Servant Season 3

5.5/10 While no means bad, season three of the hit Apple+ show is the weakest of the three seasons, with only one final season to go, currently airing at the time of this writing. While there are no major flaws in the production design, costume design, cinematography, acting, directing, editing, etc. the biggest problems again fall within the most important aspect of any show or film…the story. While the first and best season had a new twist or turn with every episode, leaving the viewer wondering what was going on and the second season had a strong second half while making good use of supporting characters and bringing in a main villain, the third season looses momentum the further it progresses. Dorothy Turner (Lauren Ambrose) has become a complete chore to spend time with as a character and my complaints that her husband Sean (Toby Kebbell) and brother Julian Pearce (Rupert Grint) kept enabling her to be crazy and succumbed to her every wish only gets worse this season. With Dorothy out of work (which again recalls my season two review critique of how these people make any money at all), she is home all day, every day to annoy the viewers watching. The first three or so episodes were actually the strongest as the cult still posed a real threat to Leanne Grayson (Nell Tiger Free) as she suffers from PTSD. Once that threat subsides, the remaining seven episodes have no real antagonist for everyone to rally against, except for the ever increasingly annoying Dorothy. The stakes feel much lower with no outside threat and despite her craziness, Dorothy is no comparison in terms of being a foe as the threats from the first two seasons. I was happy that Julian gets his dad involved near the end of the season to do something he should have done months ago but since the plan doesn’t make it all the way through, we are stuck dealing with Dorothy some more. Julian isn’t even nearly as fun of a character now that he is sober, something that other characters point out and is completely true. Characters become more boring or increasingly annoying while Sean and Leanne continue to go to extremes for a woman who should clearly be institutionalized. It does make the final scene of the season absolutely satisfying (the happiest I was all season) but getting there was surprisingly uneventful. While many questions were posed in the debut season, I unfortunately don’t think the showrunners/writers plan on going into specifics to explain how the supernatural elements in the show are able to occur. While that may not be the worst thing in the world, it does make Leanne’s powers pretty muddled in terms of the rules of what she can and can’t do. With no real antagonist this season (but a tease at the end), season three is easily the weakest so far. Thankfully, the pacing is so strong and each season is such a quick binge that despite the slight decrease in quality, if you’ve come this far, you might as well finish the show. The score will still make the hair on your neck stand up, the acting is still top notch, the direction/cinematography stand out and the show is always moving forward with memorable imagery. With only one season to go, I am hoping this downhill trajectory will stop and they can throw every crazy twist and turn that they’ve got against the wall so they can hopefully bring the quality levels back up to where they were during season one.

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