Bear returns home spontaneously to help Cora repaint their flat before his post-graduation archaeology work. As they paint, Cora quietly grapples with the bittersweet task of stepping back as a parent as Bear prepares to leave. Bear asks if Cora still fears Gordon; Cora admits she checks on him online and reveals he is on the electoral register at his parents’ London address. She explains Gordon’s history: he was expected to follow his eminent neurosurgeon father, but an essential tremor during surgical training ended his surgical path; medication did not help, and he became a GP, which his father scorned. Cora describes the father’s cruel mockery, and notes Gordon’s tremor seemed situational, not present outside operating theaters.

Bear wonders if Gordon would have been different without his father’s abuse and worries about inheriting traits; Cora reassures Bear he is nothing like Gordon. Bear then asks what triggered Gordon’s fatal violence on “that day.” Cora withholds the truth, saying it could have been anything, and Bear drops it. Privately, Bear recalls noticing his birth certificate’s issue date matches Vihaan’s death date and wonders why Gordon allowed the name “Bear,” hinting at a connection Cora refuses to name.

Time shifts to Bear’s student summer during the Beijing Olympics, when he and flatmates live on odd hours and skewered snack meals. Lily finishes her dissertation and joins Bear for the final days of his lease; in bed they discuss their future, agreeing to keep things open as Bear pursues digs abroad. They recall prior near-relationships and reaffirm their easy fit without making commitments.

After Bear flies to Jordan, Cora, Maia, Sílbhe, Mehri, Fern, and Lily stand in his empty room, collectively missing him. They share pizza and an old film. Lily walks home, realizing that Bear may never fully be hers, and decides to leave too; she declines a paid Edinburgh role and takes an assistant job in Rome. Lily and Bear keep contact via staggered messages; she withholds details about a neighbor, Davide, while tracking Bear’s days on site. Bear suffers amoebic dysentery, returns to work gaunt, and both continue their separate, expanding lives.

In Brighton, Maia has been dating Charlotte for a few months; they savor new-couple closeness. Maia joins Charlotte on a weekend site visit for the drive together. On the motorway, as traffic stalls, Maia casually looks at the adjacent car and unexpectedly locks eyes with Gordon. She orders Charlotte to lock the doors, watches as their lane moves and his car falls behind, and then scans every vehicle in panic, fearing pursuit. Charlotte is calm and tries to soothe Maia with snacks; Maia stays low in the seat, terrified of being seen and judged by Gordon.

During the site visit, Maia sits in the car, replaying Gordon’s face and wondering if he recognized her and where he was going. She fixates on his age-lined features and the unknowable expression, but focuses on the danger implied by his presence nearby. She decides to tell Charlotte everything only later, on the drive home, with the day already ruined by the encounter.