Servant

Seven episodes in, “Servant” has found a way to not only up its game on its second outing, but also reward investment into the show’s middling first year.

"Servant" vibrates with such luxury brand histrionics, all of which undercuts The story's escalating supernatural queerness. True to Shyamalan form Leanne has powers that have yet to be fully explained, but between their unpredictable appearances and the return of Screaming Dirty Uncle it's all ... a whole lot. The thought of jumping into this Olympic-sized pool of white nonsense may not be tempting for anyone drowning in the reality of it, and as I implied it takes a conscious paradigm shift to enjoy "Servant" as a laugh riot. ... You can only truly get that once you see it.

Few shows are as skilled at sorting through the intricate, hypocritical, and quiet forms of hurt better than this thriller. But just because Servant has gotten more introspective this go round doesn’t mean the chilling drama has lost its edge.

Season two does possess a much surer sense of blackly absurdist humor about its ever more outlandish story. Whereas the comedy often previously came from the belief-beggaring state of affairs themselves, the show now wisely leans into the aggressively heightened performances of its leads.

Everyone is good to great here, but I wish they were servants of something that felt more narratively sound.

When it feels like you've finally gotten your footing and you know what's happening, you're hit with a plot twist that jolts you awake. Even if the actions a character takes don't make sense or the focus of an episode seems to be slightly off, you'll still want to know what happens.

No matter what you think you learned after last season’s pseudo-revealing cliffhanger ending, rest assured, more twists are in store. By Episode 7, “Servant” enters a whole new genre, and some fans will roll their eyes at the escalating plot contortions while others should delight in the sheer audacity of writer/creator Tony Basgallop’s ideas. All in all, I’m much closer to the latter, though much of the enjoyment that “Servant” could deliver is hampered by how it chooses to tell its story.