When Tramell Tillman’s smiling, happy-go-lucky (at least on the surface) Mr. Milchick makes his first formal appearance in the cryptic “Severance” pilot to escort Mark (Adam Scott) to Ms. Cobel’s (Patricia Arquette) new office, it’s hard to believe that somebody in his position could ever let doubts creep in.
But as the show continues, Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller’s workplace drama reveals additional layers to the levels of submission on the severed floor, which some of the actual Lumon employees are expected to internalize just as much with the secretive, hush-hush nature of the board. And in a cold, isolated world, Tillman infuses humor, intense energy and unspoken depth into Milchick across both seasons, turning a character that could have easily been a one-note villain into someone viewers are forced to really contend with.
As Mr. Milchick grapples for control over the four workers on the Macrodata Refinement team, eventually getting promoted to floor manager, he demonstrates the purest form of Lumon puppet. He follows protocol, hosts waffle parties for his employees and even throws some dance moves in (more on that later) when the time is right. But in the long run, what is it all for?
Season 2 gives Tillman the time and space to dig deeper into Milchick’s ideology, especially in the eerie storyline featuring Natalie (Sydney Cole Alexander), the only other high-up Black Lumon worker. After Milchick receives paintings of Lumon’s ultimate symbol, Kier, in blackface, he tries to connect with Natalie in a rare moment of vulnerability. But after Natalie simply smiles, Milchick must keep in all the despair. It’s one of the most complicated and rich scenes in the entire show, brought to life by the subtleties in Tillman’s body language.
Tillman also shows his vocal control through how Milchick pronounces and twists his words for effect, which quickly became one of his distinguishing characteristics. And following the bloody, action-packed Season 2 finale, it should come as no surprise that Tillman was tapped to appear alongside Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” as Milchick tries with all his might — and almost succeeds — at knocking down the vending machine for good.
But of course, you can’t fully appreciate Tillman without mentioning his dancing skills. The chaotic marching band sequence in Season 2’s finale is made all the more exhilarating because Tillman is clearly having the time of his life, making it no surprise that the scene has gone viral. He owns it.
The unabashed joy that Tillman brings into rare moments like these not only adds fresh energy into an icy work environment, but hints at the kind of life Milchick might’ve led before devoting himself to Lumon’s cause.
While Scott, Britt Lower, John Turturro and Zach Cherry play the kind of dual innie/outie roles that allow them to show off their range, actors like Tillman, who portray characters strictly within the Lumon storyline, must play internal dilemmas with greater intonation. It takes an actor as skilled and charismatic as Tillman to make us cheer when Milchick tells Mr. Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) to go “eat shit” and sigh with relief when the marching band manages to prevent him from running after Mark and Helly (Lower).
With Season 2’s cliffhanger leaving Season 3 wide open, there’s so much more room for Tillman to explore his character’s backstory. Now that Mr. Milchick has reached a breaking point, the sky’s the limit — but only if Milchick is able to free himself from the prison he’s helped create.
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