Warning: this article contains spoilers for Severance season 2, episode 1.
Severanceseason 2 has just begun airing on Apple TV+, and there are already some noticeable changes from season 1. The Ben Stiller-produced and directed series follows the inner and outer lives of employees of Lumon, a company that usesthe severance procedureto separate the knowledge of what employees do at work from their outside lives, essentially creating two different people in one body. The first season was met with critical acclaim, and nowSeveranceseason 2 is receiving even better reviews, hinting at the exciting things to come with each episode’s release.
AsSeveranceseason 1 progresses, Lumon becomes increasingly suspicious to both the inner personalities of the Macrodata Refinement Department and their external personas, specifically Mark (Adam Scott), who begins investigating what happens inside. BecauseSeveranceseason 1 ended with the “innies” rebelling, it was a given that season 2 would have to address their actions and make changes, but Mr. Milchick’s replacement is one of the more surprising reveals. Miss Huang, the new supervisor of Lumon’s severed floor, is even more disturbing than her predecessor for one clear reason.
Miss Huang Being A Child Makes Her Supervisor Role Even Scarier Than Milchick In Season 1
Her Age Makes Her Leadership Role Even More Unsettling
InSeveranceseason 1, Mr. Milchick was undeniably one of the creepiest characters because his positive demeanor and constant smiling was countered by his nefarious actions, such as sending people to the break room and triggeringthe Overtime Contingencyon Dylan to get more information. However, season 2’s choice to replace him with Miss Huang after he took over Ms. Cobel’s position makes the supervisor role even worse because she is a child. While the other characters even ask why she is there,Miss Huang takes up the role with a very similar unsettling personality to Mr. Milchick.
On her own, Miss Huang would already be a very eerie character, but her mysterious appearance at Lumon and role in subduing and keeping secrets from the adult employees feels very sinister.
Miss Huang seems completely serious about her job and even has the same smile with nothing behind her eyes kind of appearance that Mr. Milchick had throughoutSeveranceseason 1. On her own, Miss Huang would already be a very eerie character, but her mysterious appearance at Lumon and role in subduing and keeping secrets from the adult employees feels very sinister. While she has not done anything as bad as Mr. Milchick in season 1,her adherence to Lumon’s rules implies that she may become more active in trying to stop MDR from finding the truthin the coming episodes.
Miss Huang’s Role Makes Lumon’s Hiring Choices All The More Suspicious
Surely This Child Should Be Somewhere Else
Clearly, Miss Huang’s appearance as the supervisor of the severed floor does not make sense to Mark and the other Macrodata Refinement employees asthey each question why a child would be working at Lumon, pointing to something even more strange happening higher up in the company. Quite simply, Miss Huang should be in school or at least under the guidance of adults, not running a mysterious and cult-like company. Although this does seem to reinforce the troubling information about Lumon as a company thatSeverancehas revealed so far.
Severance’s “Macrodat Uprising” Video & Why MDR Is Considered Heroes At Lumon
Lumon shows a strange “Macrodat Uprising” video to the MDR workers in Severance season 2’s episode 1, raising questions about the company’s motives.
Additionally,considering Lumon’s history of hiring people who take advantage of their power, like Ms. Cobel and Mr. Milchick, Miss Huang already looks like an antagonist, despite her youth. Without really doing anything scary in episode 1, Miss Huang already seems suspicious, and future episodes might prove her alliance with the sinister company further. Hopefully, the reasonwhy Miss Huang is working at Lumon and whether her age might play a larger role in the company’s goals will be revealed asSeveranceseason 2 progresses.
Cast
Severance is a psychological thriller series featuring Adam Scott as Mark Scout, an employee at Lumon Industries who undergoes a “severance” procedure to separate his work and personal memories. However, as work and life personas mysteriously begin to collide, it quickly becomes clear that not all is as it seems. Created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle.
