Yahoo Lifestyle Severance’s Tramell Tillman Breaks Down Milchick’s Reaction to Board’s Blackface Gift: ‘There’s a Lot Happening’
The following contains spoilers from the Jan. 31 episode of Severance, streaming on Apple TV+.
In the third episode of Severance Season 2, Seth Milchick was the recipient of a gift that keeps on giving… him a bad feeling.
More from TVLine
In the episode “Who Is Alive?,” Natalie (played by Sydney Cole Alexander) welcomed Milchick (Tramell Tillman) to his new/Cobel’s old office by presenting him with a gift from The Board, which was of course speaking to her through her earpiece.
“The Board austerely desires for you to feel connected to Lumon’s history” by way of “inclusively re-canonicalized paintings intended to help you see yourself in Kier, our founder,” Natalie said, before Milchick began an unboxing for the ages.
“Oh my…,” was about all Milchick could (politely) say as he laid eyes upon a series of paintings capturing “the whole Kier cycle,” as Natalie put it — but with Lumon’s founder conceptualized at assorted ages as a Black person.
Natalie, we and Milchick learned, received the same gift upon being promoted to her current position “and found it extremely loving.” Uh-huh.
Milchick uttered, “It’s meaningful to see myself reflected in….” But he couldn’t finish the hollow thought. Instead, he turned to Natalie, seeking some sort of silent agreement that this gift is wack. All she gave him, though, was an uneasy smile coupled with, “Congratulations, Seth.”
Do Severance’s New Credits Hold Clues About Season 2? We Do a Deep Dive
In the TVLine video above, Tramell Tillman takes us inside Milchick’s brain as he processes this most unusual gift.
“These paintings are meant to be enjoyed, and be enjoyed publicly” with The Board listening, the actor says. Instead, “One of the reactions [he has] is confusion, because there is a desecration of Kier. And there also is this blackface that is supposed to be a celebration or acknowledgement of Milchick’s difference. So there’s a lot that’s happening.
“We also see Milchick looking to Natalie for guidance in this moment,” Tillman continues, “and she just gives this pain-stricken smile.”
All told, “It’s so layered what he’s feeling in the moment,” Milchick’s portrayer avows. “And the next time the paintings appear, he puts it away [on a high shelf in a storage closet] — and I think that’s an indication of what we as humans do when we’re in uncomfortable situations, whether it’s racially motivated or not. We have to decide, ‘Are we going to address this right now, or are we just going to put it away for safety, and tend to it or not tend to it.”
What did you make of The Board’s gift to Seth, and his measured reaction?
Want scoop on Severance, or for any other TV show ? Shoot an email to InsideLine@tvline.com, and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!
Best of TVLine
Sign up for TVLine's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
