Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Severance season 2, episode 1!
Escaping Lumon has been the main goal of the innies throughoutSeveranceso far, butSeveranceseason 2 just subtly proved that the Macrodata Refinement team actually needs Lumon.Severanceseason 1 endedwith the MDR team finally having a shot at getting out, with Dylan using the Overtime Contingency to allow Mark, Helly, and Irving to take over their outies bodies for just under an hour. WhileSeveranceseason 2 has started with the MDR team having a chance to live a life without Lumon, episode 2 proved that this will never work.
The first two episodes ofSeveranceseason 2 have shown two sides of the same coin.Episode 1 focused on the experience of the innies in the wake of season 1’s ending, highlighting Mark’s confusion as he realizes that the rest of his team has disappeared and reappeared.Episode 2 focused on the experience of the outies, showing how Lumon responded to their bodies being hijacked by their workplace counterparts. While there are still a lot of questions, a fuller picture has been painted, explaining why the MDR team had to return to their Lumon jobs.
Dylan’s Job Interview In Severance Season 2 Proves How The Public Sees “Severed” People
The Interviewer Says It Is “Abhorrent”
InSeveranceseason 2, episode 2, Dylan discovers that he has been let go from Lumon, meaning that he has to find a new job. While Lumon is actually firing him for his role in theseason 1 Overtime Contingency scheme, he is told that it is because his innie got into a physical altercation. This leads to Dylan’s episode 2 arc in which he tried to find a job. Dylan manages to land an interview at a door factory, and things seem to be going well at first. However, the tide turns when the interviewer discover that Dylan is a severed person, with him saying “I think it’s abhorrent” before ending the interview.
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This line makes it clear that the public perception of Lumon’s severed people is incredibly negative,with the interviewer refusing to hire Dylan based on his severed status. This stigma is most likely not unique to Dylan, with almost every former severed employee having to face it in the world ofSeverance. It isn’t known how this stigma against severed people came about, butSeveranceseason 2, episode 2 makes it clear that it exists.
Why Returning To Lumon Might Be The MDR Team’s Only Option
There May Be No Other Jobs For Them
Bythe end ofSeveranceseason 2, episode 2, the rest of the LDR team has returned to Lumon, resetting the status quo after the season 1 finale. This is mostly the result of Lumon, as they realized that Mark needs his team back so that Mark can finish some sort of mysterious MDR project. However, this plan was contingent on the rest of the MDR team being willing to return. While Dylan and Irving might be opposed to returning if they knew what really happened, they might have no choice.
The bias against severed people could be so severe that, even if they didn’t want to return to Lumon, the MDR team may have to. Although they may learn that Lumon is evil, they still need money to survive. Thus, their status as severed people may relegate them to only ever working Lumon jobs for the rest of their life.This sad reality makes Lumon more evil, as the company has to be aware that they are essentially trapping desperate people in their jobs forever upon employees agreeing to become severed.
How The “Abhorrent” Line Contradicts What Milchick Said In Severance Season 2’s Premiere
He Said The MDR Team Were Heroes
Although the audience is aware of the full picture, viewers must remember that innies and outies do not know what their counterparts know. Thus, the “abhorrent” line in episode 2 reveals another Lumon lie fromSeveranceseason 2, episode 1. In the season 2 premiere,Milchick tells the MDR team that they are heroesin the outside world. They believe that they raised awareness about the conditions of Lumon, with Milchick and Lumon pushing this narrative on the innies.
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However, this clearly isn’t the case. If Dylan was a hero in the outside world, he would have immediately been recognized by the interviewer at the door factory. Even if he didn’t recognize him, he would not have reacted with such disgust. Instead of being heroes, it seems that the people in the outside world only resent severed individuals, making Lumon’s deception inSeveranceseason 2 even sadder.
