One of Us Is Back

Phoebe Lawton sits low in her chair at the back of the auditorium to watch Jake Riordan’s speech. She doesn’t want anyone to recognize her. She reflects on how well Jake hid his dark side during the ordeal after Simon’s death. She wishes she could talk to Addy about Jake because she knows Addy is stressed by Jake’s speeches, but she can’t. The only person she can speak to is Emma, her sister, but Emma moved to North Carolina after she graduated high school to live with their aunts.

Phoebe arrives for work at Café Contigo late, apologizing to her coworker, Evie. Luis Santos, another member of the Bayview Crew and the son of the café owners, breezes through before leaving to spend the day with his girlfriend, Maeve. Owen, Phoebe’s 13-year-old brother, arrives to pick up his dinner. Owen is quiet and sullen.

Phoebe’s sister, Emma, conspired with Jared Jackson during the truth or dare game, but stopped when she realized he intended to hurt people. However, when the police questioned Phoebe and Emma, they recognized Owen’s misspelling of the word “bizarre” in Jared’s texts and concluded that Owen picked up where Emma left off. Because the game led to Brandon’s death, Phoebe struggles with guilt about Owen’s involvement.

After work, Phoebe sneaks into the bedroom of her friend, Knox Myers. Knox asked Phoebe out after Ashton and Eli’s wedding, but she turned him down because she couldn’t tell him about Owen’s role in the bombing at Ashton and Eli’s wedding rehearsal. However, they’ve been meeting and watching movies together. On this night, Knox tells Phoebe he still wants to be friends, but he can no longer lie in his bed with her because it is too intimate. Phoebe is disappointed but agrees to go downstairs to watch the movie.

Nathaniel “Nate” Macauley is on his way to his second job as a barback at Bayview Country Club when he sees a digital billboard that says: “Time for a new game, Bayview” (23). Nate thinks it is a bad advertisement because it doesn’t say what it is trying to sell. When Nate arrives at the country club, he finds a flyer bearing the same statement. While he still thinks it is an advertisement, it reminds him of the truth or dare game his friends were forced to play three months ago, and he worries that this might be the beginning of another dangerous game.

Vanessa Merriman, a former friend of Addy who took Jake’s side during the Simon murder investigation, approaches Nate. She tries to convince Nate to sell her an alcoholic drink, but he knows she is not 21. Nate tells Gavin, the bartender, not to sell her alcohol either. Gavin slips out early. Katherine Riordan, Jake’s mom, takes a seat at the bar and Vanessa quickly engages in conversation with her.

Nate checks his phone and reads a string of texts on the Bayview Crew group chat. One of their friends, Cooper Clay, is a well-known baseball player who has been accepting endorsements, including a new one for a local gym. The group is planning a viewing party for the first commercial. Nate also gets a message from his father asking if he’s seen his keys. Nate is used to his father losing things because he struggles with alcohol addiction, even though he has been sober for four months.

Katherine receives a phone call, and she becomes animated. Nate overhears Katherine tell Vanessa that due to impropriety by a juror, Jake has been granted a new trial. Not only that, but he’s going to be released from detention until the trial. Nate is angry about the news because Jake framed him for Simon’s murder two years ago.

Cooper drives Addy to Eli’s office to pick up paperwork for a restraining order she has taken out against Jake in anticipation of his release. Eli’s paralegal sends Cooper and Addy into a conference room to wait for Eli to finish another meeting. Cooper talks to her about Jake and how he fooled everyone, but when he mentions Keely Soria, Addy gets upset. Addy recalls how a few weeks ago, she and Keely got lost looking for a party, and a fit of giggles led to a passionate kiss. Keely left town shortly after, and Addy has been second-guessing the moment since.

Eli comes into the room and presents Addy with the paperwork, telling her that Jake is not allowed within 200 feet of her home, Eli and Ashton’s home, or Café Contigo. Cooper asks how Jake got a new trial, and Eli explains that jail overcrowding, Jake’s young age, his community service, and the juror’s impropriety made it easy. Cooper assures Addy that their friends will protect her, but Eli warns him to keep his distance from Jake. Cooper mentions a red convertible that has been sitting outside since they got there. Eli doubles down on his warning.

As Addy gets ready to leave, she discovers an envelope mixed in with her paperwork. Eli explains that it contains the gender of his and Ashton’s baby, but neither he nor Ashton wants to know. Addy volunteers to hold onto the envelope.

Phoebe is having a hard time at work, so Evie steps in to help. Mrs. Santos sends Phoebe on a break, so Phoebe joins Owen who is having dinner at the café. Phoebe asks Owen what he’s watching on his phone, and he tells her about a video on TikTok in which a man claimed his girlfriend had died in a fishing accident, but she was still alive and got angry when she saw the video. Owen expresses how funny he believes this video is, and Phoebe becomes upset, afraid this is a sign that Owen is a bad person. The only thing that reassures her is that he is only 13, and afterward, he returns to watching more ordinary TikToks.

Owen shows Phoebe a picture of the digital billboard in town that talks about a new game. He tells her there’s a second part that says: “There are no rules” (48). Phoebe gets upset, afraid Owen wrote the billboard messages himself. She yells at him, drawing the attention of Mrs. Santos, who suggests Phoebe go home. On her way out, Luis’s older brother, Manny, asks Phoebe to deliver an order to a customer. However, when she goes out to her car, she discovers one of her tires is flat. She is trying to decide what to do when Jake and his mother approach. Jake volunteers to change the tire, and Phoebe allows it because she has no other option. When he’s done, she comments that she needs to learn how to change tires, and Jake says it only takes practice.

The perspective shifts to Jake six years earlier. Jake and his best friend, Simon, are hanging out together the summer before high school. Jake has known Simon since kindergarten, but he’s beginning to outgrow him. Jake’s father, Scott, arrives home and is annoyed when he learns his wife is not home. Scott calls Katherine and rudely asks if she’s coming home. Jake puts on headphones to ignore his parents fighting.

Nate and Bronwyn attend a roommates’ meeting at the house where Nate rents a room. Sana, the newest roommate, runs the meeting. They are voting as to whether or not Reggie Crawley should be kicked out after being caught using a hidden camera to record a girl in his bedroom. Reggie was exposed for doing this in high school and clearly hasn’t learned his lesson. Nate and Bronwyn want Reggie kicked out, but the other roommates vote against them because they don’t want to have to pay Reggie’s part of the rent. Even though she doesn’t live there, Bronwyn promises to keep putting pressure on Sana to get Reggie out.

Nate’s father, Patrick, stops by the house to drop off a package Nate ordered for his lizard. Bronwyn invites Patrick to have dinner with her and Nate the following week. Nate feels guilty he didn’t make the suggestion first, but he is struggling to trust his father’s sobriety.

Addy is shopping at Bayview Mall with her mother and Ashton. They are at a high-end baby store, where Addy’s mother is trying to convince Ashton to purchase an expensive crib. Ashton convinces her mother she isn’t going to buy the crib, so their mother wanders off to find something else to buy. Ashton asks Addy about the billboards, revealing that the digital billboard was hacked, and no one knows who did it. Eli is worried it is connected to friends of Jared who were involved in the subreddit group Vengeance is Mine. Addy suggests they have Maeve use her computer skills to look into it, but Ashton says Eli doesn’t want any of the Bayview Crew involved. Addy assures her they won’t tell him.

Phoebe is standing with Knox at Nate’s Fourth of July party, and they are joined by Addy. Maeve and Luis arrive, but Maeve won’t look at Phoebe, cluing her in that something is wrong. Maeve confesses that someone is tracing Jake’s movements on the internet, and Maeve recognizes Phoebe’s car in one of the pictures. Phoebe admits that Jake changed the tire on her car. Addy becomes angry, and Phoebe feels as though everyone is ganging up on her, so she walks away.

Vanessa Merriman comes to stand by Phoebe and gives her one of the two drinks she is holding. Phoebe drinks it fast. Vanessa and Phoebe watch Nate and Bronwyn talk to Reggie and Sana, becoming curious when the conversation grows intense. Phoebe excuses herself to go to the bathroom. As she leaves the bathroom, she feels drunk, so she goes into the nearest bedroom to rest for a moment. The bedroom is occupied, but she closes her eyes and when she opens them again, she is alone with Reggie.

Phoebe leaves the room and has another drink on her way downstairs. A couple of girls ask Phoebe if Knox is single, which annoys Phoebe. She goes out into the backyard and runs into someone who accuses her of making a mistake. She passes out.

The Bayview Crew is gathered at Café Contigo to watch Cooper’s gym commercial. Addy suggests she and Nate have a party for their half-birthday, but the only date they can do it is July 14, which is their one-third birthday. Bronwyn steps in to do most of the planning with Addy. As they talk, Addy receives a text from Phoebe’s mother asking where Phoebe is. When Addy questions her, Phoebe’s mother says that Phoebe texted the night before to say she was staying the night at Addy’s. The group grows concerned because none of them has heard from Phoebe since the party the night before.

The group pauses to watch Cooper’s commercial for FiredUp Fitness. The commercial is mostly Cooper working out, but he has a single line, which he delivers badly. The friends cheer, however, congratulating Cooper on the work. The group returns to their discussion about Phoebe, deciding to go look for her.

The Bayview Crew goes to Nate’s house to look for Phoebe. Reggie admits to seeing Phoebe in his bedroom during the party but denies knowing what happened to her. The crew tries to track Phoebe with her phone, but they conclude that the phone must be turned off. The group begins searching around the house. Finally, Bronwyn finds Phoebe’s phone under a bench in the backyard.

Officer Budapest, the same cop the Bayview Four dealt with in the aftermath of Simon’s death, arrives at Nate’s house. Budapest only seems interested in the alcohol served at the party. The cops leave, taking Phoebe’s mom, Bronwyn, and Knox with them to file a missing person’s report. Maeve and Luis leave, too, but Addy stays with Nate. They turn to go inside but pause when they notice a red convertible on the street. Addy recognizes it as the one parked outside Until Proven when she picked up her restraining order paperwork. Nate suggests it belongs to his neighbor, but the neighbor comes out and tells Nate to move the car. The car drives off. Addy worries it might be Jake. Nate and Addy head into the house when Nate gets a call from his father asking Nate to come to Bayview High School.