Don't Let Her Stay

Richard sleeps in the guest room that night, and Joanne brings Evie to sleep in the main bedroom. Joanne wonders if Chloe was telling the truth about the paracetamol and returns to the nursery to find the baby monitor face down on the ground. She wonders if she knocked it over. Joanne’s mother had post-partum psychosis, which resulted in paranoid delusions that someone was trying to hurt Joanne. Joanne lived with her grandmother while her mother recovered in a hospital. Joanne wonders if she’s having the same experience as her mother.

The next morning, Richard apologizes, acknowledging that it could be distressing for someone else to administer medicine to Evie. He still feels Joanne overreacted and suggests she talk to her doctor to make sure everything is okay. Joanne finds Chloe taking selfies with Simon and apologizes for her reaction the night before. Chloe hesitates before forgiving Joanne. They discuss Chloe’s party on Saturday. Joanne informs Chloe that she’ll need to watch Evie later while Joanne is in a meeting. Chloe assures Joanne she can handle it, and Joanne plans to watch the baby monitor.

Joanne’s video meeting gets off to a rocky start, and she’s distracted because Evie is crying on the baby monitor and Chloe is absent. Joanne dismisses herself to take care of Evie, but she cannot find Chloe. Joanne brings Evie to the meeting, but she’s hungry and disruptive the whole time. Chloe returns shortly after the meeting ends, having taken Joanne’s bike for a ride. Joanne scolds Chloe for leaving after agreeing to look after Evie. Chloe acts as though Joanne never said anything, asserting that she can’t read minds and needs some notice. Joanne reminds Chloe of their discussion, but Chloe denies it happened. She suggests Joanne is experiencing mental illness like her mother.

Chloe’s comment shocks Joanne, who wonders how Chloe knows about her mother. Joanne keeps Evie close for the rest of the day while working on arrangements for Chloe’s party. She works hard so Richard will be satisfied that everything is perfect. In private, Joanne tries to discuss what happened with Chloe, but Chloe interrupts them. Richard and Chloe criticize Joanne about her forgetfulness and her mother’s illness. Later, Richard consoles Joanne. Joanne wants him to trust her more. They agree they want everyone to get along.

Richard makes a private phone call to the family solicitor, Solomon. It sounds like they’re discussing a call from Chloe. Later, Joanne goes to the kitchen, where Richard is feeding Evie, Chloe looking on with an expression of hatred. In private, Joanne tells Richard she doesn’t want Chloe to nanny Evie anymore. Richard insists Chloe loves Evie and it was just a misunderstanding. He won’t listen when Joanne tries to tell him that she doesn’t trust Chloe. He says that Chloe is doing well, and he wants Joanne to try harder to get to know her. Joanne says Chloe is manipulating him with her sweet little girl act, and Richard sleeps elsewhere again that night. When he leaves, Joanne spots Chloe listening in the hallway.

Joanne steps on a shard of the broken paracetamol bottle and wonders again what Chloe was up to in the nursery. Over breakfast, Richard is cold to Joanne and insists that Chloe stay on as a nanny. He doesn’t trust Joanne’s judgment because he feels she’s been “obsessively distrustful.” She calls her childhood best friend, Robyn, who gives her contact information for a substance testing service her law firm uses. Joanne doesn’t tell Robyn everything about the situation because she wants to be certain she isn’t paranoid first. She prepares the broken bottle shards for shipping and decides to buy surveillance cameras. As she’s leaving, Chloe asks where she’s going. Joanne gives vague answers, and Chloe insists on coming along. Joanne makes up a lie and declines an offer from Chloe to babysit Evie.

Joanne buys five small, inconspicuous cameras. While in town, Joanne spots Chloe and Roxanne, both of whom ignore her wave. When Joanne gets home, she snoops through Chloe’s room, knowing Chloe is still in town. She finds a photograph of a baby in Chloe’s suitcase. Chloe comes home and catches Joanne snooping. She is angry at Joanne for touching her things and says the baby photo is of her. They argue again about the meeting, and Chloe tells Joanne to take Evie and leave. She threatens to stay forever and produces a doctored photo of Joanne kissing Simon. It’s well-done enough that Joanne doesn’t want to take the chance of Richard seeing it. Chloe demands Joanne tell Richard that she wants Chloe to stay on as a nanny.

Before Joanne leaves, Chloe asks what she is making for dinner. Joanne is making a quiche, which is Richard’s favorite. Chloe tells her not to mention the baby photo to Richard because it hurts him too much to think about the past. She says he’s still in love with Diane.

From the nursery, Joanne hears Chloe in the kitchen. At five o’clock, she goes to the kitchen to start the quiche and discovers that there are no eggs. Chloe confesses to using them all for an omelet and acts like she didn’t know Joanne needed them. Richard comes home and seems stressed. Chloe complains to him that Joanne left her alone all day at the house. Richard is surprised that Joanne declined Chloe’s babysitting offer. Chloe excuses herself, and Joanne tells Richard about Chloe using all the eggs after Joanne said she planned to make quiche.

Chloe reappears with a cake she says she baked for Joanne. She confesses she used the eggs for the cake but didn’t know Joanne needed them. Joanne reminds Chloe that she mentioned the quiche. Chloe responds that she didn’t know quiche needed eggs and gets emotional. Richard comforts her and scolds Joanne. Chloe exits dramatically, throwing the cake in the garbage.

Joanne tries to convince Richard that Chloe is manipulating him, but Richard accuses her of experiencing post-partum psychosis. Joanne asks if Chloe might have a mental illness, making Richard angrier. He says that Chloe called him earlier for his blessing to make the cake. Joanne realizes how hard Chloe worked to make her look bad and apologizes to Richard. He tells her to apologize to Chloe. Later, Joanne overhears Chloe lying to Richard to make Joanne sound unfriendly and unwelcoming. She sleeps with Evie in the main bedroom, and Richard sleeps in a spare room again.

Joanne decides to put up the cameras that night. She waits for Evie to wake for a feeding and uses that as an excuse to sneak around the house. She hides one camera inside a teddy bear in the nursery and another between packages in the pantry, worried Chloe might tamper with their food. Richard interrupts Joanne in the kitchen, and she quickly hides the remaining cameras in a bag. He is disgruntled because Joanne hasn’t been quiet. Joanne hopes he will follow her back to their bedroom, but they part ways at the top of the stairs.

Joanne tries to talk to Richard the next morning, but he’s in a hurry to leave. He mentions that Chloe’s party is tonight, Friday, not tomorrow, Saturday, as Chloe told her. Richard is furious that Joanne got the date wrong. Chloe confirms that her birthday party is supposed to be tonight. Joanne knows Chloe set her up to fail and is glad Richard mentioned it; otherwise the guests would’ve shown to no party. Chloe asks if there will be a party, and Joanne assures her everything is under control.

Joanne bakes a cake from scratch and pays extra money to secure a catering service while looking after Evie, as Chloe is missing. The caterers arrive on time, and when Richard gets home, he’s pleased. Eventually, Chloe arrives home, crying because she had to cancel all her guests. She says that Joanne told her the party was off. However, Richard defends Joanne, and Chloe runs off. Joanne is happy Richard is on her side. They enjoy the food and wine alone. Richard comes to bed with Joanne. He suggests it was a misunderstanding on Chloe’s part.

The next morning, Richard says Chloe is spoiled. He and Joanne enjoy a walk with Evie through the garden. Joanne tells Richard that Chloe gave her the wrong date on purpose. She adds it to the list of things Chloe has accused Joanne of forgetting, including the work meeting and where to meet in town. Richard argues that Joanne must take more accountability for her mistakes and shames her for not trusting Chloe with Evie since she’s tired all the time and needs help. He doesn’t believe Joanne is thinking clearly. Joanne checks her camera footage and finds a clip of Chloe in the nursery. Chloe is tender and sings Evie a lullaby. Joanne feels she has lost track of what’s happening.

Joanne goes over the nursery footage again and again, looking for signs that Chloe is not as sweet as she appears, but she can’t find anything. She recalls that her mother was suspicious of everyone during her post-partum psychosis. Joanne finds relief in the doctored photo Chloe showed her because it proves she’s not wrong for distrusting Chloe. The paracetamol bottle test results return normal, and Joanne worries this may mean she is experiencing mental illness. During another meeting, Joanne is distracted by the live nursery camera footage. When Chloe picks up Evie and looks right into the camera, Joanne wonders if she knows about it.

Over dinner, Chloe mentions that it was Joanne’s idea to go back to work, unlike Joanne told Richard. Richard becomes upset. Chloe suggests Richard is unhappy in his life with Joanne and never wanted a baby. Richard sends Chloe to the pantry for sugar and confesses there are things he hasn’t told Joanne about Chloe. Chloe returns with one of Joanne’s cameras, interrupting them.