Warning! This article contains spoilers for Severance season 2's episode 5.

With a new development in season 2's episode 5, Severance season 2 characters, settings, and narrative elements are intriguing in their unique ways, one of the most captivating story beats in the installment revolves around Ms. Huang.

Introduced in Severance season 2's episode 5 might have proven there is more to her than meets the eye.

Severance Season 2 Episode 5 Confirms Miss Huang Isn't Severed

Ms. Huang's Insensitivity Towards The Severed Workers Is Suspicious

In Severance season 2's episode 5, Ms. Huang seems to step out of line when Milchick sets out to arrange a funeral for Irving. Although she is not authorized to command Milchick, she says he "should not let them have a funeral" because it "makes them feel like people." If Ms. Huang was a severed worker at Lumon, she would have at least had a semblance of empathy towards other innies. As an innie, she would have understood that the MDR workers are no less human than herself and would not have reduced them to their work.

It seems more likely that she is a child who was indoctrinated by the Kier philosophy and cult-like society from a very young age.

The fact that she dehumanizes them by implying that Milchick should not try to make them "feel like people" suggests she does not know what it is like to be an innie. It seems more likely that she is a child who was indoctrinated by the Kier philosophy and cult-like society from a very young age. She is so consumed by her programming that she is only preaching what she has been taught by the overarching system. Milchick questions Lumon because he was an adult when he ed the company and can think for himself.

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Ms. Huang, in contrast, was seemingly brainwashed from an early age to ensure she loyally followed the company's values. In his performance review in Severance season 2's episode 5, Milchick is criticized for being too nice to the innies and treating them like humans. He is advised to tighten the leash and be more assertive with his methods. The fact that Ms. Huang asked him to do the same even before his performance review shows how far the company's influence has seeped into her mindset.

Severance Still Needs To Explain Why Miss Huang Is Working Instead Of In School

Ms. Huang Might Be Similar To Ms. Casey

Miss Huang and Ms Casey in Severance
Custom Image by Yeider Chacon

Given how Ms. Huang is too young to be working in an office setting and should be going to school instead, it is hard not to wonder if there is more to her than meets the eye. A closer look at her characterization in Severance season 2 suggests she is a lot like Ms. Casey. Unlike the MDR innies, she is compliant, robotic, and takes her job a little too seriously. Severance has not yet revealed what happened to Ms. Casey and how she, as Mark's dead wife, ended up working in Lumon.

Severance Key Facts Breakdown

Created By

Dan Erickson

Rotten Tomatoes Critics' Score

97%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score

83%

Streaming On

Apple TV+

However, the show has hinted that Lumon somehow found a way to steal Gemma's dead body from a morgue and revive her to make her a permanent innie. This makes it hard not to wonder if Huang, too, died in the outside world and was later revived to be turned into a permanent Lumon worker. Like Ms. Casey, she must have been "wired" to remain loyal to the company, which might explain why she thinks more like the people who run the company instead of empathizing with the innies.

Severance
Release Date
February 18, 2022

Severance is a psychological thriller series featuring Adam Scott as Mark Scout, an employee at Lumon Industries who undergoes a "severance" procedure to separate his work and personal memories. However, as work and life personas mysteriously begin to collide, it quickly becomes clear that not all is as it seems. Created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle.

Cast
Patricia Arquette, Sarah Bock, Marc Geller, Michael Cumpsty
Showrunner
Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman
Directors
Ben Stiller
Writers
Dan Erickson
Main Genre
Drama
Seasons
2
Story By
dan erickson
Streaming Service(s)
AppleTV+