Principal Cookson informs Helen that her position has become untenable - a student tragically died because Helen crossed a line. Helen worries that Sam has been taken against his will, but O'Brien struggles to trust her story due to her previous unreliability. Cressida lures Sam further into her dark web, exposing self-harm scars, while Helen and Tessa frantically search Cressida's dorm room for clues about Sam's whereabouts. In a final desperate bid to save her son, Helen races into the Peak District. However, Cressida has shadowed Sam in her darkness, making it a fight for Helen to bring him back.

The morning after the memorial, Helen faces an onslaught of online media abuse aimed at her dismissal. She discovers her house has been graffitied with 'Terf Bitch' and loses her friendship with Tessa - the only teacher willing to accept her faults. Helen sees Blake taking her position among the students and suspects something has happened between him and Leo.

As Helen grapples with learning about Dee's suicide, she finds herself trapped in a pressure cooker, as she keeps the secret of what transpired in the detention room. Headmaster Simon Cookson convenes a meeting to establish a support network for the students, but Helen is consumed by guilt and remains silent.

Experienced teacher Helen Simpson believes it is her duty to prepare students for the realities of life, often disregarding trigger warnings and safe spaces and has little concern for the woke ideologies of the younger generation. She clashes with influential female student Cressida Bancroft after accusing the pupil of attention-seeking and using her ideologies to gain popularity, and the fight between the pair soon escalates.