S01.E06: 6

[shelley1234]

Well, that escalated quickly. 

 

That was my response.  The slow roll of the show went into warp speed in the last episode.  I knew that the Lockharts were moving drugs and that Cole was involved as soon as Alison brought the cooler to the taxi stand in the early episodes and chastised whoever she gave it to saying "Cole wants that door left shut."  Drugs and Cole is in charge.  She isn't a hapless victim in it all though...she's just as involved since she picks it up each and everyday.  

 

Since we now know that Scotty is the guy who is dead.....I'll buy that Whitney or Martin did it.  Either Whitney is a lover spat gone wrong or Martin finds out what the Lockharts are going and since he seems to always do the wrong thing at the wrong time, it goes sideways.  I could see Noah and Alison being willing to cover it up if it was one of his kids.  

[Texasmom1970]

One of the many things that bugged me in this episode was the conversation between Noah and Helen when she confronts him about being distant. Its the way she blatantly asks why he doesnt want to fuck her anymore and the follows up with so I am still a good lay?

Maybe that is the way they always speak to each other. It just didn't ring true to me. I have been married about the same time they are supposed to be and have the same number of kids. I am not a prude and I do cuss, but it just seemed weird she just wouldn't say sex, or ask if he still loved her. I don't know it came off as crude and crass seemed out of character, maybe just my interpretation.

[scrb]

Ridiculous premise.

 

Ranch can't make money so they smuggle drugs from where, NYC?  

 

If the ranch is a money loser, what kind of life is Cole trying to preserve?  The land is valuable, as it would probably be sold to build mansions for some billionaires.

 

Cole is high and mighty about keeping the small town pristine so he opposed the bowling alley but he's got to deal coke to the tourists whom he hates for ruining the town.

 

So this enterprise is what adds the edge to the affair and probably the death for which Noah and Allison are being interrogated.

[Higgs]

If the ranch is a money loser, what kind of life is Cole trying to preserve? The land is valuable, as it would probably be sold to build mansions for some billionaires.

Cole is high and mighty about keeping the small town pristine so he opposed the bowling alley but he's got to deal coke to the tourists whom he hates for ruining the town.

Cole doesn't hate the tourists, as they are by far the main patrons of the ranch.

Cole's attitude regarding the preservation of the family's heritage as embodied in their land is very similar to that of George Clooney's patriarchal Hawaiian character in the movie "The Descendents", who also resisted an enormous buyout offer that virtually everyone else in his large extended family lusted after. Both dramas address not a stubborn resistance to change, but to the commodification of spiritual and aesthetic values. In "The Affair", the drug-dealing is a morally-compromised means to an arguably justified end, as is the adultery. There is complexity and depth here that may not be fully apparent on first viewing.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Higgs

[JudyObscure]

One of the many things that bugged me in this episode was the conversation between Noah and Helen when she confronts him about being distant. Its the way she blatantly asks why he doesn't want to fuck her anymore and the follows up with so I am still a good lay?

 

I know. Doesn't anyone say, "make love," anymore?  Helen's characterization, even to the casting of the actress, is hard for me to get.  Noah talks about falling in love with her, Max wonders how Noah managed to get such a wonderful, beautiful woman, but I haven't seen any examples of any of this.  When have we seen any gentleness, talent, encouragement, generosity, humor or charm from her?  We've seen her freeze when her daughter was choking, side with her parents against Noah, show bits of snobbishness, lose track of her son, defend her daughter's bullying, get a little bossy about bagels, and apparently not do much but spend her time on light chores and drinking tea with her mother.  I think cheating is always wrong and I want to be on her side but the show hasn't given me a single reason to see her in a good light.

[Constantinople]

Cole is high and mighty about keeping the small town pristine so he opposed the bowling alley but he's got to deal coke to the tourists whom he hates for ruining the town.

I also don't believe in drugs.

For years I paid my people extra so they wouldn't do that kind of business. Somebody comes to them and says, "I have powders; if you put up three, four thousand dollar investment - we can make fifty thousand distributing." So they can't resist. I want to control it as a business, to keep it respectable.

I don't want it near schools! I don't want it sold to children! That's an infamia.

In my town, we would keep the traffic in the summer people. They're animals anyway, so let them lose their souls.

[NoReally]

 

n my town, we would keep the traffic in the summer people. They're animals anyway, so let them lose their souls.

 

Beautiful!  LOL

[Pallas]

In my town, we would keep the traffic in the summer people. They're animals anyway, so let them lose their souls.

 

Wasn't it Cole Lockhart's son who got blown away at a Long Island tollbooth?  Or was that his brother?  

[HumblePi]

For any of you that have gotten just a little obsessed about The Affair and have wondered 'what did he say?" "who was he talking about?", I have a little present. It's the transcripts from each episode. After reading the transcripts from the last few episodes, I've drawn some very different conclusions and I think you might too.

 

http://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewforum.php?f=56

[RimaTheBirdGirl]

Helen.  Judy Obscure writes:

 

 

When have we seen any gentleness, talent, encouragement, generosity, humor or charm from her?  We've seen her freeze when her daughter was choking, side with her parents against Noah, show bits of snobbishness, lose track of her son, defend her daughter's bullying, get a little bossy about bagels, and apparently not do much but spend her time on light chores and drinking tea with her mother.

 

It's odd, I see the show angling for a fairly-polar opposite reaction to Helen.  Principally in the casting of Maura Tierney -- who is just smitingly likeable.  And who radiates affable self-deprecation with every pore.  Except in Alison's memories.  (Ew, that Butler party scene.)

 

My impression is that the show initially establishes Helen as unfailingly supportive to Noah -- she's beaming at him in Alison's first memory of seeing the family.  She's fond in the face of Noah's early rejections -- (Noah says "I'm bored," she answers "I'll try not to take that personally."  She's off to find a pool boy who will shower with her.)  Helen's radiantly charming in all those scenes.  She's serenely cheerful when packing up 4 children for the summer (that won my admiration).  

 

And she slaps her mother down for "picking a fight" with Noah.  With a deftness that suggests she's done this before.

 

The change in Helen's kindness and connection to her husband all occurs around her daughter's cyber bullying.  Which also occurs after the affair is launched.  I dunno, maybe that memory of Helen's abrupt callousness is not entirely reliable.  Or maybe she's just ruthless in protecting her child.  

 

And yeah, recent episodes have shown a class snobbery that is chilling ('You could do better" to Coke-y Friend Max, about Alison).  But maybe that was simply a swipe at a rival, at a stage when Helen knows and doesn't know about her husband's affair -- just as she described her mother's knowledge in the same situation.   (Remember, Helen asked about Alison "Was she flirting with you," at the Butler party.) 

 

I guess I just want everyone to like Helen.   She's not perfect.  But I think the engine of this story purrs better if she's likeable.

[JudyObscure]

   But I think the engine of this story purrs better if she's likeable.

I definitely agree with you there.  I want to like her and I do see some of the qualities you've mentioned, but even the self-deprecation, which I tend to really like in people, always has a tiny dagger in it.  "I'll try to not take that personally," does make it personal and the pool boy comment, while cute, lets him know she feels slightly rejected.  In the same situation I probably would have said something more face saving for both of us like, "Yeah, I didn't sleep that well either." Everything about her is grating to me now and I wanted to be a hundred percent on her side. 

 

If it's obviously Allison's prejudice showing, like her remark that Helen has it easy because she's rich -- then that's just a mark against Allison, who can really sound stupid, nursing degree or not. 

[Higgs]

The initially positive depictions of Helen came from Noah's perspective, yet the very first sequence of the show had him trying to pick up a young woman. What we have here is a solid-appearing marriage on the surface, as can easily deceive even a close friend like Max, but with an undercurrent of mutual dissatisfaction known only to the couple. Simply put, they made it work with great effort, but they each knew they had married the wrong person. Alison has nothing to do with any of that, and having met the Butlers and seen Whitney and Martin in action, I believe Noah had for some time wanted to establish, at the very least, a parallel life that allowed for the occasional escape without which he (self-servingly?) told himself he could not continue to "make it work".

[RimaTheBirdGirl]

OK, can some helpful obsessive settle the First Episode question: was Noah pulling OFF his ring, or innocently replacing it after swimming, in that first episode?  

 

Younger Flirty Swimsuit Girl fled screaming when she spied that ring.  But I thought that Noah was honorably putting it ON when she came flouncing down next to him, after the swim.  

 

Many posters think he was yanking it OFF - to facilitate hijinx.  Which was it?

[Higgs]

OK, can some helpful obsessive settle the First Episode question: was Noah pulling OFF his ring, or innocently replacing it after swimming, in that first episode?

Younger Flirty Swimsuit Girl fled screaming when she spied that ring. But I thought that Noah was honorably putting it ON when she came flouncing down next to him, after the swim.

Many posters think he was yanking it OFF - to facilitate hijinx. Which was it?

Why was Noah sitting outside the swimming pool instead of just going straight home? Was he so, so tired after so many laps that he couldn't take another step without collapsing? Or might he have been waiting for, oh I don't know, the YFSG? Did the director have the camera focus so directly on an innocent, meaningless action just to screw with us? How much time elapsed, in milliseconds, between his first noticing Alison and considering ways to eventually pick her up? Edited November 19, 2014 by Higgs

[jrlr]

Why was Noah sitting outside the swimming pool instead of just going straight home? Was he so, so tired after so many laps that he couldn't take another step without collapsing? Or might he have been waiting for, oh I don't know, the YFSG? Did the director have the camera focus so directly on an innocent, meaningless action just to screw with us? How much time elapsed, in milliseconds, between his first noticing Alison and considering ways to eventually pick her up?

It was the moment during the ordering-food process.  Alison put her hand on his shoulder and said "Welcome to the end of the world."  Now that's not portentous, is it?

[Bcharmer]

 

OK, can some helpful obsessive settle the First Episode question: was Noah pulling OFF his ring, or innocently replacing it after swimming, in that first episode?

 

He was putting it on. Definitely.

[stillshimpy]

OK, can some helpful obsessive settle the First Episode question: was Noah pulling OFF his ring, or innocently replacing it after swimming, in that first episode?

 

 

He was putting it back on after swimming.  A lot of people remove their jewelry for swimming laps.  I take off my wedding ring too because the chlorine isn't particularly good for it and I'm swimming in my home pool, with my husband :-)  

 

The girl who had been flirting with him when he rinsed off at the poolside shower (which is there to help get chlorine off of your skin, because it's pretty drying and public pools have very high levels of chlorine) didn't see the ring until she saw him putting it on again outside.  At which point she said, "I'm sorry!" (because she hadn't realized he was married)

Edited November 19, 2014 by stillshimpy

[Higgs]

I just found the pilot episode on On Demand. Noah was clearly not wearing the ring while swimming, and was fishing it out of his bag outside, so I WAS WRONG. He produced an "I still got it grin" after she left, but that was all.

Alison bends over the kitchen counter to get the family's drinks.

Immediate voiceovers:

The detective: Do you remember the first time you saw her?

Noah: "Like it was yesterday."

D: "What do you remember?"

N: "I remember her face, asshole. What do you want me to remember?"

Noah stares hard at her miniskirted ass and legs, then after the choking incident, goes to find Martin and sees Alison coming out of the bathroom, obviously having just been crying. Noah believes it must have been because of her reaction to the danger his daughter had faced. She is not wearing a wedding ring. Names are exchanged, right hands are warmly shaked with her left hand on top of his.

But that's his story, In Alison's, there is no hand on shoulder, no "end of the world", no left hand on handshake, and a bright and shiny wedding band on the fourth finger of her left hand. But there is his eye contact and warm smile. And there are her voiceovers as she looks at the Solloways having just come in:

The detective:"Do you remember seeing him for the first time?"

A:"Yeh."

D:"Do you remember what you thought?"

A:"No, but I remember he was holding his daughter."

I come away from multiple FFs and RWs imagining that they each thought they saw in the other's behavior and expressions at least the potential for a supportive emotional relationship that was sorely lacking in their lives.

Edited November 20, 2014 by Higgs

[izabella]

Thank goodness someone figured out about the affair with the quickness. Too bad he had to be such an asshole to Alison in response. Then again, I should have expected that kind of reaction from Oscar, considering how he's always harassing her.

 

I am not surprised Oscar figured it out.  They haven't been all that careful. 

 

I thought Noah's little girl might spill the beans when Noah took her to the bathroom, went into the one next to hers, and then Alison went in after him.  When Noah opened the door to his daughter and walked out, Alison was hidden behind the door, but I could see Alison's reflection in the mirror.  I was sure the little girl could see her, too, and was expecting her to say something back at the table, like, daddy, why was the waitress in your bathroom?   No, they haven't been careful at all.

[Cirien]

I know. Doesn't anyone say, "make love," anymore?  Helen's characterization, even to the casting of the actress, is hard for me to get.  Noah talks about falling in love with her, Max wonders how Noah managed to get such a wonderful, beautiful woman, but I haven't seen any examples of any of this.  When have we seen any gentleness, talent, encouragement, generosity, humor or charm from her?  We've seen her freeze when her daughter was choking, side with her parents against Noah, show bits of snobbishness, lose track of her son, defend her daughter's bullying, get a little bossy about bagels, and apparently not do much but spend her time on light chores and drinking tea with her mother.  I think cheating is always wrong and I want to be on her side but the show hasn't given me a single reason to see her in a good light.

Have we seen her from the perspective of someone who isn't a)  cheating on her or b) sleeping with her husband though? Because yeah those two people aren't going to see her favourably? Not arguing but Alison really pissed me with the comments about Helen's Wealth, and Noah's insecurities about his station within the family are going to colour his readings of things while I'd assume that his FIL is snob I'd wonder if that passed on his daughter that much

[myname2use4now]

It was the moment during the ordering-food process.  Alison put her hand on his shoulder and said "Welcome to the end of the world."  Now that's not portentous, is it?

It's funny, because when I first heard that, I thought it was a clever  play on one of Montauk's nick names ("the end"). But then after about two seconds of thinking about it, I thought it was a bit heavy handed by the writers. But that line did stick with me so maybe that's mission accomplished.

 

One question - Is the FIL's house in Montauk? It seems to me that a house like that would be in the Hamptons, but I'm not sure.

[Cirien]

 

If it's obviously Allison's prejudice showing, like her remark that Helen has it easy because she's rich -- then that's just a mark against Allison, who can really sound stupid, nursing degree or not. 

That remark also came right after her critising Helen for not noticing her son was out all night, with her Mother In law pointing out Helen has four children. While I hope that it was accidental that remark must have stung a bit

[Blakeston]

My impression is that the show initially establishes Helen as unfailingly supportive to Noah -- she's beaming at him in Alison's first memory of seeing the family.  She's fond in the face of Noah's early rejections -- (Noah says "I'm bored," she answers "I'll try not to take that personally."  She's off to find a pool boy who will shower with her.)  Helen's radiantly charming in all those scenes.  She's serenely cheerful when packing up 4 children for the summer (that won my admiration).  

 

And she slaps her mother down for "picking a fight" with Noah.  With a deftness that suggests she's done this before.

 

The change in Helen's kindness and connection to her husband all occurs around her daughter's cyber bullying.  Which also occurs after the affair is launched.  I dunno, maybe that memory of Helen's abrupt callousness is not entirely reliable.  Or maybe she's just ruthless in protecting her child.  

 

And yeah, recent episodes have shown a class snobbery that is chilling ('You could do better" to Coke-y Friend Max, about Alison).  But maybe that was simply a swipe at a rival, at a stage when Helen knows and doesn't know about her husband's affair -- just as she described her mother's knowledge in the same situation.   (Remember, Helen asked about Alison "Was she flirting with you," at the Butler party.) 

 

I guess I just want everyone to like Helen.   She's not perfect.  But I think the engine of this story purrs better if she's likeable.

 

I love Maura Tierney, but from what we've see of Helen (which of course isn't necessarily reliable), I haven't found her to be likable at all. Not even in the early episodes.

 

In the first episode, she told Noah that it didn't matter that he didn't leave a tip for the waitress.

 

And with all of the horrible behavior we've seen from her parents, she's going to have to do more about their evil manipulations than say "Stop trying to pick a fight with my husband" to endear herself to me.

 

I didn't see her awful reaction to the bullying - followed by her suggesting in this episode that they let Whitney have a phone again! - as being all that different from what we saw before.

Edited November 20, 2014 by Blakeston

[EyesGlazed]

One of the many things that bugged me in this episode was the conversation between Noah and Helen when she confronts him about being distant. Its the way she blatantly asks why he doesnt want to fuck her anymore and the follows up with so I am still a good lay?

Maybe that is the way they always speak to each other. It just didn't ring true to me. I have been married about the same time they are supposed to be and have the same number of kids. I am not a prude and I do cuss, but it just seemed weird she just wouldn't say sex, or ask if he still loved her. I don't know it came off as crude and crass seemed out of character, maybe just my interpretation.

I agree.  I think the reason is that the show is trying to establish that Noah isn't cheating because his wife doesn't like sex, or doesn't like sex with him.  So the show has Helen talking about "f--king" instead of making love and joking about being a good lay, because that's supposed to show that she's earthy, sexy, uninhibited, etc.  It's kind of a juvenile way to make the point, imo.  The ability to use four-letter words isn't shorthand for "great sexual and emotional relationship."  But it's very typical for cable TV.  

 

I did not see the breakup coming!  I thought it was going to happen much later.  I'm quite interested to see how the therapy with the sociopath kids goes and what gets revealed.  

 

So far I'm more pro-Noah than not.  Yes, he's cheating on his wife.  But it seems that he's a decent guy, and a teacher no less, surrounded by entitled, condescending, materialistic, disrespectful family members.  Having an affair is probably not the answer, but changing his life probably is.

 

[Constantinople]

Until I get some scenes from Helen's perspective, and not just Noah or Alison's, I will try to refrain from making harsh judgments about her.

 

Even in Noah's perspective he doesn't look too good.

 

Noah got angry at his younger son, Trevor?, because Trevor wanted to go running with him when Noah wanted some "alone time", Noahspeak for going to fuck Alison.

 

Of course Noah has some kind of anger issue, having gotten angry with just about every other character in series.  Perhaps some could be written of as a reaction to so-and-so being an asshole -- although it's important to emphasize that we're only seeing this from Noah's perspective -- but when you get pissed off at your son who's just a kid because his desire to spend time with you might interfere with your affair, you've got issues.  It makes me wonder why Noah is so hostile to the idea of having Whitney see a therapist.

 

Which parent went to play mini-golf with the kids?  Hint: Not Noah.

 

Which parent was excited when Martin expressed an interest in something.  Hint: Not Noah.

 

Which parent followed-up with the younger daughter, Stacey?, when she expressed an interest in "Horsies".  Hint: Not Noah

 

Which parent has all kinds of time to conduct "research" for his "book"?  Hint: Not Helen. ("researching his book" is also Noahspeak).

 

Helen's reactions, as related by Noah, to their kids' behavior may not always be ideal, but at least Helen keeps Noah informed about what she knows about what they're doing.  Noah doesn't reciprocate; he's kept Helen in the dark about Martin's faked suicide.

 

Given how Noah behaves towards his wife and children in own version of events, perhaps, just perhaps, Noah can climb down off that cross.

 

As for Alison, aside from being a drug dealing thief with a rather large chip on her shoulder, she's awfully judgmental about Helen's parenting considering the mortality rates of their respective children.

[Milburn Stone]

I am not surprised Oscar figured [the affair out].

 

I am surprised, however, by the adeptness with which the show arranged for him to figure it out. All along I've been expecting (as I'll wager most of the audience has) that the affair would get outed when someone saw them doing something they shouldn't be doing. Instead, it required a bit of deductive reasoning. "Noah was the only one who saw me make the phone call, but Alison knows I made the phone call, ipso facto Noah and Alison have a closer relationship than anyone has thought and Noah cared enough about her to warn her. Bingo!" I appreciated the show's cleverness in bringing us to this point without resorting to the obvious in flagrante delicto method.

Edited November 20, 2014 by Milburn Stone

[taragel]

 

I guess I just want everyone to like Helen.   She's not perfect.  But I think the engine of this story purrs better if she's likeable.

 

I feel this way about Cole too. It's too cheap and easy to make the spouses terrible to justify the cheating. I keep wondering if the show's creators really believe this is a "soulmates" kind of thing for Alison and Noah. What we've seen so far doesn't bear that out to my thinking but Sarah Treem tweeted the other day (randomly I think--not in response to a question necessarily) "In terms of Helen and Cole, keep in mind, they're someone else's memory.  You like them, but you may not be seeing all of them." Which makes it seem like we're meant to like them because they're filtered through Noah and Alison's memories...yet those memories are getting harsher and harsher. 

 

Right now the marriages seem way more interesting than the Affair to me. 

[Bcharmer]

 

"Noah was the only one who saw me make the phone call, but Alison knows I made the phone call, ipso facto Noah and Alison have a closer relationship than anyone has thought and Noah cared enough about her to warn her. Bingo!"

 

This would be great (and less contrived), if that phone call had been real (and if Noah had accidentally overheard what would have been a private conversation between Oscar and the cops), and not staged for Noah's benefit. What purpose did Oscar have in faking a call to the cops, if not to trap Noah into warning Alison about it?  So, it was less of a "Bingo!" moment for me (that required some thinking on his part), and more of a "Aha... just as I suspected!" kind of moment. Either way, it really was pretty slick.

Edited November 20, 2014 by Bcharmer

[blixie]

 

"Noah was the only one who saw me make the phone call, but Alison knows I made the phone call, ipso facto Noah and Alison have a closer relationship than anyone has thought and Noah cared enough about her to warn her. Bingo!

 

But I think he basically already knew though, or at least strongly suspected before this episode, throughout his life I'm sure he's seen this happen with a lot of townie girls and the rich pricks who come into town.  He'd seen enough of Noah at the Lobster Roll stealing looks at Allison to know he at least was sweating her. Plus he overheard Helen busting him about the Ditch Plains incident,  and he knows Allison watches Phoebe's house which is out by Ditch Plains. I think for however obnoxious Oscar is, it doesn't mean he's stupid.

 

Re: Helen/Cole I've wondered how hard it was for Josh/Maura to "locate" their characters given that they are only seen through the POV of their cheating spouses. Are they being directed to play things purely on the page as Noah/Allison perceive them to be, or are they allowed to give it some layers. I think it's more the latter, because I still like Helen and Cole a lot despite the unflattering moments in both narratives. Helen was at worst when she talked shit about Allison's dress at the party, and when she enabled her parents handling of Whitney, but those moments almost always seem like they are about Noah's desire to justify his cheating, my wife is great, but sometimes she's an elitist bitch who has given her parents too much of a role in our household.

Edited November 20, 2014 by blixie

[izabella]

But I think he basically already knew though, or at least strongly suspected before this episode, throughout his life I'm sure he's seen this happen with a lot of townie girls and the rich pricks who come into town.  He'd seen enough of Noah at the Lobster Roll stealing looks at Allison to know he at least was sweating her. Plus he overheard Helen busting him about the Ditch Plains incident,  and he knows Allison watches Phoebe's house which is out by Ditch Plains. I think for however obnoxious Oscar is, it doesn't mean he's stupid.

 

I agree that Oscar already suspected an affair between them, or had enough information to believe something was going on between them. 

 

I wonder if he will spill the beans at some point, or just choose to blackmail Alison now that he knows.

[Boundary]

 So, it was less of a "Bingo!" moment for me (that required some thinking on his part), and more of a "Aha... just as I suspected!" kind of moment. Either way, it really was pretty slick.

 

That's true, it was more of a "aha" moment because Oscar figured it out last episode last week. That was when he saw Noah with the breakdown in the vicinity of Phoebe's house and far away from the Butlers' residence; he then asked Alison (it was her pov, so she didn't think much of it) if she's still house-sitting for Phoebe. That was the "bingo" moment. The first hint of suspicion, though, came from an even earlier episode at the firestation town meeting, when Noah flat out denied that he was there looking for Alison.

 

I think the reason why Helen and Cole were cast so brilliantly is because the actors have to change everything, not just clothes, depending on whose pov we are seeing. It is such an involved mental process, I think, for Maura and Joshua even though their scenes tend to be limited so far. So when Helen disses Alison, because of Maura's demeanour, it is actually not a bitchy mean girl's remark. It is that Alison is so removed from Helen's world that she doesn't even think twice about how mean it sound to Alison's friend (or even us the viewers). It is such a dismissive attitude that is worse than intentionally bitching about someone. Simultaneously, Helen could be "excused" in a way because showing unearned kindness to strangers is not the way she was raised. She's not like Whitney, whose own father force-marches her to make an apology to someone else she's hurt.

Edited November 20, 2014 by Boundary

[HumblePi]

Does anyone have a theory about why Helen doesn't already know Cole, Oscar or Alison since she grew up in Montaug? Helen's father Bruce was born into wealth as a result of his ancestors bootlegging and smuggling during the 30's. Helen grew up there so it would make sense that she'd know all these people.

 

I notice that there is some focus given to the one-way mirror on the back wall of the interrogation room and a couple of times the camera lingered on it at the end of a scene. There must be someone in there watching the interviews. Any ideas about this?

 

A couple of other things. Alison was a pediatric nurse until her son drowned.  She and Cole live in her grandparents old house. Alison is angry about her son's death, angry at who? She likes to go to the lighthouse because the waves are angrier than she is. She's angry with someone that is responsible for Gabriele's death. There's a fishing lure draped over the top of his tombstone. Could it have been Cole with Gabriel teaching him how to fish when he drowned? Is this why Alison is so angry?

 

Something else that I noticed watching the first episodes again that don't mean anything but I thought was interesting. While having sex with Cole in their bed, Alison reaches to his butt and her finger aims to his ****** at which point he suddenly climaxes. Am I reading too much into this?

 

In Noah's version after the town meeting, when Oscar and Alison are on the beach again and he asks "I can't stop thinking about you, I can't sleep, what am I going to do" and she says "you could just fuck me and get it out of your system" he resists and says "no, stop it just stop" and says "you can't rush me, we have to do this at my speed, I want to be in charge" then sits her on his lap and his hands disappear, he wasn't using his penis he was using fingers. The first thing he does when he gets back to the house is wash up his hands before doing anything.

 

Going back to the surfer bonfire party in the first episode, Cole is cozying up on a blanket next to a pretty blonde, 'Jace'. He gets driven home by Jace and as she leaves, Jace says 'see you tomorrow' to Cole. Alison tells Cole "you can fuck her, just don't do it in front of me". Have they had an open marriage all this time?

 

There's no love loss between Oscar (the grouch) and the Lockharts but was invited to the wedding so that's a puzzle even though Alison says 'we're like family and show up when it really counts. Why would a wedding count enough to invite Oscar?

 

Back to Noah. In the first episode when he shows up to give his statement and the detective asks "what do you remember" regarding Alison, Noah replies quickly "I remember her face asshole".  Who in their right mind would call a police 'asshole' ?

Other miscellaneous rambling thoughts....

Cole looked all gray and ashen in the last episode as though he was on drugs.

Noah lies to the detective says "she was bad news and I went out of my way to avoid her". He plays the helpless victim here but all the emasculating that his in-laws do on a continual basis, the fact that not one person had taken out his book that's in the Montaug public library, and the fact that Helen is less interested in passion (even laughs because he had funny look on his face while they were having sex)  leads me to believe he was Hell-bent on an affair with anyone, just to bolster up his injured middle-age ego.

Edited November 20, 2014 by HumblePi

[Boundary]

Good points HumblePi, both of them. Helen knows the Lockhart boys, she mentioned them when her family was driving past the ranch in an earlier episode.

 

As for the two way mirror, that's an interesting thought but one which makes sense. It is a murder investigation and the detective is trying his best to make the interrogation as conversational as possible but no doubt there are others on the case too. Like his partner, his boss or even more spectacularly the Feds (now I'm wondering if the detective is actually FBI or DEA or some other acronym). That would make sense why Noah talks to him like a fellow out of towner, or why he seems to be too clever (I'm not dissing local cops, just trying to understand a drama).

Edited November 20, 2014 by Boundary

[GeminiDancer]

I think Helen knows who they are, but Noah and Alison are so wrapped up in their own stories they wouldn't pay too much notice to her. Noah wouldn't know what Helen's doing while he's banging Alison.

[Cirien]

I feel this way about Cole too. It's too cheap and easy to make the spouses terrible to justify the cheating. I keep wondering if the show's creators really believe this is a "soulmates" kind of thing for Alison and Noah. What we've seen so far doesn't bear that out to my thinking but Sarah Treem tweeted the other day (randomly I think--not in response to a question necessarily) "In terms of Helen and Cole, keep in mind, they're someone else's memory.  You like them, but you may not be seeing all of them." Which makes it seem like we're meant to like them because they're filtered through Noah and Alison's memories...yet those memories are getting harsher and harsher. 

 

Right now the marriages seem way more interesting than the Affair to me. 

Because, your memories are constructed. For me it all depends on whether Alison and Noah end up together or not. If they did then yeah the unfavourable picture of Cole and Helen may be the accurate one. If not then it's entire possible that they may be feeling resentful that they broke their marriages up for no good reason and being forced recount the affair under these circumstances may be increasing the resentment, towards their ex-spouses. Perhaps they're also "recollecting " the feelings they felt at the time?  

[Ellaria]

Something that I have been wondering about since this last episode...

 

Previous episodes show Noah and Alison telling their versions of events to the detective. We have been basically "watching their memories" of the days in question (in response to the questions that the detective was asking).

 

Now in this last episode, we see that they are no longer relating events to the detective (presumably because of the drug-selling reveal). Are we to assume that they are "talking" to someone else? Or are we seeing them re-live those events in their minds?

[Boundary]

Are we to assume that they are "talking" to someone else? Or are we seeing them re-live those events in their minds?

 

I think they are remembering, reliving the events after being prompted by the detective. What intrigues me is that the detective let them go, so are we going to be peaking into their future "in real time"? As in, the interrogation scenes were a nice set up to serve the memories but are we actually going to be seeing a grown Whitney, say, or are they going to call them back to the station? I think seeing Alison and Noah living their lives in the future is too spoilery, we'll be able to see Alison's baby father without doing any speculation at all, which wouldn't be that interesting.

[Ellaria]

I think they are remembering, reliving the events after being prompted by the detective. What intrigues me is that the detective let them go, so are we going to be peaking into their future "in real time"? As in, the interrogation scenes were a nice set up to serve the memories but are we actually going to be seeing a grown Whitney, say, or are they going to call them back to the station? I think seeing Alison and Noah living their lives in the future is too spoilery, we'll be able to see Alison's baby father without doing any speculation at all, which wouldn't be that interesting.

 

That was my initial thought too - that we were still watching memories. But I'm not sure when was that taking place. Immediately after leaving the police station? Did the detective's questioning trigger those memories of an obviously stressful day? Or did their "remembering" happen at another moment in time, triggered by something else?

 

I agree that seeing Alison and Noah in the future is way too spoilery...at least at this point in the life of the show.

 

This show can be taken at face value or it can be viewed and examined on many different levels. So interesting!

Edited November 20, 2014 by Ellaria Sand

[Boundary]

 Did the detective's questioning trigger those memories of an obviously stressful day? Or did their "remembering" happen at another moment in time, triggered by something else?

 

 

Also, if we assume the questioning triggered this particular incident, what does that say about the link between Scotty's murder and Noah's discovery of/Oscar's involvement with the Lockhart drug trade? Or maybe it's that Noah and Alison have started recollecting about their affair and so they're just continuing to do so in their minds, warts and all?

[JenE4]

Regarding the discussion of the kind of person Helen is, we don't know what she's TRULY like. We only have the perspective of her husband to justify his cheating and the jealous (or hurt or likely some type of negative feeling) concubine of her husband. I really don't think Max planted a big kiss on her in front of the kids or they ran off to his boat expressly NOT inviting Noah or Max said he always loved her (or something to that affect). I suspect that Helen and Max will have an affair and that's why Noah is "remembering" it this way or it's just a justification that she's not so perfect of a wife, either. Hell, I wouldn't be shocked if it turned out that Oscar is NOT actually an asshole! Maybe he's actually a nice guy but both Noah and Allison have these negative "memories" of him because he does expose the affair. He's constantly sexually harassing Allison in these "memories" but for all we know he's NEVER said an inappropriate thing to her but in her mind he exposes the affair because he's jealous and that's why she "remembers" him saying all of this. I think this is what I love most about this show; yes, we can't trust Noah's and Allison's recollection of the affair, but we also can't believe ANYTHING they remember about ANYTHING to be an accurate depiction. Everything they "remember" about the past is colored by events that we, as the viewer, aren't yet privy to. I kind of wish they'd do some third-person overview at the end of the series of this is what REALLY happened, but I suppose it's better artistically if they don't and instead keep us wondering.

Edited November 22, 2014 by JenE4

[Cirien]

Regarding the discussion of the kind of person Helen is, we don't know what she's TRULY like. We only have the perspective of her husband to justify his cheating and the jealous (or hurt or likely some type of negative feeling) concubine of her husband. I really don't think Max planted a big kiss on her in front of the kids or they ran off to his boat expressly NOT inviting Noah. I suspect that Helen and Max will have an affair and that's why Noah is "remembering" it this way or it's just a justification that she's not so perfect of a wife, either. Hell, I wouldn't be shocked if it turned out that Oscar is NOT actually an asshole! Maybe he's actually a nice guy but both Noah and Allison have these negative "memories" of him because he does expose the affair. He's constantly sexually harassing Allison in these "memories" but for all we know he's NEVER said an inappropriate thing to her but in her mind he exposes the affair because he's jealous and that's why she "remembers" him saying all of this. I think this is what I love most about this show; yes, we can trust Noah's and Allison's recollection of the affair, but we also can't believe ANYTHING they remember about ANYTHING to be an accurate depiction. Everything they "remember" about the past is colored by events that we, as the viewer, aren't yet privy to. I kind of wish they'd do some third-person overview at the end of the series of this is what REALLY happened, but I suppose it's better artistically if they don't and instead keep us wondering.

THIS all of THIS!!!! I really want to know what they are actually like

[Ellaria]

Regarding the discussion of the kind of person Helen is, we don't know what she's TRULY like. We only have the perspective of her husband to justify his cheating and the jealous (or hurt or likely some type of negative feeling) concubine of her husband. I really don't think Max planted a big kiss on her in front of the kids or they ran off to his boat expressly NOT inviting Noah or Max said he always loved her (or something to that affect). I suspect that Helen and Max will have an affair and that's why Noah is "remembering" it this way or it's just a justification that she's not so perfect of a wife, either. Hell, I wouldn't be shocked if it turned out that Oscar is NOT actually an asshole! Maybe he's actually a nice guy but both Noah and Allison have these negative "memories" of him because he does expose the affair. He's constantly sexually harassing Allison in these "memories" but for all we know he's NEVER said an inappropriate thing to her but in her mind he exposes the affair because he's jealous and that's why she "remembers" him saying all of this. I think this is what I love most about this show; yes, we can't trust Noah's and Allison's recollection of the affair, but we also can't believe ANYTHING they remember about ANYTHING to be an accurate depiction. Everything they "remember" about the past is colored by events that we, as the viewer, aren't yet privy to. I kind of wish they'd do some third-person overview at the end of the series of this is what REALLY happened, but I suppose it's better artistically if they don't and instead keep us wondering. 

 

Well said. I often forget that we are not necessarily seeing what actually happened. Nothing is reliable. Events are framed thru selective memory, interpretation and forgetting.

 

Oscar is an interesting character. Although both Noah and Alison paint him as an asshole, they also perceive him to be the one that's "on to them." He is clearly a wild card and, as such, worries them. Didn't Noah mention Oscar's name to the detective...something about considering him as a suspect in Scotty's murder?

[cardigirl]

Well said. I often forget that we are not necessarily seeing what actually happened. Nothing is reliable. Events are framed thru selective memory, interpretation and forgetting.

I also like that in showing how The Affair started and continued, it had little to do with the left behind spouses.  Whether their spouses are perfect or not, Allison and Noah chose to have the affair and are not justifying it in their memories by saying that their spouses were intolerable.  The closest we see any of that is when Allison complains about Cole's tattoo on his back. 

Clearly Alison and Noah are feeling restless, she's dealing with a terrible tragedy and he's feeling less than, realizing how much of his life is not of his doing but is bought and paid for by his wife's parents.  Like most affairs, this one was based on the fantasy of being able to start over, and when reality came crashing in, it had to end. 

I'm very interested where the show will go now...will we still get the two versions of reality or will other viewpoints start to come in?

 

[jeansheridan]

Regarding Helen knowing the Lockharts, I think she's at least 12 years older than Cole if we're supposed to believe he's in his early thirties like his wife.  Because he grew up with Alison so I'm assuming they're close in age (within three years). 

 

Of course this is a bit disconcerting because honestly, Maura Tierny looks fantastic and Ruth Wilson looks older than her age (I think).  I think she's very pretty, but she's not a youthful looking person, if that makes sense.  I know they put her in sundresses, but they look odd on her.  She looks younger in the cutoff shorts.  In short, I think both actresses look within five years of each other's age so I don't get a younger woman stealing her man vibe I think the show is trying to push sometimes. 

 

And I don't think Dominic West is that craggy!  ;^).  I actually love his kind of aged face, although I don't think he has a particularly honest looking face like they said in the show. 

 

Also, I missed the cop!  I kind of love him.  Can't explain why.  He doesn't get much to work with but I like his affable, relaxed style.  And the fact he messed with Alison in the parking lot.  Ruth Wilson gave him quite the glare and I got the shivers.  If Alison needs to go evil, I'm confident Ruth will do it in style.  That said, I'm thrilled to see her play lost and confused and hurt so well.

Edited November 30, 2014 by jeansheridan

[truthaboutluv]

Regarding the discussion of the kind of person Helen is, we don't know what she's TRULY like. We only have the perspective of her husband to justify his cheating and the jealous (or hurt or likely some type of negative feeling) concubine of her husband.

 

 

Exactly. The most striking thing for me in this episode is the scene where Alison is criticizing Helen's abilities as a mother. Her criticism seems to stem from the fact that Helen had no idea where Martin was and that she didn't even ask to speak to him when Alison confirmed he was at the ranch. However, in Noah's version of the events, we CLEARLY see him on the phone confirming where Martin is while we never actually see who Alison is talking to. She just says it was Martin's mom while Noah's memory shows he's the one who made the call. 

 

So it makes me even more hesitant to buy Alison's snotty "what kind of mother" crap she was throwing at Helen while conveniently simultaneously jumping to defend Martin calling his dad lame. Also interestingly, her memory is the one where Noah seems to have any interest in the fact that his kid is working at this ranch that is run by drug smugglers. In Noah's own damn recollection, he doesn't even seem to remember Martin works there until Martin walks up to him after the confrontation with Alison and asks him what he's doing there. So it makes it even harder for me to buy this Helen the awful parent viewpoint Alison seemed to have of her and not see it as a bias because she needs some reason to justify banging the woman's husband.

 

As for the opinions on Helen, honestly I like her. Really, the reason I haven't liked Noah one damn bit this whole show so far is because it amazes me that even in his own recollections he can't help coming across as an asshole. I didn't think Helen's comment about going to find the pool boy was anything but her trying to be cute and save face after her husband all but told her he had zero interest in having sex with her and wanted his "alone" time.

 

Not to mention his telling her about how she'd said this and that to him multiple times and basically all but mocking her. She got emotional and upset for her mother when her father had his mistress show up the party. Yes perhaps she should have stood up to her dad some more with the Whitney situation but she tried to diffuse the situation and did agree to have Noah bring Whitney over to the girl's house and apologize. And then she was the one who mentioned taking Whitney's phone away and ending the vacation that Mr.banging another woman quickly vetoed because he wanted to keep banging his mistress. 

 

Sure she's been shown at times to not be perfect and of course keeping in mind that those times happen in the memory of a man trying to justify his affair but she still comes off fairly likable in my opinion and definitely comes off as deserving way more than Noah's whiny, cheating, poor me ass. Because again, even in Noah's own accounts he's still a disinterested ass at times to his wife and kids. 

 

Moving on, it was definitely interesting seeing the wildly varied versions of how things ended between Noah and Alison. Noah, true to the vampy seductress version of Alison he's painted since the first episode, she came across as a somewhat cold, calculating and fully in control drug dealer. She seemed not only completely involved but more than comfortable with it. The way she remained eerily calm and collected when he told her about Oscar and then quickly went to Cole and company to get them to act immediately.

 

Alison's version has her once again as the broken, lost and tragic shell. She doesn't care what happens to her because she's so damaged and broken but Noah showed her a way out so she goes to him to have it but he's suddenly exactly what Oscar said, a preppy yuppie who just saw her as a summer slut. Poor, tragic Alison.

 

This again is why I always have to consider that these are these people's accounts of things because both Alison and Noah in their versions see themselves as victims in some way but funny, this episode made me wonder if Noah's version may be more honest only because again he still seems like such an asshole at times in his version. While Alison so many times in her version is just so tragic and broken and a victim. 

Edited January 3, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[Duke2801]

I realize that I am many, many months behind in my reply BUT I am just getting into this show now (thanks Watch-a-Thon week!) I'm really enjoying the he said vs. she said storyline.  I mean, I know the "unreliable narrator" has been done before, but I've never seen it done in this particular manner.  Very intriguing. 

 

Does anyone have a theory about why Helen doesn't already know Cole, Oscar or Alison since she grew up in Montaug? Helen's father Bruce was born into wealth as a result of his ancestors bootlegging and smuggling during the 30's. Helen grew up there so it would make sense that she'd know all these people

 

 

My theory is age. Alison is 31, while Helen is in her mid-40s.  We deduce this from the scene with Noah and his coke-head friend, in which they are reminiscing about college and Noah says "college was 25 years ago."  We know he and Helen graduated at the same time, and assuming they were both 21, they would both be about 46 in present day time. 

 

I mean, I know a lot of families in the small town I grew up in (also in Western PA-like Noah!), but would I know every single person who was a decade and a half younger or older than me? No.

 

(And, although Mara looks young for her age and Ruth looks like she could be older, they are, in reality, 17 years apart. )

[Chas411]

I just can't hate Maura Tierney in this. Probably because both perspectives make it difficult to know what shes actually like. In Noah's perspective she comes across as lost and lonely now that she's realised shes losing her husband. He comes off as a complete dick in his treatment of her and his children.

Alisons perspective only reflects Alison's own chip on her shoulder and jealousy over Helen being the wife of a man she's falling for as well as a mother of four healthy albeit possibly insane children. To top it off she has wealth which Alison and the Lockharts appear to resent.

Alison's immature remark about her being wealthy and therefore having no issues was a low blow and given Coles mothers eye raising reaction to her clearly shows to me that Alison doesn't know Helen so couldn't possibly know what is going on in her mind.

And she's right, aside from one rude gesture and a few remarks which we don't know happened for sure Alison doesn't actually know Helen. The only true thing throughout the story is Alison resents Helen and everything she stands for.

[SlackerInc]

Oh man...that final shot at the end, of Alison standing there forlorn at the Butlers'...oof.  That just hurt, really bad...more even than seeing her at her son's grave (in part because this heartbreak is piled on top of the earlier one).