Servant - Season 3
apple tv+When any streaming service first launches, the immediate push is for exciting new original content that will hook viewers and hopefully secure subscribers. When Apple TV+ first launched in 2019, they looked to not only create original content but create original content with some of the hottest and most well-regarded individuals working both in front of and behind the camera. One of the first projects to launch on the platform in this push was M. Night Shyamalan's Servant. Created by Tony Basgallop with a fantastic hook and ambitious 60-episode plan, many were hopeful for the series yet slowly things have begun to wind down for the project. From the audience becoming more and more niche to production scaling things back to a 40-episode layout, plans clearly changed yet finally the path towards the finale seems clear with the penultimate season being released. Continuing in the aftermath of Season 2 where Leanne (Nell Tiger Free) cemented her place with the Turners and prepared for war against the Church of Lesser Saints cult, Servant Season 3 had all the potential to ramp things up and once again hook viewers on the road to the finale but ultimately disappoints in this goal.
The largest complaint many find within the show is simply how slow it is. Episodes will go by with nothing of substance truly happening as the show seems to prioritise having a creepy style over actually making progress. This complaint has never felt as real as it does in Season 3. Particularly for the first half of the season, the show decides to wallow with its characters as normal life passes them by. The paranoia of the threat – which finally became clear at the end of the previous season – still haunts Leanne, but this is nothing more than paranoia. To say that the season drags as a result of this focus would be an understatement. This is the final season before the show reaches its climax, yet it is still relying on incredibly weak moments of forced tension and paranoia that time and time again result in nothing. To directly promise that a war is on the horizon and then follow that up with fun trips to the beach and a club of moms doing yoga is beyond frustrating. Considering how drawn out the show already is, it is genuinely horrifying to think that this is the reduced version of a story originally set to be 20-episodes longer.
If there is one saving grace to these episodes it is the craft that goes into them. As with every episode to come before, the style of the show is infectious with the perfect blend of elegance and darkness. The cinematography and production design of this beautiful Philadelphia home is still just as mesmerising 30-episodes later as it was when the show first started. The soundtrack by Trevor Gureckis also masterfully creeps onto the audience and sinks its fangs in at just the right moment. The performances are simply stunning. To see Nell Tiger Free finally come out of her shell and show a deeper emotional range plays wonderfully as development compared to what she has provided in past seasons. Both Toby Kebbell and Rupert Grint continue to provide playful banter and dialogue that fits incredibly naturally into their more serious moments, but it is clear that the MVP of this production is Lauren Ambrose.
The emotional range and power that Ambrose carries are incredible, with some of the monologues she gives being some of the strongest work seen in any project in recent memory. The ensemble has also built incredibly natural chemistry and rhythm that feels authentic and real. There is a beat to how these characters move about each other and interact with each other that can't be written or forced, it has to be built from a cast that is right for each other as actors and it is clear that Servant has exceeded in finding the perfect cast for this.
No matter how strong these performances are, the final result still feels frustrating as their writing is awful at times. The show feels as if there is no direction or follow-through. Every episode, characters change so drastically that it never is clear what is actually going on. Does Dorthy actually like Leanne? Does Sean like Dorthy? Instead of being complex relationships with layers, it feels like the answers to these and similar questions change every episode which is frustrating to watch. To compare how characters act from the beginning of the season to the end, much less to other seasons, is simply lazy and speaks to poor writing overall.
Even with these complaints, it is impossible to say that Servant is a show that is unwatchable. Even when the story is bad and the characters don't make sense, the show knows just how to craft the perfect cliffhanger to get audiences to tune in the next week and just when to put a really good scene to make audiences feel like there is enough good to keep going. When blended with the strong craft and performances, this creates a strange identity for the show. While it is hard to say the show is good or worthwhile for new viewers, there is something that keeps drawing audiences in and there is just enough to make the show worthwhile for those already hooked. There is constantly a hope felt that something major is right around the corner and that this entire show will be worthwhile, but the show continually fails to live up to these expectations. With only 1 season left, it is now or never for Servant to prove itself but looking at Season 3, it is hard to build real expectations as the show has a bad habit of dropping the ball even when the small key moments are excellent.
