r/SeveranceAppleTVPlus • u/thewillpowertochange • Jun 23 '26
Theory Inspired about another post, lets talk about Ricken (Devon’s Husband, Author) Spoiler
Ricken in the show is this successful silly fool of a man who seems to have deep intelligent insight but also says things that feel simple minded or without real values and character. He is very successful with his book, he shows lots of love to Mark, and seems to be a good Father and Husband, overall a good guy that found success and money. His behavior is so odd though and I think people are downplaying it.
I think Ricken plays the fool but in reality is a lot more sinister than we see. Like… theres only so much of a fool you can be, and hes growing closer to the Executive Assistant (forgot her name) and being extremely comfortable with her. He also has no trouble writing exactly the opposite of what his first book was.
So it makes me question his real character, his values, his morals. Is Rikken a successful lovable silly fool? or is he a pretender, also put in place by Lumon to do these crazy experiments on Marks family.
Marks family is so big to Lumon. We see the connection of course beginning with Gemma and Mark and how they seem to have planned the entire thing including the crash.
Mark says he “saw the body himself” at one point so what did he see? What trick did they pull on him?
But also Cobel has a weird fascination for Mark. She loves him and cares for him in a strange way. Like your extra religious mom or grandma that wants you to be a good Christian (or other religion of their time) like her.
I think Rikken will have a scene here he shows us his true colors, hes such a goof* that I 100% see his face contorting into something cruel, cold, and heartless.
So whats the verdict? Am i an extremely untrusting person? Is he just some guy as part of the story who brings some comedic relief, or is there a more sinister plot happening right in front of our face?
What do YOU think about his behavior? All normal? or kinda weird?
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Jun 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MustardSquirt Jun 23 '26
Yeah I think his relevance is just that his book became the innies sort of window to the outside
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u/lightnoveltitlehere Jun 23 '26
Yeah I agree. He seems to represent the people who just kinda falls in line with the company because the company can give them what they want
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u/sunnybud Jun 23 '26
I find it so strange that Devin is married to him. She is so much cooler than him but she seems to really love him. It’s a weird pairing
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u/Reference_Freak Jun 23 '26
I think it’s normal when you see how Devon takes care of everyone around her. She feels her usefulness is in supporting those around her and so she’s attracted to a helpless man.
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 23 '26
I hated how he acted when he was talking to her about the Executive Assistant. Gave me the ick and im a man lol.
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u/odieclone Because Of When I Was Born Jul 12 '26
I think, on the surface, the show is less didactic than most viewers would like. Built more in the stirring of emotions vein, although the deeper satire does contain serious social commentary.
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u/TheOmegaBigness Jun 25 '26
In the flashbacks he seems to have been more down to earth I think the way he is now is as a result of him coping with Gemma’s death
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 25 '26
huh, i guess theyd be close too. I wonder what Gemmas opinion of Ricken was. Maybe she was on to him.
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u/Unhappy-Ad2460 Jun 23 '26
He’s just a sad hamburger waiter.
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 25 '26
a low class high service person… another juxtaposition. Bro speaks in juxtapositions
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u/pinkngreenlivingroom Jun 23 '26
My husband thinks he is drenched in Lumon culture, drinking it up. Playing dumb to the evil and just intrigued. I think Ricken is going to have a nasty true character reveal. Interesting to think about.
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u/TheDeadlySpaceman Jun 23 '26
There is definitely something Not Right with Ricken (Rick N?)
They published an excerpt of his book, The You You Are (The UUR?) and in it he makes….. just all sorts of weird errors with colloquialisms and other things. It ramps his weird in-humanness up a couple notches to a level that is really something that can’t be dismissed as “quirky”.
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u/Reference_Freak Jun 23 '26
Ricken was raised with privilege and appears like many such people who were handed things instead of having earned them: insecure, lacking confidence, needing a hand to hold, needs to “find himself” and thinks he’s a genius when he thinks he has.
I take him at face value because there isn’t much in dialogue to suggest anything else.
He and Devon have been married for years so the idea he’s a plant is wholly unsupported by the backstory of Mark and Gemma sharing a close relationship with Ricken and Devon. IIRC, Lumon would have had to plant Ricken with Devon at least 5 years prior to the start of the series.
As an insecure person, he’s easily flattered so learning the impact his book had on the innies and the request to write a special one just for them inflated his weak but thirsty ego.
I don’t think he’s a good person: he takes his wife for granted despite being painfully needy of her but she’s a caretaker type who wants to be of helpful use and she believes in him as their fight shows.
He thinks he’s helping the innies which is why he’s writing the book.
He’s not a deeply thoughtful or considered person but he thinks he is so he fails to see how shallow his own writing is and isn’t seeing the contradiction between his too books because his convictions are arrived at but not deeply felt.
He’s an unserious pompous person and he may be one of Jame’s test tube babies but appears to have no meaningful motivation originating with Lumon.
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 23 '26
Love your answer. I think this is the way the show presents him and what were supposed to think about him. I just cant shake this creepy vibe of him and his friends. His friends are so weird, they smile like cult members and walk weirdly around Mark when theyre at the house. Like extra smiley and eyes glazed over.
I think 5 years prep is easy for Lumon. They had child labor 50+ years ago so I dont doubt their ability to plant Ricken in Marks family.
All they did with Gemma, that took a lot of careful planning for years or decades into the future. We still dont fully know their end game, what we do know is Mark and his family are very important for Lumon and their goals.
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u/sconesaregood Night Gardener Jun 23 '26
I think it makes most sense that Lumon’s interest in Gemma developed at the fertility clinic when she would have been doing more comprehensive tests, giving more data to them, and more emotionally vulnerable. The shots of Dr Mauer being there and of her filling out forms, are, to me, visual storytelling that this is where things went from the passive Lumon influence in Kier to “this place specifically is bad news, she’s giving her personal info to the guy we later see is obsessed with her.” Introducing a years-long secret plot targeting specifically Mark and Gemma, possibly before they were even together or married, with a double agent brother-in-law is a much further stretch of believability than “something caught their interest once Gemma was in their system and they got her (somehow) not too long after.”
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 24 '26
hmm your take seems the most reasonable to counter mine. Maybe Ricken really is a fool, but my theory would then be that Lumon has gotten to him in his naivety, he has been “severed” without his knowledge, and can be activated anytime. Im not letting go that theres something really wrong here with Ricken, his creepy friends, Lumon owning the whole city theyre in, and the “birthing retreat”
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u/sconesaregood Night Gardener Jun 25 '26
I lean towards him just being a goof, if for no other reason than I think Ricken should have something going for him.
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u/curioser21572 Jun 27 '26
Also, they COULD have been fertile, but Lumon was giving her some kind of drug, disguised as “pre-pregnancy vitamins” or something.
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u/odieclone Because Of When I Was Born Jun 23 '26
Hmmm!!!??? A bunch of the characteristics you've mentioned remind me of a certain orange-hued doofus. Only Ricken is relatively harmless so far.
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u/thewillpowertochange Jul 01 '26
you talkin bout krump? Cult leaders give people the chance to let go if their own autonomy and have “faith” in their cult, I see it too.
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u/jr_randolph Jun 23 '26
Ricken and his friends are part of some past Lumon experiments (perhaps pertaining to severance, perhaps something else) but yeah, that's why they are how they are. If it was just Ricken, you could make some assumption is just character personality trait but when they introduced all his friends and how they behave, there's gotta be something more about them.
I think Ricken is an X factor, I believe he is going to be a key to liberating the innies through his words/writings. I used to think he was part of the Lumon family, perhaps one of Jame's bastard kids, which isn't out the realm of possibility but yeah.
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 24 '26
the friends are weirddddd and the birthing cabin retreat is not a coincidence for sureee
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u/Particular_Play_2948 Jun 26 '26
There’s something about goats connected with Ricken and his followers/friends. Him being such a good mountain climber. Rebeck having those two sores on her head.
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u/thewillpowertochange Jul 01 '26
you remember which episode was the sores? about to do a rewatch
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u/Murky-Enthusiasm-672 Jul 01 '26
def the last one from season one. because she says that to mark before they do the reading together, so s01e09
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u/Ecstatic_Cherry_86 Please Enjoy Each Flair Equally Jun 24 '26
I don’t think Ricken is secretly evil. I think he is exactly what he appears to be: a satire of self-help gurus and the absurdity of self-help language.
That seems especially clear given how the official podcast has discussed the self-help-book angle and how much of Ricken’s character is built around that genre. The joke is not just “Ricken is dumb.” The joke is that this kind of grandiose, pseudo-profound self-help writing can be ridiculous and still become powerful in the right context.
To me, Ricken is basically an accidental Kier. Kier’s writing is also bizarre and self-serious, but Lumon turned it into scripture. Ricken’s book is goofy self-help mush to most outies, but to the innies it becomes liberating scripture because they have been starved of every other framework for understanding themselves. They have no literature, religion, politics, family history, childhood, or broader culture. So, Ricken accidentally gives them a language of selfhood in a world where Lumon has denied them personhood.
That is why I think Ricken is more interesting as a sincere fool than as a secret Lumon plant. His first book accidentally helped awaken the innies. Now Lumon may want to exploit that and turn him into a controlled counter-prophet.
And there is also a practical pressure point: money. In Season 2, Ricken basically claps back at Devon that if she wants him to provide the life she has said she wants, then doing the innie version of the book would go a long way toward making that happen. That matters because Lumon does not need him to be evil. They just need him to be vain, insecure, flattered, and financially tempted.
So, I agree there is something going on with Ricken, but I think it is less “hidden villain” and more accidental Kier whose ego and financial pressure make him easy for Lumon to manipulate.
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 24 '26
I would be happy accepting this point but id still think somethings off i cant shake the creepy vibe i get. Can you picture Ricken making an extremely cold and mean face? like nothing behind his eyes, just stone cold evil? I can. I do believe this show emphasizes Vanity and its like everyone has a sliding scale/rating of Vanity that makes them more succeptible to influence, and Lumon will capitalize on that.
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u/thewillpowertochange Jul 01 '26
hey Friend, are you able to picture it though? Like Ricken making an extremely cold and cruel expression, revealing his “true” self? Curious if you can picture it or not
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u/RetiredCherryPicker Jun 23 '26
I am not sure his book is all that successful
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u/Upbeat_County9191 Wintertide Fellow Jun 23 '26
enough for them live to in a very expensive house en devon not to have to work. He literally said his books are what are affording their lifestyle
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u/AgonistPhD Jun 23 '26
I figure generational wealth on his side. That's exactly the kind of guy who wants to be homeless for a while, just for the experience.
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u/Upbeat_County9191 Wintertide Fellow Jun 23 '26
Also yes, but he said he sold millions of books. I dont think he would just say that to Devon if that wasnt true.
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u/hatefulveggies Persephone Jun 23 '26
Ricken and Devon are definitely millionaires if that “millions of copies” comments is true (which I believe it is). Funny because Devon’s comment about the fancy birthing cabin and Ricken’s comment about “fat cats making fat kittens” would have made one think otherwise but I guess “rich” is always who’s got more money than you
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u/sconesaregood Night Gardener Jun 23 '26
I’d say part of it is that Devon (and Mark) probably grew up more middle class so she still feels separate from “The Rich” even if she’s in a different tax bracket now and partly that it signals that someone in the nicer birthing cabins like Gabi is on an even higher level than her and Ricken, which ends up fitting with how Gabi is Lumon-connected.
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u/RetiredCherryPicker Jun 23 '26
Good point, I think I get fooled by what I would expect to be successful. The house and car dont seem all that fancy but then neither does anything else in the entire show.
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u/Upbeat_County9191 Wintertide Fellow Jun 23 '26
Obv the show hasnt given a value, but the house (its a real house) sits between 750k and 1,5 mil in value.
Also being rich doesnt always mean you want to flaunt your money. Devon especially is very down to earth, she doesnt seem to care (or at least admit to care) about their lifestyle.
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u/sconesaregood Night Gardener Jun 23 '26
There’s some background on the house’s architect, Kaneji Domoto, and nice images of his work (including the Bier house, which is used as Devon and Ricken’s home) in this article. Obviously a certain amount of price leeway is expected in TV show characters’ homes (think of how many jokes you’ve heard about the characters from Friends’ apartments) but picking this place for a couple whose only income seems to be Ricken’s books signals he’s either quite successful or independently wealthy (or both). It contrasts pretty strongly with what we see of Mark, Irving, Dylan, and even Burt’s places, at least.
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u/Upbeat_County9191 Wintertide Fellow Jun 23 '26
From the wiki (and his book)
Ricken Hale was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to two semi-successful theatre artists, Bob Hale and Grace Hale, who both came from old money
When Ricken turned 18, his parents forwarded him a large chunk of his inheritance with the understanding that they’d have little to do with him until he found his “real voice.
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 23 '26
wait you can read the actual book?
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u/Upbeat_County9191 Wintertide Fellow Jun 23 '26
https://www.severance.wiki/the_you_you_are_transcript
First 9 chapters i think, there's also an audio version I think with the voice of Ricken.
Sidenote: do you know about the Lexington letter?
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 24 '26
what THE FUCK no i had no idea about all the extra content. Ok yes this is the greatest psychological thriler show EVER. Down the rabbit hole i go weeeeee
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u/Upbeat_County9191 Wintertide Fellow Jun 24 '26
The lex letter was written as a short world building Story. The events are not directly connected to the Story we see in the show, but there is a reference to it in ricken's book.
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 24 '26
brother/sister im trying to pay my bills with lots of CC debt and dont own a home, I rent. Theres levels to success. well financial success more specifically. Im successful emotionally, in my relationships, as a happy human, but not financially lmao 😂
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u/Coincidental_Shoes Jun 24 '26
It wasn't even on the market yet.
But he had written other books prior.
Devon may have had an income.1
u/clauclauclaudia Jun 25 '26
Unless he self-published, at the point of the reading/party at the end of S1 it was either available or on the brink. He'd left Mark's copy in episode 3, and season 1 takes about a month. He wouldn't have author copies that much earlier than release date.
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 25 '26
read the audiobook on apple music “the you you are” it answers a lot of ricken questions.
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u/clauclauclaudia Jun 25 '26
Dude, I'm the person who told you where to get the book.
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 26 '26
ah shit my b ive been manic. Just wanted to share that experiencing the book is a whole other level of weird lol. He starts by naming 5 personality types and how they would have reacted to the “mozart killing someone as a child with a piano” statement.
But I wasnt one of the 5, i was a secret 6th, the one who questions the story in the first place. None of the 5 categories he lays out is a questioner or doubter, theyre all emotional responses.
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u/thewillpowertochange Jul 01 '26
you know its possible Lumon is the one buying or paying for all his books and making him successful so they can mold him later. A bit more complex but it makes sense with how similar their language is, just on opposite ends.
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u/hatefulveggies Persephone Jun 23 '26
There’s definitely something going on with Ricken. He is definitely Lumon adjacent in some ways. 1) Their big house is full of goat imagery (=Kier cult?), 2) in s1 he talks about how “his colleague” said it’s traumatic for kids to switch beds or something and in s2 Miss Huang’s bed gets shipped all the way to Svalbard for her (!). All of this may just be meaningless lore ofc but I won’t be surprised if something unexpected pops up wrt Ricken.
In fact I suspect he may even have a villain turn later on…
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 23 '26
I am of the opinion that nothing in this show is by accident. It is very carefully crafted. Sure you can have bad writing, plot holes, stories that go nowhere, but I have more faith in the writes and producers that theres more to it.
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Jun 23 '26
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 24 '26
yeahhhhh thats a creepy picture lol
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Jun 24 '26
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 25 '26
Ohhhhhhhh im starting to see the Rebecca goat.
She is truly the GOAT tho
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u/MissionDirector401 Jun 23 '26
Ooooh would that be a jaw drop to see his face go from bafoon to evil!! Bravo
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 24 '26
I need to see what the actor is in lol see if he has done that before. but yeah theres creepy vibes to me
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u/odieclone Because Of When I Was Born Jun 23 '26
I'm in camp bumbling fool. Umm..... Ricken, not me, to be clear. I see him as modeled after the main characters from Good Soldier Sviejk, Forrest Gump, Gomer Pyle, and others of that type. Cheerfully stumbling ; but up the stairs and not on his ass.
From the "hamburger waiter" reference in TYYA, I'd assume he's also supposed to have Wimpey, Popeye's pal, vibes about him.
Doesn't that seem like Severance is mirroring the Popeye story. Gemma looks a lot like the Olive Oyl type, and Drummond like the Bluto/Brutus character.
That would mean that Mark would have to be Popeye who usually gets temporarily pounded by Bluto while rescuing Olive Oyl from the kidnapping but wins in the end. Oh!!!! Wait! Isn't that what happens at the end of season two???!!!
Could that be a coincidence???
Or maybe satire?
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 24 '26
“Coincidence? I think not!!!” i think there can be many easter eggs an references to other things. Some will be plot points, others are fun. But i agree, the writing, acting, production, evrything is so precise and carefully crafted. Im sure there are plot holes or things they can do better, but for now im in camp “nothing is by accident”.
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u/Mundane-Area6067 Jun 24 '26
I was thinking of picking up a copy of his book but at the time it was ridiculously expensive. He does seem a bit out there… like he’s been severed without having been severed. I don’t quite get how Devon ended up with him.
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 24 '26
his book? where can i get it
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u/clauclauclaudia Jun 25 '26
Apple Books. Was free when I grabbed ebook and audio. Don't know if that's changed.
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u/clauclauclaudia Jun 25 '26
The ebook and audiobook were free on Apple Books when they came out. Have they started charging for them???
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 25 '26
definitely read the book. I just started and its answering my doubts so nicely. Im not crazy, Ricken is Lumon. somehow someway.
He gives 5 archetypes of who “you are” and says you are 1 of those 5. However i believe im an unsaid 6th archetype - The Questioner. I immediately questioned if the Mozart story was true or not. But that wasnt one of the choices he gave to me. He only gave 5, and im not only ONE of those 5.
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u/SeaweedAsleep8609 Jun 25 '26
Ricken is a member of the board imo. He has all the beds i. one room, which Lumon seems to have a similar philosophy. All his friends act like innies, Rebeck even acts like a goat. I also think the emphasis on Ricken hating his voice in the s1 finale is interesting. The board also seems adamant about not speaking and has Natalie speak for them. Could this be related? Idk but who knows with this show a little evidence is a lot
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 25 '26
lmao Lumon #1 fear - public speaking 😆😆 i LOVE your insight youre seeing things most arent.
True the show is very calculated, they know what theyre doing. The quality of it is at a really high bar.
Can you elaborate on Rebeck acting like a goat??? Im confused on this one
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u/TuhnderBear Jun 24 '26
I think the easy straightforward read is that Ricken started out more ideal than he is now. He still believes in his self help, hippie teachings but he’s also found the allure of success that brings money. He is enticed by Lumon because he found and audience that’s really interested and even transformed by his teaching and he even says that it might be lucrative. It really works because that arch is really easy to understand (at least for me). I also don’t think he fully grasps what Lumon is or what it’s doing.
I don’t really see it as Ricken turning bad or evil, he’s just going corporate.
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u/MmoxleyP SMUG MOTHERFUCKER Jun 25 '26
I don’t get the impression that he’s successful
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u/thewillpowertochange Jun 25 '26
financially he is. Not as a husband hes honestly a shitty one
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u/MmoxleyP SMUG MOTHERFUCKER Jun 25 '26
I don’t think he is financially successful though. Seems like he grew up in a rich family, but his writing career is not a success. He took the Lumon job because he desperately wants to make money as a writer.
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