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 3.07 “Camp.”

Episode 3.07 “Camp”: Dorothy works with Veera to get Leanne out of the house but Jericho and Leanne are more connected than they know.

TERRY

I feel like Servant is laughing at us, Joe. We spent the first few season three episodes discussing how it feels like a reset and how the pacing, coming from the climactic season two finale, felt more measured. And then we had hand torture, an intense block party, a dinner from hell and now we have a frenetic Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose) two ways. First, a calculating Dorothy trying to get her household back to some sense of normalcy. And then a desperate Dorothy, tearing said household apart. Like the best Servant episodes, “Camp” knows when to pull back and when to unleash hell.

I honestly don’t know where to start.

Actually, that’s not true. You and I have chatted offline about food competitions before, Joe, and, as a casual viewer of things like Masterchef, Top Chef and My Kitchen Rules (which you introduced me to), the opening to “Camp” was *chef’s kiss*. We get the intro video for Sean (Toby Kebbell)’s new show, Gourmet Gauntlet: Philadelphia and it is as dramatic, manipulatively heartwarming and Gordon Ramsey-influenced enough to have me rolling. From the way it capitalized on Sean’s history as a homeless youth saved through the art of cooking to the final pronouncement of “if you can’t stand the heat, then get out of my fucking kitchen”, this intro is a perfect send-up of every cooking competition. But it also confirms that Sean came from a rough life of parents not caring and being homeless by 17; points that earlier episodes hinted at.

Continuing with my thoughts from last week’s episode, Leanne (Nell Tiger Free) seems convinced this show will launch Sean’s career. “It will be their most successful season. Everyone’s going to know Sean Turner” she says with a note of finality and a knowing smile. Again, it reminds me of those “deal with the devil” movies. And when Dorothy tells him everyone’s excited for him, Leanne cuts to the chase: “Are you, Dorothy?” The subtle balancing of power between these two characters will only get more precarious as the episode continues.

Outside the house, Dorothy confronts Julian (Rupert Grint) with very specific and pointed language: “stop fucking the nanny.” We’re seven episodes and a whole lot of tension away from “Donkey,” the first episode of the season that suggested the Turners have settled into a loving family and have accepted Leanne as one of them. She’s back to being the hired help and, as she tells Sean a little later, she’s not comfortable with Leanne being around Jericho, which is a problem because, in Dorothy’s words, “it’s her job.”

Making matters worse, Dorothy confronts Leanne with the fact she has been “having intercourse” with her brother and Leanne immediately starts to compare her to the cult. This last part is important because Leanne first suggests that her privacy is important because the cult didn’t allow any private moments. But it comes full circle later when Leanne tells Dorothy that she’s acting like Aunt May: “See the dangerous pattern here?”

I sure do, Joe. Because that sounds like a threat.

“Camp” also doubles down on the followers Leanne has been fostering with the transient youths in the park, who look at both Leanne and Jericho with utter reverence. Even Roscoe (Phillip James Brannon) gets in on the worship, asking the still unnamed homeless kid played by Joshua De Jesus why people are so enamored with her. “She’s extraordinary. Courageous enough to rebel.” Against who? Anyone who gets in their way, is the answer…but it also seems to drip with subtext. Because, again, who rebelled against god, but the devil?

But I feel like we’re just skimming the iceberg, Joe. What did you make of this scene in the park, as they fawn over the beautiful and miraculous Jericho? I’m curious, particularly with how the episode plays out with the baby…We also get a sudden reappearance of Veera (Sunita Mani). Do you think she’s been ill-used this season? And I know you’ve been in love with Lauren Ambrose’s acting so what did you make of her gaslighting speech?

JOE

What fascinated me most about “Camp” is how it’s an episode where, at first glance, very little appears to happen. This is a battle of wills involving going or not going to the park; it’s hardly riveting stuff.

And yet, if you had checked my anxiety levels during the absolutely chaotic final minutes of the episode as everyone in the house is rushing about and you’d have emergency services on speed dial. Goddamn I love how this show can make the most mundane, innocuous events completely upsetting.

The park scene is unnerving, to say the least. Dorothy tries to gently establish parameters around that space, but she’s doing that “nice white lady” routine so as to not offend anyone. As you’ve suggested numerous times over the last two episodes, Terry, Leanne knows exactly what she’s doing when she disobeys (or is it disregards?) Dorothy’s request and while we know that Jericho is likely in no danger from these teens, it’s still really harrowing when Dorothy looks out the window, sees the empty baby carriage and witnesses them passing the baby around.

It reminds me a bit like a baptism (or at the very minimum a religious ceremony) where devoted followers all yearn to be in the midst - or even touch - a divine figure. That’s absolutely how they treat Leanne and Jericho and Roscoe’s comment walks the line between inquisitive and wondrous. They’re all under her spell…well, everyone except Dorothy.

I’ll confess that Dorothy knowing about Julian and Leanne’s relationship could have used a bit more groundwork. We open the episode with her confrontation with Julian in the backyard and it feels very random and out of the blue. Later, after Leanne has asked Dorothy to respect her privacy, Dorothy is seen going through her closet and drawers, and reading her spirit writing journal. Considering how abrupt her encounter with Julian is, I can’t help but wonder if these scenes should have been reversed.

Dorothy’s outrage about the journal is pretty interesting, though. As we saw back in “Donkey”, Leanne draws her visions as the events occur, not after the fact. Dorothy feels slighted and made fun of because her humiliating live TV fiasco is documented, but we know that Leanne likely drew this before it happened. It’s evident to everyone that Dorothy isn’t as pleased with Sean’s success as everyone else, so her offended reaction makes perfect sense as she struggles to negotiate the new power dynamics of the household.

And really, that’s what’s at the heart of everything Dorothy is reacting to here. I absolutely believe that she’s worried about Jericho and frustrated that Leanne isn’t listening to her, but that gaslighting speech has been a long time coming. For as long as the show has existed, the men on Servant have treated Dorothy with kid gloves and however well-meaning their intentions, they have 100% been lying to her.

So while Sean makes some very solid points about how he’s not allowed to have opinions about how their son is raised, Dorothy’s lightning fast, extreme reaction to being continually undermined isn’t hard to understand. She and Sean have always had a…combative relationship, but Dorothy considers them partners. The same can’t be said of her relationship with Leanne, which is all “family this, family that” until something challenging happens and then Leanne is immediately re-classified as “the help” or “the nanny.” This is the only power Dorothy feels she has left, so it’s hardly surprising when she wields it with an iron grip.

Now did I cheer ever-so-slightly when, in the middle of her fight with Sean, Dorothy seethed “Everything is not ok. It’s. Fucking. Not”? Umm, yes, I absolutely did.

The biggest surprise is how Veera gets roped into this, and Julian’s similarly extreme reaction. I full-on gasped at his snide, mean comment that Veera “sucked dick for Sudafed.” Wooooow. While it seems peculiar that Dorothy would resort to involving Veera, who has been so curiously absent (at least to viewers), this is another person that she can manipulate/exploit because they have something of value to her. I can only imagine that Veera was happy to help considering the slightly chilly reception she’s received from the family; hell, she probably thought she really was helping Leanne.

Terry, I’ll turn it back over to you because I want to hear your thoughts on that chaotic finale. What did you make of the way it was shot (did it remind you of the kitchen action from “Ring”)? Were you surprised that Aunt Josephine’s body was discovered in the crawlspace? And any insight on that garish necklace Leanne is gifted?

TERRY

I’m glad you brought up the drawings, Joe, because I’m struck by the thought that maybe she’s subconsciously willing those drawings into being. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that she’s drawing them as they happen and, back in “Donkey”, I just assumed she was seeing events. But looking at what she was drawing suggests that maybe she’s the one actively summoning the events.

It goes back to the bees. They didn’t attack Sean (Leanne’s number one) and after the attack was over, they all began to shrivel up and die. I had thought this was a weird and notable moment that Servant obviously wanted us to pay attention to. Also, they appeared because Leanne realized that Dorothy was doing this moms and tots thing not for Jericho, but for herself. Later, this is followed up with Dorothy’s breasts squirting milk, another event that came when Leanne was feeling underappreciated and thought that Dorothy wasn’t doing her motherly duties. Whether consciously or not, this journal reveal seems to suggest that Leanne has had some hand in summoning these pests and unfortunate situations.

Which brings us to this chaotic ending that reminded me how well Servant visually depicts the Turner household as both claustrophobically small and endless. The way the cameras whipped around corners, following one character before switching to another as they rushed through the various floors was fantastic. Dorothy getting caught on the baby gate to the point that she ended up tearing it down. The way Sean scrambles over the makeshift bridge in the basement and the ground cracks again. All the while, Leanne stands outside in the pouring rain, quietly awaiting (or basking in?) for the moment when they realize they need her. This is the second episode directed by Celine Held & Logan George and the talent on display makes me incredibly excited for their upcoming movie produced by M. Night and starring Lauren Ambrose (and Dylan O’Brien!).

Two final nuggets: The first is the necklace, which you brought up. I wish I had more insight into it, though it does feel as if they’re presenting gifts to her (or Jericho?) in ways reminiscent of the pilgrimage made for Jesus. I don’t know enough about Christianity to really dig into the symbolism here, but it feels important, yeah?

The other important detail concerns Jericho and the doll. This isn’t the first time Servant has suggested Leanne’s proximity to the doll is what makes it Jericho…but if that is true, what does that mean? Is the thing that everyone hugs, passes around, feeds and cleans up after really just a doll and her powers are illusionary in nature? Or does it become a vessel for Jericho’s soul – the very soul that Julian saw in his near death experience?

You also brought up the fact that Dorothy and Julian stumbled upon Leanne’s makeshift tomb for Josephine and so I want to turn the question back to you: did they find Josephine? Dorothy certainly seemed to look around the corner, but her reaction didn’t really give away what she saw. Did she see Josephine, but in the trauma of the moment, needed to know more about Jericho? Or has Josephine decayed enough that she might have missed seeing her? I’m uncertain about that scene as a whole, particularly as it comes towards the end of the episode filled with potential revelations. Do you think she did see Josephine? Do you think we’ll get more of that next episode? And do you have any thoughts about what is going on with that doll and Jericho? And what do you want from these last few episodes?

JOE

I’ll confess that when I posed the question about Josephine, it’s because I was similarly uncertain. For my money I don’t think Dorothy saw her body. We hear Dorothy exclaim “caterpillars” and then back away, so it’s possible that the latest pest infestation was enough to scare Dorothy away before she actually set eyes on the corpse. Which really just means that that body is still waiting in the wings, ready to be discovered.

As for the doll/Jericho question, this is one of the longest running debates I’ve had about the show. Is Jericho a real child…or simply connected to Leanne and her physical proximity? If we use your theory about Leanne’s ability to will events into reality, then it’s entirely possible that Jericho is only a real child when she chooses. And if you stop to consider the implications of that, it’s actually a pretty horrifying proposition because it means that the Turners are effectively prisoners of Leanne’s will forever. Like, how would that work as Jericho ages? Does it mean they’ll have to live with Leanne forever?

Ultimately I don’t think Servant will truly investigate this. The three seasons we’ve seen have yet to cover the span of a year in the world of the show, so I imagine by the finale Jericho will still be a baby (or a doll, depending on what happens to Leanne).

As for what’s to come? I feel like we’re overdue for a reappearance of the cult. I can’t imagine the deaths of two members will go unnoticed, unless they were outliers and/or working for themselves. While everything in season three has focused on the burgeoning conflict between Leanne and Dorothy, the women are united in their battle against the cult so that seems like an obvious way to reach a detente before season’s end.

With that said, however, the next few episodes could be very rocky for mother and nanny. Dorothy isn’t going to take the events of this episode in stride and everything we know about her suggests that Dorothy will be petulant, difficult and antagonistic (which, to be clear, are valid ways to feel considering everyone backed Leanne over her). At the minimum, her relationship with Sean will be even more strained, and she’ll definitely take out her feelings on him.

So yeah, the Turner house is going to be hella uncomfortable for at least the next episode.

One thing I don’t want to see that I’ve been dreading? Some kind of romance between Sean and Leanne. It’s been lurking on the margins for most of the show, but recently there’s been more and more of a flirtation to the way that Leanne praises Sean for his work on Gourmet Gauntlet. It makes their relationship feel like it’s at a turning point. If we’re not headed for a detente between Leanne and Dorothy, there could be a full-on coup if Leanne makes a play for lady of the house.

We’ll find out next week when we jump back to QueerHorrorMovies for episode 8, ‘Donut.’