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 2.05 “Cake”

Episode 2.05 “Cake”: The Turners scramble for a pivotal meeting. Leanne bakes a mysterious cake.

TERRY

Mozart’s “Lacrimosa” must be the in song to listen to when the world is going mad, Joe, because this is the third time since last summer that it’s been used in properties I’ve/we’ve covered. It showed up in She Dies Tomorrow on repeat as the main character was obsessing and going slightly mad. It showed up in Monsterland in “New York, NY” as the CEO was going insane. And now we have Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose) listening to it while she furiously whisks pancake batter.

Leanne (Nell Tiger Free) is now allowed to roam the house for an hour a day and I’m doubling down on my assertion last week that Dorothy wasn’t completely aware of what she was doing last episode. She makes a comment that she’s sorry “we forgot about you all weekend. You must be starving. I’m going to make it up to you.” And maybe more time has passed since the last episode, but “Cake” feels like it’s directly following the events. If so, then Dorothy seems to think she hasn’t seen Leanne for a few days.

It’s this kind of bait-and-switch that plays into the assumption she knows exactly what she did because Sean (Toby Kebbell) is still aghast at Dorothy’s actions. He’s introduced with a glass of wine in one hand and a sliver of expensive pork in the other. It might be prosciutto...but given the Turners’ predilection to order flour from Amsterdam, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s actually Jamón Ibérico ham shavings (i.e., $4,500 for a leg). Either way, he’s busy staring into the body-shaped hole where, just a bit ago, Leanne was buried alive in.

So while Dorothy’s focus on “making it up to her” and telling Sean that she knows she went “way too far” suggests she’s aware that she did, in fact, go too far last episode...it’s entirely possible Dorothy thinks she’s apologizing for forgetting Leanne over the weekend. Leaving someone to starve for a weekend is mighty cruel. All this to say that I’m still firmly in the camp that Dorothy’s not completely aware of the torture and premature burial.

Regardless, she’s switched up her tactics and has invited poor, dopey Tobe (Tony Revolori) over for breakfast with Leanne. It’s like a blended little family and it’s actually a bit uncomfortable how Dorothy (and to a lesser extent Tobe) seems very calm and collected with the situation. Leanne, meanwhile, is shooting daggers out of her eye. I love the passive aggressive way she sits at the table, angling her arm at Dorothy so she can see three scratch marks on her forearm. Tobe tries to make awkward small talk about how he, too, was once in with a “bad crew.”

No, they weren’t cultists...but they did do a lot of blow.

In a show where I’m not sure who the good and bad people are, with party lines constantly drawn and redrawn and each character sometimes playing the hero and the villain in any moment, the one person I feel the worst for is Tobe. Poor, innocent Tobe.

One of the few BIPOC characters on the show who is constantly roped into the Turners’ rich, white nonsense.

Here his affection for Leanne and the bond they established in season one is used as a ruse of good cop/bad cop to try and find a way through Leanne’s icy exterior. None of the characters have told him the truth, and Leanne seems content not to contradict the Turners publicly. So Tobe just wallows in his affection for Leanne while being constantly used for it. I have a feeling this isn’t going to end well for him.

But I haven’t even gotten past breakfast yet, Joe, nor the meat (or...carb?) of the episode. A package with a miniature baby in it and a note directing them to “Bring $200,000 to the Franklinville Mall Food Court. 8 PM tomorrow. Cash only.” shows up at their doorstep and it sets the Turners on edge for a variety of conflicting reasons.

I’ll toss that to you, Joe. Were you surprised at how quickly the Turners took to this ransom note? Have you noticed how surly and teenager-like Leanne has gotten this season contrasted with her more demure, childlike behavior last? And, speaking of Leanne, we get a little more background information so let’s unpack that.

JOE

Oof, I’m of two minds here, Terry. Even if Dorothy seemingly can’t recall what she did to Leanne, the simple fact is that Sean does. Whether Dorothy fugue state makes her less accountable for her actions - and even if Sean recognizes that Dorothy would self-harm if she knew the truth - the reality is that this still feels like Servant trying to have its cake and eat it, too (heh). It’s not the dealbreaker I made it out to be in our last review, but I’m still annoyed that the show is seemingly walking this back.

But also: moving on!

I’m unsure of who is the biggest rube in this episode: poor, stupid, lovesick Tobe or Sean? Obviously the former is the sad sack who really ought to pick up on how uncomfortable everything is in the Turner household, but I’ve got to go with the latter. How does Sean never connect the dots that Leanne, who has been freely roaming the house, deciphered his grade-school level password in order to hack his account and mail the Turners a ransom note? The moment when Sean began casually spelling out his password, aka his son’s name, to Julian definitely elicited a hearty chuckle from me because it is such a doofus move.

I’ll confess that I wound up a bit mixed on most of the Turner stuff. Until Uncle George (Boris McIver) unexpectedly showed up on the video feed from the mall food court, the entire ransom note simply felt like a way to get Dorothy and Sean out of the house. Compared to nearly every other episode this season, “Cake” felt a little...rudderless. It wasn’t clear where the conflict was coming from and the usual dread I’ve come to associate with the show was absent.

For me, the insight into Leanne was where all of the intrigue laid. You’re not wrong that she’s acting more like a petulant teenager this season, though to be fair she wasn’t a hostage being physically and mentally abused in S1.

The production of the fruitcake - a “kin” cake - combined with Leanne’s powers, kept me on the edge of my seat wondering whether she was performing some kind of summoning spell. Even though Uncle George does arrive at episode’s end, it felt like less of a correlation.

If nothing else, Leanne appears to be conflating Dorothy with her mother; hence her glorious final scene with the mannequin dressed up in Dorothy’s green and white dress from the opening scene.

When Tobe asks about the origins of the cake, Leanne explains the importance of finding the baby figurine as a means to identify who is “most special.” It’s not so subtly inferred that Leanne’s mother was a vindictive alcoholic who took pleasure in tormenting her children by ensuring she always found the icon.

If we read the discovery of the baby figurine as evidence of someone’s worthiness and Leanne’s clear humiliation and frustration at being made to say it aloud to her mother as a child, then it makes sense why she would want that signifier for herself. It’s the kind of self-actualization that a rebellious teenager might embark on when they have greater access and agency over their situation.

But why now, Terry? Why bake this titular cake at this particular moment? My theory is that Leanne sees both her biological mother and Dorothy as abusive maternal figures. It is significant that she embarks on a bake that is unequivocally tied to her abusive mother in the aftermath of “2:00”; Leanne is quite literally cooking up something using her powers and her new - albeit limited - house privileges.

The $64k question (or is it $200k?) question is what becomes of this spell? Christmas light bulbs explode and Leanne stares angrily at her Dorothy-mannequin (a clear proxy for the real thing), which suggests violence. Couple this with Leanne’s response when pressed by Tobe about where her mother is, “burning”, and suddenly that dread that was so absent for the rest of the episode comes roaring back.

Because that doesn’t bode well for Dorothy, Terry.

Back to you: what do you make of the kin cake and the reappearance of Uncle George? Were you surprised to see Roscoe back on the job, doing surveillance in the mall for Julian? And was Leanne planning to sleep with Tobe if Julian hadn’t interrupted?

TERRY

The thing I found the most interesting about the titular cake, Joe, is that it seems to be another insight into the distorted religion Leanne is part of. The concept of hiding a baby in cake is typically associated with king cake, a tradition that has its roots in ancient times but is mostly associated with the Christian religion, Epiphany (a subject Leanne even briefly mentions) and Mardi Gras. I think it’s safe to assume the use of “kin” versus “king” is significant, if even only to establish that her culty religion is an offshoot of Christianity. The fact that the cake is also a fruit cake and not the traditional king cake (which is typically a cinnamon-roll) also suggests an alternate version of the tradition.

I don’t believe I’ve mentioned this before, but at one point in season one, I vaguely wondered if Servant was about alternate realities and whether that’s why baby Jericho could be physically there and not at the same time. I don’t really have anything to back up this claim or thought process, except that it would be a “simple” explanation of the events happening to the Turners.

I thought about this again, particularly in reference to the kin/king cake dilemma. If we were to assume that there is a different reality, it’s possible that the idea of a fruit cake (a Christmas tradition) could be this alternate world’s “king” cake. Except it has a different name.

At this point, Joe, any small detail feels like it means something and the fact the cake has a different name but similar use seems too purposeful to ignore.

Transitioning to Roscoe’s return, there was this brief moment when Julian calls him that I thought maybe it was Julian who sent the ransom for some unknown reason. Obviously that wasn’t the case and Roscoe was there for added surveillance. It seemed the most obvious answer; far more obvious than the Turners’ insipid thought that George and May, who clearly live spartan lives could (or would) “hack” them. I was actually a bit surprised and annoyed that it took them this long to figure it out, but the shocking reappearance of Uncle George did cause me to gasp.

I think you’re right to feel mixed about this one, Joe. This episode didn’t completely work for me, either, and it felt more like a transitional plot episode that’s meant to bring Uncle George back in the fold more than exploring the characters. It feels very out of place and an outlier among the 15 episodes we’ve watched. Aside from learning about Leanne, most of this episode felt strangely forced.

I have absolutely no idea what her intentions were with hiding Tobe upstairs. What an odd situation. My favorite part, though, is when Tobe asks about the scars on Leanne’s arm and her response is, “I’m handling it.” Just two episodes ago, when Dorothy was poisoning the pizza that brought Leanne back into the fold she told Sean: “Don’t worry. I handled it.”

So you’re right, Joe, Leanne parroting this line feels incredibly ominous. And, when paired with her burning comment, as you mentioned, it hints at violence to come.

So back to you. I’m at a loss thinking about the repercussions of George’s sudden reappearance. You suggest he wasn’t summoned by the cake (and I tend to agree) so I’m curious if you have any thoughts as to why he’s suddenly there, barking “Julian” into FaceTime? And what do you think his abrupt return means for next episode? We’re just past the midpoint of the season and I’m still at a loss about where Servant is headed. Do you have any thoughts?

JOE

Admittedly, I’m also at a loss. In hindsight, so much of S1 was about the dynamic between Sean, Dorothy and Leanne - they spent a considerable amount of time circling each other like weary sharks.

Season two, in comparison, has been dominated by this escalating battle of wills between Dorthy and Leanne. The latter is asserting far more agency and cunning than we saw in S1, while Dorothy is increasingly driven by irrational, dangerous decisions. I can’t help but wonder if this will continue to build in the back half of the season, or if Sean and Julian will be brought more into the fold. If anything, they’re the outliers; the ones most likely to upset the balance because the show’s attention isn’t focused on them.

And now we also have to contend with Uncle George.

I went back to last season and Uncle George showed up in episode six, so he’s technically right on schedule with this reappearance. Obviously the circumstances are completely different because the Turners know who he is and why they should be wary of him (I’m not expecting any bland chicken dinners this go around). Plus it’s hard to imagine that he’ll leave without Leanne.

With Servant it’s never easy to predict where the series is headed and while I’m loath to use the term rudderless, S2 has proven to have a slightly less defined central conflict. Perhaps I’m just chasing the highs of that fantastic Roscoe hypnosis episode, but I’m eager to learn more about the cult and the deity they worship. I’m in complete agreement that “Cake” feels like a transitional episode, so here’s hoping that this insight into Leanne’s backstory (and possibly alternate universes) has laid the foundation for a strong back half.