Following the rehearsal, Hugo approaches Miranda and praises her directing. As they openly flirt, Grace mutters disapprovingly to the side about their behavior, calling it ridiculous. Before he leaves, Hugo confirms their date for Thursday.

Once Hugo is gone, Grace confronts Miranda about the difficult rehearsal and the unscripted kissing scene. Miranda defends her decision to include the kiss, claiming it seals Helen’s happiness at the conclusion and will have the audience rooting for her. Their conversation shifts to Briana, who is still absent. Miranda dismisses Grace’s concerns, insisting Briana will not return in time and declaring that Ellie is the new lead. When Grace suspiciously asks about Miranda’s own improving health, Miranda admits that her illness was probably psychosomatic, just as Grace had once said. Miranda then tells the exhausted Grace to go home, saying that she will manage the play.

The following afternoon, Miranda meets with Ellie in her office and officially offers her the lead role. Ellie accepts with some hesitation. She cannot hide her joy at being the lead, though she does seem concerned about Briana. She then gives Miranda another gift of handmade bath salts. Miranda lies and says the salts are working magic on her body and healing her.

Later, Miranda goes grocery shopping, enjoying the freedom of her healed body and buying rich foods and drinks that she typically avoids. She runs into Fauve, who is buying soup for Briana. Fauve informs Miranda that Briana is still ill with a mysterious illness that has left her in constant pain. She has been murmuring Miranda’s name in her sleep, which Fauve says doesn’t surprise her given that Miranda and Briana had a conflict on the day Briana became sick. The accusation shocks Miranda, and she drops a bottle of wine. Fauve walks away, looking triumphant.

On Thursday evening, Miranda prepares for her date with Hugo. She has her hair done and wears a new dress. She looks at her reflection in her triptych mirror with approval. However, she is nervous about the date and finishes an entire bottle of champagne while getting ready. She reminisces about her painful relationship with Paul—his initial devotion and admiration that gradually eroded after her injury and illness. Her preparations are interrupted by a text from Hugo, who changes their meeting spot to the college theater, claiming he has a surprise for her.

When Miranda arrives, she finds Hugo has recreated the stage set from the production of All’s Well That Ends Well that she starred in years ago at Edinburgh. This is the same production that Paul saw her in and that led to their relationship when he sent her an admiring note after the play. Hugo admits that he watched a video of this production on YouTube and used it to recreate the set. He demonstrates a special lighting effect that fills the stage with stars. In the light, Miranda momentarily mistakes Hugo for Paul. Overcome with emotion, she kisses Hugo, and they have sex on the stage.

At the Friday afternoon rehearsal, Miranda is newly energized and euphoric, and she arrives wearing the same dress from the night before. She thinks of her students as her “acolytes” and interprets their quiet attention as admiration. Grace, however, seems skeptical. When Ellie finds three of Hugo’s shirt buttons on the stage, Miranda tries to dismiss it as a possible costume mishap, though Grace looks at her suspiciously.

To deflect attention, Miranda shows the cast the new set design and announces that Ellie will be taking over Helen’s role. While the students applaud obediently and Ellie seems happy, Grace is visibly caught off guard by the announcement. The atmosphere shifts when a pale and sickly Briana appears at the theater. She stumbles forward with the same limp Miranda used to have. Miranda, though internally unsettled, remains composed and welcomes her to watch the performance. Briana insists she has come to perform, not watch. She wants to reclaim her role as Helen. Upon learning the role has been recast, she demands to be given the part of the ailing King instead. Miranda agrees to let her audition for the role.

Briana auditions for the role of the King, performing opposite Ellie who plays Helen. Briana’s powerful delivery of the lines surprises everyone. She captures the King’s despair at his illness and his longing to believe in a cure.

After Miranda dismisses the cast, Briana stays behind and demands the part, though she is visibly pale and weak. Grace advocates for her, pointing out that the student currently cast as the King is a poor actor. Miranda, however, hesitates, unnerved by Briana’s new emotionality and her resemblance to her former self. She feels new sympathy for the girl and reaches out to pat her shoulder.

Briana recoils from Miranda and directly accuses her of having done “something” to cause her illness. The scene escalates as Briana threatens to report Miranda to the dean and begins to cry. Fauve suddenly runs into the theater to comfort Briana, leading her away while giving Miranda a triumphant look.

Distressed by Briana’s dramatic return and her accusations, Miranda heads to the Canny Man to confront the three men. As she drives, she reflects on recent events, including Mark’s collapse and her own newfound energy, and wonders whether she really could be transferring her pain to others. She also worries that Briana will expose her, though she wonders if anyone, including the dean, will believe such fantastical accusations. She also notes that Grace looks at her with suspicion and unease, and Miranda wonders if she will lose her former ally and friend. As she worries about these things, she senses her leg becoming heavier as her pain begins to return.

As she enters the bar, she sees a sign that reads: “PERFORMING TONIGHT: THE WEIRD BRETHREN!!!” (221). However, she doesn’t see the three men at their usual seat at the bar. She orders the “golden remedy,” which immediately begins to soothe her pain. When she asks the bartender about the three men, he points her to a staircase leading downstairs to a space Miranda previously didn’t know existed. As she descends the spiraling staircase for what seems like a strange length of time, she sees a figure who resembles Paul walking ahead of her. She calls out to him desperately, but he does not respond. Trying to catch up to him, she loses her footing and falls down the stairs. She opens her eyes in great pain, discovering she is lying on a carpet in a red-lit basement game room.

Inside, the three men—her “patrons”—greet her and speak to her cryptically and mockingly. She tells them her fears about Briana. On a television screen, Miranda sees footage of her final performance as Lady Macbeth, and it replays the moment she fell off stage during that performance and got the injury that changed the course of her life. The men speak in riddles and deflections, refusing to clarify whether Miranda is responsible for Briana’s illness and Mark’s collapse. They suggest, however, that Miranda has given something of herself to others, like her pain and her gift for theater. They say this makes for a “good show.” One of the men hands her a rose, which rots in her hand.

The confrontation is interrupted when Miranda sees Grace at the foot of the stairs, watching them. Grace flees in terror, and Miranda chases her to the parking lot. She blocks Grace’s car and claims that the three men are just actors she is rehearsing with for an experimental play. However, Grace seems visibly afraid, and as Miranda tries to reach for her, Grace trips and falls. To help her up, Miranda touches Grace on her wrist and asks her to let Miranda help her up.