‘Servant’ Recap: ‘Josephine’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season two finale of ‘Servant’.
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It is definitely safe to say that season two of the AppleTV+ series, Servant, has been quite the satisfying experience. Because after spending a solid year of world and mystery building in season one, season two was quick to reward its fanbase with answers and major plot developments as well. For we now know that Leanne and the Church of Lesser Saints are filled to the brim with reanimated bodies and spirits from beyond, and that their mission in this reformed life is to help others in dire need with their incredible powers. Plus, we finally saw Dorothy and Sean and Julian, begin to face their sorted and painful past, with fascinating results for certain. But what matters most, is that all of these storytelling surprises came about well before the season finale of this phenomenal show, leaving all of us to wonder… why exactly it was important to clear those issues up earlier in the year. 

Because doing so would mean that the finale had to offer up something big, something that could, say... point us toward what season three was going to look like and well, ‘Josephine’, certainly did not disappoint in laying down the foundation for a fascinating future for this series. A feat that it accomplished, by putting Leanne to the outright test. For the strange woman that appeared at the end of last week's tale, aptly named Josephine, revealed herself to be a representative of the church and she was here to make more fluffy promises about Jericho’s return and to handle some church related business. Because Leanne basically violated every covenant that the Lesser Saints hold near and dear and that prompted Josephine to show Leanne what would happen if she opted to follow this path of disobedience and insurrection, in the most unique way imaginable.

For it turns out the church has a contingency plan for this kind of problem, one complete with the wildest training video known to man, since it outlines for the enforcer… how to basically slowly and painfully murder those who turn their back on the church. Unless of course, they repent and fulfill their duties, and that was Josephine’s real mission here. To get Leanne to decide as to whether or not she wanted to die or serve the Lord as the only the Lesser Saints can and well, that decision is what gave us an idea, as to what the future of this show is going to look like. Because despite understanding the risk, Leanne simply couldn’t bring herself to return to the church and abide by their rules, not when she was starting to forge a life in this household at last, one that brought her affection and reflection and her second tour here even put forgiveness into her heart, since she was warming to Dorothy once again.

Which was a decision that was greeted with great disdain and danger, to the point where Leanne almost lost her life. But thankfully an assist from Dorothy and some sheer savagery on Leanne’s part, allowed for Josephine to meet her end. Giving our favorite mysterious nanny her first real taste at independence for the first time in her second life and that in turn, motivated her to bring Jericho back from the void and make the Turners happy, despite the fact that such an act would offend the church and bring down more wrath. Which means that for the foreseeable future, this show is likely going to focus on Leanne’s growth into something the Lesser Saints cannot control and a grand fight to keep her independence from their wishes. Because it is only a matter of time before the next mysterious messenger makes their way to the Turner abode, and the next one that swings by, will likely be a little more aggressive about getting what they want.

But while we wait to see how the fight for Leanne’s soul plays out, we can bask in in one incredible finale. One that offered up some quality growth for Leanne, since she really did come into her own here. Plus, this finale also informed us, that redemption and healing is still in the cards for the Turner family, since Sean almost made the truth known and Dorothy is starting to realize that something went terribly wrong with Jericho while Sean was in Los Angeles, and it will be quite interesting to see how the show handles that particularly delicate matter in the future, since the worst-case scenario was on the table in a finale that quite frankly, delivers in every way imaginable. Since this one featured everything, we love about the series, all while offering up a quality cliffhanger, the kind that will keep us anxiously awaiting season three of this phenomenal and dynamic show. Until next year.
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‘Servant’ is available to stream right now on AppleTV+.

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