'Servant' Season 1 Episode 9 reveals disturbing details behind the real Jericho's sinister death
When the first three episodes of 'Servant' dropped on Apple TV+, while we knew that the Turners (Sean and Lauren, played by Toby Kebbell and Lauren Ambrose) lost their baby, Jericho, at a few weeks old, we never wondered whether there was something sinister behind his death.
Towards the middle of the season, we get clues that Jericho's death may not have been as unworthy of attention as we thought. In Episode 7, we meet Natalie (Jerrika Hinton) — Dorothy's friend/therapist who gave her the reborn doll to recover from Jericho's death. Also, Natalie's interactions with Julian, Lauren's brother (played by Rupert Grint) show us that there was something quite menacing about how Jericho died. We also see that it is something that still affects Julian.
The ninth episode, directed by M Night Shyamalan — his second since the pilot episode for the show — finally reveals the disturbing details that have been kept hidden from us. In the previous episode, Julian told Leanne everything about what really happened to Jericho, and by her treatment of Dorothy in this episode, it's easy to understand that Dorothy is more culpable than any of us thought.
In flashbacks that start from the moment Dorothy gave birth to Jericho (a home water birth), we see Jericho's first days. When Sean leaves for a culinary show judging gig, Dorothy is left alone with Jericho.
In the heatwave that follows, Dorothy also receives meat that Sean had ordered but had come early. The meat is left out in the open in the Turner house. Overwhelmed by the heat, we slowly see the meat rotting.
In the midst of this, when Dorothy does not answer Sean's calls — clearly overcome by the distress caused by high temperatures — Julian comes to visit. When he opens the door to Jericho's room, his face is overtaken by an expression of shock.
Back to the present, when Sean asks Leanne to taste a dish of his, she asks him why he chose to stay with Dorothy after what happened. He tells her that it was an accident and we learn that Dorothy stayed with Jericho's body for four days before Sean turned up after his gig. Sean blames himself too. He believes that he should have come back earlier as Dorothy had asked.
We don't know what this means for Dorothy — if she ever realized what she had done. If the baby Jericho is back because of Leanne's presumably miraculous "gifts", will the latter take them back after what she has learned? Or will Leanne choose to take vengeance on Jericho's behalf and ensure that Dorothy will not be able to harm the baby again?
The final episode of Season 1 of 'Servant' will release on Apple TV+ on January 17.
