Severances Tramell Tillman was reluctant to dance again, but Milchicks season-two arc helped change his mind.
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Spoilers follow forSeveranceseason-two finaleCold Harbor.
Hes in game mode, and I dont think that we see him relax out of that.
This is epic, and of course Milchick is holding it down.
Now he has to corral all the rest of the Innies, send an ambulance for Helena.
Hes doing damage control.
It carries over and we dont really see it fully release.
Its all pent up.
Thats probably the culture at Lumon.
All of these characters Cobel, Drummond, Natalie, Graner theyre all very stoic.
Everything is hidden, everything is pushed down.
He doesnt have that ability to, you know?
All kudos to costume designer Sarah Edwards for bringing that outfit together.
Im so grateful that Ben, myself, and Sarah were able to collaborate on that look.
Were walking the path of Kier, so we would dress as a nod to that era.
But Milchick has his own flavor, which is why its all white.
He had to stand out.
There are hints this season that Seth might turn against Lumon.
He has friction with Drummond.
As you were working on the season, did Seths arc change at all?
I was more interested in staying in the present to make it figure out where hes headed.
He was basically Cobels right hand.
There are more cracks in the veneer.
By the end, its uncertain what hes going to do, and thats really compelling storytelling.
Because we dont know.
We do know he is an enthusiastic company man, and hes devoted to Lumon and Lumons ideals.
Do you have personal feelings about that possibility?Im hoping for his vindication.
Im hoping for us to see the heart of who he is.
In doing research, I watched a lot of documentaries on cults.
That is so compelling.
Its heartbreaking, too.
We start to see that in episode nine, when he tells Drummond to eat shit.
Seth is growing disenfranchised with Lumon this season, but he doesnt break away yet.
We serve Kier, and no matter what Kier is asking of us, we carry it out.
Because hes in a position of leadership, he sees more.
He has a little bit more freedom.
And once you start seeing behind the veil, you cant help but to question those things you see.
Hes in a place where these happenings i.e.
the paintings are taking place, and he starts to have more questions.
Because anyone who has committed themselves in a relationship with someone or something, you dont just walk away.
You have discussed talking with Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller about Milchicks Blackness.
It was less teaching and more collaborating.
In season one, I had asked about race in this world.
Is this something we are playing with?
Because Milchick is the only forward-facing dark-skinned man we see in this show.
Is race a construct in the town of Kier?
As we continued to talk, I mentioned code-switching: Is this a behavior Milchick would embody?
They said, We can absolutely explore that.
We can find that in the world.
When it came to the paintings, though, that was Dans idea.
Dan approached me about the paintings, and immediately I asked him, How does Milchick respond to this?
Because if he receives the painting with glee, he does not understand the weight of these paintings.
He is not quite aware of his Blackness in this world.
But if there is a question of them, that is a different journey were taking with this character.
Thats where the extensive conversations came in on how we are infusing race into the world of this show.
How did you want Milchicks very inscrutable look to read?You said it: Its inscrutable.
Its brilliant that it could go either way and we dont know.
Is that fair?Yes.
Milchick is really central to the back half of Cold Harbor.
You start out sharing a stage with the Kier animatronic asthe Alan Parsons Project song Siriusplays.
Theres smoke and neon lights everywhere.
How was that filmed and put together?This is in celebration of Marks achievement.
Milchick does nothing small, so he goes over the top.
There is this introductory, grand moment that we have to create more excitement.
The Kier statue is operated by Ben Stiller.
The voice of Kier is done by Marc Geller; its Marcs face as Kier.
He was behind the set speaking into the mic, and Ben was watching the monitors, operating Kier.
He just told Drummond to eat shit and now he doesnt know where he stands.
He doesnt know how he identifies or connects with Lumon.
That tense moment is very real to him.
Was he going to be a band director or was he going to be a drum major?
We had wonderful choreographers.
Many of the band members had not seen the show.
But then I watched the show.
I dont like you anymore, you a bad dude.
But there was something about the idea of playing a drum major that really excited me.
I wanted to honor that style of movement and really pay homage to these HBCU bands.
It really felt like Seth asserting his Blackness in a Lumon space.Absolutely.
We have to remember that Milchick put this together.
He chose the band.
He got the refiners together.
He got the outfits together.
He probably helped orchestrate the formations, the selections.
I dont know how this man did all of this.
I dont know what schedule this man is on.
He is masterful at getting the job done.
What do we need to do to get you in theJennifer Hudson Spirit Tunnel?You tell me!
This is the moment where things finally overflow for Milchick.
The vending machine is 100 percent real, and I 100 percent knocked it down by myself.
Not having the space to process, the space to breathe it all came bubbling up.
Originally, there were only three kicks at the vending machine.
And I said to Ben, Can I just like, wail on it?
And he was like, Yeah, do whatever you want.
Ben yelled Cut, and people were applauding in the back.
Id never received applause for defacing property.
The vending machine falling over wasnt planned.
Originally, I was supposed to fall with it.
Think ofBad BoysorLethal Weapon youre coming out the window and you go down thats the image they wanted.
But they told me to go for it, and I went for it.
Next thing I know, this thing is toppling down and they didnt yell cut.
It was like, This is badass.
The season ends for Seth when hes facing down Dylan and the band.
But hes at a point where hes listening.
She says, Right, Milchick?
We see his eye, that hes watching it.
So we dont know, and I think thats a really powerful place to end on.
