Cobel and Helena underscores a consistent theme through the season: As a worker, you are disposable. 'Severance,' which follows a team of 'severed' workers led by Mark S. (Adam Scott) as they try to uncover the truth about the company they work for, returned after three years for its second season. And coincidentally, it met audiences at a time of economic upheaval. An unsteady job market has contributed to rising scrutiny around large corporations, also a driving theme of the season. Now, the show reflects reality back to us, revealing the eerie ways modern corporate culture has become a villain. The first season of 'Severance' debuted when 'quiet quitting' was becoming a popular trend, as workers — fresh off going through the mental stress of a worldwide pandemic — drew more explicit boundaries between work and home. This season came at an even more fraught time. In 2023, highly publicized strikes by the United Auto Workers union, Hollywood writers and actors, and airline workers against their respective corporations led to the largest number of work stoppages in America in more than 20 years. More recently, as threats of an impending recession mount, US-based employers are tightening their belts, cutting more jobs in February than any other February since 2009, spurred in part by the massive layoffs of federal workers being carried out by the Trump administration and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Even those who are working may feel stuck. Anti-corporate sentiment has grown in recent years, including a period following the pandemic when so many Americans left their jobs, it was dubbed the 'great resignation.' Now, amid a cooling job market, employees across the country are seeking new jobs at the highest rate since 2015, according to Gallup, and overall satisfaction with employers has hit a record low. It's fitting, then, that people can't seem to get enough of 'Severance.' It's a significant departure from series about corporate culture that tend to either be episodic pursuits à la 'Suits' or grounded comedies like 'The Office.' Unlike these other popular shows, where the workplace might act more as a backdrop than as an opposing entity, 'Severance' confronts the exploitative nature of giant corporations, veiled by dangled benefits like free food and company retreats. Who hasn't been placated with corporate platitudes or company swag when advocating for concrete change? One online resource advises companies to offer free snacks, beverages and even lunchtime yoga when pay raises aren't possible. 'Severance' not only highlights the absurdity of corporate culture, it emphasizes the illicit underbelly. Everything is in service to Lumon, and Mark S. and his team now see that. The workplace woes highlighted on 'Severance' have audiences drawing parallels to their own jobs. Social media is filled with quips and notes about the agonizing ways in which the show nails the corporate experience. Details like melon-only fruit parties and branded finger traps are just the beginning. One person online compared being severed to code switching at work; another compared it to switching between a public work social media account and a private one. The popularity of this season of 'Severance' points to a shift not just in television, but in our society: People aren't just laughing at corporate culture anymore, they're pushing back. The fictional Lumon's exaggerated corporate environment is intentional. Series creator Dan Erickson and his team studied the ways corporate and government whistleblowers have been treated by these entities in real life — dissenters are first fought, and then made to assimilate, Erickson noted. They used that information to form the basis of the second season, he told The Hollywood Reporter, as Lumon responds to the planned breach by the four main employees in the first season's finale. 'It always struck me as a very specific kind of manipulation,' Erickson said ahead of the second season's premiere. 'At the end of the day, a company like Lumon wants to be the good guy, and there's the sense that even this rebellion — they take credit for it.' Throughout this season, as Lumon attempts to squeeze as much work out of its key employee Mark S., we see the ways workers at every level are treated like kitchen rags, wrung dry and tossed aside. Beyond Cobel, Milchick (Tramell Tillman), another manager within the company, is treated similarly, forced into an impossible role and thanked with underhanded compliments that steadily, if the tension in his jaw is any indication, raise his blood pressure. At another point, Lumon begs for the return of one employee (Irving, played by John Turturro), only to call for his murder once he begins to ask uncomfortable questions about the company's plans. The critiques 'Severance' poses against corporate culture shouldn't obscure the show's thesis: that your fellow workers are a saving grace. Throughout the second season, the characters of 'Severance' must rely on each other to fight Lumon. Indeed, when they don't, things fall apart (just see Dylan G.'s remorse at dismissing Irving's instincts). The arc mimics reality. Before the UAW announced its strike in 2023, President Shawn Fain had to first explain the decision and announce the vote. Fain was clear in his thoughts that a strike was the best way forward; his remarks to the union rail against the billionaire class and the abandonment of auto workers. 'Nobody is coming to save us,' Fain said at the time. 'Nobody can win this fight for us. Our greatest hope — our only hope — is each other.' Mark S. might as well have uttered those same words himself.
CNN
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Fed up with work? ‘Severance' Season 2 puts things in perspective
There's a moment early on in Season 2 of Apple TV+'s workplace drama 'Severance' where character Harmony Cobel is at a crossroads. Cobel (Patricia Arquette) stands in front of the future boss of Lumon, the company she has dedicated her life to. She's just been offered a promotion, one that she rejects in an effort to advocate for her old job. She wants to finish what she started, she says, voice steady and unwavering. Her boss, Helena Eagan (Britt Lower), is set to inherit the company. For reasons not revealed until later in the season, Helena denies Cobel's wishes and reminds her to be grateful for what the company has already given her. 'I think you've overestimated your contributions,' Helena says, her tone almost menacing. 'And underestimated your blessings.' Her words are a slap in the face for Cobel, who is later revealed to be the creator of the company's premier 'severance' technology, which cleaves employees' memories into two distinct personas that keep their work and personal lives separate. And looking back on the second season of 'Severance,' which concluded its record-breaking run Thursday, that moment between Cobel and Helena underscores a consistent theme through the season: As a worker, you are disposable. 'Severance,' which follows a team of 'severed' workers led by Mark S. (Adam Scott) as they try to uncover the truth about the company they work for, returned after three years for its second season. And coincidentally, it met audiences at a time of economic upheaval. An unsteady job market has contributed to rising scrutiny around large corporations, also a driving theme of the season. Now, the show reflects reality back to us, revealing the eerie ways modern corporate culture has become a villain. The first season of 'Severance' debuted when 'quiet quitting' was becoming a popular trend, as workers — fresh off going through the mental stress of a worldwide pandemic — drew more explicit boundaries between work and home. This season came at an even more fraught time. In 2023, highly publicized strikes by the United Auto Workers union, Hollywood writers and actors, and airline workers against their respective corporations led to the largest number of work stoppages in America in more than 20 years. More recently, as threats of an impending recession mount, US-based employers are tightening their belts, cutting more jobs in February than any other February since 2009, spurred in part by the massive layoffs of federal workers being carried out by the Trump administration and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Even those who are working may feel stuck. Anti-corporate sentiment has grown in recent years, including a period following the pandemic when so many Americans left their jobs, it was dubbed the 'great resignation.' Now, amid a cooling job market, employees across the country are seeking new jobs at the highest rate since 2015, according to Gallup, and overall satisfaction with employers has hit a record low. It's fitting, then, that people can't seem to get enough of 'Severance.' It's a significant departure from series about corporate culture that tend to either be episodic pursuits à la 'Suits' or grounded comedies like 'The Office.' Unlike these other popular shows, where the workplace might act more as a backdrop than as an opposing entity, 'Severance' confronts the exploitative nature of giant corporations, veiled by dangled benefits like free food and company retreats. Who hasn't been placated with corporate platitudes or company swag when advocating for concrete change? One online resource advises companies to offer free snacks, beverages and even lunchtime yoga when pay raises aren't possible. 'Severance' not only highlights the absurdity of corporate culture, it emphasizes the illicit underbelly. Everything is in service to Lumon, and Mark S. and his team now see that. The workplace woes highlighted on 'Severance' have audiences drawing parallels to their own jobs. Social media is filled with quips and notes about the agonizing ways in which the show nails the corporate experience. Details like melon-only fruit parties and branded finger traps are just the beginning. One person online compared being severed to code switching at work; another compared it to switching between a public work social media account and a private one. The popularity of this season of 'Severance' points to a shift not just in television, but in our society: People aren't just laughing at corporate culture anymore, they're pushing back. The fictional Lumon's exaggerated corporate environment is intentional. Series creator Dan Erickson and his team studied the ways corporate and government whistleblowers have been treated by these entities in real life — dissenters are first fought, and then made to assimilate, Erickson noted. They used that information to form the basis of the second season, he told The Hollywood Reporter, as Lumon responds to the planned breach by the four main employees in the first season's finale. 'It always struck me as a very specific kind of manipulation,' Erickson said ahead of the second season's premiere. 'At the end of the day, a company like Lumon wants to be the good guy, and there's the sense that even this rebellion — they take credit for it.' Throughout this season, as Lumon attempts to squeeze as much work out of its key employee Mark S., we see the ways workers at every level are treated like kitchen rags, wrung dry and tossed aside. Beyond Cobel, Milchick (Tramell Tillman), another manager within the company, is treated similarly, forced into an impossible role and thanked with underhanded compliments that steadily, if the tension in his jaw is any indication, raise his blood pressure. At another point, Lumon begs for the return of one employee (Irving, played by John Turturro), only to call for his murder once he begins to ask uncomfortable questions about the company's plans. The critiques 'Severance' poses against corporate culture shouldn't obscure the show's thesis: that your fellow workers are a saving grace. Throughout the second season, the characters of 'Severance' must rely on each other to fight Lumon. Indeed, when they don't, things fall apart (just see Dylan G.'s remorse at dismissing Irving's instincts). The arc mimics reality. Before the UAW announced its strike in 2023, President Shawn Fain had to first explain the decision and announce the vote. Fain was clear in his thoughts that a strike was the best way forward; his remarks to the union rail against the billionaire class and the abandonment of auto workers. 'Nobody is coming to save us,' Fain said at the time. 'Nobody can win this fight for us. Our greatest hope — our only hope — is each other.' Mark S. might as well have uttered those same words himself.
