Servant – Season 4 Episode 9 “Awake” Recap & Review

Awake

Episode 9 of Servant season 4 starts with Dorothy on the phone to the authorities, trying in vain to connect with Julian and Sean. She’s told to wait, given the severity of the weather, leaving her all alone with Leanne. Leanne promises that the pair will come back in one piece, just as Dorothy is patched through to Sean, who’s conscious and lucid.

He’s desperate though, pointing out to Dorothy that she needs to get a grip of the situation. He’s not going to be discharged potentially for days or even weeks, leaving her all alone with Leanne in that time.

Sean vouches that Toby will be able to drop over a basket of food at 8am but until then, she’s going to have to survive the night. “Everything’s going to be okay, I love you.” Sean reassures her, but that’s easier said than done.

Leanne phones Sean after and goads him, telling him he’ll have to build a whole new life for himself once he’s healed up. Sean promises that Dorothy is stronger than she thinks but it only riles up Leanne more, as she decides to stay in the same room as her that night.

As night turns to day, Dorothy wakes up with Jericho wriggling in her arms. She heads downstairs with her child and finds Leanne already up. She’s been excited to get things started between them and has decided they should all watch a movie together; just the three of them.

Toby rings and drops off the hamper, with a letter attached. Within this, it urges her to meet behind the construction, with instructions on pretending she’s speaking to Toby to avoid detection.

Dorothy manages to do well to avoid arousing suspicion, leaving Leanne to look after Jericho and run him a bath while she heads to the meet spot, sneaking down the stairs as best she can whilst attempting to avoid Leanne’s suspicions.

Eventually Dorothy manages to head outside, where Sean and Julian happen to be. So much for it being weeks then! They’ve clearly both been discharged and Julian decides they “need to do this.” And by this, they reveal the truth about Jericho and what Uncle George told them.

Before that, Sean spills the details about the Jericho doll and what really happened that summer with the car and the heatwave. The scene is well shot, with that trademark Shyamalan style of zooming into faces. In this instance, it’s Dorothy, whose wide-eyed shocked stare speaks volumes as the truth about the doll is unveiled.

As Dorothy learns the truth, she begins screaming maniacally, kicking out and smashing the glass on the windows, destroying the baby monitor and beside herself with grief.

When Leanne looks outside, she sees Sean’s car with all the doors open. The trio head inside together where Leanne is waiting for them. She points out to Dorothy that she can extraordinary things and is doing it all for her, including bringing her son back to life.

Of course, it’s not actually Jericho as the real family are looking for their son a few States away, “It was never Jericho, please listen to me honey.” Sean says, but Leanne is the devil on her shoulder, and she points out a mother’s instinct, promising that she can bring Jericho back forever.

Leanne also reveals that she’s “sent Jericho back to the place that he’ll be without me.” She wants to try and take advantage of the situation and promises that they’ll be a happy family once she brings him back.

As the episode closes out, Dorothy turns to Leanne and looks set to give her answer.

The Episode Review

M. Night Shyamalan directed this episode and you can see his mark left all over this one. The whole angel and devil idea at the end, with Sean and Leanne both on either side, is a good one and really well shot. Finally Dorothy knows everything, which has been a long time coming.

However, Servant has devolved from a spooky, weird series into more of an overarching tale about the occult, battles against God and what’s really good and evil. With only one more episode to go, surely this can only end with Leanne being killed, right? I’m sure we’ll find out next week!