Burt and Irving’s relationship has grown increasingly complicated in hit Apple TV+ show's debut season, the first blow to their bond came when Burt’s (Walken) innie was fired – or “retired” – for an unsanctioned emotional attachment to Irving (John Turturro). The hits have kept on coming ever since, first with Irving learning that Burt’s Outie is married and episode 6 bringing all three parties together in one sinister dinner.
Irving was fired from Lumon as well in Severance season 2, meaning both characters’ Outies are dead, and their Innies cannot fully comprehend what they mean to each other. Burt first became severed in the hopes that his Innie would be judged separately at the gates of Heaven, which is an ill omen as regards his past actions. More than that, Burt’s husband Cecil Fields reveals that Burt had been working for Lumon for two decades – longer than the Severance program has actually existed. Is he a spy for the other side or, worse yet, an architect of the project?
ScreenRant interviewed Walken to get his take on the relationship between Burt and Irving in Severance, and the actor’s response was rather bittersweet. Perhaps even more interesting was that he explained why the mysteries contained within the Apple TV+ series are as surprising to him as they are to the audience.
Christopher Walken Compares Burt & Irving’s Relationship In Severance To Plato’s Symposium
“Burt And Irving Have Been Wandering Around Looking For Each Other”
Image via Apple TV+
ScreenRant’s Liam Crowley opened his interview with Walken by quoting the actor’s words from a YouTube video: "We are born alone, we die alone, and in between we spend our lives looking for something: connection. That's all we want." While Walken did not having said the words, he did find a very interesting parallel to Burt and Irving, as well as a surprising inspiration for the sentiment.
“In Greek mythology,” Walken began, referring to a story the Greek playwright Aristophanes tells in Plato’s Symposium, “There's this idea that in the beginning of the world, there were these creatures that were so powerful that they had to be torn apart. Ever since then, what men and women do because they were once one person, is walk around the world looking for the other half.”
Then they meet, and they become one person.
The actor added that he does believe in the concept of soulmates – though maybe not as literally as Aristophanes put forth in his allegory – and revealed his belief that “Burt and Irving have been wandering around looking for each other. Then they meet, and they become one person.” What hurts the most about this interpretation is, of course, that Burt and Irving were ripped apart before truly uniting. And now even their original selves are severed from the relationship they shared as a complete being.
Walken also touched on his own personal relationship with his costar, saying that “the fact that I've known John Turturro for 40 years helps make it believable that we are sort of soulmates.” Hopefully that connection gets a chance to play out onscreen in future episodes of Severance seasons 2 and 3, because many questions are left unanswered and there is still the possibility of a happy ending.
Why Christopher Walken Doesn’t Have As Many Severance Season 2 Theories As You
“I’ve Never Thought About That”
Season 2, episode 6 opened up a can of worms when it comes to Burt’s past, with many fans wondering if the sins for which he felt he must atone were related to being an unsevered Lumon worker. But other viewers question whether Burt is spying on Irving for Lumon even now – or alternately, if Fields has been the one pulling his husband’s strings. Regardless of the theory, Walken didn’t have any answers, instead teasing, “I've never thought about that. It shall remain a mystery.”
Something Is Going On With Fields, And This Severance Theory Has Convinced Me Who He Really Is
Severance season 2, episode 6, has hinted that Burt's husband Fields is part of the Eagan family, as they seem to be hiding more of Lumon's secrets.
When pressed for further comment, he explained that, “I've only seen the first season, and I must say that I've never done anything like that.” Though Severance is not his only television role (he also appears in Prime Video’s The Outlaws, for one), it is his most involved one. “Usually, you make a movie, and you see it kind of a year later,” he elaborated. “Everything I've ever done, I do it, and I say goodbye. Everybody says goodbye, and then you go see the movie a year later.”
Invariably, I think, "I didn't know that. I didn't realize that that's what this movie is about. I thought it was about me." It's about all sorts of things.
Check out our other Severance season 2 interview here:
- John Turturro, Zach Cherry & Britt Lower
- Tramell Tillman & Patricia Arquette
- Executive Producer Dan Erickson
New episodes of Severance season 2 drop Fridays on Apple TV+.
Source: Screen Rant Plus
Severance
- Release Date
- February 18, 2022
- Showrunner
- Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman
- Directors
- Ben Stiller
Cast
Mark Scout
Helly Riggs
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Dan Erickson
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