The fifth episode of "Playing Gracie Darling" opens with a poignant flashback of Joni sneaking into her parents' room, her hand clutching a stash of weed. She carries it to Gracie's house, where they light up and discuss Jay's burgeoning feelings for Joni. Gracie, ever the matchmaker, wonders if Jay's interest is merely a desire to lose his virginity and calls him over, much to Joni's dismay. As Gracie steps out, Joni finds a photo of Gracie and scribbles out her eyes in a fit of frustration.
In the present, Anita is irked with Jay for snooping through Raffy's laptop. Raffy clears the air, revealing that Frankie used to joke about Zac, but it was all in jest. Anita rebukes Jay for invading her daughter's privacy, and they engage in a heated argument. Zac admits that his teenage fling with Anita was a mistake, and Anita is left to question whether she made a grave error in lying to the police about her whereabouts on the night Gracie disappeared.
A subsequent flashback depicts Jay arriving at Anita's house after fleeing the cottage, his shirt stained with blood. She helps him clean it off, and they share their worries for Joni without seeking her. Jay asks to stay over, and Anita comforts him, eventually leading to a passionate kiss.
Back in the present, Joni returns home after confronting Zac, her mother Pattie exasperated by Joni's fixation on the Darling family. Joni snaps, accusing Pattie of never being a true parent to her. Pattie insists she gave up her life and marriage to support Joni after the incident, leaving Joni feeling upset and reminiscing about her former life in town.
That night, Joni delves into the internet, discovering that Levi Darling died in a cottage fire. She is haunted by hallucinations of flames in her sleep. The next morning, she calls Jay to request police records on Levi's death. She meets Zac at the church and apologizes to him, as he shares his beliefs in angels, demons, and ghosts with unfinished business. Joni presses Zac on Levi's death, but he feigns ignorance.
Joni attempts to reconcile with Mina and takes her to the Darling house. As Mina reads to James, Joni brings up Levi's name, triggering James's anxiety and sending him into a panic. Moira rushes in and sends Joni and Mina away. Mina asks to be dropped off at Raffy's, where the girls decide to investigate Levi's death, their curiosity piqued by the enigmatic circumstances surrounding his passing.
As the sun set on the beach, Joni sat alone, her hand tracing the infinity symbol in the sand. A brief dip into the waves turned into a harrowing experience as she was suddenly pulled underwater, gasping for air and nearly drowning. Her recovery at home was bittersweet, as she hugged Lulu and Mina tightly, her heart heavy with a decision she knew she had to make. To Pattie, she confided her need to return to the city with her children, explaining that her friend's actions were a desperate attempt to shield her from the darkness that threatened to consume them all.
Meanwhile, at the police station, Billy's protests were met with indifference as he was led in. There, he turned to Jay for help, and as Jay delved into the details of Billy's actions—leaving Frankie's backpack in the dumpster—he was left reeling with shock. That night, Joni shared with her daughters the impending departure, while Billy's outburst in his cell ended with a crash that left him with a gash on his head. As Jay tended to him, Billy's mind spiraled out of control, hallucinating blood on his hands and panicking.
Joni's thoughts turned to old photographs of herself and Gracie, and she played the cassette from their last trip to the cottage before the incident, their laughter and joyful chatter now tinted with an ominous edge. As she listened to the raspy voice on the tape whisper "Let me out," Joni's fear grew. She presented the tape to Jay and begged him to find the other one from that fateful night. Together, they agreed to revisit the cottage and perform the séance once more, though Jay's reluctance was palpable.
A flashback revealed Joni and Gracie's final fight on the night of Gracie's disappearance. Joni's words of accusation—"You slept with Jay"—echoed in the air as Jay and Anita arrived at the cottage, and their séance began. The present-day scene saw Jay and Joni perform another séance, only for the candle and match to blow out suddenly, sending them both fleeing in terror to Jay's house for a drink that couldn't quench their growing unease. Joni confessed her darkest wish—that Gracie was gone forever—and Jay admitted his own unspoken desires, their shared guilt leading them to a passionate embrace.
Joni awoke from another hallucination of flames, her mind racing with unanswered questions and unspoken truths. The episode ended with a younger Joni staring into the flames of a forest fire on the night of Gracie's disappearance, Gracie's necklace clutched in her hand, a symbol of unfinished business and unhealed wounds.
