‘Servant’ Season 4: What to Remember From Season 3 Before the Premiere

The Apple TV+ original series Servant Season 4 returns on the oh-so-appropriate Friday the 13th of this week. We last caught up with Sean and Dorothy Turner (Toby Kebbell and Lauren Ambrose) in January 2022. The upcoming season of M. Night Shyamalan’s creepy tale wraps up the story of the Turners and their mysterious live-in nanny, Leanne (Nell Tiger Free). However, with as many twists and turns as the story took over the last three seasons, it’s understandable that you might need a refresher. Here’s everything you need to remember from season 3 to prepare for the Servant Season 4 premiere.

There are 2 cults operating by the end of ‘Servant’ Season 3

What started as a story about a creepy nanny who may or may not have brought a baby doll to life or stolen someone else’s baby quickly evolved into something quite different. When we first met Dorothy and Sean, an unlicensed therapist suggested Dorothy use a baby doll to help ease her out of her catatonic state. The plan was likely meant to slowly bring Dorothy back into the real world after she accidentally caused the death of the couple’s infant son, Jericho. However, after they mysteriously received Leanne’s resume as a live-in nanny in the mail and immediately decided to hire her, the baby doll was suddenly a real infant again. That, in itself, seems like enough of a tale to tell over 40 episodes, but no. There’s more.

Eventually, audiences learned that Leanne grew up in a bizarre religious cult called the Church of the Lesser Saints that practiced insane rituals to “free souls” by essentially cutting people open. Because Dorothy and Sean accepted Leanne as part of their family, her problems became their problems. However, in Servant Season 3, Leanne amassed her own following. A group of homeless people in the park across the street from Dorothy and Sean’s house gathered and began worshipping Leanne. Keep in mind the original cult still wants Leanne, but now she has her own line of defense with the people in the park. These people likely become a major plot point in Servant Season 4.

Leanne and Julian’s relationship gets increasingly complicated in ‘Servant’ Season 4

The Leanne we know by the end of Servant Season 3 contrasts wildly with the meek young girl we met back in season 1. Leanne continues to become more confident over the course of the three seasons, and it doesn’t appear to stop in Servant Season 4. Dorothy’s brother Julian’s (Rupert Grint) reckless lifestyle caught up with him, and he overdosed in the Turner’s home before Leanne revived him in season 2. Since then, the two secretly met for sexy rendezvous, and now Julian seems to have fallen under Leanne’s spell. This should play major havoc on the relationship between Dorothy and Julian in the upcoming season.

Something shifted in Leanne after her attack in season 3

If we had to pinpoint one defining moment that caused the biggest shift in Leanne’s personality, it would all come down to the night of the street fair. During the street fair in Servant Season 3, unknown assailants from the Church of the Lesser Saints attacked Leanne. However, lucky for her, her newly obtained loyal followers helped her and broke the news, “Hey, you’re our new idol.”

After that, Leanne seemed to slough off her meek and mild exterior to reveal a much bolder and ruder underneath. Suddenly, Leanna had no time for Dorothy’s bossiness or over-the-top needs. We already saw Leanne transform a doll into a living baby and then back again. In season 3, she seemingly causes Toby’s (Tony Revolori) girlfriend to rip her entire ring finger off during a slip and fall in the Turner’s kitchen. At this point, everyone should know Leanne is not a person to trifle with these days. This does not bode well for anyone in Servant Season 4.

Dorothy’s mobility remains up in the air for ‘Servant’ Season 4

As Servant Season 3 progressed, Dorothy became warier of Leanne’s intentions. By the end of the season, she refused to let Leanne near Jericho. Of course, this displeased Leanne, who manipulated her way out of several situations manufactured by Dorothy to get her away from Jericho and her family. In the season 3 finale, Leanna managed to make Dorothy unravel, and when she attempted to leave in the middle of the night with Jericho, Leanne seemed to cause Dorothy to fall backward over the upstairs banister — but not before Leanne safely grabbed Jericho from Dorothy’s arms.

The last shot of Dorothy showed her lying on the floor, unmoving but with her eyes open. In the trailer for Servant Season 4, we know Dorothy survived the fall and returns to her Philadelphia brownstone in a wheelchair. How long she remains out of commission is unknown, though. We do know that Leanne refuses to back down, and now with the power of her followers behind her, Dorothy’s got quite the uphill battle to overcome.

Thankfully, we don’t have long to wait to dive back into the story and finally get answers to all of our unanswered questions. Servant Season 4 premieres on Apple TV+ on Jan. 13, 2023.