John says that Beth called him from the party, drunk and needing a ride. He drove her home and watched her go inside around 1:30 am. Jo, who’s eavesdropping, doesn’t believe him because she didn’t hear Beth come in. She thinks John, who gave Beth piano lessons for years, may have been angry about losing that job when the Marches hired someone else to help Beth prepare for an audition. John says that Beth wanted to talk to him about her fight with Amy, a fight Jo hadn’t known about. Going to confront Amy, Jo finds that the shower is running but Amy’s gone.

Amy sneaks out of the house to meet Laurie at the park. She’s wanted his attention for years but felt she was always in Jo’s shadow. Laurie says that he stopped things from going further the night before because they were drunk, not because he didn’t want her. When Amy refuses to tell Laurie what she and Beth fought about, he suggests that they give each other some space for now.

Beth is practicing a piano piece for an audition at Plumfield School for the Arts. Aunt March, who works at a record label in Central Park, pulled strings to get her the opportunity. Amy, whose goal is to paint professionally, is jealous and doesn’t think that Beth deserves Aunt March’s support as much as she does.

While Beth is practicing, Jo spots a recording device hidden under the piano and observes that it has been recording for 76 hours.

Amy’s absence causes a panic, but her sisters find her coming home from the park shortly after. Amy admits that her jealousy of Beth going to Plumfield caused their fight and that she told Beth she didn’t deserve to go. She worries that her cruel words caused Beth to jump off the bridge. Mrs. March, a trauma nurse, says Beth’s wounds indicate that someone hit her and assures Amy that she’s not to blame.

At an art gallery in Boston, Amy and Florence meet Fred Vaughn, the painter Amy’s been obsessed with since sixth grade. Fred tells Amy that he’s read Little Women and that she’s his favorite March sister. He invites Amy and Florence to visit his studio and to apply for his summer apprenticeship program in Europe, which has launched other young women to stardom in the art world. The program costs $20,000, but Amy hopes that Aunt March will pay for it since she’s paying for Beth to attend Plumfield.

Meg urges John to tell the police about driving Beth home after the New Year’s Eve party, but not to mention their conversation about Plumfield. He’d yelled at Beth a few weeks ago for considering not attending the school, accusing her of wasting a golden opportunity. Meg worries that the police will see the disagreement as motive.

That night, Meg, Jo, and Amy console each other as they question how they can go on without their sister.

Sallie organizes a candlelight vigil for Beth the following night. For Jo, it feels fake and performative—strangers instilling themselves into the family tragedy. She tells Meg that Sallie didn’t arrange the vigil for Beth but for herself. She wonders if Sallie isn’t merely seeking attention but trying to hide a motive or a guilty conscience.

Seeing Laurie at the vigil, Jo thinks about the tension that’s existed between them since last summer, when Laurie professed his love for her and she couldn’t reciprocate the feeling.

Back at home, Jo and Meg argue about Sallie, with Meg defending her best friend against Jo’s suspicions. Beth visited Meg at college once and then told Jo that she believed Sallie was taking advantage of Meg. Though Meg understands Jo’s changing theories and accusations are a way of processing grief, she needs a break from it. She heads to her apartment for clean clothes and some alone time.

In the fall, Meg is feeling overwhelmed at college, where she’s studying to become a women’s health professional. She’s also frustrated by her living situation with Sallie and Annie, so she goes to John’s apartment for pizza and a movie. They’ve been hanging out for weeks but are still just friends. Meg lies to John about the source of her stress, which is actually a scheme she and Sallie are involved in. Throughout the evening, she ignores frantic texts from Sallie, including one threatening to kill her if she embarrasses Sallie.

Amy stays home from the vigil with Florence keeping her company. She’s still afraid that Beth died because of her and sees herself as a horrible person.

Amy and Florence have been spending time in Fred Vaughn’s studio and were both accepted to his summer program. Now, however, Amy says that she’s not going. The plan is tainted by her guilt. Florence begs her to reconsider.

On Sunday morning, Jo decides to investigate Sallie. She sneaks into the Gardiner house through an open window while Sallie and her brother, Ned, are at church. Nobody else is home since Sallie’s parents are in Paris.

Jo is surprised to find no Jane Austen books in Sallie’s room: She’s supposed to be a huge fan, and her essay about Austen’s body of work won Harvard’s admissions essay contest. Jo does find Laurie’s letterman jacket in Sallie’s room. When Ned comes home and nearly catches Jo, she flees with the jacket.