The seventh episode of The Boroughs begins with Blaine and Annaliese preparing for the 75th anniversary. Annaliese is worried because her bullet wound isn't healing with Mother's blood. Blaine reassures her that her wound will heal, and that Wally will ensure Mother's survival.
At The Manor, Sam wakes up after being sedated for three days. The warden informs him that Blaine allowed a few "kids" to feast on him for breaking the contract.
Meanwhile, Paz gets rid of the officers keeping an eye on the rest of the group. They pile into his car and he cuts off everyone's ankle monitors.
At work, Wally suggests that Mother has been given so much human cerebrospinal fluid that she's starting to look human (which means the old, deformed woman we saw in the previous episode is the Mother). He and Dr. Mansour try to find a cure for her rapid cell degeneration.
Kayleigh goes to Sam's old house and finds Claire still there, trying to understand why her father built a particle accelerator out of old TVs. She switches it on and suddenly Kayleigh begins to glitch, her body deforming. She returns to normal when Claire shuts it off but remains weak and takes her leave.
A celebration of sorts ensues at The Manor as well, with all the residents feasting on cake. A woman tells Sam that Edward used to escape all the time with help from the duchess. Sam asks to meet the duchess and the woman takes him to meet her roommate, who is bedridden and does not respond to anything. The woman tells Sam to bring the duchess a cigarette and she'll tell him what he needs to know.
Meanwhile, Wally has a breakthrough. He realized that adding some of the kids' blood to Mother's blood helped her cells regenerate. Blaine and Annaliese want to start the treatment as soon as possible, but Dr. Mansour says they need more time.
Sam has a go at the karaoke machine and sings a Bruce Springsteen song to excite all of the residents and get them up and dancing. In the ensuing chaos, he sneaks into the warden's office and finds a pack of cigarettes. When the warden returns, Sam injects him with one of the syringes in the fridge and he passes out.
Outside The Manor, Paz and the others get into action. Paz and Art distract the guards and allow Judy and Renee to enter the place.
Inside, Sam brings the duchess her cigarette and she tells him that the visions of Lily are actually the Mother, trying to reach out for help. She speaks to the duchess as well, generally in the form of a loved one. The duchess explains that Sam's grief split his mind, which allowed Mother to get in touch with him. Sam wants revenge for Jack's death but the duchess says that saving the Mother is the only way to save his friends. He must choose between anger and forgiveness.
When he declares his desire to leave, she instructs him to catch the 5:15 bus. Sam takes a seat at a fake bus stop in the heart of The Manor. Precisely at 5:15, a nurse enters the common area through an Exit door, leaving it open long enough for Sam to slip through unnoticed.
Meanwhile, Judy and Renee embark on a search for Sam. They emerge into the common area just as he's about to leave. In a huddled conference, they devise a plan and steal a key card from one of the nurses, allowing them to follow suit.
Elsewhere, Wally is shocked to discover that Blaine has killed Dr. Mansour for refusing to commence the treatment. He recounts how his wife suffered from Polio and pleads for the transfusion to begin immediately.
Sam is making his escape through a hallway when a piercing scream from the Mother echoes through the air. He collapses, and the warden is dragging him back when Renee and Judy intervene, knocking him unconscious.
As Paz mans the lobby of The Manor, Claire storms in, determined to free her father. She knows he was telling the truth and demands his release. At the same moment, Renee and the others set off an alarm, causing the entire facility to go on lockdown, including the lobby. Paz also witnesses other guards securing a wheel clamp on his van. He calls Art, who's outside, and informs him they need a new getaway car.
Simultaneously, Claire helps break the shatterproof glass of the lobby, while Art brings a laundry van around. The rest of the group rushes out of the building, piling into the van and driving away. Renee suggests their next step is to kill a monster, but Sam corrects her. He says they're going to save one.
The episode concludes with Wally approaching the Mother and telling her it's time to go.
