The Affair’s airing its 3rd episode tonight on Showtime, and I wanted to catch you up on the plot before things got more complicated (and to help you decide if you were wondering whether the show was worth your time.)

The Affair :The Plot

Noah Solloway (Dominic West) is a public school teacher with one published book and a creeping existential crisis. How can he not? Married to his college sweetheart Helen (Maura Tierney) with 4 kids (one teenager and one about to become one), obnoxious in-laws (though the father makes the mother seem like an angel) and a second book he’s too blocked to write.

Alison (Ruth Wilson) is a younger, depressed waitress who has lost her child a few years ago, and she’s still not recovered from it. Her husband, Cole (Joshua Jackson) runs the family ranch with his brothers, and even though he seems better than Alison, he’s not exactly the picture of happiness either.

Noah and Helen pack their kids to spend the summer at her rich parents’ house, and on the way, they meet Alison at the diner she works for. There’s instant connection between her and Noah, though we’re given two different accounts as to how the affair came to start:

Both Noah and Alison are giving their separate statements at the police station. There’s apparently been a murder, which Noah thought to be an accident, or so he says.

As we listen to the start of the affair in two parts, we realize both sides show the other one as the pursuer, and themselves as the more emotional, and hesitant-to-cheat one. We also realize they’re keeping some bits to themselves as their voices tell one thing and the scenes show another.

Two episodes in, we don’t know who the victim is, or whether Alison and Noah are viable suspects.

The Good

I really like how both Noah and Alison’s versions differ from each other. In addition to painting the other one the “pursuer”, they also tend to show the other one’s spouse worse than they actually are.

For instance, in episode 1, Noah started first, and when we were first introduced to Cole, I thought he was a total ass. Then I listened to Alison, and I thought he was a really decent guy struggling in his own way.

Neither spouses are monsters, though Alison’s marriage seems a bit more troubled because of the loss of her son and her inner turmoil.

Noah also comes across as humane enough, even though he doesn’t have much more reason to cheat than some resentment towards in-laws and monotony of such a long-term relationship.

It’s refreshing to see marriages and spouses reasonably fine and nice, as opposed to making one or both sides insufferable so that the audience will empathize more with the cheaters.

The “cheaters” also do a fine job at coming across flawed but likeable. Sure, you’d not like to be their spouses, but these are people you wouldn’t mind being friends or family with.

The two different points of view add a nice level of mystery, and make us doubt both Alison and Noah, as we know the actual version is somewhere in between. Or maybe they are telling an agreed-upon version. Or maybe one of them is more honest than the other. We don’t know.

The series also has an honest, realistic and non-soapy feel despite the subject matter.

The Weird

Adultery is not the world’s most comfortable subject, especially if you are a romantic at heart and never have cheated on someone.

And it’s one thing to watch a habitual cheater who keeps cheating on their partner again and again. You’d like to believe those people would be easier to catch and dump (I’m on the let’s dump all cheaters wagon, unless the cheated party is a psychopath). But portraying Noah as a decent, family-oriented man who’d normally not do this… It’s a bit creepy. And scary.

Alison doesn’t seem to be the cheating type either.

Because it offers this disturbing theory: Anyone can, and will, cheat under the right circumstances: they just need to be depressed enough, disconnected enough, lonely enough, misunderstood enough, attracted enough….

And it’s the ultimate pet peeve of mine when Noah at some point will say :I’ve never cheated before.”

What does he want? A medal for keeping it in his pants for so long? Sorry, pal, you made your decision to keep it in your pants when you proposed. You don’t just get to have a family and a young mistress simultaneously without suffering any consequences.

I’m cutting Alison a bit more slack. I’m not condoning her cheating, but she’ll be more susceptible to questionable behavior – she has lost a child. That does give her the right to be off the rails; though I’d rather she did therapy instead of someone else’ husband.

The We’ll See

Currently The Affair fun and interesting enough to keep following. I like the cast, the location and the storytelling method.

It just might put you a bit further off marriage, though.

*

Have you seen The Affair yet? What did you think?

Fun note: One of Cole’s (Joshua Jackson)’s brothers is played by Colin Donnell (Tommy from Arrow).

 

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