The Strangers

Despite Kate’s pleas for the kids to hide, they stay by her side as Joe continues to try to free her from her shackles. The stage platform tilts further, sliding Kate’s chair toward the front of the stage where she and the kids will be in full view of the audience. Kate implores Chess to get Emma and Finn to safety, and he tries to pull them away from their mother. 

While Chess and Emma try to detach Finn from his mother, Judge Morales’s voice booms over the sound system, implicating “saboteurs” for their attempts to disrupt the trial. She then announces the appearance of “witnesses,” and a blinding spotlight shines down on the stage, illuminating a frightened Chess, Emma, and Finn Gustano.

With the Gustano kids in the spotlight, Emma realizes the authorities are using them as leverage against her mother, still under the assumption they are Kate Greystone’s children. She beseeches Joe for help, but he seems to be out of ideas. Kate urges her children to stay out sight, reasoning that the only thing keeping the Gustano kids safe is the misconception they are the Greystones.