S01.E09: 9

[Tara Ariano]

A revelation about their daughter Whitney makes Noah and Helen realize their troubled marriage is directly affecting their children. Meanwhile, a remorseful Alison heads towards a reckoning.

[Primetimer]

Alison and Noah think they know how to weasel out of their marriages. Helen corrects one of them.

Read the story

[LilaFowler]

Allison's Version:  Cherry is a fucking bitch from hell.  Crawl into a hole and die.   Ew at Allison sleeping with Oscar.  *gag*  (From one emotion to the next.)  Bawling at Allison's scene with the doctor.  Ruth Wilson for all awards, ever.  So good.

 

Noah's Version:  Well, we all called Scotty and Whitney hooking up, so there was no surprise there.  Interesting how suicide and scotch both factored into Noah and Allison's conversations.  Noah is so impulsive, I swear.  I'm glad that Helen threw him out. 

 

I wonder what kind of shampoo that was that got dumped.  Anyone recognize the bottle?

[SoWindsor]

Did Alison chose Cole at the end there?

That cutting scene made me super nauseous.

[Valhalla]

Who the hell throws their pregnancy test away in the kitchen trash? Ick.

Noah's part of the story does play like mid-life crisis. In other words, he's kind of a jerk. Alison's part is much more relatable. She comes across as genuinely torn about her feelings for both men, her child's death, and what she's doing with her life. On the other hand, super-double ick for sleeping with Bar Guy (I don't remember his name).

[KBrownie]

I guess I was supposed to feel bad for Alison in her version of events, especially after her breakdown about her son,but I didn't.  Not at all.  Not even a little bit.

 

Was it a low blow for Cherry to bring up that whole thing about Gabriel and how she told Alison that something was wrong with him, but Alison refused to listen, therefore implying that Alison was the reason he died?  Sure.  Absolutely.

 

But Alison got as good as she gave in my opinion.  She went there because she was pissed that she wasn't going to be getting a big payoff in her half of Cole's share of whatever the ranch sold for.  She was pissed that she wasn't going to have the anticipated funds to go live out her fantasies with Noah.  So she wanted to throw in Cherry's face that she knew and was going to tell her sons and hurt her like she was hurting at the moment.  She tried to spin it that oh, the boys were making plans and she needed to tell them, but if that was her true concern, she would have went to Cole first.  Was she even going to tell him if he hadn't shown up when she was packing to leave?  Sure didn't seem that way.

 

So, no I didn't feel for her a bit when she started cutting and her breakdown in the doctor's office.  Alison is just as much of a f-ed up, awful, terrible person as anyone else on this show.  She just has "tragic death of a beloved child" as her trump and/or get-out-of-jail-free card.  She does just as many horrible, horrible things as anyone else, but then the show always brings it back to Gabriel.  I guess the show wants viewers to believe that she's doing these things because of the trauma of the death of her son, but I would need some proof that wasn't like this before he died.  I don't believe that anyone could be like this without having had such tendencies all along.

 

Helen's taken a lot of criticism for being judgmental and looking down on others that she feels are beneath her, but Alison isn't any better.  Helen has done NOTHING to her, but she's the one sleeping with Helen's husband in Helen's bed, pouring out her shampoo because why? Alison thought is was too expensive?  Who the hell is she?   You're sleeping with her husband in her house, but you want to pass some sort of judgment on her because of her shampoo?  She needs to deal with her own issues before looking sideways at someone else.  I'm sorry, but I don't see what Helen's done to deserve to be treated like this.  Her or Cole.  Nothing Alison or Noah have shown to not like about their respective spouses justifies they way Alison and Noah are treating them.

 

And I just can't help hoping that this comes back on her hard.  Someone needs to remind Alison of that old adage, "If he'll cheat with you, he'll cheat on you."  Noah may not cheat, but he's already starting to treat her in a less than desirable way than she wants.

 

I also wasn't buying that "I choose me" moment at the end.  Yeah, right, she's going to go off on her own and not choose either man.  The previews seem to back that up as well.

 

As for Noah, he's an ass.  They both are.  I just take issue with, in my opinion, the show acting as if Alison's behavior should be empathized with or excused because of her dead son.

 

Whitney comes off as cold and  a sociopath to me.  She has like zero emotions whatsoever.  About anything.

Edited December 15, 2014 by KBrownie

[VioletMarx]

You're taking our teenaged daughter to get an abortion tomorrow. What a perfect time to tell you I want a divorce cause I'm in love with the waitress I fucked in your bed!

Edited December 15, 2014 by VioletMarx

[taragel]

Wow. They really covered a lot of ground in this episode. 

 

More than anything else this episode really showcased how incredibly selfish the affair has made Noah and Allison (or, alternately, that they were already selfish fucks before the affair.)  Does lust really make you decide to bring your mistress home, fuck her in your wife's bed, then let her take your wife's clothing? And then go on about your love for her and unhappiness with your wife right in the middle of the whole pregnancy mess? SERIOUSLY? And Alison's escape plan to take half of the money she thought her husband was getting and promptly leave him (and the half-hearted explanation she gave him when he caught her packing) was even more terrible. The lack of respect for their spouses even beyond the betrayal of cheating was really incredible. 

 

So now we have the truth of Gabriel's death and it sounds like it's both Allison and Cole's fault. I loved Cherry's speech to her. I honestly would be happy watching a season just about the Lockharts. Cole running after her was amazing. That's a hell of a gesture. Again, all this show leaves me thinking is why anyone would cheat on Cole? Helen's cool, too, though I'm not such a Maura Tierney fan as you all, but I feel with him, they really did not do such a great job showing him as a gruff, bullying guy which they made passing attempts at. Those scenes didn't ring true for me (I think Tom & Lorenzo pointed this out in their review of last week's episode too.)

 

Whitney was almost three months pregnant and...not showing at all? Really? The speed/ease with which she was ready to lie about the pregnancy actually amazed me a bit. 

 

I almost wish they hadn't included the detective bit at all this episode. It was so tiny that it didn't add much (except proof that he was spinning tales about his personal life and that Noah's the prime suspect still) and for a second I thought it was part of Noah's (current) day.

 

I wonder if we'll find out who actually killed Scotty next episode? They didn't know they'd be getting an S2 when they stopped filming so maybe they would've tied that mystery up. 

[Armchair Critic]

Cherry is a world class bitch, but wtf is wrong with Allison sleeping with her boss?

Edited December 15, 2014 by Armchair Critic

[Bcharmer]

I wonder if we'll find out who actually killed Scotty next episode? They didn't know they'd be getting an S2 when they stopped filming so maybe they would've tied that mystery up. 

 

That didn't stop The Killing from not solving the mystery at the end of the first season. :)

 

So, Alison didn't realize she left a bra behind? Really?  Funny how her whole demeanor suddenly changed after she found the pregnancy test in the trash (and I agree, who would throw that away in the kitchen trash? - unless, maybe, the bathroom trash can was empty, and it would have been too noticeable there). She obviously assumed it was Helen's, and figured there would be no way Noah would leave his pregnant wife. Unless I read that wrong.

[HumblePi]

One of the more interesting moments was when Helen was talking to Whitney on her bed.  So, Helen had an abortion before she had Whitney and most likely before she met Noah. Who was the father I wonder?

Maybe Scottie isn't the father, maybe it's Noah's friend Max.  Ewww

 

I think Alison is pregnant and it could be Cole's, Noah's or Oscar's baby now.  ditto on the 'ewww'

Edited December 15, 2014 by HumblePi

[Pallas]

Who the hell throws their pregnancy test away in the kitchen trash? Ick.

 

A teenager who wants it found.  

[Valhalla]

HumblePi, I thought Helen was likely talking about a miscarriage.

I was really bewildered by the end. It seemed deliberately ambiguous, but came off as muddled.

[izabella]

I was so grossed out by Noah bringing Allison into their home, their bedroom.  He just couldn't help compounding his douchebaggery.  I guess he truly didn't give a damn about his wife.

 

I was also grossed out by Allison having sex with Oscar.  What was that about?  Was she hoping that would transform her misery somehow instead of just adding to it? 

[Boundary]

OK, just give Ruth Wilson her Golden Globe already.

 

The only time Alison truly looks happy is when she is with Noah. It's the writing, the acting, the direction - all those aspects of the show are telling me that. So when she found the pregnancy test she thought it was Helen's and was heartbroken enough to get drunk and sleep with Oscar. Cherry then piles the pressure in the most heinous way possible and Alison cracks. By choosing to leave Cole, she was choosing herself, not Noah necessarily. I don't know what's going on with Cole, he seems to give Alison too much leeway and when she walks away he goes chasing after her. It's weird. 

 

Noah's MO is to ask Max for some sage advice, then do the opposite. Way to trust your best friend there mate. Or maybe Max simply doesn't get Noah at all. Bringing Alison home was the worst decision ever, just like it was doing it on Cole's bed earlier in the season. That's just lack of respect for your spouse. When Helen kicked him out, his face when he left simply said, "gladly". 

 

 

More than anything else this episode really showcased how incredibly selfish the affair has made Noah and Allison (or, alternately, that they were already selfish fucks before the affair.) 

 

 

I remember after one of the early episodes writing on here that I really want them to show us how selfish having an affair is and I'm glad to report that they have answered this question. Leaving your spouse for another is necessarily a selfish act by definition. But Noah and Alison, for different reasons, decided to leave outright rather than drag the lies along. I do believe that's the better of two evils.

Edited December 15, 2014 by Boundary

[izabella]

A teenager who wants it found.  

 

Like a husband who brings his affair partner into his house.

[HumblePi]

You're taking our teenaged daughter to get an abortion tomorrow. What a perfect time to tell you I want a divorce cause I'm in love with the waitress I fucked in your bed!

Noah and Alison have taken careless chances all along. This is the kind of risk that a man takes when he doesn't care anymore about his family. He's hoping to be caught to take away his options of leaving on his own accord and putting it into the hands of Helen. Noah is a gutless, selfish, piece of dog poop.

[Pallas]

I was also grossed out by Allison having sex with Oscar.  What was that about?  Was she hoping that would transform her misery somehow instead of just adding to it?

 

I think she was grossing herself out: cutting, with a blunt instrument.      

[HumblePi]

HumblePi, I thought Helen was likely talking about a miscarriage.

I was really bewildered by the end. It seemed deliberately ambiguous, but came off as muddled.

That's true, she may have been talking about a miscarriage but my first thought was that Helen had an abortion and she was being empathetic towards Whitney by disclosing that in order to make Whitney feel less guilty for the abortion she's about to have.

I think she was grossing herself out: cutting, with a blunt instrument.      

I had some respect for Alison up to the moment she had sex with Oscar. Sure, he was the one that took away her virginity but Alison is revolted by him so why have sex with him?  And why does Oscar have an apartment in the city when he was living in his own home on Montauk?

[Pallas]

she may have been talking about a miscarriage but my first thought was that Helen had an abortion and she was being empathetic towards Whitney

 

That was my take, too.  And I think Alison met Oscar in a bar near the railroad station, back in Montauk.  He asked her if she were going into the city, or on her way back.  She was getting her drunk on before heading disconsolately home.  

[StatMom]

Noah's version sure left out an important part: the apartment discussion and shopping.

[EyesGlazed]

This show sure doesn't pull punches about the price of infidelity.  Having Noah and Allison screwing in Noah and Helen's marital bed was a certain turn-off for the audience, and clearly was meant to create disgust.  Frankly I don't think either one of these characters would actually do this.  It was a plot development to gross us out.  Presumably to illustrate that these people are out of control.

 

But having said that, I still find Helen not as sympathetic as most on this board seem to find her.  I don't know why.  Because she seems entitled?  Because she lets her insufferable parents call the shots in her marriage?  I just have never warmed up to her.

 

God Allison, I don't care how drunk you are, how could you sleep with Oscar?  Just ewwwwww.

Edited December 15, 2014 by EyesGlazed

[Muffyn]

I didn't think I could hate Noah more than I already did, then I saw this episode. At this point, I loathe him.  I can understand being horrified and reassessing your life because you saw a person die, but expecting your wife to work with you toward a pleasant separation, especially when you inform her on the eve of your daughter's abortion.  He is a winner.  Capping that was the sex scene and him yet again letting Alison know he has to do things at his own speed.  

[gameoff]

I thought one of the biggest inconsistencies in this episode was the finding of the pregnancy test.  In Alison's version she found it, and I'm assuming put it back in the trash can, then Noah comes into the kitchen, and she's giving him the semi-cold shoulder, then they leave to look at the apartment.

 

In Noah's version he finds it and sticks it in his back pocket and that's about the time that Alison comes into the kitchen in a towel because she's looking for her shirt.  In Noah's version there wouldn't have been any time for Alison to find it.  

 

I guess when they are thinking back, now that they both know Whitney is/was pregnant they each remember being the "finder".  That seems like one of the more important details that wouldn't waiver.  I guess whoever found it could've told the other one and the other person's memory skewed it that they found it.  That sentence made my brain hurt.  Sometimes this show makes my brain hurt ... but in a good way.  I think.

 

Also, I agree with the others who said it was dumb to throw the test into the kitchen garbage of all places.  And it's not like Alison dug far down into it either, so it wasn't even well-hidden in the not-smart trash can.  I'm sure Whitney could've wrapped it up and disposed of it at a better time and place.

 

I plan to rewatch the whole series once it's over and see if more things fall into place.

 

I tuned into this show for the Josh Jackson, and while I'm disappointed he's not featured more, I am interested in the premise of how people remember the same things differently.  And hopefully there will be more focus on Cole and Helen's character's in season 2.

 

I did wonder how on earth Alison forgot her bra.  Maybe that lends more credence to her version because that's the one she was upset in.  I also thought it was feasible possibility that she brought a change of clothes with her since I'm sure she was expecting they were meeting for sex and maybe she was under the impression already worn one in her bag.

 

She very well may have left it on purpose.  At this point, who knows.

Edited December 15, 2014 by gameoff

[GeminiDancer]

 

This show sure doesn't pull punches about the price of infidelity.  Having Noah and Allison screwing in Noah and Helen's marital bed was a certain turn-off for the audience, and clearly was meant to create disgust.  Frankly I don't think either one of these characters would actually do this.  It was a plot development to gross us out.  Presumably to illustrate that these people are out of control.

 

They already slept together in Cole and Alison's marital bed, so it wouldn't be so far fetched that they would have done it in Noah and Helen's bed too.

 

Ugh, Alison and Noah are such assholes, there's absolutely no way I could root for them. To cuckold Cole is bad enough, but to cuckold him again with Oscar, of all people?

[CleoCaesar]

Again, all this show leaves me thinking is why anyone would cheat on Cole?

 

I discovered this show just a few days ago and marathoned through all 9 episodes. These are all horrible, selfish, uncaring people...except Cole, it seems. No seriously, why would anyone cheat on Cole?

 

The four kids are some of the most unbearable I've had the displeasure of seeing on TV in a long while. The oldest daughter in particular is a nightmare. Almost as good as the kid who hung himself as a prank. With kids like that, I can almost understand Noah wanting to run far, far away.

[Boundary]

To cuckold Cole is bad enough, but to cuckold him again with Oscar, of all people?

 

I thought that was a drunk decision used to illustrate how how much Noah hurt her. In the morning she still distastes him. 

[jeansheridan]

Ruth Wilson broke my heart in the doctor's office. I believe her when she told Cole she would die if she stayed. All of her behavior is destructive. The affair, sleeping with Oscar, cutting, walking into a freezing ocean. I find her a fascinating character. Multiple bad things have happened to her and she makes some good choices and mostly bad ones.

Cherry and her own mother are the worst.

[KittyS]

Ruth Wilson broke my heart in the doctor's office. I believe her when she told Cole she would die if she stayed. All of her behavior is destructive. The affair, sleeping with Oscar, cutting, walking into a freezing ocean. I find her a fascinating character. Multiple bad things have happened to her and she makes some good choices and mostly bad ones.

Cherry and her own mother are the worst.

I completely agree. I do have a bit of sympathy for Allison because she has been through something terrible and she is incredibly damaged and self-destructive. I think staying in The Hamptons is the worst possible environment for her, surrounded by her drug-dealing in-laws, her bitch of a mother-in-law, and constant reminders of her dead son. Most marriages do not survive the death of a child, even if we all think Cole is an awesome guy. Now that Allison's grandmother is dead, there isn't any reason for Allison to stick around. Hopefully she won't end up with Noah, who has zero redeeming features as far as I can see.

I think this is the shampoo: http://shop.alternahaircare.com/ten/shampoo/

Edited December 15, 2014 by KittyS

[Higgs]

I think she was grossing herself out [by sleeping with Oscar]: cutting, with a blunt instrument.

Precisely and pithily put. Again.

Helen's "my house", then "my fucking house", exposed the rot at the core of the Solloway marriage from its beginnings, and I shuddered both times, but at none of her other words. She had every right to be as angry as she was, or even much more so, or to reject in the moment, out of the same anger, any blame for Whitney's pregnancy. And she was no more guilty of imposing on the marriage the power imbalance implied by the "my" than Noah was for accepting it. But, of that, guilty she was.

Whatever else Alison was to Noah, she was the long-imagined way out of his subordinate position in a marriage to a snob who seeks out psychics. The irony is that after having spent 25 years ceding control to Helen, he loses Alison in clumsy, misguided attempts to dominate their relationship. He demands control in everything: their sexual progression from light fingering to heavy anal, the pace and means of his separation from Helen and union with her. He was about a quarter century late in manning up, then overshot the mark by a fatal amount, but was not yet there in owning up, as he dissembles to Alison about how he suddenly came to leave Helen.

Whatever else Noah was to Alison, he was the long-imagined way out of carrying, insistingly, the heavier burden of guilt in their marriage for the loss of their child. The irony is that, as she looks around the Solloway kitchen and pauses only when she sees the kids' drawings on the wall, she knows that she will carry a share of the burden of guilt for the losses to come of and by those children.

At the end of the day, Alison leaves carrying only a light luggage bag in her hand and a much lighter egg in her womb, fertilized by one of three stooges** left stationed in Montauk.

Vaya con Dios, Alison Bailey.

Bravissima, Ruth Wilson.

**Cole is a drug-dealing innumerate, portrayed by an actor who is way out of his league in this cast. Oscar is scum, but with the saving grace of knowing it. (I hope the kid is his, then at least it may inherit a sense of humor.) Noah is...well, if you got this far, you've read it already.

Edited December 15, 2014 by Higgs

[Cirien]

So, no I didn't feel for her a bit when she started cutting and her breakdown in the doctor's office.  Alison is just as much of a f-ed up, awful, terrible person as anyone else on this show.  She just has "tragic death of a beloved child" as her trump and/or get-out-of-jail-free card.  She does just as many horrible, horrible things as anyone else, but then the show always brings it back to Gabriel.  I guess the show wants viewers to believe that she's doing these things because of the trauma of the death of her son, but I would need some proof that wasn't like this before he died.  I don't believe that anyone could be like this without having had such tendencies all along.

 

Helen's taken a lot of criticism for being judgmental and looking down on others that she feels are beneath her, but Alison isn't any better.  Helen has done NOTHING to her, but she's the one sleeping with Helen's husband in Helen's bed, pouring out her shampoo because why? Alison thought is was too expensive?  Who the hell is she?   You're sleeping with her husband in her house, but you want to pass some sort of judgment on her because of her shampoo?  She needs to deal with her own issues before looking sideways at someone else.  I'm sorry, but I don't see what Helen's done to deserve to be treated like this.  Her or Cole.  Nothing Alison or Noah have shown to not like about their respective spouses justifies they way Alison and Noah are treating them.

 

And I just can't help hoping that this comes back on her hard.  Someone needs to remind Alison of that old adage, "If he'll cheat with you, he'll cheat on you."  Noah may not cheat, but he's already starting to treat her in a less than desirable way than she wants.

 

I

Thank you for saying this: All of this. I often feel like Alison gets a "Get-out-of-jail-free-card" because she lost a child and therefore is hurting and trapped and that's why she's sympathetic when engaging in this affair. Well guess what *Cole* lost Gabriel too...and he's flat *hated* in some sections of the internet...

[Cirien]

I was glad that Max called Noah out on his perpetual adolescence. And again the infatuation stage (which Noah and Alison are still in) lasts for two years.....which is why Max was telling him to wait. But Noah of course doesn't listen. And that crack about therapy? STFU Noah 

[DollyMamaB]

Thank you for finding the Shampoo.....I thought I recognized it but couldn't remember the name of it.

 

Allison killed me this episode.  She's so broken over losing her child and Ruth is playing this so well.

 

Noah annoys the hell out of me.  Who tells their wife they want to separate when they just found out their teenage daughter is pregnant?  Someone who is selfish.

 

Cherry needs to eat a bag of hell and die.  She was so horrible to Allison.  She was caught in her deception and lashed out at Allison in the most horrible way possible, blaming her for her own childs death.  I would love to have seen the confrontation with Cole.  There is not enough Joshua Jackson in this show.

[Cirien]

Whitney was almost three months pregnant and...not showing at all? Really? The speed/ease with which she was ready to lie about the pregnancy actually amazed me a bit. 

Her skinniness was commented on in the pilot ep. That could be why. And isn't it the case that for some for first time pregnancies you don't really show until much later ?

[Ellaria]

You're taking our teenaged daughter to get an abortion tomorrow. What a perfect time to tell you I want a divorce cause I'm in love with the waitress I fucked in your bed!

 

For me, Noah is beyond redemption. I'm not a big fan of Alison's either but I will cut her some slack because of her child's death. (I cannot imagine how one comes back from that.) Max gives Noah sound advice but the random jumper and the cop's comment about a "choice" provide him with all the rationale he needs for a poorly timed speech to Helen about wanting out. Guess he couldn't wait a few more weeks.

 

Interesting that the apartment-hunting scene didn't appear in Noah's version. Was it not important to him because Alison was so dismissive of it? 

 

Also, I agree with the others who said it was dumb to throw the test into the kitchen garbage of all places.  And it's not like Alison dug far down into it either, so it wasn't even well-hidden in the not-smart trash can.  I'm sure Whitney could've wrapped it up and disposed of it at a better time and place.

 

Really dumb...but whatever. This was a device to reveal Whitney's pregnancy, which many guessed last week anyway. Of course, it also planted a seed of doubt in Alison's mind about Noah's intentions. I just rolled my eyes when I saw it in the garbage because I knew exactly how its "discovery" would play out.

 

As we get closer to the end of S1, I have no idea of what S2 becomes. Noah and Alison trying to start a life together and dealing with the fallout of their decisions? If that's it, then I am done. Or worse yet, going back to their spouses and still sneaking around with each other?

 

Hoping that we learn more about Scotty's death next week. We know that Scotty dies a few years in the future so do we get a flashforward to the events leading up to it?

[luckyroll3]

Who the hell throws their pregnancy test away in the kitchen trash? Ick.

 

A teenager who wants it found.

 

 

Remember, the test was actually under several layers of trash.  The perfect place to hide something from a teenager's perspective, as the bathroom trash usually has a lot less stuff.  Allison only found it because she was also trying to hide something and she was the one who left the test at the top of the bag.

 

People actually pay $60 for shampoo?!?  No wonder she needs her parents to help them out with money all the time. 

[Cirien]

You don't wash your hair everyday though? (you shouldn't anyway) and it depends on how much she uses.

[Armchair Critic]

I am suspicious of Max. He said he left his wife for another woman, I don't think it was Helen but something is still shady about him.

[cardigirl]

So, Alison didn't realize she left a bra behind? Really?  Funny how her whole demeanor suddenly changed after she found the pregnancy test in the trash (and I agree, who would throw that away in the kitchen trash? - unless, maybe, the bathroom trash can was empty, and it would have been too noticeable there). She obviously assumed it was Helen's, and figured there would be no way Noah would leave his pregnant wife. Unless I read that wrong.

I read that to mean that she thought Noah was sleeping with Helen and the reality of her situation sunk in.  And then he showed her the studio apartment and she began to feel like he meant so much more to her than she did to him. That he was trying to have his cake and eat it too, and nearly succeeding.

 

Having been on the receiving end of a "I love you but I'm not IN love with you" speech I guess I have a lot of sympathy for Helen.  Mine happened during a particularly stressful time with one of our teenagers as well, so what I love about this show is that it is taking the time to show what infidelity looks like and how it affects the people involved.  I got the same puppy-eyed look from my X that Noah was giving Helen about being reasonable and doing what was best for the kids.  Ha!

 

Thought the acting and writing was excellent this episode.  And the guy playing Oscar does such a good job of being gross and then trying to be endearing? but failing always.

[CynicalGirl]

Helen's taken a lot of criticism for being judgmental and looking down on others that she feels are beneath her, but Alison isn't any better.  Helen has done NOTHING to her, but she's the one sleeping with Helen's husband in Helen's bed, pouring out her shampoo because why? Alison thought is was too expensive?  Who the hell is she?   You're sleeping with her husband in her house, but you want to pass some sort of judgment on her because of her shampoo?  She needs to deal with her own issues before looking sideways at someone else.  I'm sorry, but I don't see what Helen's done to deserve to be treated like this.  Her or Cole.  Nothing Alison or Noah have shown to not like about their respective spouses justifies they way Alison and Noah are treating them.

 

 

Ahhh the shampoo scene. I don't know why, but I think that one bothered me the most. What a bitch! That was just vindictive. 

[blixie]

Noah and Cherry should fuck, they're both such utterly awful self-centered assholes. So let me get this straight for YEARS she  has allowed ney ENCOURAGED her children to run an illegal drug business under the false impression they were "helping" save the Ranch she was *guilting* each and everyone of them into running and keeping? That bitch needs the taste smacked out of her mouth. When Allison calls her out for being a lying manipulative bitch, she actively blames Allison for the freak accidental death of her child. Hell should be toasty Cherry!

 

And Noah "I don't want this life" Solloway needs to get pushed off the nearest building. I really hope the reason that Noah's kids seem awful is ENTIRELY in his own mind, and if/when we get a S2 from another perspective they're just your regular average teenage assholes and not the tiny sociopaths he sees them as to justify cheating on his imperfect but still wonderful wife, and leaving those children. DOUCHEBAG.

[Cirien]

Noah and Cherry should fuck, they're both such utterly awful self-centered assholes. So let me get this straight for YEARS she  has allowed ney ENCOURAGED her children to run an illegal drug business under the false impression they were "helping" save the Ranch she was *guilting* each and everyone of them into running and keeping? That bitch needs the taste smacked out of her mouth. When Allison calls her out for being a lying manipulative bitch, she actively blames Allison for the freak accidental death of her child. Hell should be toasty Cherry!

 

And Noah "I don't want this life" Solloway needs to get pushed off the nearest building. I really hope the reason that Noah's kids seem awful is ENTIRELY in his own mind, and if/when we get a S2 from another perspective they're just your regular average teenage assholes and not the tiny sociopaths he sees them as to justify cheating on his imperfect but still wonderful wife, and leaving those children. DOUCHEBAG.

Not blaming Alison at all, but I wonder if Cherry wasn't somewhat right when she said Alison's pride directly led to Gabriel's death. Long Story but I'm a Surgeon's daughter, and when I was little I had a drowning episode. And he took me straight to the hospital. I've googled secondary drowing and comparing my treatment. (I have a remember of an oxygen mask over my face for a while. From the web MD website symptoms include:

 

A person who has inhaled water can have:

 

Trouble breathing, chest pain, or cough

Sudden changes in behavior

Extreme fatigue

These signs are not easy to spot, particularly in young children who may normally be fussy or tired after a long day in the sun and water. If your child struggles or has problems while in the water, look for these signs, which can appear hours later.

What should you do if you think someone is at risk?

If you notice any of the signs above, go to to the emergency room immediately. Time is an important factor in treating dry drowning.

 

Gabriel had at least two of these symptoms,(and honestly it's better to be safe, than sorry) Alison thinking she had done enough...after just doing CPR, may be the pride that Cherry was talking about and may be they blame her, because well, it's easy to treat dry drowning with oxygen and ventilation

 

(Course by this token Cole should have been watching Gabriel, but Alison is the one with some medical knowledge here. They may have bowed to her opinion. )

 

And Noah? Noah wanted this life for twenty years until he didn't want it anymore. He's had ample time and opportunity to speak (in fact Helen calls him on this looking at the clips for next weeks ep) He's enjoyed this lifestyle while bticvhing and whining about it. Constantly. What a dick

Edited December 15, 2014 by Cirien

[Blakeston]

I keep thinking back to something Sarah Treem (the show's creator/producer) said in her interview with Alan Sepinwall. More than once, she insisted that the show is about "two good people."
 
One example was when she said:
 

The idea was that you’re in a marriage, you love your wife, she’s a good woman, you’re a good man. You have kids and then you meet somebody by chance who you think is your soul mate. What do you do? And I think everybody gets to that time. You’re vulnerable, you’re in a long term relationship. At some point in your marriage, you meet somebody else and you’re just like, “I think I can be happier with this person.” And then you’ve got a choice to make. We really wanted it from the very beginning to be clear that these were good moral people.

That mystifies me, especially after watching this episode. I realize that good people can do hurtful things, but we're seeing them being unrelentingly awful.

 

They can play the "she's only doing this because she's grieving" card with Alison, but I'm not entirely buying it. Behavior like spilling Helen's shampoo down the drain - because screwing Helen's husband in their marital bed just isn't vindictive enough - is not explained away by her child's death.

[Cirien]

What I would ask Sarah, is : We only have one soulmate. Doesn't then de-value any previous relationship? She reminds me on Shonda Rhimes here...

[taragel]

I too wonder at how we're supposed to perceive Alison and Noah. Sarah Treem's comment is...confusing. As is the early marketing the show was doing on social media, with promos talking about how A & N were "soulmates." There's been a lot of sex but very, very little romance to this affair. I know they wanted it to be more realistic but...I just haven't been moved by A & N at any point really (and...I'm a romance novel editor, so I'm kind of a professional romance lover. ;)

 

I think it would be really hilarious if Alison's kid turned out to be Oscar's. And Noah was found guilty of murder (whether or not he did it). 

 

I do think next week will have to be a reset of sorts for both marriages. I mean, unless Maura and Josh leave the cast next season... which seems unlikely. There wouldn't be much reason to have them featured in an S2 if A & N just settle down together. They'd be reduced to guest stars haggling over divorce details. So I would like to see some other POVs in S2 to open up the story and maybe some flashbacks of before the affair would also be nice. I'd like to see both couples in happier times.

 

Also--this is random but I hope we figure out what the deal is with Martin. They've made pointed references at least two or three times now on how his personality changed abruptly and specifically in the past year. That to me points toward abuse of some sort, and we all suspected Bruce at the beginning, but that seems far less likely now with the way they've developed him. 

 

[jrlr]

Wow, my head was spinning at this episode - I actually thought parts of this ep were poorly conceived and pretty obvious and clumsy in pulling the strings of the plot.  First of all, both Alison and Noah jump to the conclusion that Helen is pregnant when anybody with half a brain or anybody who has ever known 17 yr olds would immediately know the test was Whitney's.  And the story is starting to rely too much on the characters NOT saying things that need to be said and that probably would be said. 

 

Noah is such a fucking self-absorbed asshole, but I kind of think they went over the top with showing it in this ep.  Talk about piling it on, he fucks Alison in his marital bed; he dictates the wheres and hows of their affair, he refuses to take any advice from Max - who has already, presumably been through this himself - and he tells his wife of 20+ years that he wants out on the eve of their daughter's abortion.  Then to top it off, his attack on Scotty, which, I know, sets him up as a suspect in Scotty's death but still seemed ridiculously clumsy to me.  How much do they want us to hate Noah, because how ever much it is, I think most of us are there already.

 

Alison is such a complicated character that I do have sympathy for her.  I don't see Gabriel's death as a get out of jail card as some of you do; I just don't think that two years is long enough to have really dealt with a child's death, but on top of that, she hasn't been trying to.  She's just shut herself off.  I thought that sleeping with Oscar was the ultimate act of self-loathing and that push-pull is what makes her so interesting to me: she's self destructive enough to sleep with Oscar, cut herself and nearly commit suicide, but she's also able to pull herself together enough to know that she has to get out of Montauk and go through with it.  The scene with the doctor was just gut-wrenching.  But the shit with pouring out Helen's shampoo and fucking in Helen's bed are hostile and juvenile acts.  Honestly, at this point I can't tell if I like Alison or not, but I'm still hoping that she finds some kind of resolution and happiness eventually.  

 

What did Gabe die of?  I watched the scene twice but didn't understand what the doctor said.  And am I right in thinking the end was completely ambiguous?  

[Cirien]

Secondary drowning.

[Constantinople]

One thing I don't understand is how Cherry could have mortgaged the entire ranch without the signatures of all of the owners. If she did get the signature of all the owners, because she's the only owner, then Cole's "share" from any sale would be 0, and Alison's half of Cole's share would be 0.

Speaking of, Alison came off as a greedy, selfish bitch.

But Alison got as good as she gave in my opinion.  She went there because she was pissed that she wasn't going to be getting a big payoff in her half of Cole's share of whatever the ranch sold for.  She was pissed that she wasn't going to have the anticipated funds to go live out her fantasies with Noah.  So she wanted to throw in Cherry's face that she knew and was going to tell her sons and hurt her like she was hurting at the moment.  She tried to spin it that oh, the boys were making plans and she needed to tell them, but if that was her true concern, she would have went to Cole first.  Was she even going to tell him if he hadn't shown up when she was packing to leave?  Sure didn't seem that way.

 

So, no I didn't feel for her a bit when she started cutting and her breakdown in the doctor's office.  Alison is just as much of a f-ed up, awful, terrible person as anyone else on this show.  She just has "tragic death of a beloved child" as her trump and/or get-out-of-jail-free card.  She does just as many horrible, horrible things as anyone else, but then the show always brings it back to Gabriel.  I guess the show wants viewers to believe that she's doing these things because of the trauma of the death of her son, but I would need some proof that wasn't like this before he died.  I don't believe that anyone could be like this without having had such tendencies all along.

It's notable that she finally decides to pack up an leave for good once she realizes there's no pay day. Cole is better off without her. Noah's second novel better become a best seller soon if Noah expects Alison to stay with her.

[Indi]

Alison and Noah having sex: Too much ugly, ew!

 

Alison and Oscar having sex: I never thought I'd say this, but going from Noah to Oscar was a major upgrade for Alison.

 

Alison vs. Mama Lockhart: Cherry was cruel and unfair, but I don't know what Alison expected confronting a trapped lioness like that. Anyway, when Alison accused her of "lying all this time", I saw a major case of the pot calling the kettle black. She's also been lying to her husband all this time, waiting just long enough to grab half of his part of that sale and then dump him.

 

Helen vs. Noah: Maura Tierney was awesome in that scene. Noah continues to be a piece of shit.

 

Cole and Alison: Poor Cole believed her, when she told him she loved him. I hope he finds the strength to leave her, because she's not worth it.

 

The tragedy: It doesn't make Alison more likeable to me. It's horrible and nobody should go through that. I really felt for her, when she was reliving the death of her son. She's still despicable and I loathe her almost as much as I loathe Noah.

[blixie]

 

Alison is such a complicated character that I do have sympathy for her.  I don't see Gabriel's death as a get out of jail card as some of you do; I just don't think that two years is long enough to have really dealt with a child's death, but on top of that, she hasn't been trying to.  She's just shut herself off.  I thought that sleeping with Oscar was the ultimate act of self-loathing and that push-pull is what makes her so interesting to me: she's self destructive enough to sleep with Oscar, cut herself and nearly commit suicide, but she's also able to pull herself together enough to know that she has to get out of Montauk and go through with it.  The scene with the doctor was just gut-wrenching.  But the shit with pouring out Helen's shampoo and fucking in Helen's bed are hostile and juvenile acts.  Honestly, at this point I can't tell if I like Alison or not, but I'm still hoping that she finds some kind of resolution and happiness eventually.

 

I agree I still have ton of empathy for Allison, because she really hasn't blamed any of it ON Cole per se. They had a horrible tragic thing happen to them, and their marriage has been irreparably damanged and I think I see how both have contributed to that breakdown w/o either being really to blame it was this exterior thing that neither could adequately deal with, apart or together. I think going to  Helen's story, dumping the shampoo, wearing her fucking shirt (try one of HIS shirts maybe jesus). I think Allsion overall though is good person making bad choices. Helen and Cole are your basic imperfect spouses doing their best to make their relationship work. But Noah? I do not think Noah is  good person. I think he's a shit through and through. He's insufferably cowardly, he's been looking for a way out this life he doesn't want since before he met Allison, as we saw at the pool.

 

 

Alison and Oscar having sex: I never thought I'd say this, but going from Noah to Oscar was a major upgrade for Alison.

 

Right? That's how awful you are Noah. And it's my biggest problem with Allison that's she's hooked on him, but she's literally drowing in her own pain so...

 

But yeah I think at least Oscar sees her as a person, and they have weirdly familial history, she really treats him like a brother almost.

Edited December 15, 2014 by blixie