The Affair -- new show on Showtime

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by norman_frappe, Oct 20, 2014.

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  1. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    See post #9. He was 3 on my list of 4.
     
  2. tommy-thewho

    tommy-thewho Senior Member

    Location:
    detroit, mi
    Never really knew of her but Ruth Wilson is about the best reason to watch this show.
     
  3. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    Tommy, you should check out Luther, start with Season 1. You can thank me later. :)
     
  4. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Another good episode. What I love about this show is that it started with a fairly superficial event - a random affair, the tip of the iceberg if you will, and over time it has revealed more and more of the ice berg as the story plumbs the its murky depths.
     
  5. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    how much longer does 'the affair" have?
     
  6. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Showtime has renewed the series for a 10 episode second season to premiere in 2015.
     
  7. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    i knew that, but how much longer for this season?
     
  8. Complier

    Complier Senior Member

    Location:
    Harrisburg, PA
    4 more episodes to go this season.

    I'm still not sure if I like this show. There isn't one character I have any sympathy for.
     
  9. Scotian

    Scotian Amnesia Hazed

    Excellent acting in this. A really good drama. I thought when Alison showed up at his wife's shop, all hell would break loose but she didn't know yet. I felt dread in my stomach when she walked into the store. I haven't connected with characters like this for quite awhile.
     
  10. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    I agree about the acting, top-notch stuff. I especially loved the fact that Maura Tierney was given a chance to shine. But I didn't buy the shop encounter. Helen knew who Alison was, they had met, and yet she asked her 'who are you'? Also, later when Noah confesses his affair, Helen responds with 'I knew it'. So, something just didn't feel right there.
     
  11. Scotian

    Scotian Amnesia Hazed

    But there's two points of view going on here with quite a few differences. The part you mentioned was from Noah's POV, the shop scene was from Alison's. I think I've got a mid-life crisis crush thing going on with Ruth Wilson BTW if anyone besides me cares.
     
  12. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Yes, I understand that, but what can we make of that? Is Alison lying that Helen didn't know who she was? Wasn't it established early on, from both perspectives, they all met at the diner whence the affair began? And is Noah lying about Alison's suspicions, if so why?

    Which brings me to another interesting point about perspective. At the beginning of each ep when they recap scenes of what happened previously, who's point of view are they showing? Is one point of view preferred over another or just random, because the recaps imply what is shown is what actually happened. I think the recapped scenes just add to the murkiness of the whole narrative. I hope the writers aren't painting themselves into a corner and can resolve things in a satisfying way because the show deserves it.

    Nah, I don't find her epsecially attractive at all. However, Maura Tierney... :D
     
  13. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    I developed a crush on Ruth Wilson when I saw the first season of Luther. She's very charismatic! And her eyes remind me of someone I love dearly. On top of that, I think she's actually a good actress. She's the reason I started watching this show.
     
  14. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    I'm not sure I see the conflict. Helen did know who Alison was after being reminded. But she wasn't expecting to see her in NYC, so she didn't completely recognize her right off the bat. Think about when you travel and you see a hotel clerk or waiter/waitress 1 or 2 times. You recognize them instantly when you see them in the context your mind places them (doing their function, in uniform), but if you saw the same person in street clothes in your home town where you didn't expect to see them, you might not recognize them completely right away. I think that is how it was for Helen. Then when Noah told her about the affair, it instantly clicked.
     
  15. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Ok, fair enough. I guess it just felt huh? at the moment I saw it, but what you say makes sense. What's your take on the 'previously' recaps and who's point of view they choose to show?
     
  16. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    Until you mentioned those above, I hadn't even thought about those. I skip over them for one thing. I understand that the show is presented from different characters perspectives who not only might remember things differently, but be flat out lying. But I haven't bothered trying to make any sense of what is "true" or not from the recaps. When the show is over, I guess someone could go back and determine if all the information presented in the recaps was correct.
     
  17. four sticks

    four sticks Senior Member

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    So in real time Alison walks into Ruth's store before Noah reveals the affair. That explains the lack of any confrontation. I would have expected it to come up as he is telling her though... "the waitress? she was in my store today". I suppose that would've spoiled things revealed in Alison's half of the show.

    Sorry, just thinking aloud.
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2014
  18. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    I thought about that too, but maybe she doesn't want to tell Noah that the girl is in town.
     
  19. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Really strong episode this week. The acting/writing for Noah's reveal scene and post reveal scene was terrific--very uncomfortable, but realistic.

    I still wonder whether there's something entirely different going on here, something we haven't seen because we only see POV from two characters. Now, at this point, neither character is talking to the detective, so presumably whatever they say is honest from their POV. But is it? Because from what we've seen, whatever leads to the death of a character on the island has nothing to do with Noah. But that can't be entirely true.

    I also wonder whether Noah's old friend (who gave him $10k) is more tightly involved here than we know. Could their even be a film noir sort of thing where Noah's friend and Allyson are in cahoots?

    Oh, and the date on the check for $10k was June 2014, so I guess the detective stuff is happening in the near future from the reminiscences, not years later.
     
  20. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    Well, Noah relayed the message that the cops had been called, so in a sense he could have "something" to do with the death if it was a consequence of that, which seems possible.

    I had the sense that when Alyson said she "had a child" (I think that's what she said, maybe "children") she was talking about Noah's youngest son. . . . So I had assumed she and Noah were married at the time of the investigation.
     
  21. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    I have also had thoughts in that direction. I'm guessing that somewhere along the line, if not this season (perhaps ending cliffhanger) then the next, we're going to see things from Helen's POV, which might turn everything we thought we knew upside down. That would be cool.
     
  22. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    Just noticed something , , , Noah and Allison.. . aren't the two protagonists in "The Notebook" Noah and Allie?
     
  23. progrocker71

    progrocker71 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Yes.
     
  24. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    So...Noah,bummed out by his wife's inability to forgive and forget, now thinks he's in love with Allyson.

    Not sure why she's in love with him... Maybe a relief from her disappointment over an inability to get pregnant again?

    Seems their love springs from desperation with their lives, not much from actual romance.
     
  25. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    Gee how unrealistic. ;)
     
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