TERRY

Whew, Joe. We’ve hit the back half of the first season of Servant. It’s sink-or-swim time; the time when a show should start to pay off the setups of the first half. In that regard, “Rain” definitely feels like the story is more interested in unwrapping the mysteries its spent five episodes introducing.

So it’s only appropriate that it begins with Leanne (Nell Tiger Free) unwrapping her first letter. It’s unmarked, but the intent is clearly explained with two words: “Found you!”

The letter comes at a terrible (yet narratively convenient) time. Sean (Toby Kebbell) is off to cook for the Philadelphia Eagles for a night trip, leaving the women folk alone. But in case you’re missing a male presence, Leanne’s--and I can’t stress this enough--very odd Uncle George (Boris McGiver) shows up in the pouring rain.

“Hello, little flower,” he greets Leanne (and skeeved me out) and enters without much preamble.

George is dressed in his Sunday best...and it looks as if he walked all the way from Wisconsin to Philadelphia. Ragged pants. Frayed suit. Shoes that squish whenever he takes a step and are so holey (or is that holy?), you can see his bare toes through them. Excuse me, his gnarly, dirty and soot-filled barefoot toes. I’m just saying, dudes clothes have seen better days.

George seems to know everything about the Turner family. When Dorothy returns for the night, he immediately tells her, “I know you.” And later in the episode, he calls her Dottie...the nickname her mother used. Ever the courteous guest, he hands Dorothy a present for Jericho...a creepy puppet that is supposed to look like Sean, complete with a chef’s hat.

All of this is increasingly odd, but begs the question...how did George know that bit of information? It’s clear from the ominous letter (FOUND YOU!) that Leanne hasn’t been in contact with her “uncle” and I’m not a carver, but I’m guessing that puppet took a lot of whittling. But no matter, the ever fakely polite Dorothy invites him for dinner. And boy what a dinner. Not since Hereditary has a dinner set me so much on edge. It’s filled with so many little details that I would like to linger on it for a little bit. But before I turn it over to you, I want to acknowledge Sean’s impotence in this episode.

He FaceTimes with Dorothy while she’s cooking dinner and, after critiquing her chicken (natch), she tells him that Leanne’s uncle is here. To which Sean understandably retorts: “Who the fuck is in our house?”

It’s an appropriate question that leads to Dorothy nonchalantly telling him that Leanne vouched for him--which, no, she didn’t--leading Sean to retort, again, “Who the fuck vouched for her?!” Which, again, valid. It is narratively convenient that the one skeptical person is out of the picture for this family (reunion), but it does heighten the dread.

But what do you think of this episode, Joe? Did you notice how everyone pretty much acted as if Leanne was their property? What do you think of Dorothy’s plan to play nice to convince George to let her stay? Do you think cribs are comfortable for adults? And can I offer you some mangled chicken that I’ve patted dry and wrung every morsel of juice from? I hear it’s the perfect finger food...

JOE

Well Terry, I can tell you that if I ever need to get out of a dinner right quick, I’ve learned a thing or two from dear old Uncle George. Were Dorothy not the most egregiously “fake polite” woman, as you correctly called her, those ridiculous dinner antics in any other circumstance would have been cause for an immediate ejection from the house. My jaw was on the floor witnessing those insane antics (oh if only Julian had been there for that display).

I’ll confess that I knew we would hit a point in Servant’s run where my lack of religious upbringing would be a detriment to these recaps and I think “Rain” might be it! On the surface, I can understand the implications of a man who eschews the conveniences of modern life to live a devout, extravagance (and apparently spice) free life, but I’m uncertain if this is a direct reference to a religious figure or not (Did Jesus imbibe of the water-turned-wine? I dunno).

Perhaps being able to explicitly connect this man to a specific religious text is not as important as I’m making it out to be; writer Tony Basgallop makes it pretty easy for an agnostic such as myself to understand that Uncle George is a “bad man” in his outrageous and deliberately confrontational behaviour. I don’t know which juvenile display is worse: his antics at dinner or literally removing an infant from a crib in order to sleep in it himself. Ick.

One of Servant’s strengths throughout these first six episodes, and it is particularly evident in the dinner scene, is that the show doesn’t need to rely on violence to make audiences uneasily. So much of what makes both the dinner and, to a lesser extent, the breakfast so uncomfortable is how everything is accomplished by dialogue and camerawork and that goddamn tinkly score. When George grabbed Dorothy’s forearm as she went to eat...I gasped Terry! It plays like an attack, particularly the way that the camera is locked on that unwanted physical contact before slowly panning up to Dorothy’s shocked face. It’s sublime.

You’re right that Leanne is 100% treated as property in the episode. It feels especially egregious considering we just got an entire episode dedicated to her, which only reinforces how terrifying the prospect of going with George is. Remember that she just found out that Sean and Julian are actively spying on her, but she’d still rather stay with the Turners than go with her “Uncle”!

But, of course, it just wouldn’t be Servant without a host of fresh mysteries, would it, Terry? We now know that George was merely the first line of attack because he references a “her” that will accompany him when he returns - someone that Leanne apparently won’t be able to say no to. So that’s mystery #1. And then there’s also the suggestion that Leanne is some kind of saviour, who has run away from her responsibilities to play nanny for the “godless” Turners instead. This definitely tracks considering what we understand of her powers following “Cricket”, but I’m starting to think that it’s a mistake to assume that this is a cult or a religious order that is abusing her. Something tells me that there’s more to it than simple good vs evil.

What do you think, Terry: is Uncle George’s behaviour enough for you to condemn all of the mysterious people he’s representing? Why do you think George slept in the crib (and took seemingly no interest in magical baby Jericho)? And is it worth unpacking the misogyny in the way George treats not only Leanne, but Dorothy also (especially compared to Julian). “Lady” indeed!

TERRY

It’s funny you mentioned you gasped when George suddenly grabbed Dorothy’s arm, Joe, because I did as well! And until you dug into the fact the show has shied away from violence I didn’t understand why. The dinner scene was dripping with malice--and so much misogyny--that a simple act of saying grace had me jumpy. From the “sometimes people need a firm hand to know their place” comment as he’s glaring at Leanne to referring to her as “Girl” to the constant looks of disapproval for everything Dorothy does, the dude is just a horrible man. And yes, I’m absolutely ready to condemn his entire commune/cult/family/whatever it is based on his behavior.

I literally have no clue why George decided he needed the crib more than the baby. At first, I wondered if maybe he was a creation, a “Jericho” before Jericho. But he clearly says, through his, you know misogyny, that Leanne was a beautiful baby (not that you’d “know that to look at her now”). So that shot down my one thought before I could even form it.

Since the beginning I’ve also wondered how far into Biblical imagery the show would go. Their immaculate (re)born son is named Jericho for glob’s sake. But I can count the number of times I’ve been to church for something other than a wedding or a funeral on like two fingers. So I’m useless here, too.

One thing this episode did answer for me, though, is the question of the series title. Even though we’ve been so intimately focused on the Turner family, creator Basgallop decided to name the show after the interloper. And this episode seemed to posit that no matter where Leanne is, she’s just a tool to be used. One that neither side wants to give up. Dorothy literally says it’d be over her dead body. A Servant, indeed.

I did have one thought, though, about George’s behavior. We’ve talked before about the artifice of the characters in this show. George lets slip that the Turners didn’t have a contract with Leanne and that comment, followed by his abhorrent attitude, is what pushes Dorothy to make - and Leanne to sign - an official contract.

We know that Leanne knows there is at least one person (Julian) that doesn’t want her there. I think it’s vaguely obvious to her that Sean doesn’t either. By making an official contract when neither is there to convince Dorothy not to, she has secured her place in the home. Of course, with the ominous look George gives Leanne from the street at the close of the episode, I’m probably completely off course. It definitely wouldn't be the first time.

But what do you think, Joe? Is George in cahoots with Leanne? Is that how he knows the Turners and where they were? Or am I completely off my rocker? What do you think of Dorothy’s sudden desire to baptize Jericho in three weeks? And as we head into the final four episodes, what do you think the show building to?

JOE

Oh wow, I had never considered that George might be in league with Leanne! It’s an interesting idea, but I do think that would be one twist too much so I’m going to set it aside.

My theory is that George and the mysterious group he’s fronting have found Leanne because Dorothy (and by extension Sean) is so high profile as a public figure. We’ve continued to see Dorothy reporting from public places on high profile stories throughout the series (I’m not ready to let it go!) so I wonder if George et al. have been able to track Leanne down and find out more information about the Turners as a result.

Of course, this is pretty easy to poke holes through. Do we really believe that George believes in the television if he doesn’t like spice on a chicken breast? In fact, we’re likely just overlooking the most obvious answer: he, too, is magic and has the ability to see things, know locations, etc. Clearly the Turners have gotten caught up in something beyond their understanding, so let’s hope that Dorothy’s proclamation about her dead body isn’t foreshadowing!

As for where we go next? The safest bet is an appearance by more of Leanne’s ilk, including the powerful women she can’t resist. The truth about Sean’s duplicity in hiring the PI has got to come out to Dorothy and, of course, the details of what actually happened six weeks ago when baby Jericho died need to be revealed.

It could be a lot for a show that could affectionately be described as having a languid pace, so I’m excited to see if Servant can pull it off. We’ll see next week when we return to QueerHorrorMovies for episode 7, “Haggis.”