S01.E02: 2

[Tara Ariano]

Preparations are made at the Butler estate for an annual summer party. Meanwhile, aspects of Noah and Alison's separate lives start to weave together and the two are forced to consider an inevitability.

[Primetimer]

A beloved actor is a so-far-unwitting victim of The Affair, which is a problem since she's CLEARLY better than either of the jerks Affairing.

Read the story

[kalamac]

I'm with you. I've been following Maura since NewsRadio, and I'm always going to like her characters.

[cynic]

I have nothing substantive to say about this episode, just three random thoughts:

1) Tommy Merlyn! Yay, glad to see I can watch this actor in something without having to sit through that awful Arrow show.

2) Holy gosh, Josh Jackson looked hot all cowboyed up.

3) What were those sipper top things in the bottles at the party?

[sifar]

Good grief Noah! Would you stop whining about how you married young? Yes it's such a tragedy that a beautiful, wonderful, talented and rich girl agreed to marry and then continue to put up with your whiny, self-absorbed ass for twenty odd years. She even makes his sandwiches and offers him morning sex! With this episode, Noah lost whatever little sympathy he had from me.

 

Allison, on the other hand gained some. Obviously everyone around her wants her to move on when she doesn't want to at all. Cole understands to some extent and offers as much support as he's capable of. Maybe it's just Joshua Jackson but I find Cole likeable too. He's hurting too but unlike Allison, he probably finds solace in the outside world, doing his job, being with his family and friends. He's just not as lonely as Allison feels. The mother-in-law on the other hand is totally clueless. Whatever lady, you want grandchildren - ask one of your other sons and not the one or his wife who just lost a kid.

 

P.S - Tommy is the one who's dead again, isn't he? Colin Donnell never seems to get a break.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

I'm a little confused. Aren't people who want to have sex with each other supposed to have some chemistry together? Because I am feeling absolutely none of that with Noah and Allison. It all seems a bit forced to me.

The make up team needed to consult whoever did the wigs for True Detective. Allison's wig in the interrogation scene looked like it was looted from the Dollar Store clearance aisle.

I never watched The Wire (I know, I know) so I know nothing of Dominic West but UGH. That man, no matter how many times the writers want to remind me, is not hot. He has the face of an aged Shar Pei.

[EtheltoTillie]

Agreed on the wig--yikes. Also I agree Dominic West does not look hot here. Too toothy or something.

Anyway does anyone think Cole and his brother are smuggling drugs? Something was up with that clam pickup. Fishing boat, drugs . . . hmmm.

Maybe that is how someone gets killed. I'm thinking wife didn't know.

[Indi]

Dominic and Ruth don't have any chemistry together and I don't find them even remotely attractive, but they're good enough actors to sell the affair. I don't think it's about an irresistible attraction to each other, but a desire to escape their dissatisfaction with their own lives. Something tells me this is not the first time Noah cheats on his wife.

[absnow54]

The affair finally made sense from Alison's POV this week, but Noah continues to come off like a total sleezebag. My favorite part was them selling over priced jam and in Noah's memory it being reasonably priced, and from Alison's POV they were robbing him with inflated tourist prices.

 

The whole cooler exchange was confusing, because at first I thought she was dropping fish off at work, but then I realized she was at the train station and seemingly just showed the guy some fish before leaving. Obviously there's some sort of drug or money laundering thing going on that Cole is in on as well. I did find it interesting that the guy at the station was reading the father in law's book. I think the father in law may be the one to bite it, but that may be because I'm operating in "any one but Joshua Jackson please" mode.

 

Maura's character seems to be on a completely different show, but I'm loving her.

[Dirtybubble]

This people are so insufferably unlikeable I don't think I can watch anymore.  From those God AWFUL brat kids of Noah's  the grandparents to just......well everybody.  GAH!

[panthergirl13]

And see, for me this all makes perfect sense. 

 

The attraction to Alison, from Noah's perspective, has ZERO to do with whether he loves or likes his wife (as is often the case in real life). It's a completely separate set of feelings that he's having to navigate because of his wife's very existence, but she hasn't "driven him to cheating on her" as is so often the trope that is used.

 

From Alison's perspective, she has to apply some unlikable qualities to the wife in order to make herself feel less bad about the whole thing. So I believe that Alison's version of Noah's wife is exaggerated to what she needs it to be, in order to assuage her own guilt.

 

While I like the concept and the show a lot, I agree that the hotness/sexual urgency factor between Noah and Alison isn't really there. So far I've been intrigued enough with the story for me to take that leap of faith. Hope it continues.

[taragel]

Watching this second episode, I found myself tuning out a bit on Noah's boring life because I just wanted to get to Alison's section. Her life in the past AND her life in the future both offer more interesting questions to solve.

Also--if Noah really thought that was some kind of nonconsensual situation with Alison & Cole (his "Are you alright?"), that really makes him the creepiest creeper for jerking off to it in the shower. Shallowly I wish he were more attractive. I just don't care to see him making out with anyone.

I'm such a Joshua Jackson fan that my mind is rejecting the possibility that he could be a bad guy in this and I do think Ali's version portrays him rather sympathetically for the most part. So I'm not sure what is up with the fish dropoff. Drugs seem so seedy for the Lockharts! Lol. Despite their sketchy sexual/personal proclivities.

I'm also still so intrigued by future Alison. At least we've learned that Bailey is her maiden name anyway. The interrogative focus on specific nights and parties in the past is a little odd, considering the death has to happen several years in the future (unless the detective's suddenly investigating a cold case for some reason?). I didn't really get the point of showing Alison walking down that road where presumably the guy is killed either. False tension? Just to show it's easy to get run down there?

Still think Cole's the one who dies, but Bruce and Scotty aren't bad alternate choices.

[Boundary]

Well, if she goes by the name of Bailey in the future, then I think she divorced Cole, rather than widowed. So there's some hope for Joshua Jackson's fans. But taragel you are right, this doesn't seem to be a cold case and yet the detective seems to be honing in on details from a few years back. He seems (if we take the show on face value) to be focussed on the beginnings of the affair, which then presumably lead to the murder down the line. But the problem is that the manner of questioning suggests a fishing exercise on the police's part, and that Noah genuinely seemed to think it was an accident. 

 

Is it me or did the affair just move too fast? I would like to root for Noah and Alison (because it leads to complication and that equals drama) but I can't buy it. Others have mentioned that Ruth and Dominic have no chemistry but I think that it's more to do with the set up. I'd rather have seen them conduct a secret but platonic friendship first - because that is what they seem to need more at this stage - before moving towards a sexual and then a romantic liaison. That build up would be more in line with our first glimpse of their lives: she seems to have regular (hollow?) sex in her marriage and he is a lucky man who nevertheless feels claustrophobic. For me, a friendship (first) would feel like a breath of fresh air to them rather than the immediate complication a full blown affair would cause.

Edited October 20, 2014 by Boundary

[Bcharmer]

I didn't really get the point of showing Alison walking down that road where presumably the guy is killed either. False tension? Just to show it's easy to get run down there?

 

What made that scene interesting, was just prior to that, the detective referred to her driving back to the city that night. Clearly, that's not what happened. And, would you call Montauk "the city"? I thought that was weird. To me, "the city" implies NYC, but, whatever. I think the point was to show that she is lying to the detective?

Edited October 20, 2014 by Bcharmer

[Neurochick]

In this episode, both Noah and Alison were lying to the detective.  Noah said that he wasn't thinking of Alison, yet we, in the audience saw that he was thinking about her, even jerking off thinking about her.  And she lied to the detective when she said how she got back to the city (I would have called it "town").  

 

Good grief Noah! Would you stop whining about how you married young? Yes it's such a tragedy that a beautiful, wonderful, talented and rich girl agreed to marry and then continue to put up with your whiny, self-absorbed ass for twenty odd years. She even makes his sandwiches and offers him morning sex! With this episode, Noah lost whatever little sympathy he had from me.

 

There's a saying, "don't compare your insides with someone else's outsides."  On the outside, Noah is married to a wonderful woman who loves and cares about him.  But in reality, Noah married her because he felt he didn't have anybody else in his life who loved him.  He didn't marry her because he loved her, it was more what she represented.

 

Ruth Wilson had such chemistry with Idris Elba in "Luther," she has zero with Dominique West, but I think that's the point. It's not about sexual attraction, it's about escape.  Noah and Alison both want to escape their lives.  

 

I find that in Noah's version both he and Alison look more physically attractive than they do in Alison's version.  In Alison's version, they both look rather plain and homely 

Edited October 20, 2014 by Neurochick

[Constantinople]

Has Allison worked at the diner since she was 16?  I know Allison said the summer visitors ignore the working locals, but Noah or Helen or both have bumped into Allison about a bazillion times already in the space of 2 episodes.  I'm surprised neither one met her before.

 

Or do Noah and Helen not spend every summer with Helen's parents?

 

"Did you just call me a schmuck, Bruce?"

Really smooth Noah.  Why don't you just tell everyone you want to fuck the waitress?

[absnow54]

What made that scene interesting, was just prior to that, the detective referred to her driving back to the city that night. Clearly, that's not what happened. And, would you call Montauk "the city"? I thought that was weird. To me, "the city" implies NYC, but, whatever. I think the point was to show that she is lying to the detective?

This confused me as well. It doesn't matter where on Long Island you are, someone says "the city" it exclusively means New York City and I couldn't understand why that was a part of her alibi. I'll have to rewatch Alison's story because there seemed to be a lot of important exposition this episode that was done in a very subtle manner. I love that Alison seems to be the most complex and gray character when Noah has the makings of a standard Walter White breakdown, I hope the show continues down that path.

 

Has Allison worked at the diner since she was 16?  I know Allison said the summer visitors ignore the working locals, but Noah or Helen or both have bumped into Allison about a bazillion times already in the space of 2 episodes.  I'm surprised neither one met her before.

Based on Alison's perception of the tourists, I'm wondering if they have interacted in past visits to the Hamptons, but this is the first time they're at a place in their life where they've noticed each other. 

Edited October 20, 2014 by absnow54

[meep.meep]

I think the detective was asking Alison about getting home the night that "whatever" happened, not how she got home from the party in the past.  It's clearlly a few years later when they are talking to the detective - she has gotten divorced and acquired a kid.  And moved to New York.

 

It's interesting what things are different and what are the same between the two recollections.  Maura Tierney's dress at the party changes from red to blue for example.

 

I also don't think that the kid really hung himself.  The father was the only one to "see" it, and hasn't mentioned it to anyone.  It's the kind of thing that you'd want to discuss with your wife as you decided whether or not he needed immediate psychiatric intervention.  Not one of those, kids will be kids, let's blow it off things.

[Neurochick]

 

I also don't think that the kid really hung himself.  The father was the only one to "see" it, and hasn't mentioned it to anyone.  It's the kind of thing that you'd want to discuss with your wife as you decided whether or not he needed immediate psychiatric intervention.  Not one of those, kids will be kids, let's blow it off things.

 

Now that you mention that, I agree.  It seemed strange that Noah didn't mention it to his wife at some point.  But I think that Noah is justifying the affair to the detective:  His kids are lousy, he and his wife can't be intimate because the kids were always interrupting, almost like him saying, "See, this is why I had to have an affair."

[BigMamaThorton]

I agree with those who have suggested that there is no chemistry between the two characters embarking on an affair, but I rather think that is intended to highlight the isolation each character feels, an isolation whose basis is entirely different, and individual, from the other's.  Both are seeking to "feel" something, perhaps anything, and recognize this need in the other, respond to this need in the other, but cannot define what it is, or where they are going, together or separately.

 

Thing is, sadly, I really identified with Allison in ep.#2.  The party scene captured perfectly, in my experience, that feeling of servant/prey vs. employer/predator.  What I mean to say is that it is very hard, in those "serving" situations to avoid being made to feel somewhat a whore, on display, on the menu if you will, exactly what the father-in-law suggested, by the privileged attendees because, as Allison stated, they don't "see" you….as a person, but a fixture which completes their entitled picture of themselves.  It's a rather sickening, and if you allow it, self-loathing opportunity, and it's hard not to let it get under your skin without coming away with the world belief that you are commodity in the end.  I realize this all sounds so bitter, but that one scene really made the episode for me because I understood Allison.  It was sad, really, but why I'm beginning to really like this show despite the lack of chemistry between the characters.

 

Overall, I'm in till the end.

[Bcharmer]

I think the detective was asking Alison about getting home the night that "whatever" happened, not how she got home from the party in the past.  It's clearlly a few years later when they are talking to the detective - she has gotten divorced and acquired a kid.  And moved to New York.

 

 

Their conversation was about the party, though. She asked if he was going to talk to everyone who was there that night. She said she didn't think anyone from the party would have been the one who "ran him down" because everyone at the party were locals, and the road where he died led to a new club that mostly tourists like to go (even though he, the victim, went down that road that night, too). So, I got the distinct impression they were actually talking about the party in this episode.

[panthergirl13]

I agree with those who have suggested that there is no chemistry between the two characters embarking on an affair, but I rather think that is intended to highlight the isolation each character feels, an isolation whose basis is entirely different, and individual, from the other's.  Both are seeking to "feel" something, perhaps anything, and recognize this need in the other, respond to this need in the other, but cannot define what it is, or where they are going, together or separately.

 

I'm so with you here. That's why I'm on board as well. Usually, affairs are represented by people who can't keep their hands off each other (see Scandal) and while that certainly happens, I think this kind of thing happens too. Just usually not on TV shows. ;)

[BonnieD]

 

I'm such a Joshua Jackson fan that my mind is rejecting the possibility that he could be a bad guy in this and I do think Ali's version portrays him rather sympathetically for the most part.

Let's face it. I'm mostly watching this because of JJ. I don't want to see him end up being either the murder victim or the bad guy. I don't think it will be the former, because at the police interview, Alison doesn't act as if she's talking about a person she's particularly close to. And as someone else said, if she resumed her maiden name it's more likely because she got divorced. I'm still intrigued enough to keep watching this for a while.

[taragel]

I also thought it had to be a different party (in the future) that the detective and Allison were talking about. Because it doesn't make sense that he needs to know how she got home from a random party where nothing eventful happened years before her (husband?) got killed. And yeah, if she's driving back to the city---that's NYC. I think they just juxtaposed it with the flashbacks because it seemed convenient but the effect was more confusing than ironic or whatever they were going for.

 

The whole idea that the investigations are years ahead is very intriguing and unexpected to me. It sort of indicates that the affair lasted several years--but probably only during the summers? Which is...odd. 

 

Also--I think it's interesting that future Noah is dressed super schlumpy in jeans and a hoodie and future Allison is more sophisticate and upscale. It certainly seems to be hinting at some sort of class reversal for the two as well.

 

That's a great point that they probably should (or at the very least Helen) be aware of Allison if they've been summering there every year. Because what about last year when the kid died? If he was swimming, that indicates it was summer, they would've been out there, and everyone on the island, even Helen's ma, knows about it. Oh wait, maybe not. One of the conversations between Noah and...Martin? Yeah, Martin, indicated that maybe they didn't go the previous summer because Martin was very happy then. Hmm.

[Neurochick]

Thing is, sadly, I really identified with Allison in ep.#2.  The party scene captured perfectly, in my experience, that feeling of servant/prey vs. employer/predator.  What I mean to say is that it is very hard, in those "serving" situations to avoid being made to feel somewhat a whore, on display, on the menu if you will, exactly what the father-in-law suggested, by the privileged attendees because, as Allison stated, they don't "see" you….as a person, but a fixture which completes their entitled picture of themselves.  It's a rather sickening, and if you allow it, self-loathing opportunity, and it's hard not to let it get under your skin without coming away with the world belief that you are commodity in the end.  I realize this all sounds so bitter, but that one scene really made the episode for me because I understood Allison.  It was sad, really, but why I'm beginning to really like this show despite the lack of chemistry between the characters.

 

 

Maybe that's why Noah and Alison are drawn to each other.  Both of them feel like outsiders in the world of the wealthy, summer, Hamptons people.  Alison is, for lack of a better word, "the help" and Noah feels like the help, because he married into a wealthy family and, at least in Noah's versions of the story, his father in law never lets him forget that he, Noah is "the help."  

 

This episode made me see both of them.  Noah married his wife (can't remember her name) because he was alone, his mother died, his father was drinking and his sister ran off.  Had those things not happened, Noah might not have married his wife in the first place, or if he did marry her, he wouldn't have done it to run away from his problems.  

[Bcharmer]

I agree, also, that there's something fishy going on (no pun intended... well, maybe a little) with that delivery to Caleb at the train station. Stashing drugs inside of the fish, or under the ice? There's a reason they need to keep that door locked.  The cooler appeared to be less heavy when she left.  

[Texasmom1970]

Even after the second episode I am still on the fence about this show.

Love Josh and Maura I started watching because of them, I am not even familiar with the two cheating lead actors, but so far no too impressed.

Don't feel the pull or chemistry between Noah and Alison. I also do not feel for Noah. His oh poor me. I have a family, we are vacationing in the Hamptons. I also have a rich, beautiful wife who loves me and is still willing to have sex with me on the regular. Despite the fact he looks older, not that attractive, at least not to me.

[Boundary]

The whole idea that the investigations are years ahead is very intriguing and unexpected to me. It sort of indicates that the affair lasted several years--but probably only during the summers? Which is...odd. 

 

I think the affair lasted years, he probably fathered her future kid. In the pilot episode, one of them mentioned how that first year was a blur or something like that. And it would be in the summers, unless she moved to the city for him, something she wouldn't do until she figured she needed a divorce. 

Edited October 20, 2014 by Boundary

[helloagain]

I also don't know how I feel about this show.  As others have stated, I do not feel that there is any chemistry between Noah and Alison.  I may have felt more chemistry btwn Helen and Cole at the ranch than I do Noah and Alison.  I just find Noah's version SO boring that I don't look forward to watching (I record), but Alison's story moved faster this week.  I think I'm more watching at this point to find out who was killed than I am for the affair.  Snooze.  I hope this picks up and so far, I'm still in. 

Edited October 21, 2014 by helloagain

[TexasGal]

I wonder if it's the jerky father in law who dies? The inclusion of Noah's comment to his son from the first episode that he might at least inherit money from him seemed a little foreshadowy. And lots of people hate him.

Edited October 21, 2014 by TexasGal

[Bcharmer]

I don't think it's the father-in-law who dies.  If it were, I'm not sure the detective would refer to him as "the victim" or "this fella."

[Rickster]

I think the detective was asking Alison about getting home the night that "whatever" happened, not how she got home from the party in the past.  It's clearlly a few years later when they are talking to the detective - she has gotten divorced and acquired a kid.  And moved to New York.

 

It's interesting what things are different and what are the same between the two recollections.  Maura Tierney's dress at the party changes from red to blue for example.

 

 

Totally agree that the party the detective is talking about is not the one we see at the end of the episode, although I think the juxtaposition is there to purposely confuse us?

 

I think the point about the dress is how in Noah's version, his wife asks his opinion on the dress and then ignores it. Probably emphasizing how he feels like an outsider. But Alison's version on this point is probably correct since there would be no reason for her to inaccurately remember the dress.

[absnow54]

I think the point about the dress is how in Noah's version, his wife asks his opinion on the dress and then ignores it. Probably emphasizing how he feels like an outsider. But Alison's version on this point is probably correct since there would be no reason for her to inaccurately remember the dress.

I actually think in this case that Noah would be more reliable. Alison feels resentful towards the tourists, so she would probably exaggerate the flaunting of wealth, not out of spite, but because she's always perceived herself to be less than them.

[Rickster]

I actually think in this case that Noah would be more reliable. Alison feels resentful towards the tourists, so she would probably exaggerate the flaunting of wealth, not out of spite, but because she's always perceived herself to be less than them.

 

But in regard to the dress specifically, unless someone can say that one dress was much more obviously expensive than the other, there is no reason for Alison's memory to be inaccurate on this point. On the other hand, Noah's exchange with his wife about what to wear is probably meant to say something about how he views their relationship.

 

While Alison may be resentful about the tourists, Noah has other things to be resentful about which also colors his memory.

[RimaTheBirdGirl]

 

one of them mentioned how that first year was a blur

It was Alison who said that, but my take was NOT that she was referring to the first year of her affair.  I thought she was referring to the first year following the death of her child.

 

The reference was unclear, I'm sure deliberately.   But her tone was troubled, wan, wispy.  Much like her entire memory of herself in that first episode.  Everything that she recalled was steeped in her mourning.  I figure the "blur" of the first year was a mourning reference, too.  

 

And self-slapped hands for repeated references to Episode 1 in this posting, but:  the brittle interviewed-Alison's "I have to pick up my kid" versus "Hello, Munchkin" at the headstone was a stomach-punch for me.  

 

That girl has changed in profound, disturbing ways.   

[attica]

Gosh, I really like the work both actors (but mostly Wilson) are doing differentiating their performances to the POV. Wilson in particular moves an entirely different way, with her shoulders up around her ears in her version, all limber and flouncy in his version.

 

Question: what's in the cooler besides fish?

 

Digging this show so far, a lot.

[panthergirl13]

One thing is for certain, this show is getting people thinking/talking. That would be a success in my book if I were the creator. 

[shelley1234]

Hmm.  I'm still not sure what I think of this show and count with me the group of people watching for Josh Jackson.  I'd watch him read out of the phone book.  I do think the heavy foreshadowing makes it seem like it is Cole who is the one who died.  I did see Allison getting emotional talking about whoever it is who died when she was in the "now" interview with the cop talking about whoever it was who died.  It only confirmed for me that it is probably Cole who was run down.  

 

The fish delivery did seem chuck full of weird.  I thought drugs as well.  Maybe it is what supplements the farm business for the Lockharts.  

 

I also think they must not be talking about the party in the episode since that would mean that the death happened that night.  The show seems to be showing the "then" in chronical order, so it would seem bizarre if the death/murder happened right after the point we are seeing.  However it seemed like they were talking about the party that she spent the whole last episode talking about....so color me confused.  

 

The biggest difference in the two stories for me was how Alison sees Noah's wife.  She is shown as this waspy cold mean woman, who treats people and especially staff as if they are below her.  Contrast that with the warm woman that we see in Noah's side....a caring mom, a caring daughter, a loving wife...and someone who is so bothered that her whoring father is bringing his mistress to her mother's party.  That was incredibly interesting to me.  

 

The Lockhart bro who was flirting with the 16 yr old daughter of Noah's (can't remember her name)....yeah, creepy.  I did appreciate both Cole and Alison trying to be like "Dude...no" to him in different situations during the episode.  Blergh.  

[Bcharmer]

His name is Scotty, I believe. Makes me wonder if he's the one who ends up dead.

[Box305]

Shallow comment warning: I like how Cole is so much hotter in Allison's version of events. 

[Constantinople]

Thing is, sadly, I really identified with Allison in ep.#2.  The party scene captured perfectly, in my experience, that feeling of servant/prey vs. employer/predator.  What I mean to say is that it is very hard, in those "serving" situations to avoid being made to feel somewhat a whore, on display, on the menu if you will, exactly what the father-in-law suggested, by the privileged attendees because, as Allison stated, they don't "see" you….as a person, but a fixture which completes their entitled picture of themselves.  It's a rather sickening, and if you allow it, self-loathing opportunity, and it's hard not to let it get under your skin without coming away with the world belief that you are commodity in the end.  I realize this all sounds so bitter, but that one scene really made the episode for me because I understood Allison.  It was sad, really, but why I'm beginning to really like this show despite the lack of chemistry between the characters.

Interesting, particularly since the only person who explicitly purchases Allison's services during the course of the evening was Margaret, Noah's mother-in-law, when offered Allison a thousand dollars if Allison spilled a drink on Bruce. It makes me wonder why Allison agreed.

Were Allison's remarks about summer people directed to the detective who's questioning her? Presumably he's also local, so was she trying to elicit sympathy?

[MorbidPet]

I'm just in awe of this show but you really need to watch each episode more than once cause you miss so much the first time around. For me it's a good thing that we get to know Noah's side first cause otherwise I would probably just buy Alison's version straight up. I'm dying (no pun intended) to know who died. And Maura Tierney is just plain awesome. (*hehe* Lockhart Ranch. Abby Lockhart.)

 

The make up team needed to consult whoever did the wigs for True Detective. Allison's wig in the interrogation scene looked like it was looted from the Dollar Store clearance aisle.

It's actually not a wig, it's her own hair, just tucked in/up. Info courtesy of The Affair's account on Twitter.

[stillshimpy]

Gosh, I really like the work both actors (but mostly Wilson) are doing differentiating their performances to the POV. Wilson in particular moves an entirely different way, with her shoulders up around her ears in her version, all limber and flouncy in his version.

I right there with you. Although I become more and more convinced that one of the two is intentionally lying, I am so impressed by the work both are doing in the contrasting scenes. I've never actually thought of Dominic West as a particularly powerful actor, and like others here, I'm not actually all that swayed by his looks, but Noah in Allison memory vs. Noah in his own memory are really striking differences. He seems sort of worn down and fatigued in his own memories and discounted by his family, in-laws, etc.

In Allison's memory he's so charming and assured. Too flirty to be the real deal, too suave really, but whereas the difference in Allison could be glimpsed from space (and in no way detracts from Wilson's efforts, because she's doing great work) the difference in Noah is equally amazing, but not as pronounced.

Allison -- depending on whose version we are seeing -- simply can't be both of those people. The overly flirtatious , sexually confident, brazen and open woman vs. how she sees herself as being pretty fragile and uncertain. The difference is so striking it can't just be put down to "how we see ourselves, vs. how others see us" , it's too pronounced.

The difference in Noah really could be as simple as how he projects himself, vs how he sees himself, but it is still pretty marked.

So I'm interested in who died and why, but I'm far more interested as to why the detectives then give a crap about the affair.

I agree, there's more emotional desperation than passion on display in the connection between the leads. I think that's fitting.

 

Thing is, sadly, I really identified with Allison in ep.#2. The party scene captured perfectly, in my experience, that feeling of servant/prey vs. employer/predator.

It's been a long time at this stage, but I have waited tables, including cocktail and you know, maybe it's just down to a personality difference, but I would never think of it in those terms. I think because when I did any kind of waiting tables, I didn't so desperately need the income that I had to stay. Meaning only that if I wasn't waiting tables at J B Winberries I could go two doors down and get a different job, waiting tables or cocktail waiting. Same thing with special events because I never felt that kind of powerlessness. It was just at a time of my life where if someone got out of line, I'd just quit and walk away.

I'm bringing that up because that's something I don't quite understand about Allison's story. That version of Allison doesn't fit with the version of Allison I see in the room being questioned. I don't know if she used to view herself as being closer to powerless within her own life and now doesn't, hence the change, or if something happened to make her feel more powerful.

I agree that the "treated as a piece of meat" thing was very much there, but in Noah's memory, it seems Allison is almost empowered by that feeling of being attractive, whereas in Allison's side of the story, she very much has a lamb-to-the-slaughter (but aware of her fate) thing going on.

Meaning that she seems to be conveying an awareness of the lack of fairness in her past situation.

I think the show must be doing a fairly good job of keeping me off-balance, because this week was when I started to wonder if she's the person who is actually lying. It's partially because the Allison in the interrogation room bears almost no resemblance to the person she remembers herself as being. Normally that just might mark the passage of time and changed circumstance.

It's at least a little odd that Interrogation room Allison seems like a closer relative to Allison in Noah's memory, vs. Allison in her own memories.

Edited October 21, 2014 by stillshimpy

[Espy]

It's at least a little odd that Interrogation room Allison seems like a closer relative to Allison in Noah's memory, vs. Allison in her own memories.

There was something that's been bugging me about who's telling the truth, and I think this is it. Up until now I'd believed Allison's version was more likely to be more accurate, or likely, than Noah's version. In Noah's version he is more absolved of blame because Allison is the aggressor, which seemed to me to be a fairly typical rationalisation of having an affair. But Allison's had seemed more likely to me to be believable, and I place this interpretation on my own bias towards gender, affairs, etc etc. But something seemed off and that's it: the Allison in interrogation room is so much more like the Allison in Noah's account than in her own. What is interesting to me is which version of her other people see - her coworkers, friends etc. Is Allison is lying, or is her account really how she views herself but may not necessarily be how everyone else sees her?

 

At this point Allison's story is so much more riveting to me than Noah's. She really has so much going on in terms of perceptions and truth. At this stage Noah's seems like a fairly typical mid-life crisis-type affair. Which again, may be due to my own bias. 

 

Great show. It's really sucking me in now. Can't wait for next week.

[Ellaria]

I'm enjoying the dueling perspectives in this story but I don't know how long it can be sustained. Regardless, I am along for the ride.

Noah isn't particularly sympathetic in either perspective. Sure, his father-in-law is an ass and his kids are a bit out of control. To me, his tale comes across as the typical mid-life crisis.

Allison is a more sympathetic character from both perspectives primarily because she has lost a child. I agree that her demeanor in the interrogation room seems different from her perspective of herself. To me, she seems like a completely different person - aloof, and sophisticated - almost like the vacationers that she disdains. Whatever happened to her has changed her considerably.

I wonder if she caused the death of her child - directly or indirectly. It seems that incident has to come into the story in a larger way.

Lots of other interesting elements: the party we see v. the party in question, the dead person, the wildly conflicting perspectives of Noah's wife, Cole's inappropriate brother, the role of the affair in the murder investigation.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Ellaria Sand

[Milburn Stone]

I agree that her demeanor in the interrogation room seems different from her perspective of herself. To me, she seems like a completely different person - aloof, and sophisticated - almost like the vacationers that she disdains. Whatever happened to her has changed her considerably.

 

Ah, unless Espy is right that Alison has always been more sophisticated than her own self-perception portrays her as being--and maybe more sophisticated than Noah is able to see. Fascinating!

[cricketmum]

And Maura Tierney is just plain awesome. (*hehe* Lockhart Ranch. Abby Lockhart.)

 

It's even better, the gravestone in the 1st ep read Gabrielle (G Abby) Lockhart.

 

Re "Bailey", she's called that as she leaves the office at the train station.

[Ellaria]

Ah, unless Espy is right that Alison has always been more sophisticated than her own self-perception portrays her as being--and maybe more sophisticated than Noah is able to see. Fascinating!

 

So perhaps a third perspective is involved. His story, her story and the truth.

[RimaTheBirdGirl]

 

it is very hard, in those "serving" situations to avoid being made to feel somewhat a whore, on display, on the menu if you will, exactly what the father-in-law suggested

Higher sexual aggression against low-paid, female food servers is documented.  (Thank you, NYT.)

 

If female restaurant workers who get tips are paid less than their colleagues, they will suffer more sexual harassment.  Even-up the pay scale, and the harassment levels drop.

 

The study is here: http://rocunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/REPORT_TheGlassFloor_Sexual-Harassment-in-the-Restaurant-Industry.pdf

 

And the NYT article here (a paywall kicks in, at some point):  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/nyregion/when-living-on-tips-means-putting-up-with-harassment.html?_r=0

Edited October 22, 2014 by RimaTheBirdGirl

[absnow54]

Shallow comment warning: I like how Cole is so much hotter in Allison's version of events. 

But in Noah's version he's a cowboy. On a horse. With a hat.