Servant
4×02: “Itch”
Directed by Kitty Green
Written by Alyssa Clark & Ishana Shyamalan

* For a recap & review of the Season 4 premiere, click here.
* For a recap & review of 4×03, click here.
Sean doesn’t want to leave the house, but Leanne insists that he got off and do his famous person stuff. This leaves Leanne to take care of Dorothy, along with a bit of help from Julian. Dorothy is not happy about it, especially when Leanne takes away her phone. Nevertheless, things must go on. Leanne says “we have to be them now” when she talks with Julian about Sean needing to go to work and Dorothy needing to heal. When she tries to go back upstairs and get Dorothy to eat she’s refused. Yet she keeps trying to make Dorothy eat. So Dorothy spits food onto Leanne’s shoes defiantly. Even this doesn’t deter Leanne, who chooses this time to reveal a “welcome home gift” she made for Dorothy made from “all of Jericho‘s old clothes,” the things Jericho has grown out of since Dorothy’s been gone. This deeply offends Dorothy, believing it’s “a mother‘s job” to deal with a child’s old clothes.

Leanne tries to tell Dorothy what happened on the stairs was an accident. She apologises about the blanket, too. Then she brings little Jericho in, promising to hand him over if Dorothy will have “two bites” of food,” then a couple more. Dorothy lights up to have Jericho next to her. But as soon as she mentions it just being her and her child forever eventually, after she’s healed, Leanne takes the baby away spitefully. Later on, Leanne returns and puts Dorothy’s cellphone back.
Not long after the cell is back with Dorothy, Kourtney comes by to visit, keeping Leanne at arm’s length. And then Sean’s back, as well. Outside there’s a bunch of commotion. There are men in hazmat suits with spray nozzles and tanks. They’re removing beds and other furniture. It’s an infestation of “bed bugs” and they’re everywhere, including the Turner house. Perfect timing when they’ve got Dorothy stuck in bed, not to mention she’s been scratching all over because of how itchy she’s been. After a while, Frank shows up with hazmat suits for Julian and Sean. Upstairs, Leanne’s alone shaving Dorothy’s legs with a straight razor. Dorothy tries to get the nanny off her and cuts her leg in the process. Leanne tries to put lipstick on her and gets bitten, which sends her off again. A torturous battle. Downstairs, Frank and Julian are having a drink, talking about women.

Sean tells Dorothy about the bed bugs because he can’t keep it from her any longer. She says she’d rather be “bitten by bed bugs” than to be touched by her husband, because he left her alone with the nanny. She’d rather have Kourtney around right now. In the baby’s room, Julian and Leanne share a kiss. She knows there’s something on his mind, though he won’t talk about anything. She laments giving everything to the people around her while everyone remains miserable. She likens being taken for granted to having “bugs crawling under your skin.”
And everything continues to crack. Now, it’s the ceiling in the Turner house.
When it’s time for Dorothy to use the bathroom she has to suffer another few moments in the presence of Leanne. It ends up with piss all over Leanne, after Dorothy causes a spill. Leanne strips Dorothy’s clothes off forcefully to wash them. It’s a horrifying battle of will between them. All the while, Sean and the others are watching the bed bugs swarm, waiting for someone to come take care of them. This pushes Julian off to find somebody outside. He runs into a woman outside talking about “a war afoot” and how Leanne’s shielding the family from something awful. The lady speaks of Leanne’s power, freaking Julian out real good.
In the kitchen, Tobe’s been stuck while the bug situation plays out, so he’s cooking. He’s making good ole comfort food passed down in his family, hoping to make the Turner home a bit happier. That’s a tall order. Leanne brings food up to Dorothy, who’s less than thrilled to see her again. She sadly talks about the “girl time” she and Dorothy shared, wondering what happened to those days. Dorothy says that Leanne’s “evil.” Leanne says she’s realised those around Dorothy are afraid of the nanny, and she’s learning to embrace it. Oh, my.

Uncle George is outside tonight in the pouring rain. He falls to his knees, praying, as he sees the devastation of the bug infestation. Inside the Turner house, things are settling down a bit from earlier. Later that night, Leanne notices the door open. She goes upstairs to find that Dorothy has hired live-in nurses to care for her; a kind of buffer between her and Leanne. “You‘re not going to win this battle,” says Dorothy. Things are going to the next level at the Turner household.