Content warning: The following article contains discussions of violence, death, self-harm and trauma.
Apple TV+'s Servant is a slow, trudging tale of psychological horror that grows more and more obtuse with every episode. On its surface, Servant's two seasons tell the story of a couple who hire a young, meek woman to nanny their newborn. From this basic premise, the show delves into cults, trauma, and religion. Lauren Ambrose and Toby Kebbell play the couple, the Turners, while Nell Tiger Free plays Leanne, their mysterious live-in babysitter. Rupert Grint co-stars as Julian, the brother of Ambrose's character Dorothy.
Theories abound about exactly what is transpiring onscreen in Servant, created and written by Tony Basgallop. M. Night Shyamalan serves as executive producer alongside Basgallop. Fortunately, Reddit is full of surprising insights and hypotheses that may be proven true, or false, with time. Fair warning: there are many spoilers ahead.
The Turner House Is Actually Purgatory
All of Servant's drama unfolds within the confines of the Turners' large Philadelphia brownstone or the immediate block it's located within. Otherwise, glimpses of the outside world are shared through screens: tablets, phones, TVs, and laptops.
Some fans on Reddit speculate all of the show's characters are actually dead, forced to confront their pasts over and over again in some sort of purgatory. Other fans take it a step further, asserting the show's events are unfolding from the afterlife nightmares of just one of the characters — but which one remains to be seen.
It's All In Dorothy's Mind
In a similar vein, other Servant watchers suspect the series is unfolding from Dorothy Turner's perspective. Instead of being dead, Dorothy remains in a catatonic state brought on by finding Jericho deceased in his crib.
Made invalid from shock and trauma, viewers watch as Dorothy's imagination responds to both the loss of her child in the past and the efforts of her husband Sean to revive her in the present. If this is true, there's a good chance Leanne is simply a product of Dorothy's psychosis.
Jericho Can Only Be Brought Back If Another Life Is Taken
Servant fans love to argue about what's actually happening behind the scenes when the Jericho doll Sean purchased to help Dorothy cope with the loss of her son suddenly transforms into a real baby under Leanne's watch. What role did Leanne play in making this happen?
If there are supernatural forces at play, one Redditor suspects Leanne is only able to keep the flesh-and-blood Jericho alive by taking life from someone or something else. In season 1, this could be hinted at by the death of Sean's sense of taste and smell; this theory gains even more traction in the second season when Jericho returns after Leanne kills Aunt Josephine.
Dorothy Tried To Harm Herself After She Found Jericho
In the second season, after Leanne leaves with Jericho, Dorothy's delusions take on new, much crueler, dimensions. At one point, she tells her husband, Sean, she'd follow Jericho to the afterlife by hanging herself "with [her] Hermès belt next to his crib."
This leads some Redditors to hypothesize Dorothy actually did try to hang herself when she found Jericho dead, and when Julian stumbled upon the horrific scene, he saved his sister from meeting her demise. Or did he? Perhaps Dorothy didn't survive, adding even more ambiguity to what's unfolding onscreen.
Leanne Is An Illusionist
Maybe Leanne isn't a sorcerer at all, which many Servant viewers seem to think. Instead, perhaps she is a skilled illusionist who is able to show those around her whatever it is they want to see.
This perplexing theory contains a lot of holes and raises a lot of questions. If Leanne is an illusionist instead of a necromancer, how did she revive the cricket, the dog, and then Julian at the end of season 2?
Multiple Timelines Co-Exist In The Series
One of the many ways Servant writers play with audiences is by implying multiple timelines, universes, and decades are thriving at once within the Turner house. There seems to be a conflict between new technology and old technology that remains unresolved, causing Redditors to go wild with theories.
In the first season, the old TV sticks out like a sore thumb among all the smartphones and tablets. In the second, the Betamax video Uncle George receives in the mail is also juxtaposed against all the other technology around him.
Dorothy's News Reports Are Full Of Clues
Dorothy's news reports as a TV journalist pop up at very vital moments throughout the series. Instead of just representing what she does for a living, the stories evolving in each broadcast are likely connected to the larger story gathering force in Servant.
For example: Dorothy reports on the acquittal of a man convicted of murder in the first season, and Leanne is even seen in the crowd around her with Jericho — under the guise of bringing him into the city to "watch his mom work." However, the suspect, Timothy, bears a striking resemblance to the man seen self-flagellating in the disturbing video Dorothy acquires of Leanne's cult.
There's Something Foul Underneath The Turner House
In another one of Dorothy's broadcasts, she reports on underground tunnels in the city. This briefing could be a very important clue, one that hints at a whole bizarre underground world existing below the Turner house.
The fact the house's foundation is crumbling adds more dimension to this theory, as well as private investigator Roscoe's assertion that he never left the Turner house during the blackout that led him to Aunt May and Uncle George's headquarters. Does this mean there are more layers to the Turner house than viewers have been made aware of, and could they possibly be occupied by Leanne's cult?
Everyone In Leanne's Cult Is Dead, Including Her
As Servant progresses, the true nature of Leanne's religious cult remains obscure, and its alarming practices provide little clarity. However, a contingency of Reddit fans believe everyone in Leanne's group is dead and has been resurrected in order to act out "His" will — whomever "He" is.
While Leanne was supposedly saved in the fire that killed her parents when she was young, perhaps that's not the case after all. Whatever the case may be, Leanne's propensity for disobeying the cult's practices means a major confrontation is imminent.
Aunt Josephine Is Leanne's Biological Mother
A new character is introduced in season 2, one who incites immense fear in Uncle George: Aunt Josephine. She appears at the Turner home to "purify" Leanne for going rogue when she decided to work for the Turner family. However, Leanne turns the table on Aunt Josephine and ends her life.
Due to the burn marks on Aunt Josephine's face, some fans speculate she is Leanne's biological mother, meaning she didn't perish in the house fire after all. On the flip side, Aunt Josephine's burn marks could also prove she was a victim of the re-induction ceremony she hopes to conduct on Leanne.