Mia interrogates the birder video’s scream, invoking cognitive bias and our tendency to invent causation. She imagines how police might link Eugene’s earlier meltdown to Adam’s scream, yet posits alternative, unrelated explanations. Shannon pushes back, arguing prosecutors will demand a cohesive story that fits the evidence and clears Eugene, and asks the family to produce such a narrative.

Mia reflects on the terror of unresolved missing-person cases: they contain limitless possibilities and might never yield answers. From Shannon’s legal perspective, remaining an unsolved missing-person case may be safest for Eugene unless the recordings are convincingly explained.

That night, the family works separately: Mom reviews insurance and accounts; John studies therapy videos; Mia and Vic retrieve the car and unlock Adam’s HQ files using the password Quotient. Later, they gather around the TV. Eugene sleeps across Mia’s and John’s laps, and stormy weather and a small static shock create an eerie calm. John recalls a childhood near-accident, confesses he fears an impulsive push could explain everything; Mia admits the thought is understandable.

Syncing to their old logic-chain game, Mia and John craft a scenario at the waterfall overlook: a pleasant lunch, bird-watching, then teenage boys rifling Adam’s backpack. Adam gives chase; the boys toss the backpack toward the cliff; Eugene reaches for it and teeters on the edge. Adam grabs him, shouts for him to stop fighting, and calls for help. In the end, Adam hauls Eugene to safety but, in the same motion, loses his own footing and falls.

Vic wakes and endorses the theory, noting it explains the scream and why the wallet wasn’t with the backpack. Mia realizes the story satisfies Shannon’s brief—tying evidence together and exonerating Eugene—yet later regrets speaking it aloud, uneasy about how a comforting narrative might shape what they believe to be true.