Following a shocking cliffhanger ending (no pun intended), Servant returned this week with its Season 4 premiere.  For a series that was always an incredible slow burn, this episode jumps right in and goes further into horror/thriller than we’ve ever seen before!

Philadelphia in Fall
Picking up a few months after Dorothy’s bone-breaking fall, things at the Turner house seem great for Leanne.  She’s chipper and happy, most likely from not having Dorothy around and having Sean all to herself.  Not that anything is going on between them, but as usual she wastes no time in singing his praises constantly (especially with his new TV show out).

Things take a dark turn however when the homeless encampment in the park that was so loyal to her suddenly disappears, after being broken up by police.  Without her followers watching over the house, the Church of Lesser Saints makes another move against Leanne, their most bold and brazen thus far.

As Leanne attempts to hide and defend herself, the sense of dread and paranoia becomes overwhelming.  There’s a great deal of suspense from the fact that she honestly can’t trust anyone walking down the street as they might be another cult member in disguise.  Not since John Wick has there been so many bystanders around the corner that will randomly spring into action and try to kill you.

This all crescendos into a scene taken straight out of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.  Although knowing M. Night Shyamalan (who didn’t direct this episode, but remains an executive producer), this was definitely a deliberate homage.  With each passing season Leanne seems to become more confident and widespread in her “abilities” for lack of a better term.  It also reinforces the fan theory that this series is set in Shyamalan’s Unbreakable universe, and Leanne is another superpowered individual.

Honestly, the only expectation not met is the fact that Dorothy is only featured for a few seconds at the end, and this might be the only episode of the series to not feature Jericho in any way, shape, or form.  It seems strange given that Dorothy’s fall was a major twist at the end of last season, but there’ll be plenty of time to get back to her tension with Leanne (which was still apparent from the second she got home).

Payoff from Earlier Seasons
As previously mentioned, this was a series that very much rode the slow burn and placed emphasis on character moments, and a very dry, subtle sense of humor.  And while that’s still in place now, you’d usually have to wait until the season finale for this much to happen plot-wise and action-wise.

We’ve yet to see what the rest of the season has in store.  But this could mean that the earlier seasons were just a build up to everything that’s coming now, which has kind of already proven true.  The further down this rabbit hole it goes, the more outright horror the series becomes, and for fellow horror fans, that’s a very exciting development!

What did you think of the season premiere of Servant?  What do you hope to see next week?  Let us know in the comments!

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