"Severance" Creator Dan Erickson Discusses Details, Theories, And The Mystery Of Lumon

Just like the work at Lumon, Severance is mysterious and important.

Full of mystery and intrigue, fans have been glued to their screens each week; the internet is packed full of details, questions, and theories about what might be going on down in the town of Kier. 

The second season finale didn’t disappoint: some questions were answered, but many, many more were raised.

We were lucky enough to sit down for a chat with Severance creator and showrunner, Dan Erickson, to discuss the show’s details, theories, and much more. 

If you want to get one step closer to solving the mystery of Lumon while we wait for season three, keep reading.

We see a lot more of the town of Kier in the second season; we were so immersed in the severed floor in the first season, so how did you make the outside world just as engaging as that? 

Well, we thought it was important that you get the sense that even if you're not in Lumon – like in the building – you still may be in Lumon in a way. Because I think that's the way it works sometimes, with these corporations and these company towns. There's a sense that the influence of the company expands beyond its actual walls, and that in a way, you're always being observed and always being watched. So, I think that that was an important feeling of ominousness that we wanted to have throughout.

But then the world in general, it's a slightly skewed version of our reality, and places like the door factory that aren't necessarily a part of Lumon, but we still get this sense of a slightly stylised or warped lens version of real life. 

Did you use any films or TV shows as reference points, or any real company towns in particular? 

Yeah. I mean, we did research some different company towns, and it's always a little bit of a weird vibe in a place like that – I don't want to call anybody out specifically! And then things like Twin Peaks and other shows were really instrumental in sort of helping us craft the tone.

So, you've said before that the MDR office is very similar to what you envisaged in your head, but you were surprised by some other stylistic choices. Can you speak to any specific elements that you were shocked to see work together?

I remember the break room looked really different from how I envisioned it. I think that the walls there are sort of off-kilter a little bit – I had seen it as more of a wide space. It was much more claustrophobic, which in the end of the day, worked really well to our advantage.

And the Optics and Design office where Burt works, in my head, had been a much warmer sort of space where you go in and there was going to be like wood paneling and stuff. And so, when I came in, or when I saw the concept, it was very different. And I had a moment of being like, I don't know if that's it. But you have to be open to something being different than you expect, because you're going to have all these other people come in and add to it and make it better. And at the end of the day, it was perfect.

Technology plays a huge part in building the world of Severance; what was the choice behind everyone driving retro cars? Is it just stylistic, or is there something more there?

 I don't want to say too much! I will say that I do think it looks cool, whether there's another layer behind that… There's always a sense off being a little bit out of time and space. And that starts on the Severed floor, because down there, the technology is intentionally kind of older – in part because you can't really have anything down there that would give a cell phone signal or an internet signal. But also because there is a sense of wanting to unmoor workers and have them not necessarily know what year it is outside, or where they live outside. And so we wanted to extend some of that ambiguity to the outside from the viewer's perspective. I know people do ask the question, like, well, where is the town of Kier, and also, what year is it? Because you have smartphones, but then you have these old cars. So whether it's stylistic, or whether there's a practical reason behind it, it's all very intentional. 

You’re not giving too much away, so let's talk Easter eggs! Do you have any favourite details you've been really excited about fans noticing?

But do you have any favorite details or things that you've been really excited that fans have noticed? Well, I liked the people picked up on The Twilight Zone quote, which was fun, because that's one of my favorite episodes of TV, “The After Hours”. And I thought it worked really well with the show; tonally, stylistically, and, thematically, so that was fun.

And it's not really an important moment, but there's a line in season one, where Devon speaks to Gabby at the birthing centre: she's looking around and she goes, “You rich?” And that's a reference to one of my favourite lines from Jaws, where Chief Brody asks that to Richard Dreyfuss' character. I just always thought that was a funny line – It's just a weird thing to ask someone out of nowhere! It doesn't mean anything, it’s just a reference, but I don't I've never seen anybody pick up on that specific thing. 

Severance has really brought out people’s creativity, but have you seen any wild, outlandish, very wrong theories that have amused you?

Well, there’s one that I do that I do feel okay throwing water on – although I'm not fully throwing water on it. People have said that when Rebeck (Ricken's friend) talks about having sores on the back of her head from her bird, that that means that she's actually severed, and the sore she's talking about is actually the severance scar. And I just want to say that she might be severed! I'm not saying she isn't, but whether she is or not, she does have a bird, and the bird is a jerk, and it is trying to kill her. So there are bird sores on the back of Rebeck's head, whether they are accompanied by a severed sore or not. I can't say I've seen that, too.

I've seen some people say that she’s actually a goat…

A lot of characters are speculated to be goats on this show!

Have you seen any fan theories that have actually solved the mystery of Lumon and what they're up to? 

Not in its entirety, no.

Would you say that with everything we have: the first two seasons, and all the other materials like the podcast and Ricken's book, would it be possible for somebody to be able to figure out what the end point is? 

I think so. it's not like we laid in proof of it, but we've tried to sort of lay in the build-up to it. And so thematically, you know, there are details that I think you'll look back on when it's all done and say, “oh, that's why they did that.”

So how do you work with that pacing of revealing enough information to keep people engaged while also not giving too much so that it's predictable? 

It's tricky. It's a lot of work. It's a constant process of second-guessing yourself, and writing something, and then kicking it back and forth with Ben (Stiller), where Ben will say, “okay, I think we're being a little too overt here,” or “I think we need to give them a little more here.” And then, I'll come back and I'll give my opinion. So far, it's always worked.

We saw more of the other characters' inner lives in this season, so who are you most excited to look into deeper in the next season? 

I think Natalie is a really good one. I think there's a question of what exactly she’s hearing in her ear when she talks to the board, and I think that that's really fascinating. And then what her motivations are. Does she sympathise with Milchick more than she lets on, and feel that she can't communicate that to him? Or is she truly the mouth of the board the way that she seems to be? I think that's an interesting question.

Let us know your Severance theories in the comments below!