Malex99 Reviews

Servant: Jericho (2020) Season 1, Episode 9

Best episode yet and a tour de force from Lauren Ambrose.

[9/10 · 12 January 2020]

"Episode 9 will be the anchor episode for the whole series ... directing nine was really, really special" stated M. Night. Indeed, the directing here is absolutely precise and mesmerizing, as per usual with Shyamalan. The fear was that "Jericho" would have included a classic Shyamalan twist that comes out of nowhere. Instead, and probably due to it being written by the great Tony Basgallop (who continues to excel with his subtle and exquisite writing) this episode hits all the right notes as it heads towards the not-so-surprising, but absolutely well-executed reveal of what truly happened with Jericho: the greatly filmed food sequences and the allusion to food in general truly feels symbolic for the first time around- That line in which Leanne says "Tastes like bruised fruit. Like an apple that´s been in the sun too long" is simply the best written line in the show, and perfectly summarizes what the episode did best: talking about Jericho´s death without being overly-explicit and without fully aknowledging it (just like Dorothy). Shamaylan understood that perfectly: he chooses extremely wide shots in the key moments where one would expect close-ups. He respects Dorothy´s intimacy and gives her space. But Ambrose is so great here, that even from afar and behind, without seeing her face, one can feel the weight of her devastating performance as she fluctuates between denial and guilt. The lateral camera movements, always from left to right seem strange at first but make perfect sense once he includes an establishing shot of the extremely sunny day that secretly includes the reveal that Jericho died in the sun (perhaps unnoticeable at first): the lateral movement is now from right to left, and it ends with Jericho in the back of the car, probably dying or already dead. The attention to detail here is simply astonishing. On a side note, Dorothy´s trances now also make perfect sense: that intense sun-like light that seems to paralize her is what triggers the repressed trauma of her son´s death. So, to sum up: No, it didn´t answer every big question, but it provided a well-appreciated character motivation to all four leads while setting up a finale that will probably leave some loose threads (as it´s been already renewed for a second season) but will sure be interesting to watch now that we know what happened that night.