Servant Season 3 Episode 8 Donut Review- Termites, Communion, And Milk

Servant Season 3 Episode 8 was a symbolically heavy episode dripping with tension and dread. Dorothy is used to being in control but Leanne is willing to do anything to protect her family.

There is a war coming. But, instead of being between good and evil or right versus wrong, it is a murky battle of wills where no one is innocent. Servant Season 3 Episode 8 establishes some ground rules for engagement. Leanne shouldn’t ever be lied to, and she isn’t afraid of a little public bloodshed. On the other hand, Dorothy is entitled, white, and self-absorbed. Seems like a fair fight.

The Hell Dorothy is in is one of her own making. She is angry with Sean for siding with Leanne and furious she refuses to leave. It’s been several weeks since Dorothy tried to send her to camp, and although Leanne is still in the house, the two women are not friendly. Sean is sleeping on a very uncomfortable couch, and Leanne tries to win back Dorothy’s trust. Neither is going well. Dorothy may not be able to get rid of Leanne, but she is more than capable of making everyone’s life miserable. She refuses to work or leave Jericho and threatens Leanne that she will never touch him again. It is an empty threat; however, Leanne touches his head before the episode is over.

At the same time, Sean is doing everything he can to win Dorothy back. He is hanging pictures that are Dorothy’s favorite and completing projects all over the house he should have finished years ago. The basement floor is being repaired, and he is preparing a nice meal for them to share. He hoped they could watch the second episode of Gourmet Gauntlet together since she missed the premiere. Instead, she invites her father and his girlfriend, Kourtney, with a K to join them. He is preparing pork he has butchered himself. As a metaphor for the stubborn ignorance of both Sean and Dorothy, it is equally relevant for Leanne and Jericho, for whom it could represent good fortune and fertility.

Sean and Dorothy will never move on until Dorothy remembers what happened. Part of the tension between the two is Sean’s understanding of what Leanne has done for them and Dorothy’s confusion at the power Leanne holds. Because she doesn’t remember Jericho dying, she has no memory of Leanne returning him to them. She only knows about the cult kidnapping him. It makes it virtually impossible for her to understand where Sean is coming from. She thinks Julian and Sean are gaslighting her for unknown reasons, driving her insane. She has always been emotionally explosive, but now she is unhinged.

The beautiful bathroom scene between Sean and Dorothy is shot from behind the two with the camera focused on their reflection in the mirror. It is symbolic of everything about their lives. They reflect perfection and happiness outwards, while that public image is a facade hiding very dark truths.

Dorothy is losing her mind. Her calendar filled with pictures of Jericho and appointments before his death is empty after. She watches old episodes of Gourmet Gauntlet from last year and has no recollection of it. Dorothy is too proud and scared to admit anything, though, and that is making the problem even worse. From Leanne’s posture around Dorothy, she is obviously in danger. It is only a matter of time before Leanne grows tired of her and snaps. The clever scene with the dagger as Leanne walks back to her room proves that.

Dorothy doesn’t realize that she is driving Sean into Leanne’s clutches by rebuking him. Leanne is fond of Sean and doesn’t seem to have any romantic feelings for him, but he is devoted to her. Sean talks about Dorothy in reverent terms. As if he never knew love before her and is obsessed with her. Her gravitational pull is great despite her selfish behavior. I can see how he would be drawn to her, but unbalanced power dynamics in relationships are never good. It does, however, explain why he was so willing to protect her from what really happened.

Opportunistic Isabelle learned the hard way not to mess with Leanne. The ambitious reporter smelled a story. She knew Dorothy was hiding something, but she had no idea how big or how dangerous that story would be. Using carefully coded language, she cozies up to Leanne and convinces her she knows what it’s like to work with Dorothy. She is careful to disguise every negative comment as a positive one. Isabelle also curates a story designed to build trust and sympathy with Leanne.

She tells Leanne about Dorothy stealing a news story but pushes too hard when mentioning the ambulance that came to the house last August. Leanne senses she is lying about something and uses her followers to suss it out. Meanwhile, Dorothy thinks Leanne is using Isabelle to get even. So when Isabelle shows up at the door demanding to know whose baby Jericho 2.0 is, it starts a chain reaction that can’t be stopped.

Just as Sean’s show is airing, Dorothy changes the channel to a live news story. She is angry that Isabelle is covering it because she is jealous, selfish, and petty. Her behavior highlights everything wrong with her relationship with Sean. Her emotions are also needlessly wasted. Isabelle is shot live on television while everyone looks on horrified. Everyone that is but Leanne who is looking more than a little psychopathic. The message is clear, fall in line or face the consequences.

Power moves in Servant Season 3 Episode 8

There was so much power brokered in Servant Season 3 Episode 8. The oddest has to be Leanne’s milk pour order, though. She asks Julian to pour her a glass of milk and then demands that he continue filling it until it spills off the counter and onto the floor. Milk which has always been a symbol of youth and innocence, is perverted into a hedonistic stand-in for sex which she asks of him later. He is a moth to a flame(strangely, no one mentions the pile in Leanne’s room).

He follows like a puppy when she tells him to come to her and not be afraid of feeling good. That simple comment raises questions about who or what Leanne is. Leanne may be an angel, but as I have speculated for some time, she is a fallen one who has rejected sacrifice and service for greed and want. Instead, she has embraced a feel-good mentality in line with the “free will” that Lucifer tried to overthrow Heaven for.

The symbolism of yellow

Yellow can either symbolize optimism and enlightenment, but it can also symbolize deceit, cowardice, and sickness. Leanne has adopted the color and is dressing in yellow more often. Additionally, her followers’ yellow balloons in the park represent their hope for a better future. Leanne chooses gold to wear when she is in the park praying with the houseless because she is royalty to them. The spiritual meaning of gold is sacred and precious. To these people, she is divine.

Communions

A communion of sorts punctuates this scene as she passes the dagger around the group after pricking her thumb. A bottle of wine is also passed in the background making this scene feel much like a church service. In the Christain faith, communions are reminders of Christ’s death. It is a reminder of his sacrifice for our sins. In the Church of Leanne, it seems to be a reminder of what they endured with the Church of Lesser Saints and what they are now capable of.

Termites

Sean is so pleased that he finally has a floor in the basement, but he has failed to see the house crumbling around him. There is a massive colony of termites in the basement in the wine rack. Termites are voracious, destructive insects that can destroy your home in no time. The fact that they were seen in the kitchen and now in the wine room is very concerning. Once they have been seen, the damage is already severe. I do not understand why Sean is not concerned. At the very least, you would think he wouldn’t want his wine to fall and break all over the floor. In the bible, Letter to Jeremiah, he says termites are eating the souls of the wicked just like they eat the beams of the holy church, but they won’t even know it. Sean is corrupted and has no idea.

Dorothy’s plan to have her father get Leanne committed to a mental institution will have to wait. Poor Dorothy has already lost the fight, even if she doesn’t know it yet. There are some things that money can’t buy, and happiness is one of them. She really should accept her fate and be happy or risk being put out in the trash like Isabelle’s donut bag. Find all our Servant coverage here.

Stray Straw

• There is another focus on shoes and feet entering the Turner’s house. Either someone has a foot fetish, or there is something to the significance of entering the house or being invited in. Did the Turners invite the Devil into their home and lives?
• Sean may have fixed some things around the house, but the damage is more than cosmetic. Pictures appear to hang on perfect walls, but cracks are just below the surface.
• The painting that Sean hangs is supposedly a favorite of Dorthy’s. According to psychologists who study the responses to Rorschach tests, this could indicate that she was abused as a child. Julian’s addiction and “black hole” response are possible clues that something happened to them as children. Their father seems like a monster, and their mother is barely discussed. Did something happen to her and the children? FYI You can buy authentic Rorschach prints for a couple of grand.
• Leanne’s box holds the king cake baby, a name bracelet, a pearl necklace, a key to the attic, three consecration bottles, a dagger, and something unidentified. Leanne ate one of Dorthy’s pearls in Season 1 Episode 8, Boba. She now has the entire necklace. There is a biblical passage from the book of Mathew that counsels Christians not to throw pearls at swine. It means Christians should try to teach the word of God, but when it becomes clear, it will not be received, move on. Those who don’t believe are considered swine or ignorant beasts for the sake of this story. The plastic baby was from the King cake she baked in Season 2 Episode 5, Cake, and the key is her attic key.
• We now know Julian and Dorothy’s dad covered up Jericho’s death in the news. There is a death certificate, but it was never made public, and somehow everyone who might have seen the ambulance come to the house was fooled into thinking no one was seriously injured. Presuming Isabelle hasn’t told anyone about her discovery, now that she’s dead, their secret should be safe once again.
• Pay attention to Sean’s t-shirt. Deux ex machine means an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially as a contrived plot device in a play or novel. Is Leanne the unexpected power or is there something else?