Before the weekly movie, Back Half residents receive twenty minutes of free time. Jimmy Cullum retreats to his room with a headache, while Hal, Donna, and Len sit in the cafeteria with untouched desserts. Kalisha, Nick (Nicky), George, Avery, and Helen go to the lounge, where Katie Givens watches the blank TV. Iris unexpectedly joins them looking somewhat improved.

Kalisha, feeling better after the group had earlier lessened Helen’s pain, contemplates a bold idea: take over Back Half. She weighs the obstacles—at least a dozen caretakers on duty for movie night and their zap-sticks—and wonders why no one tried before. Nick admits he once considered it when he first arrived but always ended up beaten; he cautions they only have “little powers,” even after exposure to the Stasi Lights.

Avery wordlessly pleads for a plan built on their combined abilities, and Kalisha recalls the notion that they are stronger together. George tempers expectations, saying they might scare the caretakers but would lose as soon as someone got zapped. Kalisha concedes he is probably right.

Turning to something achievable, Avery proposes they collectively help Iris’s persistent headache. Kalisha, Nick, George, Helen, and Avery enter Iris Stanhope’s mindscape, visualizing a large blood-colored “sponge” of pain. Working together, they push it back slightly before resistance forces them to withdraw. Iris reports a small improvement, which briefly lifts spirits; Katie, who also suffers headaches, wishes for the same relief.

The group recognizes the core problem: collective effort helps but remains insufficient to challenge the Institute’s armed control. Helen notes her own headache is almost gone, while Nick grimly predicts it will return. The fragile progress underlines both their potential synergy and its limits.

Corinne, a caretaker known for slapping, enters with her hand near her holstered zap-stick, seemingly sensing something amiss. She orders them to movie time, and the children comply, their nascent mutiny deferred by the immediate reality of the caretakers’ power.