‘Servant’ Season 3 Episode 5 Recap: ‘Tiger’ Proves That Leanne’s Paranoia is Justified
Servant Season 3’s “Tiger,” on Apple TV+, picks up a few days after the bloody accident in the Turner’s kitchen. However, Sylvia and her missing finger barely get a mention from anyone in the episode besides a short explanation from Tobe (Tony Revolori). Instead, “Tiger” focuses more on Leanne’s (Nell Tiger Free) increasing paranoia along with Dorothy’s (Lauren Ambrose) determination to not lose any ground in her rivalry with her coworker, Isabelle (Molly Griggs).
The first two seasons of Servant boasted darker color schemes and chilly settings. Servant Season 3 happens during the spring season with brighter colors and sunnier days. None of that is more obvious than in “Tiger.”
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Servant Season 3 Episode 5 “Tiger.”]
Leanne overhears Isabelle and another woman gossiping about Dorothy
In “Tiger,” Dorothy helps plan a local block party while Sean (Toby Kebbell) serves ice cream to the crowds packed into their street. Carnival games and food trucks line the sidewalk as Dorothy walks around, clipboard in hand. It’s not long before she notices her local news crew show up to film a small feature about the block party with none other than Isabelle leading the charge. However, Dorothy is very aware of the eyes on her and is intent on showing people how much she loves motherhood and her career. She plasters a smile on her face before snatching the mic away from Isabelle and taking over from there.
As Leanne wanders through the crowd and attempts to relax a little, she overhears a woman talking about Dorothy to Isabelle. The woman mentions the ambulance outside of the house the night Julian found Jericho’s body, but she’s not aware that’s the reason. Leanne bravely calls both women out, but Isabelle quickly makes up an excuse for the conversation.
After Leanne leaves, Isabelle googles her name on her phone. The first image to pop up shows Leanne’s face on a missing poster, which ominously hints at trouble for the Turners and Leanne if Isabelle finds out the truth.
Sean’s rediscovery of his faith ruffles Dorothy’s feathers in ‘Servant’ Season 3
In Servant, Dorothy isn’t privy to everything Julian, Sean, and the audience know about Jericho and her past. The traumatic events over the past year have taken their toll on Sean, so he returned to church seeking comfort. However, he didn’t tell Dorothy about it because he knew she would disapprove.
In “Tiger” at the block party, Sean’s minister, Nancy, says hello to him while he serves ice cream. He doesn’t think anything of it as she presumably lives nearby. Because of Dorothy’s job as a reporter, Nancy recognizes her and introduces herself as “Sean’s minister,” catching Dorothy off guard.
Later, Dorothy tells Sean about her encounter and chastises him for keeping it a secret. This time it’s her turn to catch Sean off guard when she announces that she invited Nancy over for dinner.
Leanne’s paranoia turns out to be entirely justified in ‘Servant’ Season 3’s ‘Tiger’
After bumping into Tobe, Leanne begins to let her guard down. She and Tobe play carnival games and jump in a bounce house, and for the first time throughout all of Servant, it seems as if Leanne is genuinely enjoying herself.
However, the moment doesn’t last long. When Leanne gets hungry and searches for food, she wanders into a vendor’s tent to find the dagger she used to kill Aunt Josephine in the Servant Season 2 finale. A man and woman begin to approach Leanne before she takes off running. The two people chase Leanne and even break into Dorothy and Sean’s home trying to get to her. When she runs out back, she turns around to hear the two people coming toward her. However, when she opens her eyes, no one is there.
A dazed Leanne walks slowly back into the house and cleans up the broken glass on the floor before noticing blood on the back of her head. There’s also blood on her overalls which she quickly tries to scrub out before Dorothy and Sean arrive home. During all of this, viewers see quick flashes of Leanne’s attackers slamming her head up against the tree.
The episode ends with Leanne taking the blood from her fingers and smearing it on her face as Dorothy notices blood on the doorknob downstairs.
Watch new episodes of Servant Season 3 every Friday on AppleTV+.
