Apple TV’s Servant
3×03: “Hair”
Directed by Carlo Mirabella-Davis
Written by Alyssa Clark

* For a recap & review of 3×02, click here.
* For a recap & review of 3×04, click here.
Flashback to Julian on that horrible, fateful day, discovering what was inside his sister’s home, flies swarming everywhere and Dorothy lying unconscious on the floor. Cut to: current day Julian with Veera, who’s had her own motherhood issues. The two of them are mulling over the theory that Leanne’s the real mother of Jericho. Veera wonders what’ll happen if Leanne decides to leave with the baby one day. That’d put Dorothy on a perpetual search for the rest of her life. So, Julia thinks they need to prove Leanne’s the mother of the supposed Jericho. Meanwhile we see Dorothy going out to cover “a Marilyn Monroe lookalike contest.” And Sean’s planning to take Leanne, along with Jericho, to the park. That’s when Julian brings up a DNA test and “adoption proceedings,” in an effort to protect his family from potential disaster. Could Leanne really be the mother of that child? Or is the reality something darker, more mysterious?

Leanne reluctantly accompanies Sean and Jericho on a stroll to the park, even though she continues to be paranoid and suspicious of everybody she sees. Sean, bless his heart, does his best to distract the nanny with a few culinary foraging tips about edible plants. But it’s not long before Leanne wants to leave, rushing Sean and Jericho off. Later at home, Dorothy returns from work, complaining about sexism at the news station. Sean uses some dandelions to make soup for Leanne, then the nanny finds a hair in it.
Julian has a workout session with his pal Roscoe. He asks if the cult have been sniffing around anymore, then moves onto asking Roscoe to do a covert DNA operation on Jericho. Although Roscoe doesn’t want to get too involved, and won’t step into the Turner house again, he’ll help consult with someone he knows in the field. Also, who’s the houseless person we’ve seen twice now? A red herring? Or an undercover cultist? Either way, Sean goes back around the park to bring some fancy food to the houseless folks.

At the same time, Julian’s got a half hour to get DNA samples for Roscoe. And he can’t stop thinking about the horrific day he walked into his sister’s house to discover all the horror inside. He forces himself to go in and pluck a few hairs from the baby’s little head. Afterwards he has to forage for hair in Leanne’s room, only to be caught in the act. He further says he can’t stop thinking about her, so he can get close enough to pluck a hair, though it doesn’t quite work. Leanne’s not stupid enough to believe Julian’s bullshit and asks him to leave. He takes time to search again, grabbing a bunch of hair from a brush in the living room belonging to Dorothy. He hands off the hair to Roscoe, who gets a glimpse of Leanne and flees in terror.

Later there’s a knock on the door from the houseless person, now asking to use the “shitter.” Leanne’s unnerved by the person’s presence, and Dorothy’s surprised, too. Although for Dorothy it’s more a class thing, rather than a cult thing, and she runs the person out of their home. She chastises Sean for it while her husband only wants to help; he was once living on the streets himself before all his success. Just another instance throughout Servant where we witness Dorothy’s oblivious, bougie, liberal perspective on life and class.
Then Dorothy decides the local houseless population will help her position at the news station, so she heads down there with a media team. “We are the architects of the broken system that has left them on the streets,” Dorothy says while being unable to get any houseless people to talk on camera. Finally one young man talks with her. Suddenly the camera goes strange and the man walks off. Right then, Sean comes by with sandwiches for the houseless people and Dorothy’s team decide he’s the story.
While everyone’s watching the news, Julian receives the DNA results and appears shocked. That evening, he and Dorothy talk alone. He’s distraught, telling his sister he doesn’t want to lose her. He wants her to keep the baby. He shows Dorothy the DNA test and that it shows conclusively Jericho’s not her child. He talks about finding Jericho dead on that fateful day. He’s trying to break through the psychological walls Dorothy’s put up. Yet Dorothy blames everything on her brother’s addiction issues, rather than accept the admittedly horrifying reality.

And then a woman drops by to pick up her things from the Mommy and Me party, along with her brush; the same one Julian pulled the hair from for the test. Dorothy believes it’s a “serious breach of trust” for Julian to do the DNA test. But Julian’s obviously left with questions. What if he does get Dorothy’s hair tested and the child is actually hers? Then what will he do? For now, life in the Turner house goes on. Upstairs at night, Leanne sees the houseless people outside in the shadows, staring up at her room, and her paranoia continues to grow.