Severance Season 2's Burt Revelation Makes Lumon's Recruitment Process Even Darker
Warning! This article contains spoilers for Severance season 2's episode 6.
Severance season 2 makes a strange revelation about Burt's past, which makes Lumon's recruitment methods even darker. Viewers who have been following Severance would be well aware of how sinister the central company, Lumon, in the show is. The company not only uses its severance technology to exploit the innies in the name of productivity but also resorts to extreme punishments to ensure its employees do not question the corporate slavery they are subjected to.
Although little seems to be known about how Lumon hires people and convinces them to agree to get the severance procedure done, Severance season 2's episode 6 seems to provide answers. It features a sequence in which Irving visits Burt and his partner, Fields, for dinner. What he expects to be a regular night out takes a strange turn when Fields gets drunk and starts opening up about Burt's history with Lumon. The subtle clues surrounding Burt's backstory in the Apple TV+ sci-fi show reveal a lot about who he is and the twisted ways Lumon used to have him on board a severed worker.
Burt's Backstory Shows How Lumon Exploits Religion To Hire More Severed Workers
A Priest Convinced Him His Innie Had A Shot At Going To Heaven
Fields reveals some strange details about Burt's Lumon history to Irving during their dinner conversation. He not only hints that Burt started working with the company even before he was severed but also reveals why he opted to get severed in the first place. The character recalls that he and Burt decided that Burt should get severed because they wanted him to have a shot at going to heaven. According to his recollection, they met a priest who convinced them that the innies were different individuals altogether.
The company seems to exploit one's fear of god by promising that their innies could help them acquire a better afterlife.
Unlike the outies, who had experienced and lived through many tragedies, the innies were pure souls, disconnected from the corrupt forces of the world. To escape the sins of his past, Burt decided to get severed, hoping that it would help him redeem himself and allow him to land a place in heaven after death. Burt and Fields' reasoning makes no sense to Irving, and rightfully so. It seemingly establishes that Lumon works with local churches to prey on vulnerable individuals by convincing them to join as severed workers.
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The company seems to exploit one's fear of god by promising that their innies could help them acquire a better afterlife. Even if Lumon is not directly working with churches and priests, Burt's severance decision highlights how the company's influence extends beyond the corporate world. With its cult-like following and false promises, Lumon has somehow managed to seep into religion, manipulating the Kier town's spiritual beliefs to establish control.
Lumon's Other Skewed Recruitment Strategies Explained
Lumon Not Only Promises A Better Afterlife But Also Offers Trauma-Healing
Image via Apple TV+
In The Lexington Letter, a former truck driver decides to get severed because Lumon pays incredibly well. Dylan, too, seems to have joined the company because of his inability to keep a job in the outside world and Lumon's impressive performance perks. With characters like Mark, Lumon seems to promise trauma healing, offering an escape from grief and the painful memories of the past. However, unbeknownst to the severed workers, none of these promises are met.
The salary makes no difference to the innies because they can never spend the money their outies are earning. Mark's innie does not explicitly remember the source of his outie's grief, but as Petey suggests, his pain is often visible through his eyes even after he enters the severed floor. Even by exploiting Burt's religious beliefs, Lumon somehow gets to play god in the world of Severance even though it is not a true spiritual or moral authority.
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.
- Cast
- Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, Tramell Tillman, Jen Tullock, Dichen Lachman, Michael Chernus, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, Patricia Arquette, Sarah Bock, Marc Geller, Michael Cumpsty
- Showrunner
- Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman
- Directors
- Ben Stiller
- Writers
- Dan Erickson
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Seasons
- 2
- Story By
- dan erickson
- Streaming Service(s)
- AppleTV+
