Splinters
The Season 1 Finale of Servant begins with Sean narrating his own culinary technique as he fries up the placenta and discusses the religious and spiritual implications of this tradition. It’s the day of Jericho’s baptism and back home, a frazzled Leanne serves drinks at the door while Toby and the others head home. Natalie and Julian arrive together and as everyone gathers in the living room, they watch the baptism take place. In the distance however, Uncle George and Aunt May happen to be watching. While Toby hands round the placenta treats he’s cooked up, Leanne heads upstairs to find Aunt May sat with the baby. George meanwhile, heads down to the wine cellar to speak to Sean. He tries to pay him off with money but he rejects the offer, leaving Sean to ask again what he wants. It’s here we learn George and May raised Leanne as their own and took her from the fire. Leanne likes to please people she loves and unfortunately hurt those she doesn’t. This ominous note brings us back to Leanne who’s berated by Aunt May for her insolence. It turns out Leanne is directly linked to the splinters and is responsible for his torture and he admits to wanting Jericho back. Dorothy’s Father then makes a speech about how tough parenthood is but after the toast, police arrive and inform them that there’s a missing child case open and Dorothy’s name was given in relation to this. With everyone expecting it to be about Jericho, it happens to be Olivia; the small child who ran off earlier in the episode. Despite crushing glass across his hand in fear, Julian rubs the blood off but realizes, to his horror, he can’t feel anything. On the news though, a storm fast approaches as Sean tells Julian he believes Leanne brought Jericho back from the dead. Outside, Aunt May and Uncle George arrive infront of the private investigator’s car in the middle of the night, snatching him up and taking him away. Determined to find out just who they let into their house, Dorothy sifts through old video footage of her reporting before learning that Aunt May is infact the cult leader of the Church Of The Lesser Saints. Leanne leaves the house with her suitcase packed as crowds gather outside to greet her and walk away with her. Sean still can’t feel anything and as he puts his hand over a flame, he looks on wide-eyed and afraid. As the crowds outside hug tightly, they seemingly disappear while Dorothy sees that Jericho has been replaced by the doll again. Only this time, she’s aware of it not being real where we leave things wide open. Although there are some answers here, the door is left wide open for the second season. There’s a deliciously dark vibe to this one that’s done well to maintain right the way through the finale. Some of the episodes have been a little slow and at times meandered on but when Servant hits its stride, it does really well. While not particularly outright scary or horrific, some of the camera work has helped to heighten the tension. What direction will season 2 go from here? What is the deal with May and George? What is happening with Jericho and will season 2 give us some much needed answers? There’s plenty of questions hanging over this one and although we do get a few answers here surrounding Leanne’s past, there’s still plenty left unresolved as we bow out this first season.
