Each week Terry and Joe review the latest episode of Apple TV’s Servant S2, 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 2.03 “Pizza”

Episode 2.03 “Pizza”: The Turners open up a family business as a front for a more important mission.

TERRY

You asked me during last week’s recap of “Spaceman” what I thought episode three would entail, Joe, and I responded I had no clue and that was exciting. This week’s description does a terrible job of explaining what “Pizza” had in store and I’ll be completely honest that about ten minutes in, I thought we had our first bummer of an episode this season. Thankfully, the last half of the episode really changed my opinion and perspective...but we’ll get to that eventually.

“Pizza” begins with a flashback to Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose), pregnant as hell and dragging herself into the house, her hands covered in blood. “Spaceman” ended with an incredibly backwards tracking shot, pulling out of the house and “Pizza” opens with a nice reversal, as the camera tracks Dorothy’s crawl back into the house. Then we get an in-house meeting with her doctor (Yan Xi) who warns that if she puts even one foot on the ground, she’s going to end up back in the hospital. Dorothy has to stay in bed and rely on Sean (Toby Kebell)’s help until she gives birth, which proves to be a point of contention that continues through both the flashbacks and the present.

In a nice transition, “Pizza” moves from the living room flashback to the present to show the room is a state of disarray, with Always Sunny-levels of newspaper clippings and photos of Dorothy and Jericho taped to the wall. After using her guest spot on the news to make a very loud demand of the public, Dorothy is on a warpath to find Leanne (Nell Tiger Free) and, most importantly, Jericho. It seems that Julian (Rupert Grint)’s ransom note plan is succeeding almost too well, as she’s sent him and Sean on quests to track down names and addresses from the public hotline.

“This is a fucking disaster,” Julian exclaims to Sean at one point and Sean kind of hedges and says, “Seems like she’s back to her old self.” This project has energized her, no doubt. But it has also given her a razor-focus on finding Leanne...which is the opposite of what Julian probably intended.

Most of the beginning of “Pizza” is focused on a very large house (Julian humorously calls it “disgustingly excessive...I want one”) with a very large gate, belonging to the Marino family. Dorothy thinks the fence is a sign they’re hiding people while Sean (rightfully) suggests they’re just rich. There’s a push/pull here as Sean doesn’t want to investigate simply because Leanne could be at the house and he doesn’t completely know how to handle that situation when it does happen. Hilariously, this drama does give us a very funny exchange where Dorothy exclaims that “[Jericho] could be on the other side of those gates...and you’re making hummus!”

So they do more stakeouts while Dorothy digs into the family’s social media. After watching a food delivery van leave the premises, the Turners devise an excessively complicated plan to get inside: they will create a fake pizza business.

When they learn that the Marinos are religious, they decide it will be called Cheezus Crust and they design fliers. Sean, of course, creates various pizza pies to expertly photograph. The pizzas are made with such care and attention that they cost $30 to produce and they’re selling it for $13 in order to entice an order from the Marinos.

It’s all very involved and after the first two episodes this season, it feels a little silly and sitcom-y, if I’m being honest. In this early section, the choice to pair this stakeout and Dorothy’s obsession with flashbacks to her stuck in bed, ordering her husband to make her calamari with flour he has to import from Amsterdam really felt a bit on-the-nose in a way that Servant doesn’t typically feel. By the time Julian shows up in a tux (“I was at the opera!”) and Dorothy shouts at him, “you can’t deliver pizza in tails!” I was ready to write the episode off as a silly departure for the series. While Servant obviously has a darkly comedic bent, this opening of “Pizza” felt almost farcical and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

Luckily, though, as it moves into the middle section, that silly setup does start to pay off as “Pizza” fully commits to the ruse. The tone completely changes when the Marino family orders twenty cheese pizzas. Suddenly, Dorothy’s proclamation that their nine bedroom house feels like “a barracks” has more meaning. And I think because of the sitcom-styled opening of “Turners create a fake pizza business!”, the change feels more dramatic and hits harder.

So I’ll send their unimaginative pizza order over to you to deliver, Joe. Coming from the deliciously dark, creepy and ominous first two episodes, were you as perplexed by the opening tone of “Pizza”? Servant has always relied on technology (Apple branded, natch) so I’m curious, what did you think of this episode’s novel second-screen use of technology? Were you surprised to see Tobe (Tony Revolori) show back up as Sean’s sous-chef? And can we talk about the uncomfortable way this very rich, white family uses one of the few non-white characters to do their criminal bidding?

JOE

It’s fascinating because when reading over your reaction to the Turners’ ridiculous Pizza Heist, it does sound like a sitcom farce, but it didn’t feel that way when I was watching.

Perhaps it went down more smoothly for me because of how the past and present is juxtaposed to provide context of how Dorothy responds in a crisis. This may be one of the earliest flashbacks we’ve seen on Servant and it’s coincidentally one of the few that portrays Dorothy in a moment of weakness and vulnerability. Sure the calamari business is classic bitchy Dorothy, but there’s panic amidst the determination in her eyes as she “handles it” by first planting her feet on the ground and then recovering when she briefly slips on the stairs.

It’s dramatic and tense, but more importantly, we now know that when something needs to be done - be it extinguish a small kitchen fire or start a fake business to entrap strangers - there isn’t a step too far for Dorothy. I’ll admit that it’s not as subtle as we’re used to with the show and perhaps that’s why it didn’t land as well for you, Terry, but if nothing else, “Pizza” confirms that Dorothy will force her way through any situation to get what she wants, regardless of who it hurts, be it Sean (by excluding him), Tobe (by implicating him) or Leanne (by drugging her).

Moving into the back half of the episode, I can’t complain about the silliness of the premise when the pay-off is so strong. The interplay around Julian, his tux, his frustration about being asked Natalie (more on that in a bit) and then roping Tobe into doing their dirty work? It’s chuckle-worthy stuff.

Then suddenly we’re in an Apple-branded found footage (live footage?) horror film, watching along with the Turners as Tobe infiltrates the house and begins exploring room by room. I wasn’t sure what to expect: would we see Aunt May and the other cultists? Would we see “Him”? Even the glimpse of the sickly Mrs. Marino, who poses no threat, seems uncertain because we don’t know what kind of situation poor Tobe has been sent in to infiltrate. Everything is possible and the shaky, body cam direction is perfect at creating an unsettling, uncertain mood.

This expert shifting back and forth between tones and suspense is further proven when Leanne is finally pinned down for some exposition when she explains to Tobe why she left the Turners - and more specifically Dorothy - behind. The dialogue is similar to where we left off last episode, when Leanne pressed Sean about what he’s asked of his wife. Here Leanne confides in Tobe (thinking it’s a private conversation and not one being broadcast onto a TV the size of a personal movie theatre): “It’s Dorothy. She’s not like she is on the television. She’s selfish. She’s cruel. And she’s mean.”

Terry, there’s something so personal about these words. When she spoke to Sean, Leanne’s accusatory tone and words felt directly tied to Dorothy’s neglectful role in Jericho’s death. This exchange suggests more direct; again it makes me wonder if Leanne’s connection to the Turners is tied directly to that interview Dorothy did with a very young Leanne way back in S01E05. Is Leanne truly upset that Dorothy accidentally killed her baby...or is she childishly upset that an older, more sophisticated woman mistreated her? After all, Leanne demonstrated repeatedly throughout S1 that she doesn’t have a firm grasp on the subtleties of human interaction.

Of course Leanne’s issues with her former employer remain unclear for now because Dorothy is too busy taking care of business. I should have anticipated that Dorothy would drug Leanne, particularly after Sean refused to let his wife leave the house when they confirmed where the nanny was.

How else can Dorothy get the audience with the nanny that she craves? Might as well knock her out and order Tobe to bring her back to the Brownstone!

So yes, Tobe is not only involved in this nonsense white person fake business ruse, he’s now implicated in a drugging and kidnapping crime. And it’s so much worse when Dorothy shows her hand: she knows full well the position she’s put Tobe in when she actively threatens to sell him out to the police in the episode’s closing moments.

Oof. Ambrose is so great in this role, but man...Dorothy is a challenging character!

But Terry, I feel like you’ve got plenty more to say about this. How do you feel about how it plays visually and, now that a fake ransom has escalated into a legitimate kidnapping, how do you feel about the moral ambiguity of Dorothy’s actions?

Also: did you like the repeated foot visual motif by episode director Ishana Night Shyamalan, M. Night’s daughter? And what do you make of Julian dropping the bottle of wine into the decaying basement and Sean’s assessment that he “looks awful”? Has he just broken up with Natalie or is there something more going on?

TERRY

I’m glad you brought up the basement, Joe, because the casual disorder in the house is something that I immediately honed in on. It’s another way in which the flashbacks help shine light on the family’s current mental state that goes further than simple lighting and filter choices. The house during Dorothy’s pregnancy is immaculate with everything in its place. The house in the present, meanwhile, is a warzone. Dorothy has moved to sleeping in the living room, the walls are a mess of conspiracy pictures...and then there’s that basement.

The crack seemingly caused by Leanne’s anger has turned into an outright chasm, filled with mud. Instead of fixing it, it’s become another thing the family can blissfully ignore by placing a two-by-four bridge across it in order to access the wine. What I love about this gaping chasm is that I think it ties into the conversation Sean had with Leanne in “Spaceman.”

The crack widened after Leanne forcefully asked Sean why he’s still lying to Dorothy, as if she’s frustrated that the Turners will not face the truth. Like the balloon back in season one, the Turners continue to ignore the problem in the middle of the room. In S1, the balloon was a metaphor for the elephant in the room they don’t want to discuss, so they’re forced to talk around it. Here, they just build a freaking bridge over it. Problem (not) solved! I’m incredibly excited to see if this dilapidation continues to spread and the house continues to fall apart around them as they pursue their single-minded quest.

As for the awful-looking Julian, I do think his relationship with Natalie is over. Her impassioned plea to him last episode where she went through the litany of things she’s tried, including dropping acid with him, shows just how uninterested he is in believing in something…”no matter how stupid it sounds” (her words).

I think this is the fallout of that conversation. Whether that means Natalie broke up with Julian because she’s tired of fighting him or whether Julian dropped her because he’s not ready to face the supernatural world he’s faced with, I’m not sure. He does seem distraught over it, though, particularly in his choice of going to the opera, an event that we know, through Dorothy, Natalie doesn’t care for. I will say that his snippy answer, “Good for her,” seems to be that childishly petulant response he’d have for a person who dumped him, though.

My favorite part of this episode, though, is the way it used second screen horror and the Apple-branded technology in intriguing ways. Servant continues to find visually intriguing ways to utilize technology that keeps us stuck inside the Turner house while still amping up the tension. We talked a bit offline, but it reminded me a lot of the found footage horror film [rec] in that it’s portrayed in first person and we follow someone through a house, maneuvering up the stairs and seeing only what our POV camera person sees.

Like in [rec], this created and sustained a high level of tension because I was waiting for someone (or something) to jump out at me. The tonal shift from when Tobe was downstairs with the room full of soccer kids to his first few steps on the staircase was immense. And I’ll admit to gasping when Leanne materializes down the hall with a “why are you here?”

I’m now wondering if we’ll have a repeat of this in the actual cult’s church/domicile. Can you imagine the Turners sending someone as a spy into the cult and watching from the household as their spy runs into the hook-man? I’m hoping Servant does something more with this.

But enough with me gushing about the technology, I didn’t get to answer your question about the visual motif of the feet and I’m curious what your thoughts are on it? It’d be easy to write-off Ishana Night Shyamalan’s directorial role here as nepotism, but what are your thoughts on her keen attention to details such as the feet in this episode? And dare I even ask the question...now that Dorothy has Leanne back...what do you think is going to happen in episode four? Particularly now that we’ve seen Dorothy’s vicious enough to poison Leanne...how far is she going to push get information out of Leanne and...how dark is this episode going to get?

JOE

I’ll confess that I only noticed who directed because I kept honing in on the feet - to such an extent that I wondered if it was a director trademark (Quentin Tarantino, is that you?).

Yes, there’s obviously a touch of nepotism here as Shyamalan gives his director daughter an opportunity to cut her teeth on his TV series. But she does such a great job with the material that I can’t be mad; particularly considering the ingenuity of the framing of the screen horror sections and how successfully tense they are.

Regarding the feet: for me it’s a visual metaphor for Dorothy’s determination, a kind of “put your boots on and get to work” mentality. Dorothy is very obviously a woman who likes to be in charge (in hindsight I can’t help but wonder if this is why Sean and Julian cooked up all of these lies in the first place: they weren’t protecting her; they were trying to contain her obsessive need to be in control).

In “Pizza”, this plays out in pretty literal fashion as Dorothy puts her feet down and does the hard work that she thought Sean and Julian were incapable of doing. She wanted Leanne back and, unlike them, she was willing to engage in whatever morally dubious behaviour it took to make it happen.

It’s not subtle, but these repeated shots of her setting off to get shit done pulls double duty by not only confirming one of Dorothy’s defining character traits, but also foreshadowing that ending with the poison. It’s actually pretty ingenious.

Speaking of poor poisoned Leanne: I’m terrified for that unassuming nanny!

While I doubt that Servant is headed into torture porn territory, there’s no uncertainty in my mind that in the next episode we’re going to see Leanne tied up and gagged. My only question is whether it will be in that spare bedroom Julian was sleeping in...or if they’ll keep her locked up in that increasingly volatile basement, away from prying eyes. Because that basement is rapidly becoming the show’s source of horror and something terrible is going to happen down there. Mark my words!

Regardless of where she ends up, Leanne has got some dark times coming up. I’m scared for her, but I, for one, can’t wait to see just how far Dorothy (and subsequently Sean and Julian) are willing to take this.

We’ll find out next week when we hop back over to QueerHorrorMovies for episode four, “2:00.”