The Affair in the Media

[RandomX]

Hope this is ok!  Vanity Fair takes an interesting look at the costume changes that vary by character perspective:

 

http://www.vanityfair.com/vf-hollywood/2014/11/the-affair-showtime-costume-design

 

 

[taragel]

Interesting. I hadn't noticed clothing changes for the secondary characters I must admit.

[Valny]

What do we think about news of the second season renewal? I was quite surprised. I though it was a one and done season show.

Honestly, one season was fine with me.

[RandomX]

It really comes down to the pacing. Will they reveal enough about the current situation to keep in interesting vs. an exercise in futility?

[justcris]

http://observer.com/2014/10/the-only-theory-you-need-to-read-about-the-affair-video/

 

I saw this theory online and I must say I like it. I'm not quite sure it fits, but it would be pretty cool.

[Constantinople]

What do we think about news of the second season renewal? I was quite surprised. I though it was a one and done season show.

Honestly, one season was fine with me.

 

 

It really comes down to the pacing. Will they reveal enough about the current situation to keep in interesting vs. an exercise in futility?

 

Perhaps the second season will be The Affair 2: Electric Boogaloo.

 

I'm not sure how they'll get a satisfying second season out of this.  The show already drags a bit and has signs that the show runner thinks it's clever to withhold basic information from the audience.  After watching The Honorable Woman and the first season of The Leftovers over the summer, I don't have much patience for that.

 

So I've just stopped caring what the big mystery is.  I'm just letting it roll over me as things happen.

 

It also helps that The Affair is sandwiched between Homeland and the Walking Dead repeat (or vice-versa).

[RandomX]

Joshua Jackson discusses his return to tv:

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/11/11/joshua-jackson-talks-about-the-affair/

So you’re all in then, right? I mean, we don’t know what will happen to Cole during the rest of the season, but if the show returns, would you come back?

The truth is, I don’t know. I know that Sarah pitched this to all the actors, and everybody else, as a three-act story so I know she has three acts. I don’t know if I’m in the other two acts. So I don’t actually have a good answer for that.

[taragel]

Sarah Treem did a Facebook Q&A today and definitively answered a few questions. Here's some of the most interesting and slightly spoilery bits:

 

When Season 2 picks up, will it be from present day or still in the past tense speaking?

The Affair ST: That past is slowly catching up to the present. But season 2 will still be in the past.

 

Will the second season focus more on what happened to Scotty?

The Affair ST: Yes

 

Is the topic of suicide a big one in this show? It was opened up in the beginning with Noah's son joking, then Whitney involved in a bullying effect, are we going to see more of a pattern?

The Affair ST: Yes

 

Also is Noah book being acted out since he is writing a book? Or is that a no?

The Affair ST: No, but I read that theory somewhere and I also liked it!

 

Is the questioning with the detective over?

The Affair ST: Nope. Just going on a little hiatus.

 

Now that you've been renewed for a second season (congrats!) can we expect the narratives to continue their current structure beyond this season? In other words, will it always be Noah and Alison? Will there always be just two stories?

The Affair ST: It won't always be Noah and Alison in the future, no....

 

Will we see the point of view from the spouses?

The Affair ST: Not this season but hopefully in subsequent seasons....

 

Did the murder occur during the summer of the affair or at a later date?

The Affair ST: A later date.

 

There are 3 sides to every story, His, Hers and the Truth. Will the detective be showing us the Truth or has Truth not arrived in the plot yet?

The Affair ST: Eventually the detective will lead us to the truth, but he himself has an inherent bias and his own perspective. So be careful in investing too heavily in what he thinks he sees.

 

I noticed that the detective lied to Noah and Alison about his own situation. He told Alison that he's happily married, and he told Noah that he's divorced. You probably can't answer this, but I wonder what the motivation for his deception was.

The affair: ST: You'll see..

 

Will there be other clandestine relationships unfolding?

The Affair ST: Yup

 

Can cole and Helen have an affair?

The Affair ST: Ha. No. That would be too soapy, even for this show:)

 

What is in the cooler?

The Affair ST: You'll find out next episode.

 

Does having received an order for S2 change anything about S1 & its outcome? Or are you going to pull a True Detective/American Horror Story and tell a different story altogether since there are so many ways to tell stories of affairs & the why of them.

The Affair ST: Nope. We had always conceived of this story as having a multiple season arc. [im hoping for at least 3 but I will go as long as they'll let me.] The characters will not change next season but their situation has evolved....

Edited November 13, 2014 by taragel

[EyesGlazed]

The Affair's collected stellar reviews.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the-affair/s01/

That plus growing viewership makes me not surprised at the quick renewal for a second season. I'm glad!

[Armchair Critic]

Vanity Fair takes an interesting look at the costume changes that vary by character perspective

 

Thanks for the link. The first time I really noticed it was when Allison was a waitress at the cocktail party, Noah remembers Allison with her hair flowing and shapely & confident in her dress while she remembers her hair tied back and feeling awkard.

[scrb]

Did Showtime greenlit a second season yet?

 

Wonder if they would defer the resolution of the crime until the second season if they knew there would be one.

 

Not sure how much more they can do with a second season though, unless it's about them carrying on the affair again while he's back in NY and they somehow sneak out and find ways to be together.

 

Or do what True Detective is suppose to be doing, come up with entirely different cast, characters and story.

Edited December 11, 2014 by scrb

[tljgator]

Golden Globe nominations for Drama Series, Lead Actor (Dominic West), & Lead Actress (Ruth Wilson).  Full list on TV|Line.

[Boundary]

Congrats to West, Wilson and the rest of the crew for their nominations. These noms can be a bit predictable (Downton Abbey again?) and with the departure of Mad Men there was a spot to be occupied. The competition was stiff, what with The Americans and Masters of Sex, brilliant shows, being left in the cold. So this is quite an achievement. I think we'll see many new contributors coming on here after checking the show out. This can only be a good thing.

[jrlr]

I'm really surprised that Maura Tierney didn't get a GG nomination - I think she is outstanding in her portrayal of Helen.

[Boundary]

I think Maura and Josh are utterly brilliant in this. They constantly have to switch their performances  depending on whose POV we are seeing through. If anything that's a mental challenge as much as a creative one. 

[scrb]

This might be the best summation of the show or at least S1:

 

 

 

It’s a thrilling and deeply satisfying sequence because Noah is an enormous asshole, and The Affair usually displays a peeving ambivalence in presenting that fact. Nuance is important—no one is entirely good or bad—but the show’s writers often confuse even-handedness for profundity. Noah is not well-meaning; he’s after the joyous carnal freedom of youth, and he’s willing to sacrifice his marriage to obtain it. Despite this very obvious character trait, earlier episodes stubbornly attempted to make him seem like a good father, or a sensitive, ill-treated writer, as though these qualities make him more compelling. They do not. Noah is a father and a writer, but one who’s most interesting when he’s at his most selfish, and the intermittent redemption of his personality felt like bad faith characterization. Granted, some of the sympathy in his portrayal can be attributed to half the show being presented from his point of view; but really he’s horrible in both his and Allison’s perspectives. There aren’t actually two sides to every story, and The Affair’s main flaw was how it pursued complexity at the cost of coherence.

Sunday’s finale abandoned that approach, liberating the jerk to do as he pleased. This was Noah at his worst: His children hate him, his love life is a series of one-night stands, he blackmails an auto mechanic to hide details of Scotty Lockhart’s death, and—if Allison’s perspective is to be trusted—he abandons his wife and daughter seconds after they are almost shot by his mistress’s husband.

 

That’s the Noah we know and hate, and The Affair is a rollicking good time when it embraces his deep and permanent flaws. Even Allison—who, by virtue of having a dead kid, gets cut a bit more slack for her missteps—is bracingly, wondrously imperfect in this episode. When she says she wants to “forget” Cole, when she blames him for Gabriel’s death, we know her feelings aren’t fair or kind or even justifiable. But they feel true.

That’s because The Affair is a study of how happiness can turn into unhappiness, not for any good reason but for the mere sake of change. True Detective used alternating perspectives and a flashback structure to explore the realities of two people; The Affair uses the same devices to explore the emotional decay of two families. The facts, and the murder mystery itself, are incidental.

 

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/12/21/the_affair_finale_two_perspectives_on_the_last_episode_of_the_showtime_show.html

[scrb]

An alternate take from another Slate writer, on the role of the murder story.  Yeah I'm not so much on the murder plot either:

 

 

 

The show does resolve how the titular affair concluded—but it also ends with a cliffhanger concerning the totally unnecessary murder investigation that has been ramped up in recent episodes as we’re led to believe that Noah Solloway is a very viable suspect.

Yes, I understand that the murder investigation is a framing device that sets up the show’s two perspectives (much as Ted Mosby had to keep telling his children about their mother). But the investigation could have been into someone else’s crime, which Noah and Allison merely witnessed, or the crime could have been something less grave than murder, making it incidental to the love story that should be the focus of the series. So many serious TV shows want to be about everything, but every love story does not need to be about a murder and every story does not need a cliffhanger. The framing device did not have to become the heart of the show.

 

And this show did have heart. A quiet, contemplative heart. It was a story of everyday life—with the addition of an illicit affair—told from two perspectives. It felt, at its best, like a visual poem. The show’s greatest strength was the way it portrayed inner lives, thanks to the way the two leads’ perspectives and memories were shown to have evolved over time. The plot mattered, of course, but The Affair was meditative TV, devoid of frenzied action. It let us ruminate on how blame shifted and events were deemed irrelevant by one character, while taking on great consequence for the other. The first half of the season was slow moving, sometimes even painfully so. But that deliberate pace was its greatest attribute. We met two people, we got to know these two people, and we tried to understand their actions. Noah and Allison were not looking to stray from their marriages, but, in the end, they did. Why? And what would that bring?

[gingerella]

To add to this, Sarah Treem tweeted on Sunday night:  "Originally Noah had the last line. Alison says "I'll get you out, I promise."  And he was going to say "If anyone can, it's you.""  Hmmmm.

I think Sarah Treem's agent needs to have her twatter shut the fuck down already, because bitch be pissing me off.  She keeps trying to force viewers to acknowledge "her vision" of the story, but in reality the story we are all discussing varies wildly just reading through these threads. Our perceptions of these characters is quite different from Treem' insistence that "these are two good people, essentially"...We have seen Alison as a highly damaged mother, who says one thing but does another as illustrated when she acted all butt hurt (yes, pun intended, it was too easy to pass that one up) about fucking in Noah's marital home yet immediately went inside (ahem, yes, intentional, thankyouverymuch), and started over using Helen's shampoo and 'accidentally' leaving her bra behind.  These sort of actions make me like her and empathsize with her loss a lot less.  And Noah...well, let's just say that his insistence to be "the man" and control the affair, as well as his Festival of Fuckery, yeah, he's not 'winning' in my book either. Sorry Sarah Treem, these two mental midgets aren't all that worth rooting for because they are not coming off as "good people", they are coming off as selfish fuckwits.

 

I also don't care for Treem's constant "clarification" of questions. If this woman had a shred of shrewdness she would keep her pie hole shut and allow theories of the show to propagate, thus creating more buzz and interest in said show. But no, we don't "get it" so she twats out her intention.  Sarah, STOP TWATTING and just go enjoy the fruits of your labor, mmkay? I don't need the show runner spoon feeding me on what the final lines WERE supposed to be, nor do I need her telling me that these two numnuts are indeed married in the future. Thanks for ruining my wonderment lady, duh.

Edited December 23, 2014 by gingerella

[Milburn Stone]

In line with you, gingerella, the thing that strikes me as so strange is that someone as brilliant as Sarah Treem--and there is no ambiguity in my mind about this, anyone who could create The Affair with its dual-perspective structure, and write it at such a high level, is brilliant--could also be so dumb as not to understand that overexplaining, and overdetermining the audience's reaction, is destructive of her own work. On the most basic level, revealing that she wanted the scene to end with "if anyone can, it's you" makes me respect her as a writer a lot less than I did. The scene as aired ended well. That line is dumber than a box of rocks. It's like, I don't know, a pilot flying you to your destination safely, and then announcing to the plane, "You know, I was considering flying into that mountain a couple of hundred miles back, but my copilot talked me out of it." Why would you do that?

Edited December 23, 2014 by Milburn Stone

[CleoCaesar]

I also don't care for Treem's constant "clarification" of questions. If this woman had a shred of shrewdness she would keep her pie hole shut and allow theories of the show to propagate, thus creating more buzz and interest in said show. But no, we don't "get it" so she twats out her intention.  Sarah, STOP TWATTING and just go enjoy the fruits of your labor, mmkay?

 

Sarah Treem might be suffering from Shonda Rhimes Disease. Symptoms include extreme arrogance, condescension to one's fans, thinking you know better even when it is clear you don't, dismissing even rational fan theories as childish nonsense, and generally being a haughty twat.

 

Other sufferers of SRD include Ryan Murphy, Matthew Weiner, Chuck Lorre, Lena Dunham, and other highly exasperating divas who are auteurs in their own minds.

[loki567]

Sarah Treem might be suffering from Shonda Rhimes Disease. Symptoms include extreme arrogance, condescension to one's fans, thinking you know better even when it is clear you don't, dismissing even rational fan theories as childish nonsense, and generally being a haughty twat.

 

Other sufferers of SRD include Ryan Murphy, Matthew Weiner, Chuck Lorre, Lena Dunham, and other highly exasperating divas who are auteurs in their own minds.

 

Woah, that's a lot to throw at somebody for answering a few Twitter questions.

[Milburn Stone]

Just so my particular POV is clear, I'm not ticked off by Treem's arrogance. I don't even call it arrogance. Whatever causes her to keep piping up doesn't make me dislike her in the slightest.

 

But it does diminish her own work. That's the part I can't figure. She works hard to create something of value and then sprays graffiti all over it. 

[Boundary]

But it does diminish her own work. That's the part I can't figure. She works hard to create something of value and then sprays graffiti all over it. 

 

It's Tweeter though, it'd be odd if she didn't have a presence. Not bad, but odd in this day and age. Besides, she gives series finale interviews just like every show runner out there, on Tweeter she just answers a few questions with one liners. Showtime wouldn't be happy if she didn't promote her product.

Edited December 23, 2014 by Boundary

[Chaos Theory]

Sarah Treem might be suffering from Shonda Rhimes Disease. Symptoms include extreme arrogance, condescension to one's fans, thinking you know better even when it is clear you don't, dismissing even rational fan theories as childish nonsense, and generally being a haughty twat.

Other sufferers of SRD include Ryan Murphy, Matthew Weiner, Chuck Lorre, Lena Dunham, and other highly exasperating divas who are auteurs in their own minds.

 

 

You might as well just include every show runner who doesn't answer your questions with a "You are right, and so much smarter then me.  We will do it your way."  We all have strong opinions on a show and tend to be overly critical.  And if one of these show runners says something we don't agree with we throw the show runner into the "bad writer" pile forever and ever.    I am not saying a lot of them don't come off like jerks sometimes; but we are criticizing something they worked hard on.  I'd be a little put off too.  

Edited December 23, 2014 by Chaos Theory

[Milburn Stone]

It's Tweeter though, it'd be odd if she didn't have a presence...Showtime wouldn't be happy if she didn't promote her product.

 

I don't tweet, so I'll rely on others for the answer to this, but wouldn't it be possible for her to have a Twitter account, and instead of using it to "explain" what her show is about, simply use it to respond to fans with a "thank you, I really appreciate your watching" kind of thing? Or possibly to tease something about an upcoming episode? Does tweeting necessarily mean explaining?

[Cirien]

Milburn Stone: yes it would be possible for her twitter to be one of acknowledgement and thank instead of trying to correct viewers reactions. It was interesting that in one tweet she inferred we don't like Noah because we don't like a man showing weakness. Whereas we as people would love to see a man show weakness on TV. See Joshua Jackson ' s scene on the sidewalk. The problem was Noah's weakness came across as selfishness, which coupled to his resistance to therapy made it seem like he was an infantile that rather than a man in emotional.pain

[Milburn Stone]

she was probably told (just like all the other writers) to offer some explanations and to open conversations with fans in order to get their reaction and some feedback.

i think treem has better things to do than to sit on twitter and explain shit to fans - but like i said, i think she was told to do that by the bosses.

 

It's plausible. Modern marketing is all about engaging your customers (barf), and simply saying thanks or promoting an upcoming episode is probably not considered an intense enough form of engagement by the Showtime brain trust. OK, I buy it.

[minimilah]

It's plausible. Modern marketing is all about engaging your customers (barf), and simply saying thanks or promoting an upcoming episode is probably not considered an intense enough form of engagement by the Showtime brain trust. OK, I buy it.

fans these days want it all, LOL. they want behind the scenes, they want the extra explanations, they want extra informations.

and writers do exactly that (treem, shonda rhimes, julie plec) = they open a dialogue with fans, offering some extra "inside" informations and making fans feel more connected to the show & to the story.

treem might seem a little aggressive with her explanations, like she is forcing her ideas on us, just like shonda... but i get it because these are THEIR characters. treem imagined noah as a good man who fell madly, passionately in love & dared to risk it all for the one who he loves... and i get why she's irked when people tweet their dislike of noah & describe him as an a**hole. but that's the beauty of it all - we all view things differently. i think we all see what we want to see, at the end of the day.

Edited December 24, 2014 by minimilah

[IMCranky]

... but i get it because these are THEIR characters. treem imagined noah as a good man who fell madly, passionately in love & dared to risk it all for the one who he loves... and i get why she's irked when people tweet their dislike of noah & describe him as an a**hole. but that's the beauty of it all - we all view things differently. i think we all see what we want to see, at the end of the day.

I do follow Sarah Treem on Twitter and I don't know that she's irked so much about some of the dislike of Noah as really intrigued by it. I did see a lengthy (I think it was like an hour long) interview with her where at one point she talked about realizing that they may not have done as great a job with the character development with Noah as they did with Alison (and where she and the interviewer got into this weird but interesting discussion about whether the way Dominic West is playing him contributes to that). I got the impression that she came to this realization because of what she was reading online, and talked about how they hoped to rectify it in the second season. Edited December 24, 2014 by IMCranky

[Cirien]

Thing is what Shonda and Sarah don't get (and it's telling they've been the ones writing about cheating spouces) is that once it's out there...you have to step back. Like Shonda's continued defense of Fitz possessiveness of Liv and his rape -y-ness towards her makes me wish shed just up

[Mayday]

I wonder if the writing deficits that crept into the later episodes are linked to the departure of Hagai Levi, half-way through the series. I can't help but think that he would have maintained a much tighter focus. Until I read this piece I hadn't realised that he had quit the show.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4607929,00.html

Edited December 26, 2014 by Mayday

[IMCranky]

Wow, that was an enlightening article. And it really explains the thing that's been niggling me about the show - that there does seem to have been a bit of a shift from the original intention. I remember when the show first started there were a lot of interviews and articles that talked about the psychologist/marriage counselor/therapist who really helped inform the writing, and also worked with some of the actors (although apparently Maura Tierney didn't really talk with her because she kind of didn't want to know stuff and bias her performance beforehand and would rather react to the scenes as they came up). But a lot was made about how this therapist's experience was that affairs aren't really about our partners or what's lacking in our relationships, but rather what's lacking in ourselves, and that, like Hagai Levi said, they really can happen to good marriages where there is love. I do think, and I know a lot of people will disagree, that they did try to show, at least in the very beginning episodes, that Noah and Helen did have a good marriage and there was love and friendship there. Not saying it was perfect and not saying that they didn't have problems, but as the series progressed it did seem to me that they had to make the marriage look worse and worse in order to try to justify the cheating. And I totally get what Hagai Levi was saying about The Graduate thing because based on what the psychologist was saying and what it looked like to me at the start, that's exactly where I had envisioned things heading - the grass is always greener, everything will be better and my life will fall into place if I just do this, type of thing only to realize that it's not better, it's the same because it wasn't that thing that needed to be changed in the first place. I had thought that where it was supposed to go was to show us that the tragedy of Noah and Alison was not the need to escape their marriages, but the futility of trying to escape themselves.

Edited December 26, 2014 by IMCranky

[Boundary]

I don't know what to make of that article. On one hand he seems, IMCranky is saying, to be pointing to the fact that the show changed focus, I presume to make it palatable, to make it more user friendly, which is why they had to deteriorate the marriages. On the other hand, I really don't see a change in the overall projectile from 1st episode to 10. What I took out was that Levi wanted to focus on the two leads, and their story but we know the universe is expanding next season, with Helen, Cole and maybe even Whitney getting POVs. That would obviously remove the intimacy, the psychology and the focus Levi wanted. So my ultimate takeaway is that he left not so much because of the change this season as the next and subsequent seasons.

Edited December 26, 2014 by Boundary

[scrb]

How did they make it more commercial than his vision?

 

He said it his version would have concentrated on the "heroes" all the time.

 

The way Showtime promoted this show was to show the couple all the time, make it seem like they couldn't be away from each other.

 

Maybe the investigation wouldn't have been a big part but it sounds like he wanted that device too.

[IMCranky]

I totally get what you're saying Boundary about expanding the points of view -- whether it was going to happen was always the number one question asked of everyone associated with the show from the beginning and the answers usually seemed to be either hedging or emphasizing how it wouldn't happen this season.  But the one response that struck me was Maura Tierney saying that she didn't think it was going to happen because she wasn't sure they'd want to "fracture the narrative" like that, so I can see where that happening against his original intent could be a deal breaker for Levi.  What stuck out to me was him saying how he recognized the show getting away from being "art", and going into how the other show he and Sarah Treem did, In Treatment (which was an excellent show), was never intended to appeal to everyone, which was why I thought that making the affair within The Affair more "palatable" or "user friendly" would be something he'd find objectionable.  The other thing that I was reacting to, and I'm sure I could be totally misinterpreting it, was him talking about always having the scene from the end of The Graduate in mind and within the show "when everything is over" how you're left in the same place -- I thought it interesting because it's not often that you see a show creator talking about what sounds like the envisioning of the ending unless that vision changed somewhere along the way.  

Edited December 26, 2014 by IMCranky

[Boundary]

... unless that vision changed somewhere along the way.  

 

Yeah, is he giving away the ending, or at least the original one? Does that mean they've changed where Alison and Noah are going? It seems like a strategic thing to just give away. 

I've not watched In Treatment, are there any elements that are in common with The Affair and have since changed/disappeared? 

[gingerella]

I find it rather unbelievable that these show runners have ever done anything else commercially successful (I know they have) because they come across as such neophytes in the world of TV. Maybe they need to investigate a little TV show called The Sopranos, which never ever explained or spoon fed its viewers anything, and let's be honest, there were some really funky, out there episodes.  Even the epic finale of this hugely popular series is still being talked about today because the creator(s) didn't spoon feed us a happy or unhappy ending. It was so ambiguous that who knows what the last scene of the Sopranos series finale actually was saying or revealing.  To me that's "must see TV!"  Not some twit who twats away plot points we're all talking about over Twatter. Treem seems to have zero understanding of when to shut the fuck up. She's like one of those annoying Survivors at Tribal Council who Jeff gets talking and they spill all their alliance secrets out there in the open.  SMDH.

[scrb]

You can take or leave what the show runners say.  I didn't read Treem's tweets.  Never read or listened to all the stuff the Lost show runners used to talk about either.

 

I did listen a bit to Vince Gilligan in the podcasts they did and also whenever Matt Weiner gave interviews on Fresh Air.

 

I could have read and listened more, since they're doing a lot of interviews, but getting more ancillary info. doesn't add or detract that much from being able to enjoy the shows.

 

I remember Chase expressing annoyance at how people idolized Tony Soprano and the crew so he went to some pains to underline the fact that these characters were horrible people.  But that really didn't stop most fans from wanting more killings on the show and hating that Chase spent so much time on the interpersonal and emotional aspects of the show rather than the mob action.

 

There will always be tension or gaps between what the show runners want to convey and what viewers make of the shows, regardless of whether the show runners try to communicate the meaning directly or not.

[minimilah]

I remember when the show first started there were a lot of interviews and articles that talked about the psychologist/marriage counselor/therapist who really helped inform the writing, and also worked with some of the actors (although apparently Maura Tierney didn't really talk with her because she kind of didn't want to know stuff and bias her performance beforehand and would rather react to the scenes as they came up). But a lot was made about how this therapist's experience was that affairs aren't really about our partners or what's lacking in our relationships, but rather what's lacking in ourselves, and that, like Hagai Levi said, they really can happen to good marriages where there is love.

when reading Levi's interviews - i thought this, too. but when reading Treem's interviews - i thought we were getting this epic love story that happened to two good people in happy marriages.

& honestly... i'm glad they made those marriages look worse over time because i don't believe that affairs can happen in GOOD marriages. what i did learn tho - everyone has their own definition of a GOOD marriage. i work with married couples in counseling & in my experience - when the affair starts happening (all those lies & hiding), the respect is gone. and there is no love without respect. so this is a storyline that's (in my opinion) more realistic than the story about happy marriages who got ruined by the 3rd person.

BUT i will add - i do agree with the part about the grass always looking greener on the other side & then (when you enter a full relationship with your affair partner) - you find out it's really the same because you didn't change what you really needed to. so, from my experience, affair partners very rarely last in a real relationship, hence my surprise at noah and alison being happily married for quite some time. i don't think a happy ending was what was Levi aiming for but Treem did.

Edited December 26, 2014 by minimilah

[Bcharmer]

The Affair in The New Yorker daily cartoon.

 

http://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/daily-cartoon/daily-cartoon-friday-december-26th

[IMCranky]

 i don't think a happy ending was what was Levi aiming for but Treem did.

 

I wonder if it was so much Sarah Treem's idea as Showtime's.  (Spoilers follow for the run of Homeland, if you've never seen the show). This is the same network that supposedly forced the showrunners of Homeland to completely change the original intent of the series midstream by not killing Brody at the end of the first season - because of the popularity of, chemistry between, and accolades given to the two leads, and the network's apparent desire to create an epic love story, which seems similar to what may be going on here.  In Homeland's case, it pretty much lead to a more convoluted story and implausible plotlines to try to make it work.  The show to me didn't seem to course correct until they finally did what had been intended all along - to get rid of Brody.  Don't know if that is actually what is going on with The Affair, but it sounds like the network's interference may be what Levi is alluding to in the article.

[blixie]

Hmm I actually did think Levi's problem was with the murder hook playing a larger part in the show than he originally intended. I'd guess the drug stuff might also have been a consequence of that, those are the most melodramatic aspects of the story. I'm also not sure I really think the idea that affairs are more about you than your partner is that much of a thunderbolt, no fucking kidding, therefore changing your partner isn't going to "fix" anything and will most likely doom this next thing you stepped into. 

 

At the least though he doesn't seem to be saying cheating is "self-actualization" which is some bullshit that Treem is selling. Like no, nooooope, pretty sure Maslow is rolling in his grave at that one.

[Boundary]

Congratulations to Ruth Wilson for a well deserved Golden Globe for Best Actress, wow. I did think she was the strongest in that field. More astonishingly, big congratulations to Sarah Treem & Crew for winning the Best Drama award. Way to enter with a bang!! 

Edited January 12, 2015 by Boundary

[truthaboutluv]

As I mentioned in the Golden Globes thread, as much as I hate Alison and Noah as characters, I am genuinely happy for the show because I think the cast especially did amazing work (although I was probably least impressed with Dominic which is why I would have been much happier with a nomination for Maura or Josh instead of him) and the while the writing is definitely flawed, there were some really interesting things the creators achieved this season.

 

Ruth Wilson also completely deserved her win. Sure I think Alison is quite possibly the most exhausting character with her "woe is me" demeanor and Ruth even mentioned her being the most depressed person ever in her speech, but she really had some of the most powerful scenes throughout the season. So good on them. Diane Kruger's (Joshua Jackson's girlfriend) genuine excitement and joy over the show's win was really adorable. 

 

eta: This is my first time in this thread so it's my first time reading the Slate article posted above. I think I need to bookmark this article. The author's opinion of Noah was like someone with far better writing skills came into my head and succinctly put down every single thing I've thought of the character. 

[Misty79]

Congratulations to Ruth and the show-runners for the awards. I think they were both very well deserved. 

 

The show's not perfect, but there were times when the writing and the acting took me to places I haven't really been to before with a television show. Alison's scene with her doctor is the obvious stand out to me, but I also very much liked her "what do you see when you look at me" scene early in the series after she's confessed her son's death to Noah and they finally "see" each other for the first time as real people rather than cardboard cutouts that allow them to escape their unhappy marriages. 

 

In those moments the show was simply beautiful. It sounds pretentious to say, but it was art. Those moments allowed me to forgive a lot of the pulpy nonsense around it. I'll tolerate plenty for more of those sorts of scenes. 

[IMCranky]

Interesting article about how the show needs to go to a third season and how "dark" season 2 will be ... 

 

http://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/news/a25425/sarah-treem-the-affair-golden-globes-interview/

[Skyline]

The Affair' Season 2 Spoilers: Showtime President Says Show Has 'Very Clear Four Season Arc' PLUS Catch Reruns On Friday Nights

 

 

 

David Nevins, President of Showtime Entertainment, revealed at the TCA panel that the series has a "very clear four season arc," leaving plenty of room for more sex fueled drama.

Nevins also revealed that, after winning at the 2015 Golden Globes, Showtime will attempt to draw in an even larger audience by airing reruns of "The Affair" on Friday nights.

 

Additionally, Nevins put down any notion of the series as an anthology. "It was always designed to be a relationship show," Nevins explained. He went on to say that the show's future seasons would see a deeper development of the characters. "The relationship between Noah and Alison is just beginning. We're only nine months into that relationship."

 

http://www.fashionnstyle.com/articles/56417/20150412/the-affair-season-2-spoilers-showtime-president-says-show-has-very-clear-four-season-arc-plus-catch-reruns-on-friday-nights.htm

Edited April 20, 2015 by Skyline

[Boundary]

Four seasons! Sarah Treem has previously been mentioning 3 seasons as her ideal. I suppose the network wants to take advantage of the award buzz. It sounds like Nevins has already semi officially committed. Risky. I'm happy though.

[ShellSeeker]

Just read that Jennifer Esposito will be part of S2. Not a fan of hers at all.

[Skyline]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/golden-globe-winner-ruth-wilson-on-second-season-of-the-affair-and-views-on-marriage/