After weeks of the audience watching everyone act like everything was normal, we finally got an outsider’s perspective of just how weird this has all been.  Admittedly the series has been wearing out it’s slow burn appeal for the last few episodes, but this one gave us just enough to stay interested another week.  Plus there’s haggis!

Spoilers Ahead – You’ve Been Warned

Another Awkward Dinner…
Opening with Dorothy and her kinesiologist, Natalie (whom we haven’t met before), we get our first real glimpse of a friend of Dorothy’s outside the family unit.  Natalie is both aware of the tragedy that befell the original Jericho, as well as the use of the doll as a coping mechanism.  Intrigued (as well as concerned) that they’ve hired a nanny for a doll, Natalie peeks into Jericho’s crib, only to be physically accosted by Leanne, who takes the baby and runs.

Despite this sudden outburst of violence, it’s quite clear that Leanne doesn’t mean any malice with it, and that she honestly doesn’t have the emotional maturity to understand what an appropriate response is.  So the minute she feels the baby is in danger, she responds with an animalistic instinct (in fitting with the overall theme of the episode as well).  Dorothy then relieves Natalie of her service, but invites her to dinner to ease the tension.

Natalie tries desperately to get Dorothy to face reality, but is equally shocked to discover that they have an actual baby, which Sean explains belongs to Leanne (which he still isn’t even 100% certain of yet).  All of this tension comes to its inevitable burst as a stray dog gets into the house, arguably representing the unhinged id that Leanne is constantly tapping into.

Major Implication
Like most Servant episodes, “Haggis” takes the quiet, subtle approach, but there’s a huge moment that’s bigger than the series lets on.  As Sean prepares dinner, he speaks with Leanne about fear of Natalie discovering an actual baby rather than the doll.

Up until this point, both Leanne and Dorothy have been acting like nothing is wrong or different at all since the doll/baby switch took place several episodes ago.  But as Sean tells Leanne that if Natalie smells so much as one dirty diaper she’ll know, Leanne offers to help keep the secret.  Remarkably, this is the first moment that Leanne reveals that she knows how weird and unusual this all is, and understands that other people can’t know.

It’s also a bit strange to see Sean and Leanne on the same page about something, especially considering how he’s been digging into her past recently.  But, as always, the one thing that has always united them is that they both care very much for Dorothy.  Overall “Haggis” may not have been quite as weird as “Rain” (thank you Uncle George), but it did raise the tension a bit, as well as introduce a new character with an outsider perspective.

But as we said last week, the series does need to start picking up and answering questions, rather than creating new ones.  We’re only a few episodes to the end of the season, and the longer mysteries are prolonged, the better the payoff has to be to satisfy fans (just ask Lost)!

What did you think of this week’s episode?  Let us know in the comments below!  And for more reviews, rankings, and other fun horror content, follow Halloween Year-Round in Facebook and Twitter!