Servant
4×10: “Fallen”
Directed by Severin Fiala & Veronika Franz
Written by Laura Marks

* For a recap & review of the penultimate episode, click here.
Leanne has presented Dorothy with a choice to have everything and anything she wants, including Jericho back on a permanent basis. And it’s not a clear choice for Dorothy. She requests a moment alone, asking Julian and Sean to go wait in the car. They object, but Dorothy says: “There‘s no baby here.” She wants to face this decision on her own, and her husband decides to go with trust this time instead of second guessing his wife’s instincts. This leaves Dorothy alone with Leanne and the doll. She questions the nanny, asking what she is, to which Leanne replies: “It doesn‘t matter. I‘m yours.” It isn’t so easy for Dorothy to accept that. She heads upstairs while Leanne begs with her, promising to “be better.”

Dorothy, now armed with the truth of what happened to her baby boy, goes back to Jericho’s room. She picks up a toy and reminisces. At the same time, the storm keeps raging, the news goes on talking about its effects and the destruction all over Philadelphia. Leanne goes back to the attic and heads for the roof, braving the storm. She screams into the sky defiantly at God. Then she looks down and sees three people standing on a street corner watching her. She’s soon joined by Dorothy, who doesn’t want to let her bring Jericho back again. Dorothy thanks Leanne for bringing Jericho back and giving her time she never would’ve had otherwise. She says she needs to feel the pain now because it’s part of her love for Jericho. She tells Leanne: “You‘re not evil.” Leanne blames herself for the fire that killed her family years ago, for not helping her family. She wanted them dead. She doesn’t even want to be forgiven. Yet Dorothy says it’s the same as her being responsible for Jericho’s death. She tries to comfort Leanne. Out of nowhere, an antenna breaks and nearly hits them, but Leanne moves Dorothy out of harm’s way.
Back inside, Leanne says she forgives Dorothy, and that Jericho forgives her, too. While the nanny dries Dorothy’s feet the latter kisses her head. Almost a biblical image of Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ, given all the fallen angel talk. Afterwards, Dorothy goes back to Sean and Julian, insisting the nanny come with them. But Leanne goes back to the house; before she does, she tells Julian specifically to take care of the family now.
Inside, Leanne goes to Aunt Josephine’s burnt corpse, apologising. She says she hopes Aunt Jo would be proud, taking the dagger out of her head. Then she proceeds to pour gasoline all over the Turner house, floor by floor. She stands at the top of the stairs and lights a match, tossing it onto a couch downstairs where the fake Jericho doll lies, and the place starts to fill with flame and smoke.

Leanne goes upstairs and lies in her bed. She FaceTimes with Tobe, who asks her to go out with him. She happily agrees. It’d be sweet instead of bittersweet if Leanne wasn’t planning to die. Outside, Julian, Sean, and Dorothy realise the building is on fire. They try getting in but they can’t, so they call 911. The apartment bursts into bigger flames, as Dorothy, Sean, and Julian are horrified. Julian notices that there’s a pair of shoes on the ground outside. The three of them then see a man and two kids, the ones standing on the street corner earlier. They say that Leanne’s sparing everybody.
Leanne keeps her ritualistic dagger close while she listens to music and dances, as the flames rise higher and higher towards the attic, creeping up the stairs. She pours oil in her eyes and then uses the dagger to cut one arm open, then the other arm, as well. She watches herself bleeding and she twirls, dancing in the encroaching fire. She starts catching fire with everything else, screaming while the flame swallows her whole. And the floor gives away beneath her, sending her into a pile of burning rubble.
In the aftermath, the Turner house is a crater in between the rest of the building. Sean, Dorothy, and Julian watch on outside. They obviously have to answer questions from police individually. They’re asked about any property issues that might’ve led to this event. Dorothy remembers one of the cops from the day Jericho died, thanking her for being kind. She says “the dead are always with us” in some shape or form. She believes now that in some “spectacular moments we get to see them again.” She also realises that this cop is part of the Church of Lesser Saints; they’re everywhere. Meanwhile, Julian keeps his eye on the debris, waiting to see a body bag before believing Leanne’s actually dead. Dorothy insists that Leanne “is gone.” She and Sean get into a cab, their relationship stronger than ever before after all they’ve experienced together. Julian heads off walking by himself. He goes for a coffee and runs into the cult cop. She mentions when Julian’s heart stopped last Christmas; the Leanne saved him. She says he was given a second chance for a reason. She says they’ll be there when he’s ready to talk, and that they’re “family now.” Julian notices a flock of birds painted on a wall behind him across the street, and they’re curiously framed as angel wings on him until he turns around.
Kind of obvious, though may take a moment or two to sink in. Just a delightful little twist.

A fantastic way to end the series.
Beautiful, tragic, horrific, and weird; all the things Servant was throughout its four seasons.