Severance
Warning ! This article contains spoilers for Severance time of year 2 ’s episode 3 .
Natalie storm Milchick inSeveranceseason 2 ’s sequence 3 by giving him a gift from Lumon . However , to Milchick ’s shock , the gift turns out to be something he had not look , leading to an awkward stare - down between him and Natalie . The strange interaction between the two part leaves one wondering why Lumon would give something so off - putt to an employee and also crap one query whether the troupe ’s most loyal employee , like Natalie and Milchick , really like work there .
After being promote to the position of the severed floor ’s head inSeveranceseason 2 ’s installment 1 , Milchick has been doing his best to maintain ordering and control condition theMacrodata Refinement Department ’s employee . He ab initio does not palpate take account by Lumon when they forget to even put back his name with Ms. Cobel ’s on his billet computer ’s screensaver . However , the company at long last shit exertion to make him feel valued by sending him a giving through Natalie . To his consternation , though , what ab initio seems like a gift turns out to be something far more unsettling .
Milchick & Natalie’s Black Kier Paintings Highlight Lumon’s Ignorance With Diversity
Lumon’s Gift Is Insulting & Tone-Deaf
After remove the gift wrappings , Milchick finds a serial of unusual paintings and exclaims , " Oh my … " Natalie explains that to make him experience " connected to Lumon ’s history , ” they have given him “ inclusively re - canonicalized house painting intended to facilitate you see yourself in Kier , our father . ” A closer look at the gift inSeveranceseason 2 ’s episode 3reveals that they are all manipulated versions of Kier ’s original painting in which the Lumon founder is black . Mikchick is appal after seeing them because they seem blatantly tone - deaf and downright contemptuous .
The cryptical Lumon Board uses its liaison Natalie as the sole medium of communicating with employee , calling into question the Board ’s true nature .
The painting amount off as twisted adaptation of blackface , cue Natalie and Milchick that the white citizenry who run their company know nothing about inclusivity . Even when it comes to making their employees feel comprehended , the frontrunners of the company are not able to await beyond their hubris and blind devotion to Kier . The silliness of the painting highlight the deep , unbridled exclusive right and ignorance that set Lumon ’s leadership , which could finally contribute to the company ’s downfall .
Custom Image by Dhruv Sharma.
What Milchick & Natalie’s Shared Uncomfortable Look About The Paintings Really Mean
Natalie Empathizes With Milchick But Is Too Scared To Be Vocal
When Milchick and Natalie awkwardly share a glance , and Natalie uncomfortably smiles at him , it is toilsome not to think about a scene from Jordan Peele’sGet Out . Milchick and Natalie ’s unsettling fundamental interaction seems similar to the one between Daniel Kaluuya ’s Chris and Betty Gabriel ’s Georgina inGet Outwhen Chris tells Georgian that being around too many white people scares him . Just like Georgina only smile at Chris despite wanting to say a mass more , Natalie , too , only offers a labored smiling to Milchick , signal her soreness .
Despite pull in how mess up the giving is , both eccentric keep quiet even after the Board sign out because they reverence they will be heard .
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 clash , it quickly becomes exonerated that not all is as it seems . create by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle .
