M. Night Shyamalan’s Apple TV+ horror/thriller series Servant continues its second season today with “Spaceman.”
Check out our review below.
(Note: this review contains spoilers! Jump down to the Bottom Line for the spoiler-free take.)
The season 2 premiere of Servant fell flat for me. It brought the drama, but was missing the creep factor. The second episode nails both.
First, let’s talk about the big return – ROSCOE!
When the cult disappeared him in the first season finale, I definitely thought that was the end of him. But it’s SO much more interesting (and scary!) to bring him back in this episode. He’s been missing for five days, and he can’t remember any of it.
To unlock Roscoe’s memories, Sean and Julian recruit Natalie to hypnotize him. Honestly, hypnosis is one of my least-favorite media tropes. I think it tends to be a lazy way to deliver exposition. Still, I won’t deny the hypnosis in Servant served its purpose: Roscoe’s regression was definitely creepy. I’ll be thinking about “He takes out the eyes” for a while!
Another great twist was when Dorothy went on-air to replace an evening news anchor. I thought she was going to make a plea for Jericho’s return, or to use the platform to tell the world he was missing (like the posters she made last episode, but larger scale). I was surprised when she instead made a plea for Leanne instead. What a brilliant move! I love that the conflict is turning into a real chess match.
(Also, give Lauren Ambrose an award for delivering the news in her “I’m calming a baby” tone. That was incredible.)
Overall, I really enjoyed how this episode escalated the dramatic tension AND the scares. I can see much more of a direction for the season shaping up now than I could in the premiere episode. Basically, this one has me back on board.
Servant S2E2: The Bottom Line
Last week I complained the season 2 premiere of Servant favored drama over scares. But this episode gets everything back on track. The dramatic tension escalates with new twists, and “Spaceman” also majorly brings back the creep factor.
Rating: 9/10
Servant season 2 episode 2 “Spaceman” is streaming now on Apple TV+.
