Hastings management reels after Calvin Evans’s death and a damaging article, fearing investors will pull support. They review Evans’s overflowing research and recall his imminent Geneva presentation, then assess their dwindling pool of true innovators. Elizabeth Zott’s abiogenesis project, originally bankrolled by a wealthy donor who believed “E. Zott” was a man, is deemed brilliant but too long-term.

Management probes Zott’s team for cover; two confirm Elizabeth drives the work, while Boryweitz falsely claims credit and is exposed as incompetent. As Miss Frask spreads news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, leadership panics over scandal and the donor discovering Zott is an unwed woman, and they decide to remove her.

A week later, Dr. Donatti and Miss Frask deliver a termination notice, citing pregnancy and being unwed. Elizabeth challenges the double standard and the legality of an “unwritten rule,” insisting pregnancy has no bearing on her scientific work. Donatti moralizes and demands her signature, while Elizabeth maintains composure.

Donatti orders Elizabeth out by noon, with salary and benefits ending Friday and a gag order on the reasons for dismissal. In the exchange, he reveals Calvin had threatened to quit unless Hastings funded Elizabeth’s research—a revelation that shocks her—before they force her out.