S01.E03: 3

[Tara Ariano]

Noah asks Alison to help him research the local culture for his novel, but their innocent tour of Montauk proves more dangerous than expected. Meanwhile, Cole takes a stand on behalf of his community; and Helen deals with business back in Brooklyn.

[Primetimer]

Why did he ever bother getting married when he has a magic crank?

Read the story

[Guest]

I'm sorry but did that agent Noah met with call him a "young" writer? Ha ha ha ha ha! Did he work for AARP Press?

And dear god, every time Ruth Wilson is on screen, I can't help by visualizing what the child of Lindsay Lohan and Lara Flynn Boyle would look like all grown up.

So I'm guessing the baby Alison has now is Noah's?

Nitpick! Both Noah and Alison have iPhones. Her message back to him went through as a text and not an iMessage. (Although I know this can happen for some random reason, I would think they would strive for 100% Apple authenticity.)

[kalamac]

I kind of want Helen and Cole to run away from their asshole spouses together. And not just because I love Maura and Josh.

[DB in CMH]

Why did he ever bother getting married when he has a magic crank?

http://previously.tv/the-affair/as-the-affair-progresses-sex-wise-the-affair-makes-noah-its-most-unreliable-narrator/"> Read the story

 

Except that he pretty clearly just fingered her, as indicated in the very next scene where he.... washed his finger. 

 

Nitpick! Both Noah and Alison have iPhones. Her message back to him went through as a text and not an iMessage. (Although I know this can happen for some random reason, I would think they would strive for 100% Apple authenticity.)

 

I have iMessage turned off because it irritates the piss out of me. Maybe they do too. 

 

Interesting how their stories, while basically being the same in the first week, have started to radically differ. I'm guessing that,  as the interrogation progresses, Allison pulls back dramatically from what really happened because she seems to have the most motive, or whatever it is the police are trying to figure out. Noah's version is almost too OTT, but Allison comes off as a choir girl in hers. I think she is trying to paint herself in a very, very angelic light. I also think the stress this episode on the differences between the townfolk and the summer people plays into this - Allison has to live in this community, while Noah does not. For Noah it's a fantasy, while for Allison, it's her life. 

[taragel]

Yeah, I also did not think it was the full-on sex but just him getting....uh...handsy with her, prompting the key hand-washing scene. I mean, even if so, she did still come in about 30 seconds but...

I like how much their stories differed because it points to someone being pretty damn unreliable in the future. (Very excited to see them get out of the police station and on the phone to... spouses? next week.)

I'm a little curious though if this show has any hope of making sense though when they're through with season one. Because if they keep diverging the accounts AND make them both unreliable narrators in the future....I'm not sure that works. The audience might need SOME things that are incontrovertable facts and that string together in a logical timeline for there to be an actual storyline here and not just a mishmash of confusing memories and ambiguous open-ended questions. The cop's interrogations should be filling us in on the crime at least but so far they aren't (this episode talks about a wedding, last week was a party...but how do these things connect?) I hope some things will start to fall together/in place soon. Sarah Treem tweeted that next week is her favorite episode and that people should check out next week and then decide to check out if they still don't like/get it. So maybe some things start to take shape next week.

[Blakeston]

Yeah, I also did not think it was the full-on sex but just him getting....uh...handsy with her, prompting the key hand-washing scene. I mean, even if so, she did still come in about 30 seconds but...

 

Didn't we see him unzip his fly, though?

 

I'll give the show the benefit of the doubt that the scene was intentionally unrealistic, to show how skewed Noah's version of the event was.

[Irlandesa]

Except that he pretty clearly just fingered her, as indicated in the very next scene where he.... washed his finger.

I've deleted it from my DVR but I thought we pretty clearly heard him unbuckle his belt in that scene.  That doesn't mean that the fingering conclusion is off base but it does make me wonder why they'd muddle it up implying he was taking it out if we were only supposed to see it as being limited to his hands on her. 

 

I do agree that the differing time lines are getting really interesting.  In his version, she's some sort of male fantasy in that she follows him, can't keep her hands off of him and comes at his first touch.  Her version is more like a romance novel...like the little "hellos" they exchange after kissing in the library.  I'm still not bowled over by their chemistry but I did think I noticed a touch bit more in her version of events as opposed to his. 

Edited October 27, 2014 by Irlandesa

[DollyMamaB]

A couple of observations:

 

1.  I think the step grandfather is doing something inappropriate with Noah's and Sarah's sons. 

 

2.  I thought we heard him undo his belt buckle also, but he just went home and washed his hands?  I'd assume he'd be taking a full on shower if they'd actually had sex. 

 

3.  Interesting how, in Noah's story, Allison had on a skirt and he noticed the bandage on her upper thigh, but in her story to the cop, she had on jeans. 

 

I know this is a series so they can't lay everything out there all at once, but it just seems too drawn out.  And are we suppose to be rooting for Noah and Allison because their characters are so tortured?  Because, I'm not rooting for them.  Hell, I'm rooting for Sarah and Cole.  I agree with the person who said she wants THEM to hook up. 

[rozen]

I wish they would switch up the order, because Noah's parts are becoming so boring to me. No one in his portrayals seems to have any nuance, they're just cardboard cutouts acting as foils to his midlife crisis. Especially his memories of Allison, who apparently has her phasers set to sexy 24/7. Who has come hither eyes when they're selling jam, honestly? Broken, sexy, girl in heat trying to drag his innocent self into the crazy. Uh huh. Your originality's not giving me a lot of faith in the quality of your second book, dude.

 

Though I guess Allison's memories of being perpetually sexually harassed is it's on type of fantasy on her sexual prowess. She portrays herself as so passive, and at the whim of others' actions, I don't think it's possible for someone to be like that all the time. Even her anger at Cole's using their dead child as a rhetorical device seemed super muted. That, and having a rich creepy/suave dude hitting on you still does not justify having an affair with a guy who watched you be raped/have sex in public, and then went home and jacked off over it. It puts just huge bullet holes in everything else she says. She might as well have slept with her diner employer, he's a lecherous douche, but at least not a voyeuristic creepazoid.  

 

Their current spouses appear to want to drag them in-sync with the comfort of their lives, ignoring the fact that Allison and Noah don't fit. They seem like nice people, but they are both passively bad spouses. 

[Constantinople]

The most interesting parts of the episode for me were Allison recounting some of the history of fishing in the local area, and the reactions to Oscar's plan to build a bowling alley.

I think that's a problem for a show titled "The Affair".

I don't even find Allison's theft of the medications from the hospital where she once worked particularly interesting.

And add to me the list of those who think Noah & Allison have no chemistry. So little that I cannot imagine them ever having an affair, even by the standards of bored and having nothing better to do. They don't even have friend chemistry.

 

I wish they would switch up the order, because Noah's parts are becoming so boring to me. No one in his portrayals seems to have any nuance, they're just cardboard cutouts acting as foils to his midlife crisis. Especially his memories of Allison, who apparently has her phasers set to sexy 24/7. Who has come hither eyes when they're selling jam, honestly? Broken, sexy, girl in heat trying to drag his innocent self into the crazy. Uh huh. Your originality's not giving me a lot of faith in the quality of your second book, dude.

 

As the agent said, I've read that book before.

[Guest]

They don't even have friend chemistry.

A big amen on that. Even when they stole away for a kiss, I felt like nothing lead up to it, like running off to make out with a rando you met at a bus stop. Also? There seems to be a lot of closed-mouth kissing between the actors. I would expect if they were so hot for each other, there might be some tongue action but ... not so much. I am getting zero magnetism between these two.

That being said, I still like this show for whatever reason.

[Tara Ariano]

As to the penis vs. finger debate: I watched it several times (to confirm what I thought I was seeing, not because I'm a pervert!), and Noah definitely unbuckles his belt and opens his pants. I figured he was washing his hands because they would smell like her regardless, as well as for Lady Macbeth-ish reasons.

[Maximona]

I watched the scenes in the hospital twice.  I didn't <U>see</U> Alison steal meds -- I saw her taking bandages.  She <U>cut</U> herself at the beach.  Far more interesting narrative choice to make Alison a cutter rather than a junkie.

 

I like this show a lot.  The Roshomon-like dual narratives are really well done, I think -- Noah's feature a porn star Alison; Alison's feature a dreamy, romance novel Noah.  The reality is a considerably more banal middle ground, which viewers may or may not ever see.  The Schrodinger effect in action.

 

I find Noah's wife totally unsympathetic.  Spoiled rich girl unwilling to live on whatever Noah makes as salary.  In real life, I suspect a man in this situation would send the wife and kids off to the wife's parents and refuse to go himself.  Then he could have an affair with a nice hipster girl he picks up on the subway!

 

There is a <U>huge</U> disconnect between the natives and the tourists in Montauk, and I think the show does a really good job of portraying that.

 

 

[Cirien]

 

I find Noah's wife totally unsympathetic.  Spoiled rich girl unwilling to live on whatever Noah makes as salary.  In real life, I suspect a man in this situation would send the wife and kids off to the wife's parents and refuse to go himself.  Then he could have an affair with a nice hipster girl he picks up on the subway!

The thing is though this is Noah's telling of her. And seeing how he's looking back on when he started having an affair, and trying to explain why he did it it's make sence that she'd look bad in his recollections....I don't just it.

[shelley1234]

I kind of want Helen and Cole to run away from their asshole spouses together. And not just because I love Maura and Josh.

 

Yep.  I'd totally sign up to watch THAT SHOW.  Make it so Showtime!  

[Constantinople]

I find Noah's wife totally unsympathetic.  Spoiled rich girl unwilling to live on whatever Noah makes as salary.  In real life, I suspect a man in this situation would send the wife and kids off to the wife's parents and refuse to go himself.  Then he could have an affair with a nice hipster girl he picks up on the subway!

 

 

The thing is though this is Noah's telling of her. And seeing how he's looking back on when he started having an affair, and trying to explain why he did it it's make sence that she'd look bad in his recollections....I don't just it.

 

Allison, the other narrator, isn't exactly unbiased either.

 

Noah also doesn't seem to be willing to live on his salary.  I'm assuming that Noah and Helen mutually agreed to have 4 (5?) children, to live in a brownstone purchased with a loan from Helen's father, etc.  Plus, didn't Noah, in his own recollection last episode, tell Allison and her sister-in-law to keep the change from a 20 for an 8 dollar bottle of jam.  What's up with that if Noah wants to live only on his salary.

 

Plus, Helen took Noah's side when he had an argument with her mother over "practicality".

Edited October 27, 2014 by Constantinople

[taragel]

There are some sneak peeks for next week in the new spoiler thread, and one of them seems to shed some light on what happened this week (sex v. fingering)...  And I'm guessing the clip is from Noah's POV based on Alison's hair/makeup/clothes.

 

I thought it was interesting to learn Alison hasn't been working at the diner her whole life. Or if she has, she was also a nurse at one point. Couldn't tell if that hospital sequence was also supposed to maybe shed light on how the kid may have died (not an accident, but illness?) or just highlight a mother's love that she'll let a kid puke into her hands. Lol. 

 

Also--how are these people so indiscrete? In BOTH POVs. Even chaste kisses in the small town public library right out at in the open at a table rather than in the stacks is pushing it. Seems like Scotty's picking up on the Alison/Noah connection too.

[iMonrey]

 

I find Noah's wife totally unsympathetic.  Spoiled rich girl unwilling to live on whatever Noah makes as salary.

 

I haven't seen anything to indicate that Helen is dissatisfied with what Noah makes for a living, but maybe I missed something. I know her parents look down on him but I haven't see her doing it.

 

The "he said/she said" gimmick is starting to wear thin, especially now when the two versions are are irreconcilable. One of these people (possibly both) needs to be tested for Alzheimer's because somebody's got a really bad memory. 

 

It also occurred to me that maybe Noah's version of events is the way he wrote it for his book whereas Alison's is the truth, but it would be interesting to have an episode where we see what really happened from an objective third party's observation.

[panthergirl13]

I didn't like this week's episode as much as the previous two, but mostly because it didn't seem to move things along very much. I'm still on board, though, and trust that interesting things are afoot.

[WaltersHair]

Getting hella bored with the 'who is dead' thing. I don't personally think it's Cole. It feels like a peripheral player that both know (or will know.)

 

I finally figured out the reason I like Allison over Noah. She remembers her spouse as sweet, loving, and even heroic. Noah sees his wife as clueless and not very interesting.

 

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Allison ended up with the jerk FIL.

 

I'll give it one more episode to redeem itself.

[lorikauai]

And dear god, every time Ruth Wilson is on screen, I can't help by visualizing what the child of Lindsay Lohan and Lara Flynn Boyle would look like all grown up.

Every time I see Alison on screen I see Pennsatucky from Orange is the New Black.

[Boundary]

3.  Interesting how, in Noah's story, Allison had on a skirt and he noticed the bandage on her upper thigh, but in her story to the cop, she had on jeans. 

 

 

Well, he noticed the bandage, a result of cutting herself, something that's rather private as she admitted to the cop. Which means she wasn't wearing jeans. Her accounts are more credible but maybe it's because she's the better liar. Also, I noticed that they both took that line telling their spouse not to wake up while seducing them. So whose line was it, really?

[Blakeston]

I got the impression that Cole's speech was supposed to seem sympathetic.

 

But even though I loathe Oscar, I wasn't particularly moved by what Cole said. 

 

I would have guessed that his objection would be about the environmental impact, or the noise it would create. But instead it was, "Who cares if it creates jobs - this might bring in some out-of-town people, and we can't have that! These wouldn't even be the rich out-of-towners we welcome!"

 

A couple of observations:

 

1.  I think the step grandfather is doing something inappropriate with Noah's and Sarah's sons. 

 

I'm inclined to agree. (I'm assuming you meant Noah and Helen's children.)

 

I didn't notice it until someone pointed it out to me, but there have been clues that the older son was molested. He hates his grandfather so much, and he's obviously messed up, and Noah said something like, "You used to be so happy, what changed?"

[Boundary]

Hmmmmm, then Noah finds out, runs down the grandfather and Alison provides him with an alibi. I think we've just cracked it.

[Guest Accused Dingo]

I'm sorry but did that agent Noah met with call him a "young" writer? Ha ha ha ha ha! Did he work for AARP Press?

"Young writer" sometimes means new writer and often unpublished or in this case unproven writer. I think Noah has one published novel which technically makes him a young writer.

[Maximona]

I'm betting it's the grandfather that dies.

 

I suspect that neither Noah or Allison't accounts would turn out to overlap more than 40 percent with what we laughingly refer to as objective reality, but that's why I like the show.  It's a great device for getting way inside the two protagonists' minds, and I feel like I'm in way deeper than I am in other TV shows I watch, I'm actually seeing things through their eyes.  The selective misrememberings are like Rorschach blots for their respective personalities.  

Edited November 4, 2014 by AmandaPanda
deleted empty quote box

[LotusFlower]

Hmmmmm, then Noah finds out, runs down the grandfather and Alison provides him with an alibi. I think we've just cracked it.

I'm betting it's the grandfather that dies.

But then why would Alison say to the detective: "I can't believe he's gone." (something like that). That leads me to believe it's someone in her life, or someone she knows well, like the restaurant owner (Oscar?), or her brother-in-law.

[Guest]

But then why would Alison say to the detective: "I can't believe he's gone." (something like that). That leads me to believe it's someone in her life, or someone she knows well, like the restaurant owner (Oscar?), or her brother-in-law.

Following up on my earlier spec that her new child is Noah's and that they're married now, it would make some sense. Not that she's in any way related, but there is a tie there with Noah.

Also, it seems that Allison upped her fashion game in the interrogation scenes. She fished those cigs out of what appeared to be a high-end handbag and even that atrocious wig kinda carries the air of a "conservative" monied hairstyle. And it dovetailed nicely from her husband giving her money to replace her ratty old dress.

I'm probably totally wrong.

[carefree]

I got the impression that Cole's speech was supposed to seem sympathetic.

 

But even though I loathe Oscar, I wasn't particularly moved by what Cole said. 

 

I would have guessed that his objection would be about the environmental impact, or the noise it would create. But instead it was, "Who cares if it creates jobs - this might bring in some out-of-town people, and we can't have that! These wouldn't even be the rich out-of-towners we welcome!"

 

It almost felt like watching Dawson's Creek fanfiction brought to life, with Pacey being stuck in Capeside. But that's probably on me and seeing my shared TV boyfriend in almost everything Josh does. 

 

I do like the programme but I'm still waiting for something to happen. Yes, we've got that someone's died but there's build up and there's build up. This is all dreamy, ethereal and whimsical, on both sides, and there's nothing really going on. I get we need to have the scene set but this is ep 3 and for such lengthy episodes, there's not a whole heap going on. 

Edited October 27, 2014 by carefree

[Boundary]

Oscar is still alive, since Noah told the detective "If I were you I'd be talking to Oscar". Apparently there's a longstanding feud between Oscar and Cole's families and Noah implied that moonshine production might be involved, before directing the cop to his new book. I have to guess that's where it's all headed.

[LotusFlower]

Oscar is still alive, since Noah told the detective "If I were you I'd be talking to Oscar".

Woops - I missed that. Thanks. Ok, now I'm going with the brother-in-law, but all of your guesses here are more imaginative! Do we find out next week?

Edited October 27, 2014 by LotusFlower

[BigMamaThorton]

 

….that moonshine production might be involved, <snip>

Those historical moonshine routes would be useful to current drug running, no?  I'm calling it.

 

Helen's mother reminds me way too much of both my biological mother and my step-mother in their thoughts, motivations, and general attitude towards a woman's worth.  I must admit to disliking her character the most on this show.  And that delightful dinner gathering around the table hit way too close to home.  As far as parents go, Helen's suck balls.

[absnow54]

I got the impression that Cole's speech was supposed to seem sympathetic.

But even though I loathe Oscar, I wasn't particularly moved by what Cole said.

I would have guessed that his objection would be about the environmental impact, or the noise it would create. But instead it was, "Who cares if it creates jobs - this might bring in some out-of-town people, and we can't have that! These wouldn't even be the rich out-of-towners we welcome!"

I didn't get that either. If it were an Applebees or maybe a deluxe spa that none of the locals would be able to afford, I would understand the outrage, but, like, why do people in Montauk hate bowling so much?

[Neurochick]

In Noah's version, Allison freaked at seeing her brother in law, in Allison's version we didn't even see her brother in law.  

 

I think it's the brother in law who was killed.  Maybe he was molesting Noah's son?  

 

I really don't think any of the children have been or are being molested but you never know with Showtime.

[Sheenieb]

Hm, so is Whitney the au pair that Allison's sister in law mentioned having a potential threesome with?

Edited October 28, 2014 by Sheenieb

[Texasmom1970]

I know this show is called "The Affair" and sex scenes are to be expected. But I have to stop watching the amount of them we have already seen in just a few episodes is making me feel inadequate like I am below the curve!

[shelley1234]

I am still feeling that Cole is the death/murder they keep talking about....and the comment that Oscar is the guy they should be focusing on made me think that even more.

[Higgs]

The only things we know for certain that the couple tell the detective are what we hear in voice-overs and in face-to-face scenes with him. Among many examples, Noah would never have revealed that he tried to sneak off his wedding ring so he could pick up the young woman at the swimming pool, and Alison would never have mentioned her sister-in-law's prospective threesome and her own anal sex experience. What we are shown are some memories that occur to them while they are giving their heavily redacted summaries of events long past, and that there are differences in perspectives, emphases, and specifics with regard to shared events are to be expected. No one needs to be lying for that to happen.

Mr. Butler does not need to have molested a Solloway kid in order to induce their hatred of him.

Noah's suggestion that the cop talk to Oscar Hodges BECAUSE of the long-standing feud between the Lockharts and Hodges means that THE DEAD PERSON IS A LOCKHART. It's probably not Cole, else the cop's questioning of Alison would have been much more pointed and her references to the victim more specific. The "fish" and cash exchanges between the Lockharts and the fisherman, rather than romantic entanglements, may turn out to be the ultimate context for the "accident".

Edited October 28, 2014 by Higgs

[izabella]

I can't figure out why in the world Whitney would want to be an au pair.  She must be up to something.

 

I can't imagine how that town meeting would have gone down if Noah had been there "doing some research for his book."  Would he really have been welcome?  Would Cole have made that speech?

[Heathrowe99]

Someone check the tape-does Noah tell the copy to talk to Oscar or to look into Oscar?

 

Also-yes to the Pacey fanfiction-there are a lot of grown up, townie Pacey things going on in this show. And I don't mind a bit.  I hope he doesn't die.

 

And I hope they get a season 2 and it's from Cole and Helen's perspectives. Who knows what is happening in their lives, when their spouses aren't with them?

Edited October 28, 2014 by Heathrowe99

[izabella]

And I hope they get a season 2 and it's from Cole and Helen's perspectives. Who knows what is happening in their lives, when their spouses aren't with them?

 

What a great idea!  I don't want to wait until a season 2 for that.  Maybe the police will start interviewing them in the second part of this season.

Edited October 28, 2014 by izabella

[Boundary]

There's a mysterious wedding, as well, to ponder. After Alison mentioned that even after a fight, in this town if there's a funeral or a wedding people attend no matter what. The cop asked, is that why Oscar was invited? (meaning, it was a Lockhart wedding), and then also asked, is that why you went? (meaning, maybe it wasn't Alison's wedding). Going by the theory that Alison and Cole have divorced, the question that she'd attend a Lockhart wedding fits. 

[Indi]

I got the impression that Cole's speech was supposed to seem sympathetic.

If that was the intent, it didn't work for me. It wasn't s speech about how a town could be destroyed in the name of progress. This is a town that attracts rich tourists, because of its charm and I suppose changing it too much could drive away the very same people that makes the town thrive. However, Cole's issues with Oscar's plan were about himself and his dislike of anything new. And he used his wife and his dead son to get sympathy. Jerk.

This episode felt repetitive and boring. Enough with the rich father-in-law's speeches! I hope next week's episode is much better.

[attica]

I am imagining Wilson's agent pitching her this show: "Well, at least 30% of your time will be spent imitating coitus and orgasm. How's that sound? Better watch those carbs!"

 

Because I am slow, I just figured out that "Bailey" must be Alison's maiden name, and Oscar has known her a long time.

 

There has never been a town board meeting wherein the first public comment has not been about traffic congestion. Never. I laughed to see it rendered here faithfully.

 

I kept wondering why Alison referred to showing Noah 'the Island' since Montauk is not an island and Long Island is too big (and who would want that tour anyway?), but I checked the Google, and there is a landmass in Montauk Harbor called Star Island which looks like it fills that descriptive bill.

[Milburn Stone]

I can't imagine how that town meeting would have gone down if Noah had been there "doing some research for his book."  Would he really have been welcome?  Would Cole have made that speech?

 

Of all the interesting disparities in the two stories, the one that intrigued me the most was how Allison describes a near-brawl taking place after the town meeting, while Noah, who by his own account arrives as the meeting is breaking up, reports nothing of the kind.

[windsprints]

I kept wondering why Alison referred to showing Noah 'the Island' since Montauk is not an island and Long Island is too big

 

I think it just meant around Montauk.  It was in Noah's memory, Alison's didn't have that line.  She wouldn't describe the area as the island but I could see him doing it.

 

Of all the interesting disparities in the two stories, the one that intrigued me the most was how Allison describes a near-brawl taking place after the town meeting, while Noah, who by his own account arrives as the meeting is breaking up, reports nothing of the kind.

 

 That and that Alison's version didn't include seeing Scottie at the docks. I think it could be Scottie who dies.

 

The promo for next week looks great. 

Edited October 28, 2014 by windsprints

[iMonrey]

 

Every time I see Alison on screen I see Pennsatucky from Orange is the New Black.

 

I still see Swoosie Kurtz.

[LotusFlower]

I still see Swoosie Kurtz.

Thank you! I couldn't put my finger on it - dead ringer!

[JudyObscure]

Did Alison go to the hospital where she once worked, the place that upsets her terribly because of all the sick children, pretend to ask for her old job back, steal a key and unlawfully enter a controlled area -- all for some antibiotic spray and band aids she could get at the grocery store?

Or.

Was the job interview sincere until she got so upset seeing the sick little boy that she had to go cut herself? In which case, I would still have expected her to get the spray and band aids at a drugstore.

I don't know.

Edited October 29, 2014 by JudyObscure