Maddy is at home with her grandma and is relieved that she finally knows the truth. She opens up to her grandma about feeling embarrassed about everything, and her grandma reveals that she experienced thoughts of suicide when she felt trapped in a toxic marriage. She explains that divorce was her door to a better life, and that Maddy will find her door one day, too. Maddy is finally beginning to accept that she has bipolar. She prefers to phrase it that way, rather than saying that she is bipolar. Her preferred phrasing reminds her that although she has an illness, the illness is not her identity. She opens a note from Sofia with a friendship bracelet inside, but she doesn’t feel worthy of that relationship yet. Looking at a photograph of her family, all smiling but none of them really happy in the moment the photo was taken, Maddy knows that her doorway to a better life lies elsewhere, where people do not have to fake being happy.

Maddy bombs her show at the comedy club, which she has been attending in secret for the past few weeks. Her mother reluctantly let her return to NYU with Dr. Weaver’s approval, and she’s living in the dorms with a new roommate. Maddy is determined to keep up with her studies, but also to pursue her dream. After a rough show, she runs into Max, who wonders why she stopped texting back. Maddy finds the courage to reveal that she has bipolar and Max seems unsurprised, admitting he already suspected that. Maddy leaves feeling affirmed in herself and with a smile on her face.

Maddy’s roommate invites her out, but she declines, preferring to avoid the risks of being at bars or parties. She sits eating tacos when her mother appears, clearly upset. She asks Maddy where she’s been when her location is off, and Maddy admits she’s been going to comedy clubs again. Maddy’s mother accuses her of risking her mental state and guilts her about the money spent on her hospital fees. Maddy is shocked by her mother’s priorities and says she doesn’t want to be a student anyway, because her dream is to be a comedian. Maddy’s mother tells her she will be returning home when the semester ends and then leaves.

On Thanksgiving, Emily tells Maddy that she’s pregnant, and asks her to keep it a secret for now. Over dinner, Jack asks Maddy how her comedy is going, and Maddy proudly announces her success at a local club. Both Jack and Emily promise to come see shows when they can, but Maddy’s mother remains distant and cold on the topic. She tells Maddy it’s a terrible idea and believes that another manic episode is guaranteed, adding that Maddy is acting like her father. She scoffs at the $50 Maddy earns per night and tells her she would be better off getting a regular job with a regular schedule. Maddy accuses her mother of expecting everyone to be perfect, and she makes a mental plan to leave for New York as soon as possible.

Maddy is waiting for her turn to perform at the club and hopes for a text from her mother that never comes. She does hear from Emily, who wishes her luck. Maddy gets on stage and wins over the audience with her jokes about an app that lets women rate local men. After the show, the club owner invites Maddy back as a weekly regular, and the producer of the New York women’s comedy festival invites Maddy to a two-night show in Vegas at the Planet Hollywood hotel. Maddy reminds herself that it’s okay to be happy for herself in this moment, and she texts everyone she knows to tell them the good news. She doesn’t hear back from anyone right away, so she tells the food truck operator, who replies that Maddy is awesome.

Both Emily and Maddy’s mother text her to say that going to Vegas is a bad idea, and warn that she has seemed manic lately, posting dozens of videos on Instagram throughout the night and sleeping little. Maddy defends her decision and her autonomy and sarcastically thanks her mother and sister for their “support.”

Maddy finished her shows at the hotel and continues to stay there, charging up a credit card she just got. She happily agrees to take a bigger suite with a piano in it, telling the staff that she and her “friend Taylor” are writing an album together.

Maddy is a regular at a comedy club in Connecticut, and her mother attends every show, recording them so Maddy can post and improve. Maddy performs a successful routine about bipolar disorder and her experiences with it, joking about how her hand tremors repel men and how her manic episode blended perfectly with the wild Vegas atmosphere. The crowd not only laughs, but also stands for applause, and Maddy’s mother cheers. Maddy has developed an acceptance of her condition, as well as the reality that “normal” is something invented, but not based in reality. She has shown that she can both be stable and pursue a career in comedy, and she wears both her friendship bracelet and the bracelet from her grandmother at every show, reminding herself she is loved. Maddy also got some of her self-harm scars turned into a phoenix feather tattoo, and the word “WORTHY” tattooed on her other arm. She knows she may never have a “normal” life but feels she is living a full life, doing the most with the rare gift of being alive.