Severance creator explains Lumon’s “five-month lie” in Season 2

Severance Season 2 begins with a lie by Mr. Milchick, which the show’s creator Dan Erickson says is down to Lumon’s “mind games.”

Season 2 of Severance begins straight after the end of Season 1, though in the opening scenes of the first episode, Mr. Milchick puts a very specific spin on events, telling Mark that: “What you did five months ago was one of the most painful moments for this company.”

He’s referring to the “Overtime Contingency” which woke the Innies of Mark, Irving, and Helly up in the bodies of their Outies at the end of Season 1.

“The four of you have achieved international fame,” he tells Mark, revealing that they have become “the face of Severance reform,” and showing him a heavily redacted newspaper that spotlights their whistle-blowing activities. But as ever with Lumon, nothing is what it seems. Season 2 SPOILERS ahead…

Dan Erickson explains Lumon’s “mind games in mind games”

Apple TV+

In Episode 2, we learn that rather than being absent for five months, Mark and the rest of the Innies have been away for just a couple of days. Meaning Mr. Milchick is lying.

“Lumon is always telling the Innies what they think they want to hear,” creator Dan Erickson tells the official Severance podcast. “Showing them what they think they want to see, and their approximation of what the workers want is often so clumsy and weird. In addition to being dark and sinister. That to me is where it gets really funny.

“It’s so funny to me that Lumon wrote the article and then redacted half of it. Half of the article that they themselves had written. It’s mind games in mind games in mind games.”

Apple TV+

During the same interview, Erickson also details why Lumon tells this specific lie: “Where the five-month thing comes in – to me – is there’s a couple of reasons behind it, but one thing is there’s this intrinsic sense of ‘We’re not punishing you for what happened, but just so you know, five months have passed. You’re now five months older.’ There’s this sense of lost time. ‘It’s not us, we would never punish you, but the consequence of your action is now five months have passed.’

Erickson continues: “That would be such a strange thing to suddenly learn – ‘Oh, I’ve just lost half a year of time.’ So again it’s mind games in mind games with these guys.”

Season 2 of Severance is currently airing on Apple TV+, while for more on the show, here’s how to get Ricken’s book, the meaning of Mammalians Nurturable, plus details of a chilling Severance Easter egg. Alternatively head here to see why We Love TV & Movies.