‘Servant’ Recap: ‘Cake’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 205 of ‘Servant’.
​
There are a great many reasons to love the AppleTV+ series, Servant. Because not only is it one of the most original and unique horror/thriller stories to hit the market in the last couple of years, but it also features compelling performances, and it is often eager to explore the darker side that accompanies not addressing major trauma. But what truly makes this particular series so worth our while, is the sheer fact that it always finds a way to outright surprise us. Because just when we think the plot is going to take us in one particular direction, the show figures out a way to pivot and leave us in awe and for proof that this is the case, look no further than this week’s episode.

Because ‘Cake’ is an episode, that should have immediately featured all kinds of consequences for Dorothy’s actions in last week’s episode. Because you know, attempting to bury someone alive in your basement, isn’t exactly the kind of thing that your family members or the victim will let go of lightly. Unless of course they live in this world. Because believe it or not, Leanne and Sean seemed relatively chill about this particular matter. In fact, the only real penalty she faced from that dark decision, was a talking to from Sean. One that motivated her to finally offer up a little kindness to Leanne, by way of allowing for her to wander about the house for a few hours at a time. In the hopes of course that she would finally open up about Jericho’s whereabouts.

Which allowed for a sense of normalcy to permeate the household once again and it also seemed as though Leanne was accepting her fate. Which was perhaps the only real non-surprise of this part of the story, since Leanne has never shown signs of being capable of revenge, she’ll just preach to teach someone a lesson. But while it was nice to see the old dynamic in the Turner home return, albeit in a creepy manner, it didn’t take long for the peace to be shattered by the next surprise in this tale. In that, the Church of the Lesser Saints reached out to the Turners and offered a ransom demand for Jericho. One that Sean and Dorothy were eager to pay. Because Leanne’s hinting on and off that Jericho was safe, really made it seem as though this would be the final act in returning everyone's lives to some sense of normalcy.

But as it turns out, this was all nothing more than a grand ruse. One that Leanne orchestrated. Because she was furious over the fact that Dorothy was treating her in this manner and while she was out of her ‘cell’ and poking about the house… she contacted Uncle George and the cult and orchestrated this whole mess to put Dorothy through her own emotional wringer. And to complicate matters further, it didn't take long for this revenge plot escalate to new heights. Because Georgie boy confronted the Turners at the drop point and demanded he be taken to Leanne, and that’s where this story leaves us. With Uncle George storming into the Turner home and with an air of shock hanging over this particular tale… because let’s be honest… no one thought that Leanne would ever be capable of outright revenge.

If anything, it just goes to show that you can only push a good person so far, and that beating them over the skull and burying them while they are still breathing… will definitely make a person snap. Plus, this also means that at long last, Julian and Sean might actually pay for their complacency. Because George was indeed furious in the closing moments of this tale and that cannot be good for those who stood idly by while Dorothy did whatever she wanted. But while we wait to see what kind of hard consequences are finally going to come down upon the Turner family, it’s best we celebrate one stunning tale. One that really did lull us into a false sense of security and one that once again left our jaws dropped on the floor, and truly, that ending likely signals the fact that we are headed into some dark territory. Because if Leanne can use her powers conjure a baby out of thin air, as an act of kindness... who knows what kind of horrors she can create when she's eager to indulge in revenge. Until next time.

---