Servant Season 3 Episode 7 Camp Review- Things Come Full Circle As Patterns Repeat Themselves

The voyueristic feel of the last six episodes has given way to full pandemonium as Leanne flexs her signifigant spiritual muscles in Servant Season 3 Episode 7.

Over three seasons, we have come to expect certain things from Apple TV’s Servant. Each episode would be slow-burning and smart-talking(primarily thanks to Julian). Inexplicably strange things would happen that shouldn’t be ignored, but are, and gorgeous costuming and set design is captured with a meticulous lens. It’s been the few constants on a show that forever zigs just when we think we know the zags. Servant Season 3 Episode 7 rewrote the book on everything we thought we knew about the Turners, the mysterious reanimating doll, and the enigmatic young woman at the center of it all.

In a brilliant cold open featuring Sean’s first promo for his cooking show Gourmet Gauntlet, we learn he was homeless at seventeen and is being styled as a hybrid between Chef Gordon Ramsey and Chef Bobby Flay. To be honest, the trailer is so good; I wish the show existed. I would low-key watch the crap out of Chef Sean. Sean is uncomfortable with the praise he receives from everyone, and the dynamic shift between Dorothy and Leanne is highlighted. The younger woman has essentially taken over the Turner household. Leanne questions everything from Dorothy’s love for Sean to her care of Jericho. The two women are locked in a power struggle that doesn’t end well for the clueless socialite.

As Leanne’s employer, Dorothy thinks she has the upper hand. Still, her memory loss and complete block about what happened to Jericho 1.0 prevents her from seeing she is treading into treacherous waters. From her perspective, Leanne is only dangerous because the cult is after her. She tells JuJu to discontinue their sexual relationship not because she is worried about Julian and his sobriety or Leanne and her innocence but because she has every intention of getting rid of Leanne sooner rather than later and wants to avoid any messy emotional outbursts. But, little does she know, Leanne is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and the damage is already done.

Nell Tiger Free(Leanne) has done a remarkable job slowly teasing out the nuances of Leanne’s personality. She started shy, vulnerable, and naive and has blossomed into a manipulative force to be reckoned with. Dorothy does not have control over her household anymore, and as much as she would love to dictate what happens, she lost her power a year ago when her mind shut down. Julian and Sean have been covering up what happened and catering to her psychosis, and Leanne has been slowly using Dorothy’s self-absorption against her.

Dorothy doesn’t want Leanne taking Jericho to the park anymore and wants her to go to the doctor to get birth control, but both requests are ignored. Not only are they ignored, but Leanne makes a chilling threat that flies right over Dorothy’s head. Leanne accuses Dorothy of going through her things and says it would be very upsetting because she wasn’t allowed to have personal items with the Church of Lesser Saints. She concludes the conversation with a cold thanks for the chat, which any mom of a teenager can tell you is one of the most common and irritating comments heard. When our kids do it, it is out of frustration with being forced to share with their parents or listen to our wisdom. It’s a power move that is essentially harmless and ineffective. When Leanne does it, Dorothy should be terrified.

Dorothy can’t help herself and goes through Leanne’s things where she finds her drawing journal filled with all the embarrassing and strange events that have taken place in the last couple of months. Everything from the bees to the milk spill is there. She sees the drawings as signs of disrespect, while we see them as possible answers. Did Leanne make these things happen by drawing them, or does she draw them as they are happening? She certainly appears at least clairvoyant and possibly telekinetic.

While the two women are locked in a power struggle, Julian and Sean continue to gaslight Dorothy making everything worse. Dorothy hates the homeless kids because they are everything her white waspiness can’t handle, while Sean is sympathetic. However, Dorothy’s fear turns to icy rage when she sees Leanne in the park surrounded by the homeless encampment, which has continued to grow. Not only did Leanne disobey her, but everyone was passing Jericho around like an adorable puppy.

This new group acts and feels like a devoted cult. The cult of Leanne is gaining numbers at an alarming rate, and poor Roscoe is lurking nearby. They believe she is special because she has the “courage to rebel.” The new group seems to be made up mostly of old Church of Lesser Saints members, but Roscoe is flirting with devotion on the edges, and he was never a member, just a victim. If the group thinks she is special for rebelling against the church, why are others like Roscoe so enamored with her? After Dorothy storms into the park to retrieve Jericho, she admonishes Leanne. Then, in yet another power move that speaks volumes about who Leanne is becoming, she turns Dorothy’s words around on her and tells her Dorothy is locked in a dangerous pattern of controlling others.

Because Dorothy is white and wealthy, and very privileged, she thinks she can handle every situation with money and Machiavellian machinations. She gets help from Veera, who isn’t dead and has her own reasons for getting rid of Leanne. The two women sign Leanne up for a two-month live-in dance camp far from Philadelphia. Dorothy wants to assert her authority but also be magnanimous about it. She flaunts her wealth and status by reminding Leanne of the shy girl she once was. Even though Dorothy doesn’t recognize it, Leanne is no longer intimidated by her. She refuses her dress and even hints that she wouldn’t wear anything of hers anymore anyway. It’s passive aggression at its best, and for Dorothy, who is well versed in the skill, it is befuddling comeuppance.

Sean and Julian, who have been forced to endure the last year with only each other to lean on, are apprehensive and angry over Dorothy’s decision. They are both worried about what Leanne may do to Jericho and terrified of leaving Dorothy alone with an infant. She accuses Sean of gaslighting her, and he is, but not in the way she thinks. Until Dorothy remembers what really happened, she will never understand what Julian and Sean have had to do.

In a brilliant final act of Servant Season 3 Episode 7, all the major players appear. It is jarring because, more often than not, Servant is very intimate, with only two or three characters on the screen simultaneously. As a result, the last few minutes felt overstuffed and tense in a way even the finale of last season did not. Emotions are high, with Julian and Sean trying to dissuade Dorothy and Leanne calmly looking on. Finally, Tobey arrives to take Leanne to the train station, and all hell literally breaks loose. As Leanne leaves the house and Veera turns her back on Jericho, the reborn doll appears.

More than any other, this scene felt authentically horrific. Everything has been building to this. The only surprising thing is the amount of information crammed into Servant Season 3 Episode 7. Leanne seems to be fully aware of what is happening to the house and to the family that lives there. She is in firm control, and there is no speculation that she holds all the cards now. As everyone runs through the house searching for Jericho, who will not be found, Leanne patiently waits. She waits for Sean to begin praying, praying to her. When he picks up her purple ribbon and prays for his son’s return, it marks the first time he has accepted that Leanne has actual abilities. The minute Leanne walks back in, Jericho reappears in his crib.

The tables have turned now, and without Dorothy realizing it, she ceded her life and her family to Leanne. Sean’s belief in Leanne is enough to turn the tide, and no amount of arguing will change his mind. The house, Jericho, and the Turners now answer to Leanne from the looks of things. Jericho lives only when he is with Leanne. She’s either a master illusionist or a demon. No innocent angel would torture people this way. Let’s hope Sean and Julian put their faith in the right place. Just because you are a servant of a higher power doesn’t mean that that higher being is God. Find all our Servant coverage here.

Stray Musings and Crazy Theories

• Barefoot Contessa is a national treasure, and no one can tell me different. Her Lobster Corn Chowder recipe is one of the tastiest things I have ever eaten.
• We now know what the purple ribbon from the Season 3 promo was. Leanne had woven it in her hair and left the ribbon behind when she walked out of the house to go to the train station. Sean clearly sees it as a religious icon to worship.
• Did Leanne see the dead body in the crawl space behind Leanne’s room?
• Rain plays a vital role in the more significant events in Servant. It’s worth noting that in Season 1 Episode 6, titled Rain, Uncle George showed up for the first time. In that episode, Dorothy refuses to let Leanne go back to the cult, and Sean tells her if Leanne wants to leave, he has to let her. It was also raining the day Julian found Jericho’s dead body. When it rains outside, bad things happen. Water is dangerous in the world of Servant.
• We know the cult likes to cull their members from the homeless and vulnerable in society. Is it possible Sean was once a cult member and doesn’t remember it? The cult removed most of Roscoe’s memories of his time with them. They could have done something similar with Sean. It might explain how Leanne came to be with the Turners, to begin with. We have all along thought she was obsessed with Dorothy after seeing her at the pageant when Leanne was young. What if Leanne knew Sean as well? There is no way she chose the Turners randomly.
• Cocoons are symbolic of change. The piles of moth cocoons found in Leanne’s room should send Dorothy running to the exterminator once she calms down. Everyone should be worried that Leanne is emerging from her cocoon as a Death Head Moth, though, and not a Monarch Butterfly.
• Lastly, the house is ripping in two, and Leanne seems to now have telekinetic abilities. What if we have been looking at the house wrong from the beginning? Uncle George called it Godless, but what if it is a holy place, and Leanne’s presence there is slowly destroying it? We have very little backstory on the house or Dorothy and Julian’s parents so it is also possible the house has corrupted her?
• Pride cometh before the fall and beware of false prophets are two axioms which come to mind as I watch Servant Season 3 Episode 7. The Turners have been prideful people and Leanne appears to be turning into one. Additionally, just because Leanne seems to have powers doesn’t mean those powers stem from a holy place. I still think she is a prideful fallen angel. Perhaps Lilith and this is the Garden of Eden?
• Are the Turners doomed to repeat the tragedy over and over again?