TV Review: Servant Season 1
I was intrigued by Servant ever since it was announced. M. Night Shyamalan is a writer/director that I respect, mainly because of brilliantly executed films like The Sixth Sense. I“ll also admit that Unbreakable is a personal favorite, and it still to this day works as a powerful take on the superhero genre. However, even with his least effective films, Shyamalan always offers a unique and fascinating vision, and his work is always worth following for that alone.
Servant represents a new and somewhat bold take for Shyamalan, moving away from feature films and into the world of episodic television. The story centers around a couple, Sean and Dorothy Turner (played by Toby Kebbell and Lauren Ambrose), who recently lost their infant son Jericho. As a way of coping, they use a fringe psychological technique by using a replacement doll. Along the way, the couple hire an 18-year-old nanny, Leanne Grayson (played by Nell Tiger Free), to assist them. This leads into a tale of psychological horror as unexplained events take place, and mysteries deepen about both Leanne and the truth of baby Jericho“s death.
The approach of this series is quite clever, though it unfortunately drags early on until the midseason. The opening episode is directed by Shyamalan himself, and he does an excellent job of introducing the cast. The directing sets up the house itself as a character in the series, and the fact the house is Shyamalan“s real-life home allows him to give the episode intimacy. However, after a strong end-of-episode swerve, the pacing drags for several episodes, and it isn“t until midseason that interest starts to pick up again. The pacing is methodical and helps to establish the horror elements, but at times the story focuses too much on mundane household tasks rather than moving the story along. In fairness, Tony Basgallop is a capable screenwriter, and when the story hits the important beats, they are tense and emotionally moving. The focus on a powerful adult fear such as the death of a child hits beautifully at times, and the revelations are satisfying when 
they“re finally unveiled.
The cast of Servant are largely not that recognizable, but they work quite nicely as an ensemble. Lauren Ambrose is a skilled veteran actress, and her portrayal of a mother who has retreated into denial hits the mark. She never oversells the performance, and she makes Dorothy quite likable in the way she presents herself, and that helps keep her sympathetic even into the late episodes. Rupert Grint is best known as Ron Weasley from Harry Potter, but he“s grown noticeably as an actor; in fact, his take as Dorothy“s wine-loving brother Julian made him my favorite character in the entire show. Grint adds a deep world-weariness to Julian that I“d never seen from him, and it makes Julian a welcome character whenever he shows up. I“m much less familiar with Nell Tiger Free, but she contrasts youthful naivete with a much darker and enigmatic presence; so much of Leanne comes across through subtle movements that connect. Sean is a character who can be frustrating at first and is difficult to warm up to, but he eventually grows on the viewer. Toby Kebbell puts in a worthwhile performance as Sean, though, and he sells the complexity of the character. All these actors are quite capable in their roles, which makes a difference in a show that can feel as claustrophobic as Servant sometimes does.
All in all, the first season of Servant is worth the wait to get through, but it is a deeply “slow burn”“ season. There will be moments and episodes that will drag and tempt the viewer to skip through. However, it“s also a show that relies on small details to form a big picture, and the show will reward you if you have the patience to get through the first half-season. The ending leaves room open for more, and I hope we get a Season 2 sooner rather than later. Servant has potential for greatness, but it needs room to grow.
Score: 3.5/5
Series Creators: M. Night Shyamalan, Tony Basgallop
Starring: Lauren Ambrose, Tony Kebbell, Nell Tiger Free, Rupert Grint
Author Profile
- Steve Sellers had been a fan of superheroes ever since Superman: The Movie. But it took the JSA, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Dragonlance, Lord of the Rings, Twilight Zone, and Chris Claremont's legendary run on the X-Men to make him a writer and a longtime fan of comics, fantasy, and science fiction. Steve is the co-creator of WHITE DRUID & MICHAEL NERO and GUARDIANS OF ELAYIM for Omen Comics, and he is also the creator of BLITZ and SHOCKWAVE for Revelation Comics (an imprint of Omen Comics).
