The narrative moves a few weeks forward. On January 9, AJ learns that Patrick was in a devastating accident on the Massachusetts Turnpike. A loose truck bed forced him to swerve so that the debris would strike his side of the car rather than his three-year-old son Charlie’s, a decision that saved the boy but left Patrick with severe spinal and brain injuries requiring emergency surgery. AJ rushes to Simmons Hospital, where her family has taken over a waiting area. The surgery stabilizes the brain swelling, but when Patrick wakes, his limbs are unresponsive.

Brian proves quietly invaluable throughout the crisis, helping with household tasks, managing AJ’s family with ease, and giving her space when she needs it. Emily is polite to Brian but not warm, and she tells AJ that she likes him exactly as much as AJ does. While cleaning the family home, AJ and Brian discover evidence of her father’s heavy drinking. AJ, who blacked out the night of the SNL after-party, agrees to “Dry January” with Brian but then immediately drinks a leftover beer.

After Patrick demonstrates that he can lift his right hand and feels tingling in his right leg, AJ accepts Brian’s marriage proposal, motivated in part by a desire to bring her family some joy. She detaches from the moment even as it unfolds. Later, she watches the Oscars alone. Noah is nominated for The Contract but loses. He attends with his new girlfriend, actress Allison Seabring. The cruelty of AJ’s words to him resurfaces with full force, and she pours out the vodka she has been drinking.

In the spring, AJ overhears her mother crying with Patrick’s wife Elle’s mother over Patrick’s medical bills: $730,000 after insurance, with more surgeries still ahead. Libby dismisses AJ’s desire to help as grandstanding. Distraught, AJ wanders to the hospital atrium, where she finds Noah, present with Eudora for a routine appointment. Elle’s mother appears and mistakes Noah for AJ’s fiancé, and he reacts with immediate revulsion. Eudora notices AJ’s engagement ring, offers a terse congratulation, and leads Noah away.

Later, Noah finds AJ and Emily at Reel World and invites them to a diner. Over burgers, the conversation thaws. AJ apologizes for her cruel remarks, and Noah admits that he had her email open for a week before deciding that a response would only complicate things. AJ announces her plan to attend fan conventions to raise money for Patrick’s bills. Noah tells her that he will also be doing conventions for public-relations reasons.

The narrative moves several months ahead. AJ arrives at her first convention to find the Into the Blue booth relegated to the convention’s most remote corner. Toni is cold, initially claiming that there’s no room for AJ at the signing table. AJ spends over an hour standing awkwardly behind the table until a preteen fan named Meagan approaches, tells AJ that the show helped her navigate her parents’ custody dispute, and asks for an autograph. As AJ signs it, Meagan erupts in excitement because Noah has arrived. He surveys the situation, dismisses Toni’s belated offer to make room, positions himself beside AJ, and has the staff find them a separate table.

Noah teases AJ for signing her real name rather than her character’s. Risa, Noah’s publicist, gushes over AJ’s engagement ring. A wave of fans then descends, led by Meagan and two super-fans, Otto and Oona, who introduce themselves as co-chairs of the Blue Coats Society. Oona discovers that no panel has been scheduled for Ana and Rho and lobbies the event staff until one is arranged. Before going up, Noah quietly tells AJ that they don’t have to do it, not wanting to pull her into an unwanted performance. AJ says that she wants to and insists that the other castmates be included. That weekend, she earns $27,000 for Patrick’s fund.

Noah’s participation has turned the Into the Blue circuit into a sensation, and AJ’s fees have risen significantly thanks to Molly’s leverage. Emotionally, however, the conventions are brutal: Her and Noah’s brief shared hours leave AJ emotionally depleted for days afterward. She resolves to avoid any physical contact with him going forward.

In the greenroom, AJ meets Noah’s manager, Ned, and finds Toni noticeably more cordial since AJ insisted on including her on the Albuquerque panel. Noah mentions that he’s been reviewing the show’s lore to prepare for fan questions. Risa removes AJ’s hair tie and glasses to make her look more like Ana. Backstage, after hearing the crowd, which is far larger than any AJ has faced before, she freezes and tells Noah she can’t go on. He steps in front of her, places one hand on her chest, and presses their foreheads together, breathing slowly until her panic subsides. She smiles back at him, steadies herself, and walks out.

The roar of the audience hits AJ as an expression of genuine affection. For the first time, she fully absorbs the fact that the show mattered to real people and that the Blue Coats built an entire community around something she helped create. She bows to the crowd, overwhelmed by the honor of it. As she takes her seat, she nods her thanks to Noah, still waiting in the wings. That weekend, she earns $41,000.

Mike joins AJ at Comic-Con to run his own gaming appearances. In the greenroom, Em and Ian are present. AJ has since seen the trailer for Noah’s new film Byron, in which he co-stars with his girlfriend, Allison, a development that drove AJ straight into Brian’s arms for a night. Em and Ian proceed to pitch Noah on a franchise role while talking directly over AJ, treating her as inconsequential regardless of her SNL career.

At the panel, the moderator is fawning toward Em and openly contemptuous of the female cast members. When he puts AJ on trial for the “No” clip, calling it “base” and out of character, she doesn’t wait for anyone to intervene. She pushes back directly, and then, when he condescends further, she brings the room down with a blunt joke stating that the audience just wanted a sex scene; she follows it with a quip about saving something for the reboot. After the panel, Toni quietly apologizes to AJ for her past behavior.

While walking to the signing, Noah tells AJ that he loved watching her hold her own. Then, Risa mentions that it’s their last scheduled stop. AJ learns from Noah’s publicist that he lied about his reasons for attending the conventions; they were his own idea, not a public-relations strategy, and Risa had advised against them entirely. Before AJ can process this, super-fans Oona and Otto appear and pitch a dedicated Into the Blue event: Blue Con. Risa tries to refuse, but Noah overrides her, contingent on AJ’s participation. AJ immediately agrees. She leaves San Diego with $210,000.

The day before Blue Con, AJ visits Patrick, whose right side shows modest improvement but whose left remains entirely unresponsive. In the months since Comic-Con, she has been compulsively checking the fan boards to feel close to Noah during the intervals between events. A second Byron trailer, this one featuring Noah looking at Allison with unmistakable feeling, convinces AJ that the relationship is serious. She resolves to use Blue Con to purge whatever remains of her feelings.

The event organized by Oona and Otto stuns AJ. The main hall has been transformed into a full-scale replica of the crale set, and the venue is sold out. Eudora arrives alongside Noah. When he and AJ sit together during a panel, Noah compliments AJ’s hair without looking at her. For their own panel, they enter from opposite sides of the stage. While walking toward each other, AJ feels their improvisational channel open for the first time since SNL, and she senses a powerful feeling of relief from him. He pulls her into a brief, tight embrace when they meet at center stage.

The panel’s final question involves screening the climactic “Horses” sequence, the scene of Ana finding Rho, reviving him, and their final kiss, which neither AJ nor Noah has watched in full until now. Seeing her own grief onscreen, AJ whispers that she wants him to stay. When Noah is asked what he remembers about filming the scene, he says he remembers everything. Their energies strain toward each other in the aftermath. At the panel’s close, Noah takes her hand as they bow.

Overwhelmed, AJ slips out of the auditorium only to be intercepted by Eudora, who asks point-blank whether what AJ has with Brian comes close to what she has with Noah. When AJ doesn’t answer, Eudora says that there’s only one person for some people and that it’s not too late for AJ and Noah. Noah appears and escorts Eudora out. AJ follows them outside, where she and Noah end up alone under a streetlamp. She tells him what Eudora said and tells him that Brian isn’t like him. Noah pleads with her to stop. When she asks whether the real obstacle is Allison, he goes cold. She asks him if he loves Allison. After a long pause, he says he does. He admits that the conventions were his idea but says that he only did them out of guilt and a desire to help with Patrick’s bills, that he confused things, and that he will stay away from her going forward. AJ holds herself together, thanks him, and wishes him happiness.

A week later, her Blue Con payment arrives at twice the negotiated amount. Otto explains that Noah redirected his own fee to her. AJ accepts it without argument. For the first time, she feels no sense of a future with him.