"Servant" 2.06: A mythology-heavy shot of "Espresso"
Uncle George returns for a strong installment with big reveals.
Contents
On the ‘Angel Theory’ - restored essay excerpt
Review:
When the first season of Servant began to wobble around its midpoint, Leanne’s creepy, ill-mannered, yet apparently benign, scripture-quoting uncle George suddenly showed up to anchor one of the best episodes of the series. And just as Season 2 had started to spin its wheels a little, here he comes again to set things right.
“Espresso” is essentially the first “mythology” episode of Servant, one that begins to truly delve deeper into the lore of the series, as well as pull back the curtain surrounding its big questions. It doesn’t quite reach the heights of “Rain” and it doesn’t completely fix the issues that have been cropping up earlier this year, such as the weird regression of Dorothy that occurred last week. But it does provide a qualitative step up from “Cake,” while endowing everything with the sense that the series is moving towards something big, possibly even apocalyptic.
This was an inevitable turning point for the series. A mystery show or a genre show with mysteries in it can’t keep things ambiguous forever. Sooner or later, the time comes to give the audience some answers. And Servant finally starts to deliver on that front. If you’ve read my speculative article on the true nature of Leanne Grayson though, this all might sound familiar.
Leanne, George, and the other members of the Church of the Lesser Saints are ostensibly resurrected people that carry out God’s divine plan by helping the living. The term “saint’’ is never explicitly brought up but it is clearly implied by the context.* Admittedly, the technique the series uses to get this information across to the audience is rather inelegant: mostly, George calms down long enough to give Sean a good old-fashioned exposition dump. And so, the ‘big reveals’ feel a bit anticlimactic or not quite as impactful as they should. But none of that prevents “Espresso” from being an exciting, beautifully staged and truly momentous episode overall.
*George interrupts Sean before he is able to complete his sentence, leaving open the possibility that Sean meant to say “angel.” However, I would dispute that this accurately describes what George and Leanne are. See the “On the Angel Theory” section below to learn more.
For one thing, the formal aspects of this half-hour come together with the story to instill a sense of dread that pervades the episode from start to finish. There’s a steady increase in thunder, lightning, and rain, almost as though the outside world is reacting to what’s happening inside. For another, Boris McGiver delivers a magnetic performance as George. Whether he’s giving cryptic explanations, yelling for Leanne, or spitting into a mixture, he always has your attention, and the episode is better for it.
By the traditional metrics of the series, this is another fast-paced and very short episode. But here, the speed at which everything transpires feels like it’s part of the point, strengthening the overall sense that some other shoe is about to drop. I certainly did not expect that the big event that the episode was building to is the apparent death of the Marino family, briefly introduced back in “Pizza.”
Yet it makes a lot of sense: everything in this episode is pointing to the idea that Leanne shouldn’t be in the Turner home, that her very presence there is disrupting the natural order of things. Leanne had already defied her duty and possibly her destiny by bringing back Jericho and helping the Turners. Because she wasn’t with the Marinos when they needed her, tragedy has now befallen them.
I also did not expect that the big event would be delivered via news broadcast. All throughout this season, the news reports have been focusing on weird, seemingly random events, like literal blind dates and fights over chicken. The broadcasts seemed to be something of a joke. But given everything that is implied here, it is hard not to look at these events retroactively as part of some larger pattern, as though the outside world has been slowly but surely sliding towards chaos due to the Turners taking Leanne out of her rightful place.
Unfortunately, there are some parts of “Espresso” that drag it down a notch.
The show’s attitude toward Dorothy again feels muddled. At one point, Julian outright tells Dorothy that she had buried Leanne alive and she doesn’t say anything that would suggest she disagrees, or doesn’t remember. But later, when George confronts her in the basement about this, she comes across as confused or uncertain. Yet by the end of the same scene, she flat out admits to burying Leanne and claims that she didn’t do anything that Leanne “didn’t deserve.”
This seems to be at odds with what we saw in both 4.04 and 4.05, making her backtracking in the previous episode appear all the more unconvincing. If Dorothy does remember burying Leanne, why doesn’t she seem to remember the death of Jericho, as the ending of 4.04 indicated? And does this mean she remembers all the times she had tortured and abused Leanne? One can’t help but feel that the writers themselves are undecided as to what the deal with her actually is.
It also feels like a couple of beats are missing in Sean’s storylines. It’s weird how quickly and easily he is able to simply get Leanne out to the front door. That is, we never see him try to convince Leanne to trust him or to get her past Dorothy. In fact, Julian doesn’t even need to distract Dorothy in order to give Sean his chance. Similarly, his flashback subplot strangely skips over the moment he actually chooses to selfishly leave Dorothy alone with Jericho and put his personal interests ahead of his family’s. (Though never explicitly stated, it is implied that this is Sean’s original sin, explaining why he blames himself for Jericho’s death in the present.)
But none of that really takes away from the power of that cliffhanger ending.
Leanne’s haunted expression tells us everything we need to know: she should’ve been there. Though we never actually got to know the Marinos, it’s hard not to be shocked by their fates, especially as we can sense that it is a direct consequence of the Turners’ actions. They have always been blind to what’s happening outside their tiny little world, and now their selfish acts have legitimate consequences, something that I am hoping the show will have its characters wrestle with as it moves forward.
Grade: A-
On the Angel Theory:
When I wrote my extensive article about why I thought Leanne is a saint, I initially included a passage that discussed “The Angel Theory.” The following is a restoration of this cut passage, explaining why I don’t believe Leanne to be an angel.
Finally, it is time to discuss an alternate explanation for Leanne’s character considered by some fans of the series: that she is an angel. Angels, after all, can also be considered “servants of God,” and Leanne’s behavior and abilities do appear to fit the general pop-culture perception of angels. Browsing Twitter back when S1 was airing, I’ve found that the official Twitter account for the series has occasionally highlighted or interacted with tweets theorizing that Leanne is an angel or perhaps undead. Moreover, following the conclusion of S1, creator Tony Basgallop himself had referred to Leanne possibly being an angel in an interview with Variety. He states:
“I don’t think the events at the farmhouse that we witness at the end of Episode 10 has necessarily had a long-lasting traumatic effect on Dorothy. She’s processing the information of who is behind this, what game is afoot really? And what an impossible situation that is, because her baby is essentially being taken by someone who is legally dead, or should be an angel, or maybe she is an angel.”
All these instances strengthen the notion that Leanne is supposed to be an angel in the show’s narrative diegesis. But though I originally ascribed to the “angel theory” myself, in the course of researching the subject, I’ve come to believe that it is not entirely accurate. This is because within the specific religious context that the series is drawing on, there is an important distinction between “angels” and “saints,” one that is typically lost in the popular imagination. I will quote the following passage from an article by Consumer Dummies to explain this:
“Contrary to popular belief, angels aren’t people who’ve died and gone to heaven and then earned their wings. Angels are spirits that God created before he made human beings; they were the first creatures ever created and were the most powerful, most intelligent, and most beautiful. People who die and go to heaven don’t become angels — they become saints. Angels and saints are two separate beings, separate species.”
Given everything that we (more or less) know of Leanne, including the fact that she was a human being at one point, it is far more likely that she constitutes a saint, rather than an angel.
This is backed further by the fact that in “Balloon,” George references Corinthians 15:42 ESV (though he omits the first line):
“So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.”
This refers to the idea that, following resurrection, man will have an immortal or “spiritual body” that will be “Angel-like.” Thus, the “Saints” of the show could very well be beings in Resurrected Bodies.
Despite all this evidence, I wouldn’t be surprised if the term ‘angel’ is the one the show ultimately chooses to go with. It’s a more popular term and one that is easier for audiences to grasp. Of course, the show might also decide not to use any term specifically.
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Notes and Annotations:
Going by the early episodes and the logic of storytelling, Season 2, I think, initially was going to spend a lot more time on the investigative journalist approach to finding and/or learning about the Lesser Saints. But it appears the writers got tired of that rather quickly and decided to just get back to Leanne, then bring in George.
Given his imposing physique and penchant for quoting scripture, it’s not hard to see George as a potentially insane and violent religious fanatic. Yet his actions belie his appearance. As George makes his way through the “infected’’ and “festering” house, he becomes increasingly worried about the Turners and tries praying to apparently spare them God’s wrath.
A “salve” is apparently an ointment “used to promote healing of the skin or as protection.” This indicates that George is making something that will literally heal Sean’s blistering hand. Notably, it’s not clear if George actually finished the salve. Dorothy may very well have interrupted him during his prayer.
George’s salve-making feels very much in line with the show’s usual emphasis on the grotesqueries of food and cooking.
I’d say the mythology of Servant has been quite consistent for now. Pretty much everything explicitly confirmed here could’ve been inferred by viewers from the cryptic clues and cultural references scattered throughout previous episodes.
Though a tad too short, the flashbacks help create a strong contrast between Sean and his wife. Unlike Dorothy, Sean owns up to his part in Jericho’s death and actually wants forgiveness. They also highlight how Sean has changed and become a better person over the course of the two seasons, perhaps suggesting that as Dorothy descends into darkness, Sean gets closer to the light. It’s no wonder that Sean, who has undergone a spiritual awakening over the past 15 episodes, seems to be the only one willing to actually listen to George.
George references James 2:10 in his discussion with Dorothy in the basement, saying: “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” In effect, he is stating that Dorothy did to Leanne is enough of a transgression (even though it might be her only one) to keep Dorothy out of heaven, hence that’s why she would not be reunited with Jericho. Presumably, she will go to hell for what she has done to the Lord’s servant.