I was utterly engrossed in the mystery of Servant's first season--until the ending landed with a thud. I was very interested to see the new path the show would take in the wake of such a change. What I found was a show that still remains as quirky as ever, but is ultimately pivoting to new areas that may or may not suit certain show-watching tastes. In large part, Season One was all about the "mystery of Jericho". With that largely solved, Season Two begins the necessary process of transitioning to different material and themes.
On one hand, "Servant" is clearly leaning in the direction of the mysterious cult presence, what with much more time devoted to Leanna Grayson (Nell Tiger Free) and her assorted odd relatives. While not providing all the answers in S2 ("Servant" plays the long game and hopes for or expects multiple seasons), this part of the setup is well done enough to be interesting, at very least. Shyamalan's adeptness at creating quirky/hilarious/terrifying (somehow all wrapped into one) characters shines through in this aspect.
Of course, the more direct material involving Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose) and Sean (Toby Kebbell) is still present, with Dorothy's coming to terms (or lack thereof) of the reality of what happened to her baby a major theme. Sadly, I wish more substantial ground would have been trodden in that area. Instead, it is more of a "treading water" situation.
Overall, though, Servant's second season is entertaining enough to easily be watchable in a half-hour format. The characters have grown on me enough to be considered endearing, and the plots/themes--despite being all over the place in terms of consistency--are just coherent enough to keep it from descending into chaos. While S2 wasn't quite as sharp as S1, the sophomore effort did more than enough to keep me in whenever a S3 rolls around.
On one hand, "Servant" is clearly leaning in the direction of the mysterious cult presence, what with much more time devoted to Leanna Grayson (Nell Tiger Free) and her assorted odd relatives. While not providing all the answers in S2 ("Servant" plays the long game and hopes for or expects multiple seasons), this part of the setup is well done enough to be interesting, at very least. Shyamalan's adeptness at creating quirky/hilarious/terrifying (somehow all wrapped into one) characters shines through in this aspect.
Of course, the more direct material involving Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose) and Sean (Toby Kebbell) is still present, with Dorothy's coming to terms (or lack thereof) of the reality of what happened to her baby a major theme. Sadly, I wish more substantial ground would have been trodden in that area. Instead, it is more of a "treading water" situation.
Overall, though, Servant's second season is entertaining enough to easily be watchable in a half-hour format. The characters have grown on me enough to be considered endearing, and the plots/themes--despite being all over the place in terms of consistency--are just coherent enough to keep it from descending into chaos. While S2 wasn't quite as sharp as S1, the sophomore effort did more than enough to keep me in whenever a S3 rolls around.