MILKSHAKE AND HUANG ARE VICTIMS?
I don’t totally know how I feel about this one, but I think it might be viable (correct me if not), I’ve been documenting my theories in the off chance any of them turn out to be correct.
The theory is that employees like Mr. Milchick and Miss Huang were at one point in some sort of mortal dilemma which only Lumon offered a cure/resolution; a manuever on the company's part that took advantage of desperation and indebted the families who agreed on their behalf, or the persons themselves to Lumon for saving their lives.
A guess is that somehow Lumon saves/cures the "subjects" by performing the severance procedure; the persons under operation are henceforth a blank slate, that is then indoctrinated. (SEE END) Consequently, disbelievers or those who reject this narrative from Lumon are made to be the enemy and are to be punished; after all, the Eagan’s (and Kier?) “gave them life”. I don't know how this would play into Ms. Casey/Gemma.
Determined to uphold the foundation created by their “saviors", the subjects don’t (often) question their commands, because to do so would to be to question everything they have ever known.
This perhaps could be a similar case with Cobel, who is believed to have been raised in an Eagen/Lumon owned and operated orphanage (to which I have a separate theory here), taking advantage of desperation and isolation to indoctrinate vulnerable people and create that cultish sense of unwavering obedience.
Not only have these victims been afforded a second chance at life, it also seems their (or at least versions) of their mortality is directly in the hands of the board, which, as we saw in 2x4 with Irving, can be “severed” at any time. Please let me know if I'm missing anything, or if I'm totally off!
!!!EDIT: I meant they were severed at one point and never returned to their former state. What would've been the "outie" is permanently switched off, making the subjects ideal and impressionable cadidate for an unwavering Lumon employee whose only context for existence is (theoretically) material given to him by Lumon after the procedure.
- A vague and troubling inconsistency: These subjects, or otherwise what I assume is the majority of unexplicably unwavering employees, get to experience the outside world. However, we've only seen these explorations limited to the city of Kier (is it a city?). This seems like a cult tactic to me, subtly imprisoning people in a community that reaps a certain belief, thus cementing it in the minds of it's population. Similar to why communes or whatever are effective, or something like that. Even less likely to leave when the solutions are provided to you from the get-go, and in a vulnerable state. Isolation, isolation, isolation. Robbing people of their independence by robbing them of themselves and curating a world around them that serves the Eagan purpose, whatever that may be. If the rhetoric is repeated enough and actively experienced in what I assume is the controlled environment of Kier, indoctrination is more effective.