Why Severance Actor Tramell Tillman Was Hesitant To Do Season 2's Big Milchick Scene

"Severance" season 2 was a wild season of television. It was also a season with some huge highs and big lows. It felt a lot like "Lost" in how well it mixed mythology with human drama, like we saw in the immaculate episode 7 that turned a simple lore question into an emotional exploration of grief and love. And yet, this season also showed the pitfalls of trying to do a show like "Lost" without the benefit of having 22 episodes in a season — like episode 8 failing to provide a meaningful side story without making it feel like filler. Still, the highs far outweighed the lows, with moments like Irving B. (John Turturro) having a big breakdown at Woe's Hollow providing one of the best scenes in the show so far.

Of course, by far the single greatest moment in all of "Severance" came in the finale, when Tramell Tillman's Mr. Milchick brings in without a doubt the strangest department at Lumon, Choreography and Merriment, to celebrate Mark S. (Adam Scott) reaching 100% on the Cold Harbor file. It is undoubtedly one of the best scenes in television in 2025, a moment that took everything that was already bizarre and great about the famed Music Dance Experience of the first season, and the moment that cements Mr. Milchick as the MVP of "Severance."

It might surprise you to learn, then, that Tramell Tillman was not immediately enthusiastic about the Choreography and Merriment moment. As he told Entertainment Weekly, "I was reticent about doing the whole choreography at all, because we did the Music Dance Experience in season 1," Tillman said. "So I didn't want to try to recreate this thing. But then Ben told me there's a marching band, and I can't say no to that. I'm like, 'Let's do it!'"

For Tillman, the opportunity to perform with the Choreography and Merriment department was also a personal opportunity. The actor attended two historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in his younger days, but despite HBCUs being renowned for their marching bands, Tillman never got to partake in that tradition. "I was always fascinated by the bands, and I never had the opportunity to play in the band," he said. "I definitely didn't have the opportunity to direct one. So this was my opportunity, and I enjoyed every minute of it."

The big musical scene of "Severance" season 2 is not just hilarious and bizarre — how long was that department training and practicing in the off chance they would be needed for this? — but it is also technically impressive. The juxtaposition of the oppressively neat and symmetrical '60s-inspired Lumon office with a huge crowd of noisy performers doing an elaborate choreography — including doing a giant Mark S. banner that is completely impossible to see from the ground — is exhilarating. It's a sequence inspired by an underrated 2002 coming-of-age teen flick, one with fantastic camera work that knows when to go from confusion and desperation in Mark S. and Helly R. (Britt Lower) as they plan their escape, but also captures the sheer fun of Mr. Milchick in leading this choreography.