From Harriet Sloane’s view, beauty draws trouble, and she’d long dismissed Elizabeth Zott as merely pretty. Remembering her own loveless marriage to the insensitive, self-satisfied Mr. Sloane, Harriet contrasts it with the unusual harmony she observed between Elizabeth and Calvin Evans. After Calvin’s death and frequent visits from officious men, Harriet resolves not to become like her husband and watches, waiting to be needed.

Across the street, Elizabeth, overwhelmed by her newborn’s relentless demands and grief-tinged anger at Calvin, struggles to feel competent. During labor she had told a nurse she felt “mad,” prompting the nurse to record the infant’s legal name as “Mad.” Days later at home, Elizabeth discovers the error on the birth certificate.

Determined to rename her daughter, Elizabeth tests options that all feel wrong. Six-Thirty, mulling names in his own way, lands on “Madeline,” recalling Proust’s madeleine. Elizabeth, finding Proust open, considers “Madeline” and feels it fits.

At city hall, Elizabeth attempts to correct the record but is blocked by requirements including a marriage certificate. She decides to keep the legal name “Mad” while calling her daughter “Madeline,” accepting a private truth at odds with public paperwork.

When Hastings colleagues drop by, the infant erupts, which Elizabeth reads as intuitive judgment. Fearing her daughter’s assessment of her own choices, Elizabeth looks to Harriet as practical wisdom. She calls; Harriet, who has been watching for the signal, answers and promises to come right over.