Severance - Analyzing Mr. Milchick + Theories 

Love him or hate him...you cannot deny that during the Defiant Jazz scene this man made you wanna boogie

He’s so charismatic and warm and terrifying at the same time. The man doesn’t need an innie/outtie split, he can make the switch himself

Milchick was SO LOCKED IN. Perfect casting, perfect execution.

when he said "do you know how to make your eyes kind" I got chills and had to take a moment to let that sink in. Because that's exactly what he does - putting on those "kind", empty, dead, soulless eyes!

Man he was def snubbed for an Emmy nomination, he was one of the best parts of the show and his performance was perfect

Milchek is every middle manager I’ve ever worked for. They all are your best friend, we’re all in this together, isn’t work fun, spend all day monitoring your minute-to-minute behaviour and productivity, and will shift instantly from the buddy pal to telling us all to shut up and work harder or initiate a firing meeting. I’ve never seen one dance like that though, and definitely not to defiant jazz.

Severance is one of those shows where the entire cast is strong. Like honestly, no weak points

Honestly give Milchick the MVP award of LUMON, new recruit orientation overseer, party starter, security guard, team cheerleader, dancer, interrogator, photographer, nurse, intelligence officer, onsite construction inspector.

Milchick is clearly known by outies. He’s the guy outie Mark calls to tell him he’s gonna take a sick day. He’s kind of the HR link between outside and inside the world of Lumon. He’s also in outie Dylan’s home when he needs to retrieve the card, and Dylan doesn’t seem to be talking to a complete stranger, from what his reactions and facial expressions are once he’s back from the contingence procedure.

Milchick scares the crap out of me, he just fascinates me though. There's so much we don't know about him and I love thinking about what or who he could be.

"The maracas. Excellent choice." Coolest delivery of a line.

This guy is an amazing actor, and it's shocking that he hasn't done much other stuff, I hope he becomes big. Could be the next Gustavo Fring.

The dance scene made me sad. It was an amazing scene and I felt like Milchek was in the middle of a genuine moment of fun and then Dylan bit him. Not sure where I land on him, but what a wonderfully acted character.

Tramell Tillman is deserving of an Emmy nomination. Can’t have compelling stories without a well played villain. Milchick is a complex character.. playing both the good guy on the surface, but with ulterior motives underneath.. even Cobel gives him the stare down when she is fired and when questioned about Helly just before, she asks if Milchick gave the photos. The multilayering of who is good, who is bad, who do you trust abounds in this show.

There is always this someone that is all smiles and sympathy but at the same time you know and they know you know that you better follow the rules, or else... This exact Milchick vibes. As a character he is cool af, lots of depth.

Great analysis! That dancing scene makes him so lovable and cute-- but we all know he is a snake in the grass. It's weird, it honestly looked like Mr. Milchick was having fun in the dancing scene. Maybe he's a dancer outside of work? Or maybe it's to give him some depth and humanity! Also! The "full tetanus toxoid panel" comment makes me think Irv was a medic in the military!

"Just as fascinating as he is infuriating." Couldn't agree more!!

Milchick is frightening because of his discipline, dedication, and intelligence. Were he to be confronted with his crimes, he would be above the "just following orders" defense. He would, if self-incriminating, calmly and rationally explain why it is the employees best interest for them to be tortured. That, that is f-cking scary.

My question is who are the two people who activated the OTC for Milchick to interrogate Dylan?

I don’t hate Milchick at all. I’m fascinated by him. While Cobel seemed to be a true believer, she was also quick to bend the rules, step out of line, lose her temper. Milchick, on the other hand, seems far more robotic, being able to remain steady almost all the time. He doesn’t bend the rules and his moods are less extreme - plus he can switch his mood in an instant. He’s almost like a more mature Ms. Casey, having been "awake" longer. I’m wondering if there’s a difference procedure that isn’t "severing" the person’s. Ind but rather wiping the slate clean by totally erasing the person they used to be, perhaps after brain death or serious brain trauma...

I love the use of seafoam green color in the office they work in. It was used in the design of hardware and equipment that was built to be inside nuclear silos where people were underground for days. It was researched at the time to be the most calming color on humans psychologically. Small details like that and the duplicitous nature of milicheck always wearing black and white similar to his two sides are heartwarming to my viewpoints of cinematography.

Milchick is also nearly perfect. His clothes fit him perfectly. They follow the line of his body perfectly. Never wrinkled. So you think his dirty work is never physical. Also when Milchick was dancing around Dylan, all I could think was “Stop messing with that boy.” He was antagonizing Dylan for no reason.

He’s terrifying. If you have worked in corporate America, you have met a Mr/Mrs. Milchick.

In "The Lexington Letter" a journalist asks a trusted contact at Lumen to corroborate a story sent from an ex-MDR employee exposing lumen. After doing this, the ex-employee mysteriously dies in a car crash. It is revealed the journalist's name is Jim Milchick, implying his trusted lumen contact was Seth Milchick (the Milchick we know from the show). This suggests S Milchick gets his hands dirty in more ways than we know

What a fucking AMAZING actor. I’ve never seen this man before but he needs more leading roles

In the end I think that Milchick will be the key to the story. As middle management he is the linchpin between Lumon and the innies. And he is not a throw-away guy. Graner was sent on that risky mission because Milchick was too valuable to be expendable. And when the board dropped the hammer om Cobel, it appears that he was totally spared. And this makes me think that the innie's only hope is to somehow, someway, turn Milchick. They slipped by him once, and for a guy like him, he'll vow that it will never happen again. And as you say he is the complete company guy, so flipping him would be easier said than done. I could see a major plotline being a slow, gradual and necessarily subtle character arc for him. And it would not surprise me if he goes out in some kind of badass and glorious heroic sacrifice and the end of a redemption arc. It just seems like all of the groundwork is being laid for more depth to him. Great video btw :)

this dude is what is meant by 'camera presence'

This channel is so underrated- I love your analysis videos on this series!!

I know he's the bad guy in this show but he is so charismatic and I can't help but like him a lot

It instantly triggered something when you said he looks "from a different time" considering how long Lumon has been around. In the beginning it was assumed the chip only split the personality. Then we found out they can deactivate a personality without activating the other like Ms Casey. And in the finale they briefly show a whole list of other commands they could implement. I believe the boards ultimate goal is a kind of techno immortality. I think the goats are a cloning experiment and the chip is to transfer consciousness from one body to the next but was found to provide a range of other functions. It could be that until the cloning is perfected "the board" can only transfer into near dead bodies, and why they took Mark's wife after the accident. Maybe Milchick is a successful transfer, and all we're seeing is the Milchick "suit" the transfer is wearing. Mark's sister's friends are also severed, thats how the board knew Harmony was visiting.

Yep, hats off to Tillman. Awesome performance.

One of the creepiest characters in recent memory. I think Cobel was more evil, but Milchick is creepier.

I like Milchik’s dancing turtleneck. I also like that a Milkchik is the editor of the Topeka newspaper in the Lexington Letter book written by the producers.

The closet scene leads me to believe Dylan's outie knows Milchick . They may be related or roommates. 1) he told the son to count and the son counted. it didn't come across that the son was fearlful in the closet or that Michick was a stranger to him. 2) When he told Graner to "turn it off", Dylan was reverted back to his outie when he said to Milchick Are we done here? So what was Dylan's outie's reason for being in the closet with Milchick in the first place? I'm sure we'll find out more about Milchick in season 2.

So many questions about Milchick and this show overall. -Why are there so few people running the place? With Graner gone, and Cobel fired, it actually seems like Milchick is running the whole operation. How can that be? Where is all the management? Where are all the people who built this technology, and who maintains it? -Speaking of that, who is the "board"? How many people are on it? We only ever hear one voice, and this seems in keeping with the almost-no-one-works here vibe. -How can Cobel be severed? They went out of their way to show her (as Selvig) taking work calls at home. -Why is Cobel so concerned with Mark? Why / how does she live right next door to Mark? Why is she so concerned about packages delivered to his door, why does she break into his house, why does she wangle a job as Mark's sister's nanny, etc? -Why is Cobel so concerned about the MDR team's innies taking over their outties? She's already been fired! She was so incredibly pissed at them, yet now she's driving 100 MPH to confront Helly? -How is Gemma still alive if she died in a car crash? Did Lumon fake her death so they could sever her, and consequently Mark? Again it comes back to Mark... -If they faked Gemma's death, how did they convince her to sever? Or did they convince her? Is Gemma chipped? If so, what would happen if she went in the elevator? -What happens on the testing floor?

I don't know if I like or hate Mr Milchick, Great Video

Wait a gosh darn second…… cobel is actually severed??? Gonna have to rewatch the whole season again with that in mind. Fantastic video!! Milchick is fascinating, hope they give his actor even more to work with next season. Excellent analysis of the workplace politics between cobel and milchick, hadn’t even thought to try and puzzle that one out 🙌

you NAILED everything I thought and felt about this man and couldn’t put into words… thank you for this video!! 😭 Also WHERE IS TRAMELL TILLMANS EMMY NOM 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

I think Milchick is Dylan's personal trainer. He has way bigger delt's and trap's than Dylan, and they clearly know each other on the outside.

gotta love the auto-captions using “milkshake” in place of “milchick” every time you said his name 😂

He is one of my favourite characters of all time.

Finally, someone actually explains what makes the company in Severance bad. Of all the videos I've watched about the show, no one has ever talked about how they can turn the innies on after hours without consent. I genuinely didn't understand how the company could be bad if they left you alone after your shift was over. But now that I know they don't leave you alone, I genuinelyfeel pity. My issue with the show is that, before the tidbit I just learned today, the office workers were showing their own privilege by having boring jobs that they just disliked. I've had to deal with the bad side of the service industry for about 20 years now because that's the type of work my husband does. My biggest complaint is that he's never off the clock, even when he's clocked out. They can call him in at any time, interrupting our family time. No company should have that right. Humans deserve time away from work

I loved this essay. “You better smile, or else.” Is such a great representation of Mr Milchick. Will be binging your channel now, amazing video. Keep it up ❤

Every workplace needs a f*ck around and find out boss. Insert Milchick

Dude, my favorite character in this series. He has... just so much presence and impact. I really like the guy and the character, he definitely brings him to life and I can see how a lotta people at my office wanna be like him without knowing he exists, but without his finesse. And they are all pain in the asses, while Milchick and the guy that plays him are... refined. As such, I don't hate him, he is a job well done and a great result of effort. I'd get a coffee with the guy for 30 mins and ask him to be Milchick and I will just... try and go along. Plz no Break room.

He gives Dwight vibes from the office.. really strange down for his boss but will throw them under the bus for their spot

Great video! You had me laughing throughout - a lot of great one-liners. And, it started out of the gate with your "What is a Milchick?" 🤣😂 He's definitely a complex character. I wonder if they'll ever tell us who was holding the switches for him. We know 1 was Graner, and we know the other was NOT Cobel. So, who was the 2nd person and why was that person nowhere to be found when Dylan threw the switches.

A show in a very restricted place with very few characters. Damn, how good those actors are, every single main characters are just awesome.

Subscribed! I love your dry humor and delivery and, of course, much needed severance content on RU-vid!!

People who think Milchick isn't tough from how he sounded after being bitten, I would have to disagree he more likely was was confused about being bitten and also probrably upset that he could at that moment not get dylan back because it would be against protocol and leave something to be explained to outie dylan.

Tramell Tillman has just been nailing this role. And kudos to the writers, too. I feel that in recent mega productions, a character like Milchick - one that doesn't have to tell you every single fucking thing they're feeling and thinking by screaming it at your all the time - is a rarity. This team is just crushing it.

Hey man, great video. I think it’s interesting that Milchick is close to the german word “milchig” which translates to “milky” but also has the meaning of being only partly see-through. There’s Milchglas e.g. for a shower. Fits this guy pretty well if you ask me.

I agree that the short sleeves(and the body hugging turtle neck in the dance episode) are there to show you that you DON'T WANNA FUCK WITH MILCHEK. He also breaks people's personal space bubbles constantly. He's supposed to be the Stick AND the bringer of the Carrot. It's actually pretty clever.

can't wait for the rest of the characters!!!! Love your channel dude!!!!!!!

I think Milcheck is going to turn on Lumon. There were two instances where he had a sympathetic side towards the severed employees, like maybe he didn’t love everything in his job description.

Fantastic job on the analysis, that was actually really good man

the most interesting thing is that the Dylan incident is the only time that milchick is wearing a long sleeve shirt (i think) in the show...

When Milchick woke Dylan up at home, I think he was going rogue, the one time we saw him do something risky. It's an emergency protocol they can use, but he didn't run it by Harmony - who outranks him, it would appear. He panicked, one of the only times he lost his cool all season. And he screwed up big time, trusting that kid not to come in and expose the truth to innie Dylan about his existence. So Dylan was able to escape consequences for attacking him because when he threatened to go to Cobel, Dylan called his bluff. I took that to mean that not only did he screw up with the kid, he didn't have authorization to use the emergency protocol. Either that or he got orders from over her head and she would've been pissed to be kept out of the loop. He must have had 2 people flipping the switches to wake up Dylan remotely - wonder who did it? We literally never saw any other supervisory or security people working there except Milchick, Cobel, and Graner. (Sidebar - still wanna know WTF was so earth-shattering about) those damn cards that necessitated taking that risk! None of what they're actually working on there makes sense but I love it 😂)

10:00 hell yeah dude. Great video 😌

Love the Severance videos! Great job! I really like this breakdown of Milchick!

Milchick: compliments Dylan's incisors Dylan: bites Milchick with said incisors The details of this show are astounding

I don't hate Milchick, but he does disgust me; it might be because the actor so convincingly brings you that "middle management" vibe, as you said...he's definitely scary because he's no cult-worshipping fanatic like Cobel; this truly feels like this is his JOB. Cobel is weirdly more "likeable" because you KNOW there's A LOT there in her past that's made her the way she is and possibly blind to how messed up severance is (plus...she WAS severed, so...). Milchick seems to be doing what he does just to...earn a living? Maybe. Also, maybe that's commentary on how our culture often forces folks to take jobs they may not agree with in order for financial security and comfort (where else can you work in that town, but for Lumen or Lumen-owned businesses?). Anyway, thanks for continuing to put out great content, looking forward to your next one!

SUPER SOLID CONTENT. I'M SURE YOU'LL SOON EXPLODE IN GROWTH & SUCCSESS ON THIS WEBSITE.

maybe Milchick does feel guilty and ultimately does a severance procedure on himself so he can forget about everything he’s done.

I would like to see how Milchick behaves outside of Lumon. I find him to be terrifying; that creepy smile and seriousness makes him very hard to predict.

The dance party is officially canceled!…had me rolling…you can tell Ben wrote that line specifically

Tramell Tillman nominated for 2022 Screen Actors Guild Award

strong agree about how incredible of a performance this was. hats off to mr tillman

One more thing about Milchik - i think his entire family is serving or related to Lumos. Just look at the incident with the innie wisthleblower - there was in the show an article i think Irving outie had, with a woman who could experience both innie and outie and went to the press to expose them. But the press sided with Lumos, and the jurnalist who stopped the article was names - J. Milchick. He ia a sort of agent smit of martix for this universe. The middle mad who deals with everything to protect the bussines

Everything in the office looks like in the 60s/70s - and Milchik, too - he looks like a cop from then because he *IS* one - he polices the employees - he makes sure they comply to the (company) rules, and enforces them - with force, if necessay.

Great role, great actor ! I really enjoy the Mr. Milchick scenes.

I don't know why but Milchick reminds me of Ben Stiller. Especially during the scene he storms out after being bit 😂

You have a great voice and tone. Love your angle on this amazing show. Subscribed!

I think there's definitely something to the Multiple Milchick theory. In episode 7, Dylan bites Milchick. Milchick distinctly screams, "He's biting me!" not once, but twice. Milchick is wearing a white shirt so that the blood will be very visible. Milchick stands up and states, "He broke the skin!". The bite is precisely where Milchick's signature short sleeves end. I assume that there's a reason why he wears short sleeves, and I predict we will see a scene where "a" Milchick has his shirt removed in some manner with no visible scarring and reveal that there is possibly more than one of him. Shortly after the biting scene, Dylan and Helly are discussing the lack of security, roughly 29 minutes into the episode. Helly states that they've never seen any other security guards except Graner. Dylan asks, "What about Milchick?" and Helly responds, "He can't be everywhere at once." I think these events and dialogue were included to set the stage for Milchick clones. I also think when Milchick used the overtime contingency, he had the help of a clone. When Dylan's kid runs into the closet, Milchick radios "End it," and you briefly see a hand releasing the switch, which could be another Milchick. The goats, the 3D printers in O&D, and the scene where Milchick looks into Burt's microscope perhaps hint at cloning playing a role in this story. Lastly, around the 11-minute mark of the 7th episode, Milchick is testing the new door they've installed in MDR. He continually opens and closes it, and they show this multiple times from different angles. It's almost like they're showing us that he's multiplying. He then goes into the bathroom, and the camera pans from the mirror to him walking to the stall, and there are briefly two Milchicks in the same shot. Everything in this show is intentionally done so. I think this scene was definitely shot this way to provide some foreshadowing

severance is the new succession and this man is the new alt shift x

"shaking his tail feathers" 🤣🤣🤣

Milchick is one of my top favorite characters everytime he's on screen he gets my full attention he can be both welcoming and menacing

Really liked this. Another great recent character in this vein is Lalo Salamanca. It's that absolute zeal for life with the deadest eyes you've ever seen.

The clothing of Milchick is very reminiscent of insane asylum orderlies, with the addition of the tie for formality. The role is very similar as well. He's not making many decisions about the team's mental states, and even questions Cobel's rationale on two or three instances. However, Cobel is essentially the doctor and he must listen to her.

Never thought of multiple Milchick/clones before... that would answer who he was on the phone with during the OTC. 😮

milchick said “carl weathers? billy dee williams? nah, never heard of em…”

He has that same vibe as Capt Simcoe from Turn. Seems unassuming and also will break your wrist at a flip of a switch

Pretty out there, but if there are multiple milchicks and they are like hive-mind clones, maybe when Dylan bit him and he broke the skin, that clone knows he is going to be destroyed and replaced. Probably just cheaper for lumen to give him medical help if he is ever injured, but maybe they are just that easily replaceable with other milchicks.

Milchick is my favorite character.

Dylan is disturbed by Milchik appears in his closet, but outie Dylan is not disturbed by milkshake in his closet. I think he is a family or friend.

the captions call him Milkshake and i just find that hilarious lol

This man doesn’t need a chip in his brain. He switches personalities in the blink of an eye. This man is more dangerous than Cobel will ever be at this point. I’m not scared of Cobel. I’m scared of him. This man is a chameleon. Do not give him a weapon.

I needed more Severance. Thank you. Lol.

Honestly, they shouldn't have emasculated Milchik so many times if they wanted to keep him terrifying: - He gets often scolded by Cobel making him feel like perpetual underling. - He got phpysically overpowered by Dylan during dance scene and the panicked responce doesn't help. - He never really exercizes his physical superiority against ANYONE, even though he has card-blanche over severed workers. - He is constantly disrespected by said workers that break rules and ignore his warnings literally every episode. As result he never makes you feel scared or intimidated, more like a nuisance rather than actual danger. Personally i never even felt negative emotions for him - more often it was pity for how much he has to bust his ass to keep control and how little of it he actually gets.

Great analysis as usual!

'we don't talk about smooth jazz on this show'

The guy who plays Milchik is super good. Amazing and original character

Milchick is more like Thanos in personality because you can understand him and you respect him.

i think Dylan and Milchek are married outside Lumen. Something about the way MIlcheck told Dylan's son "told you to wait outside" and the way MIlcheck looked extra hurt by Dylan's attack, just go the feeling theres more to them then just a work relationship.

“f*** you Mr. Milchick.” HAHAHAHA

I absolutely love the actor who plays Milchick as much as I despise the character of Milchick for being evil. Tramell Tillman is a badass. Coltrane is Defiant Jazz, Candy Dulfer is...not.

love that "punk" music is supposedly "playful", and it's _jazz_ that's defiant.

The thing is after that Dylan scene. He was over at Burts retirement just working so it didn't seem to affect him. Plus this is the guy who actually does the torturing in the break room we have never seen him loose it yet. Is it or is he always about.. In the breakroom, there for when hellys innie is going outside, there getting the ends of the staff talking

Great take. For throwing Doakes in there I instantly subscribed.✌️🇺🇸

Aye you got some real talent. make more vids, even shorter ones, 50+ vids will increase your algorithm relevance in searches