TERRY

“You’re our servant, not hers.”

With that one simple sentence, episode ten reveals why the show is called Servant. From the very beginning, when we’re introduced to both the Turners and their new nanny, it’s been a show about Leanne escaping one form of servitude for another. “Balloon” puts an end to some mysteries, while leaving us with a cliffhanger that sets up a second season that could potentially have a completely different feel and setting. But before we get to what’s coming, let’s dig into this episode.

I had to watch this one twice, Joe, because I’m still not sure how I feel about it. Like the last few episodes, it’s dense and paced to perfection. But it also feels like series writer Tony Basgallop dropped a metric shit ton of information in a very brisk 30 minutes. “Balloon” is an episode about rituals, the first of which being Sean finally serving up the placenta...in a couple different ways.

First, he sautes it and I’m not quite sure if he uses that as a meaty filling for the croquembouche (“It’s liver, I think,” Tobe tells a guest at one point) or if he then freeze dries the sauted morsel. At the very least, the freeze dried portion is smashed up and put in the cream filling of the croquembouche. The other hors d'oeuvre passed around looks vaguely like the freeze dried placenta as well. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if he snuck some in the caramelized topping he drapes over the finished pastry dish.

Either way, that’s a lot of placenta being secretly devoured by the guests of Jericho’s baptism, which is...well, it’s rather disgusting.

The placenta-eating is also tied to the second ritual we observe: Jericho’s baptism. I thought it was rather funny that, in true Servant fashion, we don’t see the actual baptism because we’re stuck in the house. And we only get to experience a tiny moment of the baptism through, you guessed it, a recording on the television. I also laughed as one guest casually mentions, “haven’t been inside [the Turner’s house] for years” whereas we have almost only ever been inside for ten episodes.

You had mentioned in the recap of “Haggis” that you were at the point where you didn’t care if the show hit its landing because you’ve had such a good time with it and, now that it’s all laid out, I still agree with the sentiment. I don’t think this episode completely nails the landing, but I’m okay with that? “Balloon” introduces spurious additions that don’t really go anywhere, like the Amber Alert, or who called the police and said Dorothy had the kid (who turns out to be little Hannah and not Jericho)? Why was this wrinkle necessary?

Like you’ve grown accustomed to paying attention to the TV reports for clues, I’ve been focused on the episode titles and “Balloon” felt like a callback to the balloon in “Haggis.” In that episode, it felt like the elephant in the room that everyone was talking around; whereas here, the balloons spill out into the rooms, as if it’s impossible for the Turners to ignore the truth because it’s literally everywhere they look.

And then there’s the question and answer of Aunt May (Allison Elliott) and Uncle George. But I’ll let you dig into that, Joe, because I’m curious how you felt about this episode. What did you think of the revelations about Aunt May? What happened to Roscoe? Is the doll just a doll? And do you think the blue balloon tied to Leanne’s briefcase is a hint?

JOE

Oh dear, Terry, I think I understand now why our friend David Opie suggested that this wasn’t a satisfactory wrap-up. Like you, I’m actually ok with the lack of clarity, but for folks who have been watching Servant for the last nine weeks waiting for the pay-off, this likely isn’t going to do it for them.

First, I need to disagree with you that the Amber alert and Hannah serve no purpose. I thought this was a playful bit of misdirection on Basgallop’s part. Not unlike the stray dog in “Haggis”, the constant refrain about missing children felt like a warning, cuing us to expect that George and/or May would abduct Jericho. Hannah also introduces the dollie (who, of course, is not a doll to Hannah; she’s real and named “Pamela”) which finally activates the missing piece of Dorothy’s PTSD memory about what really happened to her own son. Is it a little odd/convenient that a child casually followed the baptism party back to the Turner household so that the protagonist has a revelation? Absolutely...but it also fits right in with Servant’s approach to storytelling, which frequently finds people receiving what they want or need by divine intervention.

That statement could just as easily apply to Aunt May, the mysterious woman that George teased that Leanne would be unable to resist all of the way back in “Rain.” Of course, now we know that she’s not simply (or is it actually?) Leanne’s aunt, but also the cult leader of the Church of the Lesser Saints, who Dorothy reported on when they engaged police in a hostage stand-off that ended in explosions, flames and gunfire.

As May, Elliot walks a fine line. It’s a surprisingly understated performance: she’s not big or loud, but rather quiet and menacing. Even in her most malice-laced comments, however, May is unlike George. She acts as though she knows exactly how this will all play out, from her nickname for Leanne (“little flower”) to the way that she speaks to Dorothy like a child. It’s a powerful performance, but not at all what I was expecting when we first catch sight of her.

I’ll confess that I was most surprised by George’s interaction with Sean in the wine cellar. It’s no surprise that the pious man refuses Sean’s bribe of $86K, but I didn’t think that he would tempt Sean into verbalizing his physical ailments since Leanne’s appearance, nor implore Sean to “ask and you shall receive” what he truly wants. It’s a stark contrast to the buffoonery of Julian and Dorothy’s father Frank, whose toast associates parenting to Amber alerts and amnesia like he’s deliberately playing up Dorothy’s trauma for their friends and co-workers.

Returning to this idea of ritual, though - I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Not only do we get the odd ritual of Sean secretly feeding human remains to all of the guests, or George going down on his knees in prayer to grant Sean’s wish that Jericho remain theirs, we see the return of Leanne’s self-flagellation and even the mysterious group hug before the cult disappears in plain sight in the blink of a police cruiser. “Balloon” is packed with rituals both familiar and obscure, and in true Servant fashion, it renders them all odd and discomforting. I’m not sure why I’m surprised; this is a show that finds the creepy underbelly in the most innocuous of events, be it meal prep, dinners or taking a baby for a walk.

Unfortunately I didn’t find the episode particularly satisfying because it so deliberately eschews offering a resolution (though there are some surprising answers, specifically about Leanne’s backstory). I’m very glad that we already know there’s a second season in the works that will presumably explore some of this in greater detail, though you’re right that what form that will take is uncertain. Leanne is gone, Roscoe is potentially dead and Sean is literally desensitized (and possibly charred).

Terry, what did you make of Sean’s scenes in this episode? Are we meant to infer that Tobe slept with Leanne or did she simply ignore his knocks because she was punishing herself with the TV cord? And is it possible that all of those cult members in the street were dead/ghosts?

TERRY

There’s so much to parse through here, Joe. Your explanation of the necessity of Hannah actually helped me understand why I didn’t like it but put it in a different light. You said that that it fits in with Servant’s approach to divine intervention, which would explain how someone could just connect Dorothy to the missing child. That was the piece that was bothering me, though. It was a mystery that felt incredibly innocuous, but too on the nose; however, if it was an almost deus ex machina that not only awakened Dorothy but gave May and George some cover then that succinctly clears up my issue with it.

I’m glad you touched on the scene with George and Sean. It confused, but also intrigued me. I enjoyed how it was crisscrossed with the scene of Leanne talking to May to highlight the different approaches each took to their discussions. George asks Sean if he knows who he welcomed into his home and tells him that Leanne likes to please those she likes and hurt those she doesn’t. Meanwhile, a few floors above, May tells Leanne that Dorothy is “going to hurt [Jericho] again. She’s going to hurt you.” Both characters are tackling the problem of Leanne and Jericho from two different angles and two different perspectives.

But then George asks Sean to pray for what he wants and Sean says he wants his son back. Which segues into an interesting line of conversation after the ritual of baptism celebration is performed in the living room (complete with an over-the-top sword champagne popper -- I guess Sean is a celebrity chef, after all). Sean, rather petulantly, tells George that it’s done; the kid is theirs. To which, George prophesizes, “what is sown is perishable. What is raised is imperishable.” This perplexes Seans, but I took George’s statement as basically saying, “possession is 9/10ths of the law.” It doesn’t matter who conceived the baby, but rather how he’s raised. In other words, Jericho might have been “sown” by Dorothy and Sean, but the baby will be “raised” by the cult.

What does perplex me, though, is the way George--deeply, devoutly religious George--has Sean pray for Jericho to be theirs...but then absconds with the baby. And here is the episode at its most obtuse. As I see it, there are (at least) three possibilities with Jericho.

Leanne brought Jericho back to life via the doll and when Leanne leaves the proximity of the baby, it turns back into the lifeless doll; thereby fulfilling May’s statement that when Dorothy wakes up, he’ll be gone. “No more pretending. As it was meant to be.”
The doll is just that: a doll. When Leanne shows up and realizes she can help mend their broken hearts, she brings Jericho back to life. But she’s also distrustful, so when she’s not directly taking care of the baby, she hides him. When she leaves at the end, she hides the baby in her suitcase and puts the doll back in the crib. The clue being the “It’s A Boy” Blue balloon tied to the suitcase, signalling to us that Jericho is in the suitcase.
The baby doesn’t belong to Dorothy and Sean. Instead, it was, as suggested earlier this season, brought in by Leanne, who was perfectly willing to pretend it was Jericho...until she was discovered. This would then explain Sean’s prayer (“Jericho. I want my son back. I want him back.”). A prayer that George obviously and fervently believes in is twisted in a sick and perverse way, and ultimately answered. The doll that for six weeks had been a pseudo-Jericho was back.

Does the above make sense? I have no idea. Am I in the weeds? Absolutely. But that’s because the show doesn’t want to provide answers. I was actively hoping that we’d get an answer about Jericho this season that would then drive the story in a different direction in season two. Instead, we get more tantalizing clues and obfuscation.

And then it introduces more questions! As you pointed out, the cult members all just appear and disappear. Are they dead? Were they the cultists killed in the fire, explosions and gunfire at the compound years before? I’m not so sure, but who knows at this point?! I do think that the reason they did the group hug is to be near Leanne. If they are, in fact, alive, I believe it’s another example of Leanne’s powers and that by touching/being in close proximity, they are all teleported together. She's like a religious Scotty who beams them up.

But who knows, Joe! Who knows! Do you have any thoughts on what happened to Jericho? What are you final thoughts on the season? Did it dampen your excitement for season two or are you, like me, still onboard with this zany story?

JOE

I’m definitely still on board. Would I have preferred a little bit of explanation or clarity? Yes. Do I think we’re going to be in the minority who are ok with not actually getting it? Yes. And that’s ok. From what we’ve gathered online, Servant has attracted a small, albeit loyal following and, like the cult of people gathered outside of the Turner household, we’ll all get through this together.

I truthfully don’t know what the deal was with Jericho. Initially in those early episodes, I was convinced that Leanne simply converted the doll into a real child - not the actual Jericho, whose body we actually see taken away in this final episode by someone in a hazmat suit. Then, over time, as you raised more questions, I began to question if Leanne could have possibly brought the child in with her. That seems more ludicrous to me, though; somehow magic seemed more likely.

If I had to put a wager on it, I’d say that the titular ‘Balloon’ is the tell-tale sign of what has happened to Jericho. Aunt May is so deliberate about procuring not just Leanne, but also the baby that I’m convinced that the child is in the suitcase. If May is a fanatical cult leader, why wouldn’t she want a miracle child of her own?

Alas, anything more than that is pure conjecture. Servant simply isn’t interested in offering us more than that. Dorothy knows the truth, Sean may be irreparably damaged, Roscoe might be dead or injured and Leanne and the cult have disappeared to destinations unknown. We know for sure that S2 will focus on the same storyline, so at least this isn’t just a dead end that will never receive resolution, but yeah...we’ve got a long (likely) year of waiting for Servant to return and possibly provide us with answers.

Overall? I have no regrets. I’ve loved the rich, textured aesthetic of the show. I loved seeing Lauren Ambrose get a role worth her talent (the kind she truthfully hasn’t seen since the end of Six Feet Under) and I’ve come around on Toby Kebbell’s acting talent after being less than impressed with his mustache-twirling villain roles in the past. And while it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I still really appreciate the deliberately slow pace and almost anti-climax pacing of the show; this has felt like a horror show for adults (hopefully that doesn’t sound dismissive). After the massive failure of AHS: 1984, this was the exact palette cleanser that I needed! Overall, my grade for the season is a strong A-.

Terry, we don’t usually do one final round, but what about you? What are your final thoughts on Servant at the end of season one?

TERRY

Overall, I thought Servant was a fantastic journey that even the small missteps didn’t bother me. I would have liked a bit more of a wrap-up of this season’s questions as it pivots to the second season and beyond, but that’s small potatoes for a show that has constantly kept both of us on our toes. It’s provided some great conversations and I think the finale busts the world open. I’m curious where it’s going to go next while nervous about the anticipated 6 seasons (and a movie?). Overall, I too give this season a Strong A-.