Warning: This post contains spoilers for Episode 6 of Severance Season 2.
Despite being fired in Episode 4 over his innie’s behavior at the ORTBO, outie Irving (John Turturro) doesn’t appear to be giving up on the apparent mission he’s on to infiltrate and possibly bring down Lumon. However, it seems there may be more nefarious agents out and about in the outside world than Irving perhaps previously anticipated.
In Episode 6, titled “Attila,” outie Irv made good on his promise to go to dinner at the home of outie Burt (Christopher Walken) and his husband Fields (John Noble). But while Irving initially received a seemingly warm welcome, the vibes were anything but relaxed as the evening wore on. In fact, we’d go so far as to describe the dynamic between Burt and Fields as eerily hostile, a revelation that prompts some pretty big questions about the couple’s relationship to Lumon and role in the bigger Severance picture.
What’s the deal with Fields?
While Lord of the Rings fans may recognize John Noble for his role as Denethor, the self-indulgent and power-hungry Steward of Gondor from The Return of the King, this is the first time we’ve seen him in Severance. Or is it?
While Arthur Brooks played Fields in the brief scene from the Season 1 finale where we caught a glimpse of the couple when innie Irv showed up at Burt’s house during the OTC, some fans think Noble may have already appeared in the cold open of the fifth episode of Season 2. The scene intentionally obscured the identity of the sinister-seeming, whistling man who picked up the tray of surgical tools from the O&D department and took it to the Exports Hall elevator. But what we did see of him appeared to match up with what Noble’s Fields looks like. And considering how this week’s dinner party played out, we definitely wouldn’t put it past Fields to be in cahoots with Lumon.
Is outie Burt evil?
Although Burt and Fields claim not to be “zealots,” they reveal they hold what seem like some pretty extreme beliefs about severance’s relationship to Christianity. During a dinner table chat about why Burt chose to get severed, Fields explains that, at the time, they were attending a Lutheran church where the doctrine was that innies are complete individuals with souls that can be judged separately from their outie. So, according to Fields, despite the fact that Bert was a self-described “scoundrel” in his younger years, that means Burt’s innie could go to heaven and be with him for eternity even if his outie “burns.”
This creepy conversation later segues into a discussion about how Burt and Fields used to call each other “hon” but then switched to “Attila” in reference to the historical figure Attila the Hun—a savage fifth century warlord known as “the Scourge of God.” If nothing else, this little term of endearment doesn’t really seem exactly, well, endearing. But there’s also the fact that one of the things Attila is famous for is killing his own brother to claim absolute power for himself. Given everything we learned about Kier and his brother during the ORTBO, the reference to fratricide doesn’t feel like it’s coincidental.
Burt says the nickname swap happened about 10 years earlier, but Fields claims it was 20, explaining he remembers they were having drinks with Burt’s “Lumon partner” and startled him by referring to each other as such. Of course, that would mean that Burt had been working for Lumon much longer than he previously let on since, as Irving recalls, the company’s first severed office only opened 12 years ago. Could all this mean that Burt’s so-called partner was none other than Lumon CEO Jame Eagan (Michael Siberry)?
Burt quickly shuts the line of questioning about his Lumon timeline down, but an angry and at least somewhat drunk Fields launches into a tirade that exposes his true feelings about the relationship between innie Burt and Irv. It’s clear Fields feels betrayed by Burt—and it doesn’t necessarily seem like it’s the first time.
What does Lumon know about Irving?
While Irving’s preoccupied with dinner, we also see Lumon security chief Mr. Drummond (Olafur Darri Ólafsson) entering his house using a key from a ring filled with enough keys to imply he may have one to every Lumon employee’s home. He goes through Irving’s locked trunk and sees his list of severed employees and their contact information. He appears to take particular note of Burt’s name and address.
The episode ends with Irv and Burt saying goodbye to one another and hinting they both would like to see each other again without Fields. At this point, it seems pretty obvious that Burt’s involvement with Lumon goes way deeper than we originally thought, but knowing Irving’s background, it’s still unclear who is actually playing who. Here’s hoping that outie Irv is playing chess not checkers.
