Servant season 1, episode 5: Does Leanne have a secret weapon?

Servant season 1, episode 5 has turned the tables on the mysterious and creepy nanny. But she is not done, yet! Does Leanne have a secret weapon?

When it comes to secrets and withholding information, Leanne (Nell Tiger Free) has had the upper hand from the beginning. The final moments of Servant season 1, episode 4 revealed something huge, but the latest episode, “Crickets,” flips the table. Spoilers ahead if you are not caught up on the chilling drama from Apple TV Plus.

There was not a shortage of theories about Leanne when Apple TV debuted the horror series. Episode 4, “Bear,” brings us all back to Earth, though. It’s revealed Leanne may be as creepy as it gets, but she is definitely human and not a demon or witch. Still, this doesn’t mean she hasn’t dabbled into supernatural activities. The series IS titled Servant for a reason, who is the servant and just who are they serving?

Episode 5, “Crickets,” does not bring us any closer to the answer, and I can feel audiences beginning to get a little frustrated along with me. Mystery and secrets are fun and captivating, but five episodes in and we still have little to no answers. Let’s hope episode 6 finally gets to it before this becomes tiring.

I will admit, though, watching Leanne be the one who is afraid and not Sean or Julian in episode 5 was very refreshing and fun to watch. Sean (Toby Kebbell) and Julian (Rupert Grint) have teamed up against Leanne. They are planting crickets in her room to annoy her, switching her tomato soup with dog food (a little cruel, guys), and they’ve hired someone to befriend Leanne to persuade her to leave the house. The pranks are a little Home Alone, but what else are they supposed to do?

However, we did learn what happens when Leanne is angry. And just when we thought she was a regular, albeit creepy, human, the idea of her having supernatural abilities is presented once again!

Towards the middle of the episode, Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose) sends Leanne away on an errand. When Leanne gets back, Dorothy and Sean are having sex. Leanne quickly figures out that Dorothy purposely sent her away. This makes her angry, and understandably so! Leanne reaches for her bible, writes down “Dorothy” on one of the pages and begins to pray.

The following day, Dorothy inexplicably wakes up with cold sores all over her mouth. She’s a reporter who appears on TV every day, this is her worst nightmare. Dorothy is freaking out and shouting how she never gets sores. Coincidence? I think not! Sean is also once again dealing with splinters in random places. What is Leanne doing? Praying for these things to happen, obviously. But who is she praying to? And what does she give in return?

In the final moments of the episode, Leanne beats her own back with a whip. Punishing herself? For payment, maybe? Is Leanne’s ability to cause harm a secret weapon? What else can she do and how bad are these punishments going to get?

Audiences continue to have so many questions, and answers aren’t anywhere near just yet! Pick it up, Servant, before viewers turn away. What did you think of the latest episode?

New episodes of Servant stream each Friday only on Apple TV Plus.