[Servant Review/Recap w/ Joe Lipsett] Julian Becomes Paranoid and Seeks the Truth about Jericho in "Hair"

Each week Terry and Joe review the latest episode of Apple TV’s Servant S3, alternating between our respective sites.

• S1 coverage: 1– 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10

• S2 coverage: 1 / 2 / 3  / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10

• S3 coverage: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10

• S4 coverage: 1 / 2 / 3

Spoilers follow for Episode 3.03 “Hair.”

Episode 3.03 “Hair”: Julian digs for the truth about Jericho. New visitors at the local park worry Leanne.

TERRY

We’re roughly a third of the way into Season 3 and while on the surface “Hair” doesn’t seem to do terribly much to move the plot through most of the episode, it gives us some interesting character beats, Joe. Back in Season 2’s second episode, Julian (Rupert Grint) was struggling with the question of faith. We surmised that he probably didn’t believe in faith or an afterlife and had dreams about going deep into space to find some meaning and finding nothing. That moment defined his character because, in a house filled with religious imagery and the possibility of angels and demons, he remained a kind of outsider. 

That faith was shaken by the end of the season, when he did have a near death experience and awakened from it saying, “I saw him…and he seemed okay?”. “Hair” brings back that moment as he finally tells Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose), after much follicle finding, that her kid can’t be Jericho because he saw him when he died. Jericho’s rebirth would obviously throw him for a loop, since the last we saw of Julian, he was being carted away to the hospital and, eventually, rehab. 

The other character beat is a bit more involved with the episode, so let’s take it back to the beginning. “Hair” opens with a flashback to the fateful night when Jericho died. We’re right back to the maggot-covered chunk of ham sitting on the dark table that, again, acts as a stand-in for the dead baby. Director Carlo Mirabella-Davis (the director of Swallow!!) and cinematographer Gabriel Lobos (who shot Season 2 episodes “Marino” and “Cake”, as well as Blue My Mind) frames Julian’s grisly discovery from the crib up, looking at his horrified face. He then makes it over to the bannister to throw up, again with the camera framed from the ground looking up at him as his vomit splatters the camera. He then holds an unconscious Dorothy, his face reflected in her eyes. 

What I’m saying is, this episode wants us to really examine Julian. 

While he’s a supporting character who pops in and out of the Turner household, he’s becoming more of a main character in Season 3. Even Sean (Toby Kebbell) makes an oblique remark about how much he’s over at their place by saying, “Things are good. Try not to fuck with it. You concentrate on you…at your place.” Sean says this because Julian, with a helpful push from Veera (Sunita Mani), is back on the ‘Jericho isn’t Jericho’ train, which, given the above and the information gleaned from his near death experience, makes more sense. 

Side note: I’m still on the Veera watch, Joe. Because she uses language that Josephine and the cult used in regards to Dorothy’s acceptance. Last episode, I mentioned that the one woman who kept pushing Dorothy at the mommy-and-me-shindig-from-hell to remember That Night. And, continuing with that thread, we have Veera saying later this episode, “I don’t think anything’s going to change. Not until Dorothy faces her truth…”.  This line of thinking can go one of two ways for me. Either Veera is associated with the cult and is working with them or these little subtle moments are the show’s way of quietly indicating that Season 3 will end with Dorothy’s revelation. 

But back to Sean, who wants to take Leanne (Nell Tiger Free) to the park just outside their house. We’ve spent two seasons and a couple episodes being kept inside the Turner household and “Hair” takes the tentative first steps outside into a world that’s much more colorful, bright and loud. When Leanne steps outside, the world seems brimming with life (and danger) and it’s such a fascinating contrast to the claustrophobic terrors the first two seasons dealt with. Suddenly, the world feels more open and the park, littered with people, made me feel slightly agoraphobic. “Hair” did an excellent job of putting me in Leanne’s fearful shoes. 

In the park, Sean begins to lay out a fancy picnic for Leanne when he’s approached by a young person (nonbinary actor Mac Rop). This begins his fascination with the homeless population outside his house and leads us to the second character moment I alluded to above, when Sean says, “I’ve been on the streets. I know what it’s like to be hungry and I just want to give back.” 

So my question for you, Joe, is whether you clocked that as a slight hint that Sean’s very expensive life wasn’t always so rosy? What did you make of this more open episode and the introduction of the trio of homeless youths (played by Rop, Joshua de Jesus and Mathilde DeHaye)? How closely do you think Dorothy looked like Marilyn Monroe and what do you think is going on with her and her job this season? And were you surprised by the return of Roscoe (Phillip James Brannon)?

JOE

It’s probably easiest to tackle Roscoe’s return first. Because if Julian is pulling a scheme - as he is here with the rapid DNA check to confirm his suspicions about Leanne - then naturally poor Roscoe is getting roped in. And while I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that it’s frustrating to see the character used this way after he got juicy material back in season two, seeing his fearful reaction to Leanne when they lock eyes in the house is pretty fascinating. 

In short: I always want more Roscoe on the show, so I hope that this isn’t the last we see of him. Perhaps there will be new opportunities to employ him now that the show is tentatively leaving the house?

You’re right that the outdoor scenes are impressive. Servant has gotten so much mileage out of its claustrophobic confines for two seasons, so even a quick trip across the street to the park feels overwhelming and invasive. S3 has really focused on Leanne’s paranoid experience of the world and that really comes through here. Every person glimpsed in this park, especially the runners, feels dangerous and threatening. 

Of course, since this is Servant, the danger is often right in front of our eyes. I’m feeling some extreme trepidation about locating the source of danger in three queer / female / transient youth, though, Terry. The show has done a good job of rendering simple interactions in powerful, complicated ways, so I’m tentatively trusting that there will be more to these new characters. As an introduction though, “homeless kids are scary!” isn’t great.

But again, perhaps because we’re so closely aligned to Leanne and the Turners, who all embody a certain kind of privilege with their hella expensive Philadelphia Brownstone and overly fancy sandwiches, this is more of a commentary on how they see the world. I don’t know…but it’s something we’ll need to track (much like our ongoing watch of Veera!)

As for Dorothy, my read on her work situation is that we’re far enough away from the “tragedy” of her abducted newborn that her bosses at the TV station are comfortable “demoting” her. This has been a background element of Dorothy’s job throughout the series’ run; remember that Dorothy’s lack of “bikini body” led to a younger anchor taking her place for the pool story back in S1. 

Interestingly enough, in my efforts to remember that episode, I fell down a rabbit hole of Servant conspiracies and lemme tell you: it’s wild. Some viewers apparently don’t think Dorothy even has a job anymore and she’s been faking going to work this whole time. Apparently there are gaps in the years of coverage that we’ve seen? I’d have to go back and really look into that, which…I’m not going to do.

All this to say, I think Ambrose would make one hell of a Marilyn impersonator! The story sounded like garbage, but she definitely looked the part.

Circling back around to Sean, I absolutely agree with your assessment. It’s an intriguing detail, if only because it is so quickly glossed over. It’s possible that this is merely a shorthand way for Servant to explain why he’s so energized about bringing the teens sandwiches and fancy pizza. Since the three of them are clearly going to be featured more prominently as we move forward - hence the ominous final shot of them staring at the house from the shadows - it’s possible that this will open up some more backstory about Sean, as well.

But Terry, I’m intrigued by your assessment of Julian. I called him impulsive in last week’s review and here he’s making some big impromptu decisions about Leanne’s maternity. What did you think of his plot to snag Leanne’s DNA? Is her lack of hair proof that she’s a fastidious cleaner or is this reflective of her fear of hexes? And were you surprised by the hair reveal with the Mommies & Tots mom?

TERRY

Briefly going back to your fears about the way the show will focus on the three youths, I do wonder, Joe, if Servant is doing a bait-and-switch. Yes, the episode ends with them staring ominously with Salem’s Lot-style ghost lighting in their eyes. But what if they represent something different from the cult that wants Leanne back? 

I have absolutely nothing to back this feeling up, but I wonder if they will end up being allies in whatever war is heading to the Turner household. Their outsiderness seems antithetical to the cult’s way of doing things. And the fact that they pulled stuff off of the pizza offered to them, but still said it was good stands in stark contrast to the way Uncle George reacted to the food Sean served. They seemed to warm up to it as the episode ended. 

Julian’s hair-napping plot seemed very Julian. We’ve seen him go off half-cocked in previous seasons, staging ransoms, going along with the pizza front, driving up to the mansion where they thought Leanne was hiding, etc. But there’s a manic energy this time around and I’ve noticed the dark circles under his eyes. Servant has done a lot of work exploring the effects of PTSD, particularly in Dorothy, but also the family as a whole. 

“Hair” opens with a reminder of the horrific event that lead to their situation and grounds us in Julian’s perspective. He seems absolutely haunted this season and the moment he breaks down in front of Dorothy, crying like a lost child and telling her, “I want you to keep the baby.” It’s as if he was hoping, deep down, that that DNA test would confirm Dorothy as the parent. Why? 

On one hand, I think it’d bring some semblance of relief that that horrible night is truly behind them and that Dorothy can be happy. But, on the other, it would also allow him to ignore his near death experience where he saw some vision of an afterlife or what have you. It’d allow him to ignore the fact he clearly saw Jericho when he died. 

As for the hair situation, I was indeed surprised at the Mommy & Tots hair reveal on my first watch. When I went back over the episode I felt dumb because Dorothy clearly sets it up earlier in the episode that the mom would be coming by for the bag and kind of points to the living room. And as for Leanne? Who knows. She’s incredibly fastidious and everything has to be completely in order (I’m thinking back to just a few episodes ago when she straightened her bathroom supplies). But she is also growing increasingly paranoid, so hexes are also completely on the table.

Before we end this episode, I’m curious what you thought about the television program focusing on Sean? Dorothy always has her TV stuff recorded and she was so excited to see her end statement, but they cut back to the news desk. Meanwhile, Leanne tells Jericho his daddy’s going to be a big star…do you think Sean’s attention is going to be an issue? And any final thoughts or predictions for next week’s episode?

JOE

Good catch about the news segment focusing on Sean! I also took note of that, especially considering how invested Dorothy is about her public persona. This could be Servant subtly indicating that there’s a rift on the horizon between the couple, especially if Sean’s star wattage starts to eclipse Dorothy’s. 

It’s kind of fascinating, because Sean is technically already a public personality, what with his history as a celebrity judge on the reality TV cooking series. Considering how that job contributed in part to Jericho’s passing, plus the hints that Dorothy is slowly realizing what really happened in 1.09, the show could be building up to something grim.

In hindsight, while “Hair” is a more slight episode of Servant than usual, there’s a lot of work being done here to establish future directions for the show (we assume). It’s entirely possible that Dorothy’s work situation will feature prominently in future episodes, as well as Sean’s philanthropy. 

How that moves the narrative and the visual aesthetic out of the house and into the world has me very curious. Is this the start of a shift in focus for the series, or is the brief foray to the park merely a blip that has exposed the family to danger and will drive them right back into isolation? I live in constant fear for the Turners, so regardless of whether the teens from the park are dangerous or if they’re merely red herrings (as you suggested), I have no doubt someone is coming.

We’ll see if the threat level increases when we hop back to QueerHorrorMovies next week for episode 3.04 “Ring”.

Servant airs weekly on Fridays on Apple TV.