Joan sits outside her house, believing she can withstand life by focusing on small details. Ever since Peter died, people have treated her like an unlucky single magpie. A childhood memory surfaces: Joan remembers. watching the Queen open a local dual carriageway, only for Joan’s father to puncture her excitement by pointing out that the road was faulty. She vowed never to deflate Ed’s dreams.

Rosaleen meets Steve at Stratford Station. He asks if she told Phil about her illness; she says they ran out of time. On the train home, they sit in comfortable silence, a mark of their deep intimacy. Rosaleen reflects that their time together is limited, regardless of her cancer diagnosis.

When she gets home, Rosaleen impulsively invites Joan to drive to the Dartford Crossing to see the whale. Joan agrees. On the bridge, Rosaleen is overwhelmed by the spectacle of the passing whale. She shouts Pauline’s name. A flashback reveals that Rosaleen and Pauline shared intense physical closeness through wrestling. Rosaleen tells Joan that Pauline was a friend from Ireland. Joan invites her to karaoke, which Rosaleen accepts.

Ed picks Maggie up from the hen party, and they stop at Deptford to watch the sunset. Driving home, Maggie reflects on her mother’s political fatalism. Her mother was a road protester who squatted in a house on what became the A12. Despite her efforts, the road was eventually built. Back at their apartment, Maggie initiates sex, but Ed loses his erection, plagued by intrusive thoughts about his past with Phil, as well as his fear that Maggie will leave him. Disappointed, Maggie suggests they go to Phil’s party to reconnect. Ed makes excuses but eventually agrees.

Outside the Admiral Duncan pub, Phil tells Keith the full story of the sexual assault he survived in Burgess Park when he was 19. An older man coerced him into non-consensual sex, an experience that has caused Phil to dissociate during intimate moments ever since. Keith hugs Phil tightly and reassures him that sex should only happen if Phil wants it. Phil says sex with Keith is easier and better than any he’s had. Keith leaves to get equipment for the party.

At the British Library, Louis obsesses over the hickey Phil left on Keith’s neck. He reflects on his relationship with Keith and his complex feelings about Phil, eventually admitting to himself that he is probably a little in love with Phil. He heads to the party.

Rosaleen, Steve, and Joan attend karaoke at a pub in Basildon. Joan sings a Donna Summer song. Rosaleen considers writing her life story, thinking of a moment in her youth when she kissed Pauline on the back. Joan encourages Rosaleen to sing, but she instinctively refuses. Rosaleen reflects on living in a metaphorical pit for decades, once even walking past a booked singing lesson to buy cabbage she didn’t need instead. When another singer finishes their song, Rosaleen walks to the stage and performs Cher’s “Believe.” While the pub does not react to the song, the act is personally transformative for Rosaleen.

Off the coast of Margate, Valerie pronounces the whale dead, crushed by the weight of its own body. On the pier, a woman approaches with her son, Jackson, who wants to be a marine biologist. Valerie gives Jackson the watering can she used to keep the whale hydrated. Jackson bluntly observes that the whale died anyway, so Valerie explains why, which thrills him. Later, Valerie meets Tamsin at a budget hotel in Essex and kisses her in the reception area, their first public kiss. Tamsin buys Valerie the last Mars Bar from the vending machine.

Callum drives south to sell drugs. He stops for a toad crossing the road, remembers volunteering for a wildlife patrol, and decides to keep the toad as a companion. He nearly collides with a bus but swerves away. His first customer is Debs, who buys drugs for the party.

At the crowded warehouse, Phil feels tired and detached. Ed panics alone, reflecting on his uncertain gender identity and wanting to disappear entirely. He remembers his sexual encounter with Phil in Kent, which causes him to experience a panic attack. He finds Phil and apologizes for bullying him and for using their friendship to pretend nothing had happened between them. As Maggie approaches, Ed changes the subject and mentions hearing about Phil’s mother. Maggie realizes Phil doesn’t know about Rosaleen’s illness and quickly invents a story about a Facebook patio competition scam. Phil believes it.

On the dance floor, Maggie tries to dance intimately with Ed, but he is tense and unresponsive. Maggie eventually goes outside with Phil. Kyle Connolly, another old friend from their childhood, appears and implies he also has a sexual history with Ed. Heavy rain begins to fall. Phil admits to Maggie that he didn’t know about Kyle, but he knows other things about Ed’s past that he was afraid to tell her.

Later, Louis approaches Phil and tells him he likes him, admitting, however, that his feelings are tentative. He confronts Phil about the hickey on Keith’s neck, pointing out that Phil wasn’t considering Louis’s feelings when he made it. Phil admits he wasn’t thinking of him.

Ed and Maggie argue on the walk home. Ed blames their problems on the damp apartment, which Maggie had chosen for them. As the sun rises on Kingsland High Street, Maggie blurts out that she’s not always sure they’re right for each other. She immediately pulls back, telling him that she loves him and she is sorry.