Commitment
Episode 9 of Servant Season 3 starts right where we left off, with Dorothy shook up over Isabelle’s death. She’s also spooked over Leanne’s reaction, given she seemed pleased over what’s happened. “I only wanted to help,” Leanne shrugs, as Dorothy asks how. To this, she’s silent. In the morning, Dorothy is standoffish with Sean and keeps blaming him for what’s happened with Leanne. He tries to make her breakfast and offers to take Jericho but Dorothy flat-out refuses, not letting Sean care for his own child. When Dorothy makes herself some cereal, maggots happen to be crawling around in the flakes and she hurriedly spits it out in the sink. When Leanne leaves, Dorothy heads back into Leanne’s room again and starts sifting through her things. She finds the journal with a picture of Leanne on her knees, red lashings on her back. That obviously ties back to what happened in the past and Dorothy decides to broach the subject to Leanne, trying to understand what she believes. In private, Dorothy communicates with her dad and tries to arrange for Leanne to be taken away and thrown into an institution. After sending pictures of Leanne’s back, Dr Mackenzie arrives to assess Leanne. To begin with, he wants to talk to them separately, something Leanne is a little hesitant about. While Leanne is in her interview, Julian shows up to see her but finds Dorothy snooping around in the girl’s room. Julian isn’t exactly pleased with Dorothy’s plan and believes this is one big mistake. When it’s Dorothy’s turn to speak to Dr Mackenzie, he listens as Dorothy talks about how Julian and Sean have both been manipulated by Leanne. He listens quietly, eventually seeing him out to the front door. Dorothy’s father shows up to stop that from happening. The thing is, it’s not Leanne who the doctor is there for – it’s Dorothy. Given her erratic reaction and behavior in the meeting, Mackenzie has decided that Jericho is not safe and because of that, Dorothy is going to be taken away. Leanne shows up to diffuse the situation, pointing out calmly that she’s what’s keeping the family together. Julian decides to help out watching Dorothy too, as the doctor prescribes some meds and agrees reluctantly to let her stay at the house for now.
The Episode Review
With absolutely no horror to speak of, Servant continues to eke its way through a barebones script that could have very easily been told across 6 episodes or less. The whole tale here is essentially centering on Leanne’s presumed manipulation and how Dorothy is growing ever-more paranoid that Leanne is worming her way into the house and causing everyone to turn on her. While that may be true, there have been so many episodes this season that have just gone absolutely nowhere. While there is a bit of development toward the end, beyond that there’s nothing much to really sink your teeth into this year. We’re onto the finale next though and if there’s one thing Servant does well, it’s deliver a gripping finale so let’s hope this one salvages what’s otherwise been a rather disappointing and mediocre season.
