Mia remembers being called “bah-bo” in Korea for not speaking Korean, contrasted with John being praised for minimal Korean. Her mother shares similar humiliation as an accented immigrant, explaining how society equates fluency with intelligence and how that shaped her linguistics career. This lens makes Mia fear that, if Eugene can think and read, he has been trapped and belittled for years; a part of her even wishes the video were fake to spare him that suffering.

The family prepares for fifteen minutes before attempting to communicate with Eugene, reviewing materials and an October 2019 intro video from Anjeli. In the video, Anjeli reframes speech as “encoding,” separates cognition from motor execution, and argues for presuming competence, especially with motor-planning issues. Using large three-letter stencils without touch, Anjeli has Eugene select letters; he slowly spells Y‑E‑S. Adam looks stunned, and Anjeli notes older learners often show surprising literacy.

Anjeli asks about closed captions, prompting Mia to reinterpret a past Christmas fight over anime subtitles as Eugene defending his reading, not acting out. Anjeli outlines a gradual plan from three-letter stencils to independent typing over years, envisioning texting, study, even college. At the word “college,” Eugene is visibly overjoyed and squeezes Anjeli’s hand.

Mia recalls jumping therapy in Korea and the rhythmic connection she felt with Eugene. She joins him on the trampoline, and once synchronized, experiences the relief and affirmation that jumping gives him, wondering what his prolonged jumping after the park signaled about his pain.

As Mom calls a one-minute warning to try the letterboard at home, Shannon phones: Detective Janus is on the way to their house. Aware of the home-arrest stakes, Mom orders John to pack the therapy box. Mia and Eugene stop, step down together, and the family leaves with the letterboard to question Eugene back at home.