Apple TV+'s The Servant Season 1 Review

Casimir Harlow

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Watched the first 3 last night,
Absolutely loved them...so weird & a really creepy foreboding atmosphere.
I hadn’t seen any trailers so the twist in the first ep was a...surprise to me.
cant wait for more
 
Will take a look tonight. Is the audio/video quality up to the standard of See and The Morning Show, Cas?
 
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Will take a look tonight. Is the audio/video quality up to the standard of See and The Morning Show, Cas?

Yes and no. It's all largely set in a single house, so there's isn't as much eye candy as in See, and it's also quite low key, so there isn't the glitz of The Morning Show.

And, besides, Apple still haven't fixed the Dolby Vision problems they appear to be having atm.

But it still looks impressive.
 
Yes and no. It's all largely set in a single house, so there's isn't as much eye candy as in See, and it's also quite low key, so there isn't the glitz of The Morning Show.

And, besides, Apple still haven't fixed the Dolby Vision problems they appear to be having atm.

But it still looks impressive.
Thanks for that. Yeah, I've noticed the same problem even on Netflix on my ATV, too. I can't do Dolby Vision on my projector, but it normally comes up with 'Dolby Vision' as a tag on the content if it's HDR. Right now it's denoting it as 'Ultra HD 4K' instead. However, when I play the content it does indeed provoke my projector to switch to HDR, so who knows what's going on. Baffling.
 
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Thanks for that. Yeah, I've noticed the same problem even on Netflix on my ATV, too. I can't do Dolby Vision on my projector, but it normally comes up with 'Dolby Vision' as a tag on the content if it's HDR. Right now it's denoting it as 'Ultra HD 4K' instead. However, when I play the content it does indeed provoke my projector to switch to HDR, so who knows what's going on. Baffling.
It sounds like you have the ATV set up to display HDR all the time. You need to make sure you have set up the ATV correctly, it is counter-intuitive. When you connect if it asks to try HDR, select no. If you have said yes in the past to that go into settings and select 4K SDR 50Hz. Then go to Content Match and select both to yes. By doing this the ATV will automatically select the correct dynamic range for the content and will not be stuck in HDR all the time, looking odd and also giving you the wrong information. Once set up correctly it will give you the correct menu information and also auto-switch between SDR and HDR10 content, which your projector is capable of receiving and displaying.
 
It sounds like you have the ATV set up to display HDR all the time. You need to make sure you have set up the ATV correctly, it is counter-intuitive. When you connect if it asks to try HDR, select no. If you have said yes in the past to that go into settings and select 4K SDR 50Hz. Then go to Content Match and select both to yes. By doing this the ATV will automatically select the correct dynamic range for the content and will not be stuck in HDR all the time, looking odd and also giving you the wrong information. Once set up correctly it will give you the correct menu information and also auto-switch between SDR and HDR10 content, which your projector is capable of receiving and displaying.

Thanks Phil. Yes, I actually have the menus running in SDR 60Hz, and content matching set to dynamic range and frame rate most of the time. However, I do switch off dynamic range matching for some HDR content (4,000-nit masters, which appear very dark in my projector's own HDR mode) as this stuff looks better in SDR, while other stuff is somewhere in between and looks better using custom gammas I have made from scratch.

This actually appears to be a bug as it's being reported on TV+ content as well as any other streaming app running on the ATV. As I say, HDR content displays correctly, but the tagging is incorrect. I am on the ATV beta program, which is probably the culprit, since new versions of the beta automatically download without notification.
 
I am on the ATV beta program, which is probably the culprit, since new versions of the beta automatically download without notification.
I was on the beta programme for the last set of updates. It basically broke Airplay for me so I was glad when the final update came and I pulled myself out of the programme.
 
Your review sounds about as confused as Shayamlan could hope for. His outstanding one hit wonder Sixth Sense has carried him further than most could dream of; with everything since being tagged by it in a forgiving tone and/or somewhat wishful wonder for more of the same quality. The laded knowledge that you're expected to be hauling along and henceforth seeing connections, whether or not they exist, to his work is handy for Shayamalan to appear to have added weight in an almost get-out-of-jail-free sixth sense play out for the viewer.
I'll probably give it a whirl but, as your own sixth sense no doubt informs, I never swallowed the post Sixth Sense wonderment with his works.
 
Your review sounds about as confused as Shayamlan could hope for. His outstanding one hit wonder Sixth Sense has carried him further than most could dream of; with everything since being tagged by it in a forgiving tone and/or somewhat wishful wonder for more of the same quality. The laded knowledge that you're expected to be hauling along and henceforth seeing connections, whether or not they exist, to his work is handy for Shayamalan to appear to have added weight in an almost get-out-of-jail-free sixth sense play out for the viewer.
I'll probably give it a whirl but, as your own sixth sense no doubt informs, I never swallowed the post Sixth Sense wonderment with his works.

Unbreakable, The Village and Signs were also good, and – even though this is the least popular opinion on planet Earth – *winces* I actually liked Lady In The Water.
 
I have to be honest Shyamalan is still a draw for me. Despite his recent work being very average fair, I always think perhaps he will recapture that early days glory. (Sixth Sense / Unbreakable)

Will likely check this out anyway when I've finished some other stuff first.
 
Looks like Mr Shyamalan is executive producer on just one episode, while directing two. But as stated in the review he is not responsible for the writing or directing for the most part. Honestly, my take here is they just needed a big name to lend to this to give it some weight. Not complaining as enjoying it so far. The script, performances and direction are all superb. I just think the way Apple has represented this as an M Night Shyamalan creation is a stretch.

Another small observation is the Atmos audio track sounds like an upscale (a 5.1 mix algorithmically upmixed to additionally use the height speakers), as effects definitely meant to come from above don’t, and effects that have no height are often mistakenly panned skyward. It’s all very ‘guessy’. This is usually a sign it was not originally mixed in Atmos. IMDB tech specs confirm 5.1, so it’s likely this is something Apple did so it could slap an Atmos badge on it.
 
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Looks like Mr Shyamalan is executive producer on just one episode, while directing two. But as stated in the review he is not responsible for the writing or directing for the most part. Honestly, my take here is they just needed a big name to lend to this to give it some weight. Not complaining as enjoying it so far. The script, performances and direction are all superb. I just think the way Apple has represented this as an M Night Shyamalan creation is a stretch.

Another small observation is the Atmos audio track sounds like an upscale (a 5.1 mix algorithmically upmixed to additionally use the height speakers), as effects definitely meant to come from above don’t, and effects that have no height are often mistakenly panned skyward. It’s all very ‘guessy’. This is usually a sign it was not originally mixed in Atmos. IMDB tech specs confirm 5.1, so it’s likely this is something Apple did so it could slap an Atmos badge on it.
That sounds pretty bad when you consider how many non Atmos tracks sounds great when upmixed.
 
That sounds pretty bad when you consider how many non Atmos tracks sounds great when upmixed.
Well, I wouldn’t call it bad actually, Coulson. More, you can hear it if you’re looking for it. There are a few telltale moments. More just that Apple has cheated a little here in my view.
 
Well, I wouldn’t call it bad actually, Coulson. More, you can hear it if you’re looking for it. There are a few telltale moments. More just that Apple has cheated a little here in my view.
That reminds me of the Deepwater Horizon Atmos mix. An absolutely stonking mix, but on one or two occasions, in the midst of the mayhem, I heard sounds that reminded me of the artificiality of the sound track.
 
Polished first 3 episodes last night...
Love it....
Finally Night shmalammamama creates TV for adult viewing
 
Polished first 3 episodes last night...
Love it....
Finally Night shmalammamama creates TV for adult viewing

His not the writer nor creator of this show, just the producer and directed 1 episode so Apple can have a big name attached to each of their projects.
 
His not the writer nor creator of this show, just the producer and directed 1 episode so Apple can have a big name attached to each of their projects.
Still pretty good viewing :)
 
His not the writer nor creator of this show, just the producer and directed 1 episode so Apple can have a big name attached to each of their projects.
2 episodes, no? I thought he did episode one, then the flashback ep.
 
Love this show! One of my favourite shows of all time. Looking forward to the finale this week!
 
From Season 1 Episode 9 : Timestamp 04:20

Julian : I think you may have condemned your son to the life of the collar ?

What does that mean ? What is "life of the collar" ?
 
From Season 1 Episode 9 : Timestamp 04:20

Julian : I think you may have condemned your son to the life of the collar ?

What does that mean ? What is "life of the collar" ?
Become a priest?
 

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