Alice and her friends know that something serious has happened to Joy, but their parents have only told them to be patient and that their friend will return soon.

The finals are approaching and Alice, Stefano, and Max record a video of the recipe they have chosen as an appetizer to send to Joy. The JAMS don't want Joy to feel alone and wonder what point there is of participating in the final competition without their friend.

The JAMS are a group of four and without Joy the finales make no sense. Alice, Stefano, and Max go to visit Joy to show her just how important their friendship is and to let her taste the cake they made.

The JAMS arrive at school in a rush, where the awards ceremony is already underway. Chef Borghese has just awarded the trophy but asks the winners if they would rather win by challenging the JAMS. Oscar, as captain, decides to continue the competition and they begin.

Chef Borghese begins to judge the dishes of the two teams, JAMS and The Best. It's a close contest and the kids are very nervous.

A young man is departing by train and says goodbye to his two parents in different ways. In another scene, a little girl is going to school very reluctantly and her brother has to practically drag her there.

We meet a few of the musicians attending the conservatory and the orchestra conductor, who is no-nonsense and stern.

Matteo makes his way to his uncle's apartment. Never mind that his uncle was supposed to come to the station to get him... They agree that there is no point in worrying Matteo's father with the truth.

Matteo arrives late for class and is told, to sit next to Sara who begins asking him questions. It turns out she is almost blind. After the lesson, Matteo meets some of his classmates.

A teacher reads a passage from one of Shakespeare's sonnets and asks the class to interpret it. Matteo speaks up. Here is the original English: "Mark how one string, sweet husband to another,
Strikes each in each by mutual ordering;
Resembling sire and child and happy mother,
Who, all in one, one pleasing note do sing:
Whose speechless song being many, seeming one,
Sings this to thee: 'Thou single wilt prove none."

Matteo is having a violin lesson when Marioni passes by in the hall and hears him. Matteo's lesson ends early and he is about to learn more about the orchestra conductor everyone thinks of as il bastardo (the bastard).

Marioni puts Matteo to the test, asking him to play first violin in the Brahms symphony, together with the entire orchestra. Later, Domenico tells him about someone who had crumbled under Marioni's harsh treatment.

A colleague of Marioni's chides him for having treated Matteo as he did. He tries to justify his actions, and then goes to have a word with Rosario, a percussion student.

Matteo is at home with his uncle, doing a tricky jigsaw puzzle and ready for dinner. Even though it is clear to Matteo that his uncle is gay, his uncle is very uncomfortable talking about it. Matteo lets his uncle know that there is a girl he likes.

Barbara is practicing piano in the presence of her mother, who tries to encourage her. Little by little Barbara manages to focus on the music, and perhaps not only the music. Another pianist is playing the same piece in a music store. He might be there because he has no piano at home.