Leanne continues to shock and terrify the Turners and even more revelations are made, all while the most awkward birthday party goes on with a petting zoo, all on the latest episode of Servant!

Since Dorothy was in the hospital/physical rehab for Jericho’s birthday, Leanne randomly decides to throw one now, with very little notice, and thus none of Dorothy’s actual friends are there.  The party consists of whoever could show up, along with an animal wrangler and his petting zoo.  At first the animals seem well trained and friendly, but as they sense a vibe from Leanne, they get more and more hostile.

Once again, the series relishes in its own brand of uncomfortable and awkward sense of humor.  You can practically feel the awkward tension from the parents, wondering why they’ve agreed to come to this party (especially with a giant sinkhole in front of the house).

All the while, Sean and Julian fight (both verbally and physically) over both of their loyalties as Sean accuses Julian of siding with Leanne over Dorothy and Julian accuses Sean of choosing his career and fame (via the cooking show) over his family.  Their explosion was a ticking time bomb that’s honestly been brewing ever since Julian first started dating Leanne.

Last episode saw Sean and Dorothy finally on the same page about Leanne, and with some of the things Julian witnesses in this episode, he will likely follow suit.  It all fits into the theory that I’m still purporting that not only is Servant secretly a supervillain origin story for Leanne, but it also exists in Shyamalan’s Unbreakable/Split/Glass universe as well, with Leanne being another superpowered person like David Dunn or Kevin Wendell Crumb.

This episode sees her not only disposing of more cult members trying to ambush her, but discovering that Bev was in fact a member of the cult (since she ruled out Bobbie a few episodes ago).  And again, this series has to know how hilarious it is as it shows Bev self-flagellating as “Funky Town” plays on a record player.

Like before, Leanne goes full supernatural and essentially turns Bev into a much more gruesome version of Violet Beauregarde from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  But what made this move particularly different from the others was that, while it was done out of desperation and her own self-preservation, she also seemed to take joy in doing it.

Leanne smiled as Bev drew her final breaths.  And all the while, it’s equally sociopathic that Sean was willing to just let Leanne die when he saw the smoke coming from the basement.  This episode drives home the point that the darkness the animals sensed in her is definitely poisoning everyone around her.

As always, this series is very much an actor’s show, in the sense that it feels almost like theater and everyone is allowed to play around and exist in these slightly surreal, larger than life emotional places.  This show in no way reflects the real world, nor is it ever trying to.

What did you think of the latest episode of Servant?  What do you think will happen next week?  Let us know in the comments!

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