“There was that retro-future sense, but Ben was always very adamant that we ground that in a logic and in a psychology where Lumon is trying to disorient the workers in time and space,” he said, referring to Ben Stiller, who directed six out of the first season’s nine episodes. “They have no idea where they could be, they’re not sure exactly what year it is. There’s a slight weird sense of timelessness, or a combination of different times, and, to me, that was conveying that we’re not in Lumon, but we’re still in Lumon.”