Servant

Before we get into Servant, can we please talk for a minute about the Turner home? I’m not quite sure what the right word to describe it is, but I keep coming back to “handsome”. It is this imposing townhouse, slightly gothic, and decorated with impeccable taste. It is lit in a way that highlights its best features yet allows for a certain amount of spookiness. It really is rather beautiful.

In the first episode, directed by M. Night Shyamalan (who also serves as an Executive Producer on the series), there is a magnificently shot walkthrough that’s reminiscent of a classic haunted house set-up. We are shown the house, almost in its entirety, and given an overview of this space in which all the action is about to take place. Every shot is signature Shyamalan. It is blocked flawlessly. He gives us the lay of the land while, at the same time, creates a foreboding sense of claustrophobia. It is a style that is present in all of his work, from The Sixth Sense, all the way through to Glass. 

This latest addition to the Apple TV+ lineup may have been created and written by Tony Basgallop (best known for the BBC’s Inside Men), but it nevertheless looks and feels like an M. Night Shyamalan joint. From the Philadelphia setting, to the distinctive way every scene is framed, to the deliberate pacing of these 30-minute episodes, to the characteristic twists that we’ve come to expect from Shyamalan’s work. 

Now here’s what we’re dealing with in Servant. The series opens with the arrival of the titular character – an unusually quiet 18-year-old played with dour mystery by Nell Tiger Free (last seen in Nicolas Winding Refn’s gorgeously distressing Too Old to Die Young). She has come to the big city, bible firmly in hand, to be a live-in nanny for the Turners. Sean (Toby Kebbell) is a chef to the rich and famous. Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose) is a local newscaster who is about to return to work after the birth of their first child.

Something feels off right from the start. Is it the dark depression symbolized by the pouring rain? Is it the tight close-ups? Is it Dorothy’s manic energy? Or the baby’s painful silence? There is a discomfort to living in this house and with these people.

In most horror stories, the action tends to center around a character that’s slightly askew or a place that’s slightly out of step with reality. What makes Servant particularly interesting, much like The Haunting of Hill House before it, is that everything is suspect. The house. The couple. The servant. The baby. You’re barely into the first episode and you’re already questioning everything and everyone you see on screen. You have no idea who you should be scared for and who you should be scared of.

There are two revelations in the first episode that do a lot of the work in getting you prepared for what is to come. And, if you haven’t seen any of the trailers, both feel genuinely surprising. There is a painfully slow burn in the lead up to these twists and each one plays a part in setting the course of the show. What’s great is that there are so many possibilities laid out before you at the end of the first episode that you’re unable to figure out just what that course is. Is it a haunting? Is it a psychological thriller? Is it a morality play? Is it a sneaky science fiction spiel about a woman stuck between two dimensions?

Servant feels like an episode of The Twilight Zone. Only one that’s been spread out over 10 parts. Is that too much? After three episodes, it’s hard to say. I’m still confused, and curious, and creeped out. Which is, I presume, exactly the state I’m supposed to be when watching this series. Whether or not it’s too much really depends on the impact of the plot as it slowly reveals itself. 

If I had one issue with the series it would be that all the performances are a little too actorly. Every character seems to reside in an extreme state; Lauren Ambrose is unhinged, Toby Kebbell is insipid, Nell Tiger Free is relentlessly severe, and Rupert Grint is really trying to distance himself from Ron Weasley. It’s so theatrical at times that I kept expecting Jon Lovitz to jump out and shout “ACTING!“.

Your enjoyment of Servant really is dependent on the suspension of disbelief. You need to approach it as you would a magic trick. You need to accept the rules, embrace the impossible, and be willing to be fooled. If you can do that, then I think you’ll have a pretty good time. It’s what I did.

The current lineup of programming on Apple TV+ is perfectly adequate. They’re okay. All of them have compelling ideas. All of them have fine performances. And yes, all of them could do with a little more. The Morning Show could do with a little Aaron Sorkin. Dickinson could do with not trying so hard. See could do with leaning a little more into its high concept. And For All Mankind could do with being a little less boring. For the most part, however, these new shows are okay. Unfortunately for Apple, being merely okay isn’t good enough. When there’s so much must see TV out there, might see TV just doesn’t make the watch list. 

Admittedly, it took me a whole minute to figure out if Servant was genuinely something fascinating or just the highlight of an otherwise middling selection. Three episodes in and I’m convinced. I’m definitely hanging around for more.

Servant
Apple TV+, Season 1, 10 Episodes
Showrunner: Tony Basgallop
Writer: Tony Basgallop
Cast: Toby Kebbell, Lauren Ambrose, Nell Tiger Free, and Rupert Grint.