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The Bear issues orders -- his first thought is a compassionate one, looking to connect the Congressman's car bomb to the C4 from the tailor's shop, already looking for exoneration in her honor -- and, left alone, says Kaddish. He didn't like everyone here, he didn't much care for Estes or the Waldens, but that's not what it's for. It's not for the dead, it's for the living; we give up our pettiness and grieve because life is precious and life has been lost. We do this kindness for ourselves, and for the world. Or else it would grind to a halt.
However we are broken open, it lets the light in. If we aren't brave enough to do it ourselves, the world has a way of doing it for us. Some give of themselves to love, some to God, some to their children. Today Saul Berenson will do all three: The first time she says his name, he ignores it. The girl whose heart he tried to break, before she died. The girl who tried to tell him love and loss of self were worth it, before he left for a monster's funeral. He ignores her voice because he would come apart if he could hear it. But the second time she names him, he turns around. It breaks him open.
And with a smile, the Bear betrays himself again.
JACOB CLIFTON is a freelance writer and critic based in Austin, Texas. He currently recaps Gossip Girl, The Good Wife and Homeland for TWoP. Jacob can be found online at jacobclifton.com, on Twitter, and on Facebook. IRL work appears in BenBella's SmartPop series of anthologies, his novel The Urges, and a novelette, "The Commonplace Book," appeared this fall on Tor.com.













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