Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Severance Season 2.
In Severance Season 1, one of the most fascinating relationships happens between the innies of Irving (John Turturro) and Burt (Christopher Walken). Watching their sincere and tender bond soften Irving B.’s pro-Lumon stance leads to one of the best moments of the season when he says he wants to “burn this place to the ground.” Season 2 has continued this exploration and widened it to the characters’ outies meeting, and seeing Walken take a bigger role in the show has been a joy to watch, with this latest episode, “Atilla” revealing more than ever about the character.
The dinner between Burt, Irving, and Burt’s husband, Fields (John Noble), is one of those scenes in Severance that once again displays the show’s ability to blend both unnerving and charming tones in a way that keeps us guessing. Not only does it appear that Burt may have betrayed Irving in this scene, but what we learn about his relationship with Fields and his outie may hint at a darker character than we previously assumed, as well as a greater commitment to Lumon than we thought. Only time will tell, but Burt’s character is going to be one to keep your eye on moving forward.
Burt May Have a Greater Loyalty To Lumon Than We Thought in ‘Severance’
The entire dinner holds an undercurrent of tension as Fields struggles to deal with the fact his husband may have another, stronger, soulmate in Irving. This tension hits its climax when Fields remarks that Burt worked for Lumon 20 years ago, and the reveal that severance was only implemented 12 years ago implies Burt was a non-severed employee who was promoted or moved to the severed floor within the company. The reason we assume he was still severed at this time is Fields’ jab that Burt had a different “Lumon partner” back then, which links to their previous conversation about Burt having relationships with other innies. To arguably have been one of the first severed people in the world hints at a deeper connection to Lumon that we also seem to get more evidence of as the company begins a wider strategy against Irving.
During dinner, the newly introduced yet thoroughly intimidating Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) sneaks into Irving’s home and unlocks his suitcase containing his investigation. So much of this scene is frightening due to the subtle moments we see. Drummond doesn’t technically break in, but uses a key he has on a large ring full of other keys, implying he has access to everyone’s house, when the only other thing we have seen similar to this was Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) having a singular key to Mark Scout’s (Adam Scott) house. Something else that makes the scene unnerving is that we don’t hear Irving’s dog react at all, leading us to wonder what Drummond would have done to keep the dog quiet and how very few things can stand as obstacles to him.
What seems to stand out as evidence that Burt is involved in this deception is when Irving leaves after dinner. Irving walks down the drive, leftovers in hand, with a shy yet giddy expression. Burt, on the other hand, watches him go with an ominous look as his smile fades away. The scowl on Burt’s face could be proof of feeling conflicted about his feelings for Irving, Lumon, and Fields, but his active push to connect with Irving, such as when he inquires if Fields should come to his and Irving’s next meeting, makes this conflict feel confusing. Furthermore, it feels unlikely Drummond would take such a risk if he didn’t know where Irving was that night and couldn’t guarantee how long he would be gone for, which would make Burt’s expression either the reveal of his facade or still feeling guilt over tricking someone he cared about. Either way, as with much of Severance, it doesn’t feel like the most simple explanation will be the truth, but something far messier instead.
Burt’s Religious Views Could Hint to Him Having a Far Darker Past in ‘Severance’
What we learn about Burt’s outie doesn’t make him a completely evil character, but it does hint at something dodgier than his innie’s nature would suggest. During dinner, Fields and Burt explain their Lutheran religion to Irving, and Burt admits to being a “scoundrel” in his past and that he believes he will go to hell, which leads to the fascinating way he and Fields have decided to view their relationship. The way they imply that Burt’s outie will go to hell, perhaps with Irving’s outie, while his innie goes to heaven with Fields, is thoroughly complex. The way Burt is framed with the fire crackling behind him helps to highlight this nihilistic motif and makes us fear the idea of what Burt has done in his past to accept this kind of eternal damnation.
Yet, again, Burt’s framework of thinking doesn’t make us completely sour on the character. On the one hand, it is a rather fatalistic point of view from Burt that is near psychopathic, as he wants to use his innie to give his husband something without any thought of how the innie may feel. But, the nature of wanting his husband to have someone in heaven is one we can sympathize with and gives us a character willing to do dubious things for good reasons.
When Burt will see Irving again is unknown, though presumably, Irving will have to return the Tupperware he took home the leftover ham in. If Irving initiates the next contact, it will be fascinating to see how Burt reacts, as it will be a good indication of whether Burt’s intentions are altruistic or not. Either way, it is likely that, the more we see Burt, the more complex of a character he will become, and learning more about him won’t stop us from asking more questions. Just the little bits of history that were revealed in this episode changed our perception of his character, implying he is hiding what his real role at Lumon was, or is. Even if he is betraying Irving, there is no guarantee he will be doing it from a completely evil perspective, as his expression at Irving appears to show us someone in conflict with himself, rather than wholly proud of his actions.
New episodes of Severance are released every Friday on Apple TV+.
Severance
- Release Date
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February 18, 2022
- Showrunner
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Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman
- Writers
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Dan Erickson
