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'Servant' Season 1 Episode 1 serves as a masterclass in M. Night Shyamalan direction as it sets up an uncomfortable situation

The show may begin with the cliched dark and stormy night, but Shyamalan is anything but cliched. This is the night that the Turners' lives change. Sean and Dorothy Turner are waiting for the nanny they have hired.
PUBLISHED NOV 28, 2019

The first-ever episode of 'Servant' was directed by the executive producer, M. Night Shyamalan -- and this episode serves as a rundown of the motifs that Shyamalan has used during his directorial career.

The show may begin with the cliched dark and stormy night, but Shyamalan is anything but cliched. This is the night that the Turners' lives change. Sean and Dorothy Turner are waiting for the nanny they have hired. Dorothy is excited to welcome the nanny, Sean, not so much. When the nanny, Leanne Grayson arrives, she immediately turns up the creep factor. Is this someone you would invite in on a night like this?

Like most of Shyamalan's works, the setting is in Philadelphia -- where he grew up. The first episode also features some of Shyamalan's framing choices -- for example, most of the episode features really close-up shots, giving viewers an almost claustrophobic feeling like we are intruding into the lives of people we shouldn't.

We learn that Sean is a consulting chef and that Dorothy is a TV journalist -- who has been on maternity leave. We also learn that their baby is actually a doll -- a form of therapy suggested for Dorothy who was affected severely by their baby's death. 

It is the conversations between the three characters that set up most of what we might expect. Dorothy's ignorant bliss seems insincere and real at the same time. Though Leanne may be the creepy one, it is Sean with his cruel tendency to throw around the doll in the absence of his wife  that we need to be scared of.

The close-up framing on 'Servant' serves as a reminder that we are in the midst of an uncomfortable situation (Apple TV+)

The first episode may be slow, but it gives careful viewers a good understanding of what lies beneath the surface of the characters. Like all Shyamalan movies, the score and sound design play a vital role in the story. As expected, we also see Shyamalan cameo as a delivery man -- this is again something that is signature to his movies.

What puzzles Sean is that Leanne also treats the doll as the real baby Jericho, even in the absence of Dorothy. Besides Sean and Leanne, it is only her father and her brother Julian who know the real situation with the baby. When Sean pokes around Leanne's room to know more, he finds a wooden cross that is later hung over the crib -- and Sean has a problem with this. Sean and Dorothy are not religious and Sean does not want Leanne to insert religion into their lives.

And it isn't just Sean who is nosy -- Leanne goes through Dorothy's things when she is alone in the house, trying on her jewelry. She also seems to have an unhealthy obsession with Dorothy, helping the latter ease her mastitis pain in a questionable scene.

Perhaps the biggest Shyamalan move of the episode is as it ends is when Sean goes to check on the crib when he hears a child crying through the baby monitor. As he nears the crib and as the camera pans over it, both Sean and the viewers are immediately taken aback by the discovery of a real baby in place of the doll.

Shyamalan directs only two of the episodes of the first season of 'Servant', and the one episode alone serves as a Shyamalan directing masterclass. The premiere also sets up what we can expect -- a thriller that isn't too hard to watch.

The first three episodes of 'Servant' are now available to stream on Apple TV+. The following seven episodes will be released weekly.

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