The Affair -- new show on Showtime

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

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  1. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Thought last night's episode, which focused on Alison and Cole, was outstanding, and possibly the best of the season. Terrific scenes with just the two of them. The jail cell scene was the best of the lot, I think, with Alison's words to Cole ringing really honest. It's the kind of thing a person who's been through intense therapy would actually say.

    Alison: "I'm always going to be impulsive and depressed with mood swings. I know that I am not an easy person to love," she says." But I love you. I always have and I always will."

    And the subsequent scene on the bench in the middle of the night was fantastic, too.
    Alison: "If you leave Luisa now, you can't play the good guy anymore. Then you're an ******* just like me. But maybe you're a happy *******, instead of a miserable hero."
     
  2. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Yes, I agree, it was an excellent episode for all the reasons you mention. Frankly I was also a little relieved because what little screen time Helen had, appeared to walk her back from the edge of the abyss by showing her take onboard recent revelations about her relationship myopia with Noah. She's working through her issues, comparing notes with Alison and acknowledging some hard truths.

    I say 'relieved', because in the previous ep the writers almost completely destroyed Helen's character, making her absolutely despicable and contrary to the way she was depicted in the previous two seasons. I think they just took it too far, but at least now it seems they're course corrected.

    Anyway, good stuff.
     
  3. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    I agree completely about the character of Helen, insofar as they made her both despicable and pathetic. But in this episode she seemed to be rebounding.

    I forgot to mention that the scene between Alison and the suicidal woman who also lost a child was also very well written.

    Looking at the credits, last night's episode shares the same director/writer as episode 4 of the season, which was the one that revolved around the birthday party for Alison's child.

    One of the good things about this show is that it presents characters who continue to have love for their exes despite heartbreak and what are objectively severe foibles. Which is real. The TV drama trope of the vindictive ex- who has nothing but vitriol for their former partner for time eternal is, generally, not.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2017
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  4. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Indeed, I also neglected to mention this standout scene. What really tickled me in that scene was when asked by the girl what did Alison do to cope, Alison replies "I had an affair"! That was not only a funny line on the surface, but it also brings home what this whole series is about - not just the fact of the affair, but the continuing fallout from that affair years into the future.
     
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  5. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    IMO, this season started off well but is just meandering now. Too many plotlines not given enough time to develop.
     
  6. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    I'm the opposite. I thought it started a little wobbly with Noah, the student and Ms oh-là-là, not to mention the boogeyman jail guard pseudo villain. In fact, this is still the weakest part of the season along with a bout of Helen mischaracterization. However, everything else has been superb. The strongest pairing this season (so far) has been Cole & Alison.
     
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  7. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    I find we have very differing opinions far more often than not.
     
  8. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    interesting........the affair seems to be heading full circle, which is kind of coll actually.

    i can see it ending the way it began.

    oh, and this weeks episode, just fabulous acting in every way. the young actress in the asylum/hospital was wonderful.
     
  9. Wild Frank

    Wild Frank Forum Resident

    Location:
    Shrewsbury, UK
    On Wiki it says the show has been renewed for a forth season. That was a surprise as I felt things were concluding and, as you say, coming full circle.
     
  10. Wild Frank

    Wild Frank Forum Resident

    Location:
    Shrewsbury, UK
    We're seeing Helen from three different perspectives in this episode and last. This week's Helen was through the Alison filter which made her appear less desperate as Alison didn't know what was going on between Helen and Noah. Will be interesting if we see the Helen/Alison meeting next week from Helens perspective.
     
  11. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    What is Alison's source of income at this point? How does she even afford to have the place she does? Doesn't seem like she would have gotten anything in a divorce from Noah, as he wrote his big book while still married to Helen. Did Alison have a financial interest in The Lobster Roll or does she still? I can't remember.
     
  12. Scotian

    Scotian Amnesia Hazed

    At the custody hearing they brought up that she was part owner of a successful business.
     
  13. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    Recently I read an interview with Ruth Wilson. In it they mentioned that the Affair is finally going to be shown in England (on Netflix I think). When asked about it she seemed a bit peeved at the powers- that- be saying something to the effect that she didn't understand the problem (that the show hasn't been shown in England), stating that it's a golden globe winning series featuring 2 Brits in the lead roles. I understand her point but I wonder if the show will be well received across the pond. Yes, the leads are Brits but they're playing Americans!
     
  14. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    That's right, thanks.
     
  15. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    She got a boatload of cash when she and Cole sold their home. She invested most of that in The Lobster Roll when Cole decided he wanted to fix it up. So she's a part owner of the now successful Lobster Roll.
     
  16. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    There were some Emmy-worthy acting chops on display in last night's episode from Dominic West and Maura Tierney! The scene between Tierney/Helen and her family at the dinner table was especially intense. But so was West/Noah's scenes with Brendon Fraser. Really some great work being done by the principals of the show. Hard to believe the season finale's next week. A lot of reveals in this past episode but oddly enough I found myself thinking that this show's called The Affair but has so moved on from that premise!
     
  17. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Yes, totally agree about the principal actor quality. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about the actors playing Helen's younger kids - they're pretty terrible.

    And that's been the biggest problem this season (other than completely torpedoing Helen's character). It feels that out of the blue Noah is suffering debilitating mental illness relating to the circumstances of his mother's death, when there was no hint of this in the first two seasons. Indeed, Noah was riding high without a care in the world (what happened to his money BTW?).

    The way this overarching (new) plot point has played out this season feels very bolted-on and calls into question the previous two seasons. It's a pity because there have been some master class levels of writing (and performances) this season, but it has also been very uneven and careless far too many times as well.
     
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  18. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA

    I agree that the kids--especially the younger daughter--are really bad. They don't have to carry much of a load, but when, last night, the younger daughter had a scene, it was miserable.

    I'd imagine Noah's money probably went either to the lawyers or to a civil suit by the other family.

    I agree that the debilitating mental illness was never even hinted at in the first two seasons, and so it feels a bit bolted on.

    The plot with the French woman seems to have gone nowhere in the end--at least so far.

    I'm wondering where they go from here.
     
  19. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    But Helen paid for the lawyers, she insisted on it. Was there a civil suit (I can't remember), but even if there was, I'm sure Helen would also have covered it, so I'm not sure that this explains what happened to his money (you'd think him being in prison would have boosted his notoriety and hence his book sales, as well the film deal he had lined up).
     
  20. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Obviously this is all the kind of discussion that should be happening in the writer's room (since we have absolutely no information as viewers) but I would imagine that when Noah changed his plea to guilty, any pipeline she might have had to the parents' money shut down. So if they came after Noah in a civil suit (and that hasn't been mentioned one way or the other in the show), Helen probably couldn't cover it. (If I recall correctly, even covering the lawyers' fees had been a stretch for her).
     
  21. sberger

    sberger Dream Baby Dream

    After last night's episode, I'm wondering if Noah suffered any abuse in prison, or if his breakdown has caused him to imagine it all.
     
  22. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Indeed it should have. And they could have addressed it with a couple of lines of dialog, if they didn't want to dwell on it too much.

    But not addressing the issue and leaving it to the fans' imaginations to come up with justifications is just sloppy and frankly a plot hole since Noah's tremendous success and new wealth were such major plot elements in the previous two seasons.
     
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  23. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    I think he mostly imagined it, but didn't have a black eye during one of Helen's visits (not sure whose POV that was)? In the last episode, Noah is shown arguing with the non-existent prison guard and at one point he lunges at him hard, only to hit the cell wall with his shoulder. Maybe that's how he damaged his shoulder and why he's addicted to Vicodin.
     
  24. sberger

    sberger Dream Baby Dream

    That's my point. The missing guard, plus how the guard handled himself at his home when confronted by crazy Noah. I never bought that the guard was hounding him once he was released from prison, but I did believe that the guard had tortured him in prison. Now that it looks like that wasn't the case, at least to the degree that we were led to believe, I'm guessing that Noah's mental break started in prison, but not because of the guard, but rather the stress of all that came before prison finally caught up to him.
     
    Juan Matus likes this.
  25. Wild Frank

    Wild Frank Forum Resident

    Location:
    Shrewsbury, UK
    Some great acting but....the panic room part was awful. The writers knew they had to keep the parents out of the way for the rest of the episode...so they got locked in a a panic room.
     
    BEAThoven likes this.
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