Over video chat, Alexandra plays Star a recording of a new song she's working on and tells her she needs to move to New York so they can work on their music in the same city. Star vows to find her sister, Simone, and move to New York as soon as she turns 18. Star's foster mom bullies her about doing the dishes, but Star goes to social services instead. 

Alexandra begs her famous musician father, Roland, to help her bring Star to New York, and asks him to open her trust fund so she can use the money to get into the recording studio. She tells him Star doesn't know that her father is famous.

Star asks social services to help her find Simone. After much begging, the social worker agrees to process her out of the system and tell her where Simone is. 

Star finds Simone being sexually abused by her foster father. Star grabs a knife and stabs him, then steals his car and takes off with Simone. They pick up Alexandra in New York and head to Atlanta to look up Carlotta, an old friend of their deceased, drug-addicted mother, Mary. Star asks about Alexandra's parents, but she lies and says her father is a surgeon.

In Atlanta, the girls find Carlotta at church singing a powerful hymn. They also meet Carlotta's neighbor, Derek, who is organizing a Black Lives Matter rally. Carlotta tells the girls that she used to be in a girl group with Mary. She agrees to let them stay with her if they help out in her salon.

Star and Alexandra argue over whether or not Star is the lead of the group while they rehearse one of Alexandra's songs. The girls perform at an amateur night at a bar, but are greeted with little enthusiasm. Instead, Star decides to go with Carlotta's daughter, Cotton, to a strip club to meet music industry reps. Alexandra goes home and picks a fight with Carlotta before confronting Derek about his activism. 

At the strip club, Star convinces manager Jahil Rivera to let the girls perform at a party he's planning for his godson, NFL star Hunter Morgan. Afterward, she finds Cotton outside getting assaulted by a man who claims he didn't know Cotton was transgender. 

Simone is late to rehearsal because she was singing in church choir. She tells Star that church can save them, but Star insists that only their music can. Carlotta tells Jahil to stay away from Star, but Jahil argues that Star and the girls could become a supergroup. He accuses Carlotta of ruining his career after their girl group fell apart when Carlotta gained weight and Mary got addicted to drugs.

The girls show up at Hunter's party. Star flirts with Hunter while Simone starts drinking. Their performance is a big success. Back in Harrisburg, Simone's foster father wakes up in the hospital.