When Severance introduced Burt G. (Christopher Walken) in Season 1, his tender romance with Irving B. (John Turturro) demonstrated how Lumon Industries actively prevents its severed workers from forming meaningful human connections. After all, Lumon’s goal is to have subservient slaves that are nothing more than cogs in a machine, and tools shouldn’t waste time getting friendly with each other. Once Lumon forcefully “retired” Innie Burt to discourage Macrodata Refinement’s growing rebellious streak, the once-loyal Irving finally embraced the MDR revolution, determined to expose the company’s sinister practices. However, that wasn’t the end of Burt’s story, as Season 2 shows his outie mysteriously stalking Outie Irving, raising suspicions that were finally confirmed in Episode 6.
WARNING: Spoilers below for Severance Season 2, Episode 6
In Episode 4 of Severance Season 2, Irv sacrifices himself during the ORTBO to unmask Helena Eagan (Britt Lower), who has been posing as Helly R. to infiltrate the MDR team. In Episode 5, Outie Irving must come to terms with his Innie’s being fired, which throws a wrench in his unfolding investigation on Lumon. When using a pay phone to communicate with a mysterious third party, Irving discovers Outie Burt watching him from a parked car in the darkness. Initially defensive, Burt explains he’s been following Irving since an incident where Irving appeared at his door late one night, seemingly aware of their innies’ connection. Burt claims Lumon “let him go” – specifically not using the term “retired” – due to an “unsanctioned erotic entanglement” he believes involved their innies. To address this shared past and clear the air, Burt extends a dinner invitation that includes his husband, Fields (John Noble). Irving accepts the invitation, leading to Episode 6’s awkward dinner party.
Severance Exposes Decades of Deception in Burt’s Dinner Party
The Episode 6 dinner begins cordially as Fields welcomes Irving warmly into their home, creating an atmosphere of genuine hospitality. The dining room is tastefully decorated, the food looks great, and the three men joyously exchange jokes. During dinner, Burt also explains that religious beliefs motivated his decision to undergo severance. According to Burt and Fields, their church’s stance on severance suggests both innies and outies possess separate souls, making the procedure a unique opportunity for spiritual redemption. After Burt led what he describes as a “sinful life” in his younger years, severance offered a way for his innie’s soul to reach heaven with Fields, even if his outie was condemned to Hell for past transgressions.
As the evening progresses and multiple bottles of wine are opened, Fields becomes increasingly talkative and animated. During a discussion about pet names, he mentions that the couple began using their nickname “Atilla” (a pun on “hun”) twenty years ago, specifically recalling they were sharing drinks with Burt’s “Lumon partner” at the time. When Irving points out that Lumon only opened its first severed floor twelve years ago, the mood in the room shifts dramatically. Burt quickly silences his husband, tension visible on his shoulders as he changes the subject and underlines Fields is mistaken. Later, when walking Irving to the door alone, Burt apologizes profusely for his husband’s behavior, insisting that Fields was drunk and confused about the dates. His desperate need to explain away the timeline discrepancy only draws more attention to it.
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This revelation takes on greater significance because, during this dinner party, Mr. Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) breaks into Irving’s apartment. The fact that the dinner invitation coincides perfectly with Drummond’s break-in suggests Burt might still be working with Lumon, orchestrating the evening specifically to keep Irving away from home while the company assesses exactly how much their former employee knows about their operations.
Before departing into the cool night air, Irving suggests to Burt that they meet again, even proposing a private meeting without Fields present. While Burt’s eyes light up with the prospect of an affair, Irving’s ongoing investigation into Lumon suggests he’s more interested in exploring the implications of Fields’ accidental revelation about Burt’s two-decade connection to the company. The suggestion hangs in the air between them, loaded with unspoken possibilities.
Whatever Burt’s true relationship with Lumon might be, his involvement with the company clearly predates the public launch of the severance program by nearly a decade, raising disturbing questions about his role in developing the technology that would eventually trap countless workers in Lumon’s psychological prison.
Severance Season 2 streams new episodes every Thursday on Apple TV+.
Do you think Burt is aware of Lumon’s unethical experiments? How do you think this Severance plotline will unfold in the remaining episodes of Season 2? Let us know in the comments!
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