Apple TV’s Servant
2×07: “Marino”
Directed by Nimrod Antal
Written by Ishana Night Shyamalan

* For a recap & review of 2×06, click here.
* For a recap & review of 2×08, click here.
There’s been a shooting at the big estate, where the Marino family live. Uncle George blames it on the disobedience of Leanne. But Dorothy questions how Leanne could’ve done something if she wasn’t even there. George has nothing to say, he starts mumbling in prayer. Meanwhile, Leanne goes back up to the attic in self-imposed exile this time with Sean chasing after her trying to get answers. She’s weeping, trying to collect her things. She does feel responsible for whatever’s happened to the Marinos. Dorothy thinks Aunt May is behind everything, though they can’t get anything out of George about it.

Leanne talks a bit about how the cult members are each placed by someone who “reads the signs.” Like a predestined path. Otherwise, the Turners are left in the dark about what’s gone on at the Marino house. Dorothy goes digging through her things to look for reports about the cult when she covered them on the news, thinking there could be prior evidence of a similar situation with these folk. In the attic, Leanne’s stripping down so she can punish herself with flagellation, whipping her back until it bleeds.
When Dorothy calls into the station she discovers there was a “triple homicide” at the house. The only person who made it out was a little ten-year-old boy, Sergio Marino. And what about the piece of paper Leanne has with her that looks like it has a gaming handle for Sergio? The little kid had a streaming channel and Leanne appeared on it with him to play Call of Duty. We also see Leanne making those familiar crosses while she watches videos from Sergio’s streaming channel.
Downstairs, Dorothy, Sean, and Julian see the cops pull up outside. Mrs. Turner doesn’t want them to take George, given it would set them back in the search for Jericho. She orders her husband and brother to hide George until she can get the cops out of there. It’s Officer Reyes who comes by and Dorothy invites her inside. The cop wants to talk privately with Sean but Dorothy insists they all talk. She asks about the Marino family and then the nanny. She also has a Cheezus Crust flyer; ah, shit. Dorothy comes clean about spying on Leanne, yet Officer Reyes plays down any cult connections. The cop says it had nothing to do with the cult, that the father was under a lot of stress and “left a note” explaining things.

The Turners continue trying to keep Officer Reyes in the dark while she’s inside the house. When the cop and Sean have a moment alone together she keeps stressing that Dorothy needs to stay away from doing crazy shit, like spying on that house. She also wants to have a look around their house, to set her mind at ease about any potential connections between Leanne going missing and the Turners. Uh oh. Sean leads Reyes around the place while they chat, and he talks a little about how things went with Leanne as their nanny. He doesn’t do a great job; Sean’s a bit rambly. But it’s more concerning when Officer Reyes opens the attic door and heads upstairs. They don’t find Leanne, they find all the crosses the girl hung. Reyes starts to parallel how bad things got for the Marinos and the potential of what could happen to Dorothy, should she go on believing in delusions. She also sneaks a cross out of there when she leaves.
When Reyes is gone, Dorothy talks to George, telling him he can take his niece with him. They just want Jericho back, as well. It’s like George has gone catatonic, not even responding when Dorothy slaps him across the face. She’s about to go wilder when there’s a ring of the doorbell. On the step outside is left a package for Uncle George; weird! Sean opens the package slowly to find a Betamax tape. Then George comes alive, insisting they must show Leanne the tape immediately. [I almost personally lost it with laughter when George said: “Where is your Betamax player?”]
In the attic, Leanne’s pulling down the crosses and stomping on them. She cracks one in half and the skylight breaks above her, shattering into shards like raindrops. Downstairs, Sean puts the salve George made on that ghastly hand wound. And in Leanne’s old room, George unearths more in the gift box: a dagger.