Lumon Takes Grand Central
What appeared to be an elaborate art installation quickly turned into one of the coolest performances in recent memory
Around lunchtime on Tuesday, I heard that Apple had started to set up an elaborate Lumon office space inside Grand Central Terminal to promote the return of Severance. Thankfully, I don’t work too far from one of the largest train stations in the country, so I wandered over to see what they’d built. Upon arrival, I was immediately in awe of the Lumon computers and keyboards that us nerds have been drooling over ever since they first graced our screens a few years ago. As far as anyone could tell, these were faithful recreations of the desks from the show.
I was fortunate enough to get up close and personal with the cube while it was uninhabited. I took tons of shots of the computers and small pieces on the desks. These are the kinds of details that I toil over. After all, I’ve been following the ‘details’ company my entire life now. Things got really interesting when a few actors walked into the cube built around the desks to do some “work.” Now all of this would’ve been enough. To me, it was an extremely cool alternative to a traditional billboard or other kind of advertisement. I took plenty of pictures, picked up a bite, and walked back to my office.
A few hours later, just as I was getting ready to head home I learned that not only was the show’s director Ben Stiller on the scene but that all of the actors from earlier had been replaced by the actual cast of the show. Now things were getting interesting. It hadn’t even crossed my mind that Apple might do this earlier in the day, though it should have.
When I arrived back at the station, the crowd was quite large and only continued to grow. Earlier when I visited there was almost nobody there outside of people who were clearly working for Apple and a few pedestrians briefly stopping to take a peek. This time though, there were influencers, celebrities, and a ton of fans. All of them, quietly watching Adam Scott as Mark S., Britt Lower as Helly R., Zach Cherry as Dylan G., and Tramell Tillman as Mr. Milchick.
Once I worked my way through a few layers of people, I came face to face with none other than Ben Stiller. If you don’t know, Ben Stiller serves as the director of Severance and is credited with a great deal of the show’s success. Of course, he’s not alone. But c’mon, it’s Ben-freakin-Stiller. It was incredibly cool to chat with him, having grown up watching his films and having become a massive fan of his father in later years. Jerry Stiller’s Arthur Spooner holds a very special place in my heart.
After congratulating Ben on the new season and snapping a selfie, I walked around the cube to see the actors working from all different angles. They didn’t drop out of character once. After a bit, Patricia Arquette almost magically appeared out of the crowd and entered the cube. Ms. Cobel had arrived to survey the work that the macrodata refiners were doing.
Patricia Arquette is one of the best parts of Severance, so seeing her as Cobel in the flesh was a particularly special experience. Though nothing compares to seeing Adam Scott as Mark S. up close. He embodies that character so well, it’s truly wild to see. I had hoped that I would get to snap a selfie with Adam, but the cast remained in character the entire time, even when they exited the cube. As a diehard Parks and Rec fan, it was a bucket list moment to get within feet of the former mayor of Partridge, Ben Wyatt: Human Disaster.
This was an experience I’ll never forget. Why? Not just because it was an epic Apple marketing stunt that immediately belongs in the pantheon of historic Apple marketing moments, but because it was a wholesome shared experience with the other folks there. Watching streaming services tends to be an activity many of us do on our own, and when it comes to television in particular, there isn’t quite a movie theater setting to enjoy them in. So collectively seeing the Lumon staff work in person, together, in one of the busiest commuter hubs was not only different but remarkable. It was a uniquely New York moment, and it reminded me of how lucky I am to live here.
Ultimately, there’s a lesson here: It’s about people. I fanboyed over the pop-up, the set pieces, the computers, the desks, the carpet, all of the nerdy stuff. But what I didn’t expect was the impact the humans would have on me; they blew me away that night. Lots of folks like to say that “Apple is the new HBO.” They’re right, and this event is proof. It’s also a reminder that Apple succeeds when they focus on people. Because what really makes technology meaningful is how humans use it to, as Steve Jobs once said, ‘express their appreciation to the rest of humanity’— whether they’re actors, builders, or a nerd like me.