[Servant Review with Joe Lipsett] "Tunnels" Delivers Fire and Brimstone and Death in a Series Best Episode

Each week Terry and Joe review the latest episode of Apple TV’s Servant S4, alternating between our respective sites.

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Spoilers follow for Episode 4.08 “Tunnels”

Episode 4.08 “Tunnels”: Sean and Julian make a decision about Leanne.

TERRY

“Sean and Julian make a decision about Leanne,” the synopsis for this episode reads and while, yes, that’s true, it certainly undersells the horror positively dripping from this episode like a category 2 storm on the skylight, Joe. 

From the moment I saw “Directed by Nimrod Antal”, I knew we were in for a wild time. We’ve said before that Servant knows when to lean into its directors’ talents and Antal (known for, amongst other things, Vacancy) knows how to build dread with stylish flourishes and camera tricks. And “Tunnels” is nothing if not evocatively dread-filled, from the establishing shots to the final, whispered threat: “I’m never going to let you back in this house.” 

Episode 8 is easily my favorite episode of the season and ranks up there with the most intense episodes of the series, personally. 

As rain pours down the attic’s skylight and begins to pool inside the Brownstone, news reports come in to tell us about the hell breaking just outside Spruce Street. Flash flood warnings. Power outages across Philadelphia. Storm drains aren’t able to keep up, as a parade of rats pour out and startle a news reporter. “An increasingly bizarre pattern of seasonal weather,” they call it, but we know it’s something more ominous. 

In a hint of things to come, Leanne (Nell Tiger Free) stands beneath the skylight as it drips rainwater on her face and she glowers up at the sky. Later, she’ll climb to the top of those very same windows, throw them open and cackle maniacally as lightning strikes the lightning rod on the roof. “Is that all you got?!” she’ll scream. 

But before we get to that, we have the paranoid, panicked and incredibly tired face of Julian (Rupert Grint) staring anxiously at his laptop, scouring a WebMD-esqe site about phantom pains and loss of speech caused by Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder. Even though Uncle George (Boris McGiver) spent a good portion of last week’s episode trying to convince Julian and Sean (Toby Kebbell) that all of their issues have a natural cause, Julian still seems unconvinced. 

For once, he’s not the family member hiding his head in the ground. Unlike Sean, he’s seen the other side and it doesn’t sound pleasant and, I think, deep down knows that there’s something more horrifying going on than “phantom pains.” 

Sean, meanwhile, pushes Jericho’s crib into Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose)’s makeshift room and has pushed a bed up against her adjustable bed. They’re like a 1950s sitcom family, their twin-sized beds pushed together…except one of the beds is mechanical. “I don’t even want to think about the basement,” Dorothy chirps about the rain pouring down outside…but the basement is clearly on Sean and Julian’s mind because they have, as the synopsis states, decided what to do about Leanne. And it involves Uncle George, the tunnels and, unbeknownst to them, fire and blood. 

“Tunnels” sets up the final fight. The climax. And it is an episode positively dripping with intense dread. From the horror homages like Julian counting the time between the lightning strikes and resulting thunder (Poltergeist) to the very specific Psycho shot of the shower interspliced with Leanne drenching herself in God’s rage to the slow-plodding way the camera moves through the house, Nimrod Antal pulls every bit of tension he can. With the power out, the house feels completely malicious, as if something bad is just around the corner. “Tunnels” also dispenses with most of the side characters, for example sending Leanne’s disciples running from the storm and into the city to spread Leanne’s voice. 

And then we come to Uncle George’s exit stage left. 

This is a very juicy episode, Joe. Thrilling television and, for me, some of the best Servant has offered. I legitimately gasped three or four times. So I’m curious if we’re on the same page, Joe. Was “Tunnels” complete embrace of horror as effective for you as it was for me? Let’s unpack the violence that explodes in the tunnels and continues into the main house. Did “who said I was wicked?” give you goosebumps? And what did you think of the environmental storytelling? 

JOE

You cued me in that you were dazzled by this one with your vague tweet so I was anticipating something good when I hit play. And you’re right, this is a stand-out episode, if only because Servant has run out of time. The finale is nigh, Terry, which means writer Laura Marks has to make some big swings to set up these last two episodes.

Season four hasn’t exactly been a slow burn, but there’s been a lot of talk - first from Dorothy, then Sean and Julian - about making a move on Leanne. But it’s mostly talk or half-executed plans. “Tunnels” is the second real attempt on the nanny, but it’s the first time that the Turners have gotten their hands dirty. 

This isn’t a half-cocked blackout party where the neighbours have to perform a tase and grab. This isn’t inviting a seventy year-old killer physiotherapist to live in the basement. 

This is a plan that requires Julian and Sean to forcibly grab Leanne, carry her bodily downstairs to the basement and deliver her to Uncle George and his followers at 2am in the morning. If the Turners truly want to dispense with Leanne, this is the last best shot they have.

Credit to them: it nearly works. Sean and Julian hold up their end of the bargain (Sidebar: I have to wonder if Leanne’s particularly savage removal of the knife in Sean’s chest is because he dropped her on her head). 

Terry, we’ve always appreciated Servant’s ability to open up new spaces in the Brownstone, so shout-out to the production team for giving us (what I assume) is one last one: the tunnels. Lit by fire and flanked by anonymous CLS followers, Uncle George waits in an open space as Leanne is wheeled in like the ceremonial sacrifice she is. 

The dialogue that follows is fascinating: Uncle George acknowledges that they can’t kill her, so he tries to sway her. He explains that she is an open wound and pleads with her that if she truly loves the Turners, she must set them free from the living hell she’s created. Obviously we’re deep into religious rhetoric with these phrases, as the capital H “Him” clearly evokes God and Leanne is the “fallen” Lucifer (highlighted in last week’s episode by the close-up page of Liam Tegler Corr’s Significant Form: Symbol and Allegory in Western Art).

So Uncle George can’t contain her, nor can he kill her. He can only appeal to her love of the Turners and ask her to kill herself. She is the only “creature” strong enough to do so. 

And for a moment, much like Sean and Julian’s efforts to get her down into the basement, it nearly works. Leanne honestly seems to consider what Uncle George is saying…until he oversteps and calls her wicked. 

That’s when things get a little stabby. 

RIP Uncle George as I don’t think he’s coming back from this wound (credit Antal for the indelible image of the superheated blade visible in George’s gaping mouth after Leanne stabs him through the chin). And obviously we knew the generic cultists weren’t long for this world, but there’s still something horrific about hearing their offscreen deaths as Leanne goes into full-on slasher mode and takes them out.

That alone would have made this a pretty incredible episode, Terry, but Leanne’s wrath isn’t satiated. As Dorothy hits the shower (creating yet another visual parallel to Leanne after the nanny’s earlier scene in the rain on the roof), Leanne takes out both Sean and Julian with ruthless efficiency.

I’ll turn it back over to you, Terry: What did you think of Leanne vs the men and were you surprised that they were both gravely wounded? You mentioned Leanne’s line to Sean, but what about the final scene between her and Dorothy on the stairs? And what did you make of their earlier conversation in Jericho’s room when Dorothy kinda/sorta extends an olive branch?

TERRY   

It’s been a little bit since we talked about Lauren Ambrose’s often powerhouse performance as Dorothy, Joe, and I definitely wanted to touch on her. Because she’s been confined to a bed and a wheelchair for most of the season, Ambrose hasn’t been able to really stretch those acting chops in a physical way. 

She’s been very reactive and being bedridden has sidelined her almost as much as it has sidelined Jericho. But between “Myth” and now “Tunnels,” Ambrose is finally given the meaty material we’ve come to expect for Dorothy. 

The physicality of this episode, with the fantastically staged montage comparing Leanne’s defiant embrace of the downpouring storm contrasted with Dorothy taking in the warmth of the shower works both as a thematic device contrasting the two characters but also a subtle bit of physical acting. Dorothy, in particular, pulling herself into the shower, the camera focused on the dark scar down her spine, stands out, particularly as it’s followed up with her falling and then crawling desperately for Jericho. 

But she’s also given more internal conflict to mull through in “Tunnels” and it’s here where Ambrose’s nuanced performance really works. Coming from the revelations in “Myth”, where Dorothy discovers that Leanne has been obsessed with her and visited her on the anniversary of Leanne’s mother’s death, she has a new perspective, I think. 

For one, the way it's presented as a fawning obsession over Dorothy feeds into Dorothy’s desire to be famous and successful. That a young girl from Wisconsin could see Dorothy and want to insert herself in her life validates that she and Sean were TV’s power couple. But also the somewhat tender exchange between the two of them does feel like an olive branch. At this point, Dorothy realizes (somewhat incorrectly) that Leanne is just a broken girl, looking for her mother. Even though her arrival has been the catalyst for immense amounts of pain and horror for the family, there seems to be an indication that not all is lost. 

It also heightens the mother/daughter relationship that Servant has been building between the two of them. Leanne tells Dorothy that she just wants to make her happy and Dorothy, ever the dutiful parent scolding a child, tells her that’s not her job. But even still, this olive branch is lined with conditions: “Perhaps I can help you see things a different way.” Their relationship is still on Dorothy’s terms as a parental figure…not as an equal. 

As for the more bombastic moments of violence, I did gasp, Joe, when Leanne let the menfolk have it. For a moment there I honestly thought Sean was killed when the knife went into his chest (presumably near his heart). I was less concerned for Julian as he tumbled into the brackish water in the basement, though the wine shelves cascading on him felt like a tomb of alcohol (wine; his favorite) closing its doors. Shout out to Rupert Grint’s paranoid and horrified physical acting this episode. His wide-eyed looks of panic were fantastic. 

Finally, the scene between Leanne and Dorothy. I loved the way it was staged. Throughout this episode, Dorothy has been filmed through ordinary parts of the house representing the prison she’s entombed in. After she falls in the bathroom, she drags herself into Jericho’s room and we see her holding onto the crib, as if they’re bars keeping her away from what she wants. 

Later, when she’s forced to look through the posts of the winding staircase, it is filmed as if she’s stuck behind bars. By the time we get to this quiet showdown between the two leading women, Dorothy has literally as well as figuratively been fully interred in the Brownstone. And Nimrod Antal films the two of them on the opposite side of the staircase where, just a few episodes ago, Dorothy’s body careened down, separated by those very same bars. It’s a frightening image, particularly with Nell Tiger Free’s delivery of, “it’s just you and me now.” 

We’re at the end, Joe. Two episodes left. And it seems as if we’re really focusing solely on the conflict between the Turners and Leanne now. So do you have any lingering thoughts about this intense episode? What do you think is going to happen in the next episode? Was this the climax? And is there any way that these characters can salvage their lives at this point?

JOE

I mentioned to you offline that it wouldn’t surprise me if this was the “action” climax of the series and the next episode (or two) focuses primarily on the emotional stuff. Sean and Julian have effectively been sent packing and, while I don’t think it’s the last we’ll see of them, I wouldn’t be surprised if the entirety of episode nine is the face-off/showdown/battle of wills between the women that we’ve been waiting four seasons for. 

You mentioned that even now Dorothy is upholding the power hierarchy, withholding her affection like a disapproving parent, despite the fact that Leanne holds all of the power and Dorothy is physically incapacitated. I agree…but Dorothy’s biggest asset has never been her physical prowess over Leanne. 

I’m reflecting back on Dorothy’s role throughout the episode (and, yes, the series): she speaks. Her literal job is reporting, using her verbal language and her people skills to command attention, sway viewers and report the facts. The fact that Dorothy goes into research mode in this episode plays like the rising action of a horror film when the hero hits the archives or the microfiche to uncover her opponent’s weakness before the dramatic final battle.

Considering Leanne’s actions and her expanding desire for power, she’s clearly coded by the series as the villain (despite the equally nefarious actions of the Turners, which we have repeatedly discussed). When push comes to shove, it does ultimately feel like Servant is siding with Dorothy against Leanne.

So there are two episodes left and Dorothy is by herself - a Final Girl, if you will - and all she has are her words. My prediction for the next episode? I anticipate that Dorothy will do her best to woo, con and convince Leanne to let go of this surrogate relationship and leave the Turners in peace. She’s tried it before, but she’s let her passion and emotions interfere with her goal. If Dorothy can stick with logic, if she can stay in “calm and collected” Channel 8 reporting mode, that may be enough to sway her nemesis.

“Tunnels” gave us the fire, the brimstone, and the blood; I expect the penultimate episode to deliver the sermons. Give us the Lauren Ambrose Emmy reel we need (and deserve), I beg of you, Servant!

We’ll find out when we hop back to QueerHorrorMovies next week.