At her SoHo loft, Samantha feels relief at escaping a job she despised but fears losing her $180,000 salary. She feels humiliated by her forced exit. With $31,000 in savings and no debt except rent, she considers her options.

She calls her mother, Karen Kofer, a career Department of Justice attorney, who is dismissive of the furlough arrangement and fails to grasp the severity of the legal job market. Karen cuts the call short for an urgent White House matter. Samantha then calls her father, Marshall Kofer, a disbarred plaintiffs’ lawyer who served three years in prison for financial crimes. He offers her a job at his consulting firm, but she declines. She looks at her firm’s list of 10 approved nonprofits for internships, none near New York. The list includes Mountain Legal Aid Clinic in Brady, Virginia.

Meeting a colleague for martinis, Samantha learns many internship positions are already filled. Another furloughed colleague discovers five nonprofits had already been claimed. Samantha doubts she will take the furlough deal.

The next morning, Samantha boards a train to Washington, DC, her hometown, eager to leave New York. En route, she emails several nonprofits from the firm’s list and receives seven rejections. In Alexandria, Virginia, she visits her father’s office, where he again offers her a job at his firm, the Kofer Group. Marshall explains his business: advising litigation funders on which lawsuits merit investment and raising funds for big trials that plaintiffs can’t afford. Though he promises good work and decent hours, Samantha finds the prospect unappealing.

She receives two more rejections, bringing her total to nine, but then she gets an email from Mattie Wyatt at Mountain Legal Aid Clinic in Brady, Virginia, asking her to call. She calls Mattie, who encourages her to come the next day for an interview.

Brady, Virginia, is home to Mountain Legal Aid Clinic in Appalachian coal country. Samantha researches the clinic online, learning it serves low-income clients in areas such as domestic relations, debt relief, housing, health care, education, and black lung disease. The staff includes Mattie, another attorney, a paralegal, and a receptionist.

That evening, Samantha has dinner with her mother Karen. Karen is dismissive of the legal aid opportunity and critical of Marshall. She and Samantha argue about the furlough deal and the job market. When Samantha asks to borrow Karen’s car for the trip to Brady, Karen says she needs it, so Samantha decides to rent one.

Samantha begins the six-hour drive to Brady, Virginia. She calls her father to cancel lunch and firmly rejects his job offer. As she drives deeper into the Appalachian Mountains, she relaxes, enjoying the solitude.

In the small town of Dunne Spring, a disheveled officer named Romey pulls her over, claiming she was speeding 30 miles over the limit. When a local driver protests, Romey fires his pistol into the air. He arrests Samantha for reckless driving and drives her to the Noland County Jail in Brady.

Lawyer Donovan Gray is at the station. He informs her that the charges are dismissed and drives her back to her car. He explains that Romey is the sheriff’s cousin. He has a mental health condition and impersonates a constable, targeting out-of-state drivers. Samantha notices a pistol in Donovan’s console. He explains that he carries it because he sues coal companies and reveals that he is Mattie Wyatt’s nephew.

Donovan and Samantha go for coffee, and he persuades her to stay for her interview with Mattie. Many locals resent him for suing coal companies, the region’s largest employer. He details mountaintop-removal mining—how companies destroy mountains, create toxic slurry ponds, contaminate water, and devastate communities. He receives a text from Mattie, who is ready for the interview.

Samantha walks to the Mountain Legal Aid Clinic and meets Mattie Wyatt, whose pink-tipped white hair and matching square glasses create a striking appearance. Mattie apologizes for Romey’s behavior and explains that she has one other candidate to interview before she and Donovan, who comprise the clinic’s board, make a decision.

Samantha admits her relief at being away from her job but her uncertainty about the future. Mattie invites Samantha for dinner and insists she stay overnight. At the Wyatts’ home, Samantha meets Mattie’s husband Chester, a retired postal worker and environmental volunteer. Donovan stops by briefly; it is revealed that he is separated from his wife, Judy, who left after unspecified trouble. The Wyatts explain that local water is contaminated from mining, so everyone drinks bottled water.

For the first time in months, Samantha relaxes. She asks about the trouble that resulted in Judy’s leaving. The Wyatts recount his family tragedy: His father, Webster Gray, leased their family land, Gray Mountain, to Vayden Coal for strip-mining. The mining destroyed the land and home. Vayden cheated the family out of royalties before declaring bankruptcy.

Devastated, Donovan’s mother, Rose—Mattie’s sister—died by suicide on the ruined property. Webster disappeared, and Donovan was raised by the Wyatts. This experience drove Donovan to fight coal companies. Five years ago, after he filed a major lawsuit, the defendant company began harassing and surveilling him, which is why he carries a gun. Mattie walks Samantha back to her car, just a few blocks away at the clinic, to retrieve her overnight bag.

The next evening, Samantha waits for her father in a Washington bar, a stark contrast to the relative quiet in Brady. Mattie calls to offer Samantha the internship. Samantha accepts and agrees to start Monday. To her father, she recounts her arrest by Romey. Marshall is skeptical about the job but intrigued when she discusses suing coal companies. He quips that Brady is a place with impostor cops and armed lawyers.

Back in New York, Samantha lunches with her roommate, Blythe, agreeing to pay her share of the rent for their lease’s final three months. She has a final coffee with her colleague Izabelle, who is moving home to Wilmington. The two friends part, knowing they will not see each other for a long time. Worried about encountering Romey again, Samantha decides to lease a car with Virginia license plates.

Samantha’s first Monday at the clinic begins with a client meeting, led by Mattie. The client, Lady Purvis, explains that her husband, Stocky, is jailed over an unpaid $175 traffic fine. A private collections company added exorbitant fees, trapping him in debt. When he could not pay, he was arrested. He has been jailed for two months, and fees continue mounting. Mattie explains that this is essentially a modern debtors’ prison, common in the region. She outlines a plan to get Stocky released and assigns Samantha as second lawyer.

Samantha’s second meeting is with Annette Brevard, the clinic’s other attorney, and one of Annette’s clients. As part of her unpaid internship, Samantha lives rent-free in an apartment above Annette’s garage. The client, Phoebe, is a survivor of domestic abuse. Her husband, Randy, who has a methamphetamine addiction, beat her with a pistol. She is terrified that he will be released on bail and kill her. Randy is charged with malicious wounding, with no bail set. Annette gives Samantha a divorce questionnaire to complete with Phoebe.

Samantha uses a tiny storage room as her office, and at the weekly staff lunch, she meets the team’s paralegal Claudelle. When Samantha asks about a disability case they aren’t going to take, the staff explains that they no longer take such cases due to widespread fraud. The boisterous lunch ends when Annette tells Samantha they are due in court in 15 minutes.