S02.E12: 212

[HumblePi]

 

• Incredible use of music throughout this episode--that never really struck me regarding any of the other episodes, but they really knocked it out of the park with this one.

   

I'm glad someone took note of the musical score, usually people don't notice the background music. My friend Marcelo Zarvos writes it for this and other series on HBO.

[Janc]

So when did Noah and Margaret get to be so chummy again they're toasting with Xanax and champagne?  That was out of the blue.  Should we think the Xanax plays any part of Noah's memory of events later that day? 

 

Also, how far after the accident is the trial taking place? Is it the following summer? I'll have to rewatch the flashforwards from season 1 during the detective questioning.

 

And really, the grand re-opening of Lockhart's Lobster Roll is in SEPTEMBER?  After all the summer traffic is gone? So they were closed down renovating during the busiest season?  Great planning there, business partners. 

[beaker73]

It was interesting, though, that in both hers and Noah's point of view, she really did seem to be over "that asshole in the Beemer." Even in her own telling, she was unhappy as soon as he honked that horn, and she wanted to stay in Montauk. But then, tragedy struck -- and suddenly Alison is all passion and neediness. Just like she was when she and Noah met. That is what's really holding them together, I think. Good thing the two of them live on a TV melodrama, so there will be no shortage of tragic events to reignite their love.

 

 

This got me thinking.  Through the whole episode, it was looking like the Noah/Alison relationship was on thin ice.  Then Scotty gets mowed down, and in Alison's POV, Noah comes back to the Lobster Roll and there's slow dancing, hugging, crying and a bunch of "I'm sorry's" and " I love you's."  What if Scotty never got killed? Would Noah and Alison even still be together? Is this the only reason they are together? 

 

And that dance scene with Noah & Alison made me feel like I need to get my hearing checked.  I could barely hear what they were saying.  Am I alone in this?  I had to watch this 3 times before I finally got it.  You did this on purpose, right, Treem?

It wasn't just you. I had to rewind and turn on the closed captioning to hear what they were saying.  Viewers shouldn't have to do that.

[Primetimer]

Both Noah and Alison reconnect with their exes at Cole's wedding and wonder: how might things have been if they had never had their titular affair? Certainly better than this season finale, one imagines.

Read the story

[taragel]

I thought this was a tremendous episode. I've been pretty neutral about Dominic West's performance overall (never watched The Wire, so no previous knowledge of him either) but I was struck for the first time in this finale by how good he was. I also really liked how they twisted the scene from S1 where the detective found the rock and that we finally get the significance of the damn rowboat planter. I thought it was very smart to preserve the twist of Alison seeing/pushing Scotty by having Noah look into the bushes in shock but then not showing us what he saw. I think he did see her/here her confession about pushing Scott.

 

There's so much to process I'm not sure where to start. But at the beginning, I was shocked by how friendly everyone was with each other at the wedding. Margaret asking to see baby photos? Noah saying he thought about going back to Helen frequently? Cole confiding his fears to Alison (though possibly they've grown closer now that they're business partners.) And how clear it was that Noah and Alison really no longer had much of a relationship (in both POVs). Noah taking care of Joanie all summer by himself (well, and the nanny) strains my credulity to be honest. 

 

I also thought it was funny that the million-dollar renovations made The Lobster Roll look like....The Lobster Roll. Right down to the diner-style booths. 

 

I have to admit, I uncharitably do not believe Scotty wanted to sleep with Alison. He's never ever given hints of that before, and I think that's Alison playing the victim again to make their fight justifiable in her mind. I also find it hard to believe the other events happened the way she recounts--her reveal of the paternity on the dance floor during that godawful song (How would Cole and Luisa just stand there listening to drunk Scotty singing? No way.), her being able to get to The End before Scotty did somehow magically. 

 

Everyone who called Helen driving was right! It's so contrived that she would even be attending honestly (why on earth would Margaret be paying for this wedding at the Lobster Roll? Makes no sense), but I guess they had to to set up Noah's self-sacrificing choice (great discussion above about this kind of dumb move appealing to his need to be a "great" man--spot on). Interesting that they redeemed him by pretty much throwing Alison under the bus, no? (No pun intended re: Scotty's SUV demise.) That reconciliation with Noah was ludicrous but made their relationship finally crystallize--they're simply bound together by fear and nothing more. Fear that they blew up their lives for nothing, fear now that they caused a man's death because of it and might be found out.

 

I wonder if they'll show us next season what happened directly after? If Noah actually went to Max's to wash off the blood? He didn't mention that in Alison's POV. I'm intrigued by where his "confession" takes us. Does he go to jail? Does Helen or Alison step forward to try to clear him? When will poor Cole ever find out about Joanie?

Edited December 21, 2015 by taragel

[Artsda]

That was a great finale!

 

Not that surprised it was Helen, it had to be someone other than Noah and the only ones he'd cover for would be someone he loved.

 

Does Helen not know what she did? Does she not get it? Because she throws money at the lawyer and is aware that this is her doing in some aspects then she's also willing to have Alison go down for the murder? Helen should be the one going to jail, she can't even take responsibility now she's just willing to let everyone else go to jail for her crime. While Alison did participate in the cover up along with Noah. It's Helen's crime.

 

I loved Alison and Cole's scenes and their renaming the Lobster Roll's the Lockhart's Lobster Roll. Noah admitting he never wanted Joanie. I wish Cole would find out soon, because he does actually want her.

[Skeeter22]

I hope season 3 is about the Lockharts' wrongful death lawsuit against Noah. If this series doesn't end with Cherry living in Noah and Alison' s apartment with "Master of the House" playing in the background, then why did I ever bother watching this nonsense?

Edited December 21, 2015 by Skeeter22

[GeminiDancer]

I think Treem did Cole a huge disservice all season long (it's clear that she didn't think too much about him), so I'm hoping that Season 3 will be about Cole finding out about Joanie and the repercussions of damaged trust between him and Alison. I'm most fascinated with his story because he's had to put up with Alison's constant self-victimization.

[Mama No Life]

Am I the only one who hates the recaps here?  I realize this series is flawed, but I choose to watch it and I choose to discuss it.  I wish they could find two people who don't hate watch every episode to recap it...

 

I thought it was an interesting finale.  I've been in the very situation Noah and Allison are in....wanting to make an affair more impt than it was to justify wrecking lives.  It's awful and painful and real.  I suppose that's why I've always enjoyed this show, as a kind of therapy.  I don't hate any of the characters....I see them as flawed, imperfect and real.

 

Margaret's turn around can be attributed to her divorce, I think. She said after her husband left her and she and Helen had it out that she had learned to let go and forgive.  The turnaround is almost startling, though....

[islandgal140]

Awww... nothing cements true love like manslaughter.

 

I have to bifurcate this episode into 2 stark like and not like categories.  I really liked the resolution of who killed Scotty (so glad it wasn't Whitney) and the murder trial, even Noah's stunning, audience gasping (seriously are those not the most comically vocal trial attendees ever!) courtroom confession. I really did not like any of the stuff surrounding Joanie's paternity reveal. I can believe that both Noah and Alison don't have the same recollection as to what Alison wore to the wedding or whether the bride and groom had traditional vs their own special vows but to have such wildly differing recollections of the circumstances surrounding giving and receiving such earth shattering, world alternating news? Nope. Not buying it! Than to have Noah come back to the party and declare undying love after the paternity reveal because they share this murder secret? Bitches please! If ever a couple deserved each other it was these two.

 

I do think this resolution makes Helen being so in Noah's corner and paying for his attorney make a lot more sense and I was glad she was doing it to cover her own ass as opposed to seeming to want craggy face back. In retrospect, Helen getting the Joanie's pacifier DNA testing looks seriously suspect but I can't hate because my ass is so over Allison at this point. 

 

One thing that finally got confirmed for me is that Alison is a bigger asshole than Noah.  Alison is just a weird ass chick. After the tragic loss of her son, I thought she would seem very engaged with her daughter. Please don't take this as anti-feminist and saying that Alison shouldn't pursue a career because it is not meant in that vein. AT. ALL. Also, not saying that one child can replace or supplant another. I was never really sure whether or not Alison was thrilled about her pregnancy. Perhaps I assumed given her S1 sad sack routine that she was or would be thrilled to have another but maybe looking back she didn't seem all that over the moon or excited about it.   I just think that after having Joanie, she just doesn't seem like much of a consideration to Alison. She drops out of school and instead of taking that as an opportunity to spend more time with her she leaves her in the care of a nanny and wonders the city for hours on end. Lying about still being in school also probably meant keeping up the pretense of studying so that is more time away. Doing this whole Lobster Roll thing without a thought as to how this will impact her family.

[quaintirene]

I'm pretty sure we saw the plain yellow dress of Noah's recollection in Series 1. Maybe she was wearing it when she meets Noah the first time alone and shows him the outdoor shower. I have this idea I've seen that dress before. Also, and I've noticed this before, Noah's recollections are more polished, the narrative is stronger, there are definite scenes and story arcs. I've always thought this is because he is writing everything n his head. The novel of his life. And in that novel of course Alison's confession is a proper set-piece scene for just the two of them with emotion and reaction rather than a spoken line in a crowd of people. So this suggests to me that Alison's reactions are likely to be more accurate.

Also I'm beginning to agree with the disgruntled ex-owner of The Lobster Roll. Alison may well be more heartless monster than wounded and fragile spirit.

Edited to add that I can't find that yellow dress anywhere so maybe I'm doing a Noah and conflating it with the yellow waitress dress she wears when Noah first sees her.

And on that topic, Helen always seems to notice what Alison wears and does comment. She told her in Season 1 that her dress was too tight when Alison was waitressing at the house party.

Edited December 21, 2015 by quaintirene

[preeya]

A very big let down. There is no way this case could have unfolded IRL as depicted by these writers.

 

Also, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I never want to see you again"

What the hell does that even mean?

Worst line I've heard in a very long time.

Edited December 21, 2015 by preeya

[nara]

Although I don't believe the House of the Rising Sun scene unfolded exactly as Alison remembered, I actually think it's realistic that Cole would do nothing while Scotty sang.  I have been at a couple of weddings at which someone sang something completely inappropriate and everyone just let the moment pass to avoid a conflict.  At least while Scotty was singing, he wasn't getting into a fight or drinking more.  It was uncomfortable, but Cole and Scotty beating each other up would have been much worse.

[HunterHunted]

I think it could be both. I could see him wanting to be seen as a great man who sacrificed his freedom for two women he loves and wants to protect. Makes for a nice Ascent.

This episode also restores Noah's original ending to Descent: a couple sits down with a terrible secret between them.

One way for Cherry to make some money so that she can stop working as a housekeeper: sue the rehab facility that let her son interrupt his program to attend an event that is notorious for family tensions and an open bar.

Unless Scotty was committed by a court, the rehab cannot keep Scotty there against his will. If he wanted to leave to go to Cole's wedding, they would have to let him go. If he wanted to leave to see The Force Awakens, they would have to let him go. If he wanted to leave to go score some cocaine, they would have to let him go. Making him stay there without a court order when he wants to leave is a crime.

[nara]

Am I the only one who hates the recaps here?  I realize this series is flawed, but I choose to watch it and I choose to discuss it.  I wish they could find two people who don't hate watch every episode to recap it...

 

The recappers were particularly bad this episode.  But it's easily solved--I'm going to stop reading their recaps. :)

[blixie]

 

At least while Scotty was singing, he wasn't getting into a fight or drinking more

 

But he was drinking "more" he had a glass of liquor that he took a sip from. I agree that Cole probably wouldn't have created a confrontation in the middle of the song, but in Alison's version both he and Luisa are happily swaying along to the performance seemingly totally unperturbed. NO.

[RedheadZombie]

Forgive me for weighing in when I said I wouldn't.  No one I know watches this show, and I'm dying to talk about it.

 

Why couldn't Noah just say that he was driving and leave Helen out of it. Seems like that would be the best thing to do and he wouldn't be choosing.

 

If you mean in the courtroom, that's what he did.  If you mean the night of the accident, he did everything to cover up the crime to protect Helen.  I think the hope was neither Helen nor Noah would be linked to the scene.

 

I enjoyed the fact that in Noah's POV the wedding vows were traditional, but in Alison's they were written by the bride and groom and were all about trust, fidelity, and letting each other follow his or her own dreams.  I didn't think it was actually likely that Noah would have mis-remembered the vows--he's a writer, after all, so words are important to him--but I still thought it was clever.

 

I actually thought it was the opposite.  Alison heard the vows correctly, and it triggered her guilt.  Noah could have cared less so he just remembered the vows as traditional.  I thought the personalized vows were true to the type of wedding they Cole and Luisa had.  But I think your version is just as likely.

 

I loved Helen and Noah's scenes together, they rang so true and made me root for them.  But I find Helen's statement "I have a DWI (spic)" quite unforgivable, if she could remember that in her drunken state, maybe she should have taken it a step further and said 'neither of us can drive, let's call a cab!'  But it makes sense that all three of them made horrible choices leading to this moment.  And Alison saying "why don't you just tell the truth..." was horrible, too.  Why don't YOU tell the truth, Alison?  Say that Scotty tried to rape you and you pushed him in front of a car in self-defense.  Does she think he should just pin it all on Helen, as if Alison played no role?  The two of them should not allow Noah to take the blame. 

 

Ultimately it was Noah's and Helen's decision to flee the scene - that's on them.  Alison calling the police that night would have gotten Helen and Noah arrested that night.  But even if the three of them all told the truth that very night, Helen was still the impaired driver who hit and killed a pedestrian.   I don't think Alison was trying to pin it on Helen.  Whereas we definitely saw that Helen tried to pin it on Alison.

 

Why drag Helen into this? That really made me sad. Poor Helen, first her husband cheats on her and leaves her, and now she's going to have to choose between confessing to a murder or the guilt of letting him rot in jail for her. What the hell did she do to deserve this? 

 

Mixed alcohol and marijuana, then had a car accident with her kids in the car.  Then this time she got behind the wheel and drove while drunk and distracted, tried to flee from the scene without even knowing what she ran over, then left the scene without calling the police.  Add in conspiring to determine Joanie wasn't Noah's in order to frame Alison for a murder that Helen knows was not pre-meditated, as well as actually being the driver who ran down Scotty.  The whole thing was a cluster fuck, but I think Helen carries the greater responsibility legally.

[truthaboutluv]

Noah saw Alison after the accident but only believes that she was witnessed Scotty's death. Not that she was in any way responsible for it, Because getting Alison to tell the truth about anything is like pulling teeth from an unwilling someone.

 

 

Interesting but that is very true. It is only in Alison's version that we see her saying that she pushed Scotty. Who knows how true that really is. Like I said, in my previous post, after this whole season and the truth about Joanie, nope sorry, I don't buy that Noah and Alison happily married for love and really decided they wanted to be with each other for the rest of their lives. I think back to the end of Season 1 when Noah was arrested and Alison kept saying, "you believe me right..." when she said she would get him out of it. Yeah something ain't right between those two.

 

Until I am told unequivocally from Noah's POV , I say there's something very fishy and wonky about those two's "marriage." And if Alison really didn't admit to pushing Scotty, it would make even more sense that Noah would not want her scapegoated because whatever circumstances led to their marriage or whatever he feels about her, he wouldn't want her accused of something in his mind, she didn't do. 

[RedheadZombie]

So when did Noah and Margaret get to be so chummy again they're toasting with Xanax and champagne?  That was out of the blue.  Should we think the Xanax plays any part of Noah's memory of events later that day? 

 

I'm assuming that's what we're supposed to assume, and that was the purpose of the Xanax scene.  Xanax really potentiates the effects of alcohol, and has an average half-life of eleven hours.  Noah would still have had a significant amount in his system.

 

This got me thinking.  Through the whole episode, it was looking like the Noah/Alison relationship was on thin ice.  Then Scotty gets mowed down, and in Alison's POV, Noah comes back to the Lobster Roll and there's slow dancing, hugging, crying and a bunch of "I'm sorry's" and " I love you's."  What if Scotty never got killed? Would Noah and Alison even still be together? Is this the only reason they are together? 

 

I think it's all the "what ifs" that make the show so interesting.  Would Alison and Cole still be together if Gabriel hadn't died?  Would Noah have had an affair if he never met Alison?  Would Noah and Helen still be together if Helen didn't allow Margaret to influence her, and/or Noah and Helen stood up to the Butlers?  Would Alison and Noah have gotten back together if Whitney hadn't run off to the Lockhart's that day?

 

I loved Alison and Cole's scenes and their renaming the Lobster Roll's the Lockhart's Lobster Roll. Noah admitting he never wanted Joanie. I wish Cole would find out soon, because he does actually want her.

 

I don't think Noah not wanting Joanie then is the same as him not wanting her now.  And Cole wanting a child with his wife is not the same as wanting one with his ex-wife.  Although I'm sure Cole will love and want her when someone finally does the second grade math for him.  I'm really curious if Luisa suspects but keeps quiet.

 

Back to Noah and Helen: if Noah had make a reservation at The End for that night, as he told Alison in his recollection, why does The End later have no record of it?  I'm more inclined to believe that Noah and Helen were heading there -- and not the Butler house -- to tryst. There's no record of a reservation because they never arrived.  

 

It came out last season that the reservation had been made and then cancelled.  I don't really buy that either Noah or Alison took the time to cancel while their lives were imploding, but supposedly someone did.  Doesn't mean that that wasn't where Noah/Helen were headed, of course.

 

I don't believe for a minute that the paternity news went down the way it did in Alison's POV. The whole thing was like some kind of sick nightmare, with Scotty wailing away onstage while glaring threateningly at everyone (as if Cole would have let him do that), the red lighting, the fog, Alison looking as if she was sleepwalking, etc

 

For some reason, I really bought that scene.  Scotty has always been coddled and babied in that family.  Cole had always been the protector and the fixer.  For his own mental health, Cole apparently cut off contact from the Lockhart's.  That doesn't mean he suddenly knows how to make boundaries, and that was shown in how he reacted to drunk raging Scotty at the auction.  Cole gave in, babied Scotty, and made promises he really had no intention of keeping.  I think Cole knew there would be a bigger scene if he tried to intervene with Scotty, and the Lockhart's were just pretending everything was normal (the ranch isn't failing, we're not the town drug dealers, Scotty didn't commit statutory rape) like they've consistently done.  I also think it happened because Scotty modified the lyrics of the song in a way that addressed the Lockhart dysfunction, and that didn't seem like something Alison would have added.

 

ETA:  I found this in keeping with Scotty's personality.  He's seizing the attention, attempting to evoke pity by mentioning his trip to rehab, and above all else - he's showing Cole that Scotty fell of the wagon, and it's all your fault!  It's very in keeping with an addict to blame his relapse on others, and use the relapse to punish loved ones.  And if he managed to trash and tarnish the Lockhart legacy with that song, then all the better. 

Edited December 21, 2015 by RedheadZombie

[918lux]

I'm still trying to digest everything I saw last night.  I definitely wonder why they didn't call the police and say that Alison (the sober one) had been driving with Noah in the passenger seat and Helen in the back.  They could have easily said they were dropping Helen off on their way to The End and crazy drunk Scotty wandered out in front of the car on a dark road. Easy fix...but then we wouldn't have the show.

 

The thing I loved the most (so far) was that the music when Helen and Noah were running in to the ocean was the same music used when Alison and Cole were together this season in Montauk.  It was a beautiful moment and I loved the tie ins with the original couples.   Something makes me think that it will all end up with Helen and Noah together Cole remaining with Louisa and Alison on the outside alone. 

[grumpypanda]

I'm still trying to digest everything I saw last night. I definitely wonder why they didn't call the police and say that Alison (the sober one) had been driving with Noah in the passenger seat and Helen in the back. They could have easily said they were dropping Helen off on their way to The End and crazy drunk Scotty wandered out in front of the car on a dark road. Easy fix...but then we wouldn't have the show.

That would have been the smart thing to do and they would have easily gotten away with it. I doubt there would have been much of an investigation given how drunk Scotty was.

The only possible problem would be Oscar overhearing Alison and Scotty 's conversation about the baby but that still wouldn't be enough evidence to bring murder charges.

I'm not sure that Alison would have gone a long with that plan though. She obviously has no problem with lying but I don't think she would cover for Helen.

[SlackerInc]

Am I the only one who hates the recaps here?  I realize this series is flawed, but I choose to watch it and I choose to discuss it.  I wish they could find two people who don't hate watch every episode to recap it...

I think I commented pretty early in the season that I also hated the recaps and stopped reading them. That was when I was still completely in the tank for this show. Now, I have done a 180 (or rather, I feel the show has) and I have totally soured on it, but I haven't gone back to reading the recaps to see how I would react to them now. I still think they would probably bug me because I know they hated the show when I still thought it was really good. What I would love to find is recappers or critics who similarly see it as having been a very well-made serious drama that subsequently went off the rails into soapy, OTT melodrama.

[blixie]

 

but I don't think she would cover for Helen.

 

But that is exactly what she's been doing. We're supposed to believe she feels guilty enough and legally compromised enough that she'd go along with Noah protecting Helen (I think we are supposed to buy this because she such passive character who goes with whatever flow comes along chronic infidelity, cocaine dealing, or vehicular manslaughter it's all the same to Alison!). In no universe was covering up Scotty's death better for Alison and her child who she apparently doesn't give two fucks about, than just going to the cops and saying my fiances drunk ex wife hit Scott Lockhart and then ran away. Bye bye bitches. When every single character involved has to willfully throw logic away in the ocean, than your storytelling sucks.

[grumpypanda]

I don't think Alison is going a long with the plan to cover up for Helen but to cover her own ass and to help Noah.

Of course Alison would have been better off telling the truth to begin with but she did push Scotty so maybe she thought the police would figure that out and she would be in trouble. I don't see how they would but Alison isn't exactly known for logical and rational thinking.

Even if Alison did come forward and tell the truth after they left the scene why would anyone believe her? Helen could always say the Noah or Alison were driving.

[Quiche]

I loved the season finale.  It was great.  They returned to the original format of doing both Noah's and Allison's POV.

While there was some good episodes showing the POV of Helen and Cole, throughout season two there was a lack of showing enough about the relationship of Noah and Allison.  It was like their relationship became marginalized.  I would not cut the POV segments for Cole or Helen.  But there was a lot of fat they could've cut out – such as spending so much time on Yvonne and Robert.  The worst part of season two was creepy Yvonne and Robert.

I love that the whole episode was back in Montauk.  I love that we can see the discrepancies between Noah's and Allison's recollections.  I also liked Scotty's scenes and especially him singing.

I'm glad that they put to rest the truth about the accident, killing Scotty, and about Allison's baby's paternity.  I'm glad Allison came clean with Noah.

The accident scenes were brilliant.  Essentially, no one was to blame, but both woman caused the accident.

It was interesting to see Noah and Allison dancing and holding on to each other in the next to the last scene.  The writers seem determined to demonstrate that they love each other.  It is a hard sell because they didn't emphasize their relationship very much throughout season two.

In response to some comments made above, Noah and Allison's relationship – in my opinion – did not wreck anyone's life.  Scotty's accident was just that – "an accident".  Both Helen and Cole went on with their lives and found other people.  It was the hardest on the children.

I did expect that Noah would confess, and take the blame for the accident.  I predict that both Helen and Allison will speak up to save him when we return in season three.

Edited December 21, 2015 by Quiche

[Former Nun]

The writers seem determined to demonstrate that they love each other.

 

 

I see more need and desperation.

[JenE4]

This got me thinking. Through the whole episode, it was looking like the Noah/Alison relationship was on thin ice. Then Scotty gets mowed down, and in Alison's POV, Noah comes back to the Lobster Roll and there's slow dancing, hugging, crying and a bunch of "I'm sorry's" and " I love you's." What if Scotty never got killed? Would Noah and Alison even still be together? Is this the only reason they are together?

.

In both of their recollections, it seems that the end was imminent even BEFORE Alison told Noah about Joanie. Noah wanted Alison to come home--or come to France--but Alison wanted to keep working year-round at The Lobster Roll 4 days a week. In Noah's memory it seemed particularly over after he found out about Joanie and he was definitely leaning toward going back to Helen. Heck, they even had a ready-made story to get rid of Helen's boyfriend with his job offer in Seattle (or wherever). Yet, I don't think Noah ran back to the Lobster Roll to get back together with Alison. Just like Alison clearing dishes and small talking with the other waitress about their long night cleaning dishes to establish an alibi that she was always there, Noah, too, ran back and said let's dance in the middle of this crowd so everyone sees I'm here with you. (Though in his memory he was apparently gone throughout the entire reception, yet he was there most of the night in Alison's.) but, yeah, I think it turned into an OMG, let's get through this together, but I don't think he was running back to Alison.

Yet, he did protect her by not letting Helen know she was there. I had predicted Helen hitting Scotty and that's why she was adamant about paying for Noah's defense. But, wow, what a great twist with BOTH women playing a part and Noah taking the guilt to protect them both! Now suddenly Helen is coming off as the jerky one. Both Alison and Noah are protecting Helen, and yet Helen is trying to pin the blame on Alison--without even knowing that Alison is partially culpable! It seemed to me that maybe Helen was feeling "over" Noah and that's why she and her mom were being chummy with him. But now after having this evening with him, the feelings are rekindled on both sides, and maybe she feels like if she can get rid of Alison, they could be together. Yet, Dr. Tinder is still around and they're off on safari, so maybe she is happy without Noah.

Yet, Alison and Cole also had that tender moment, so maybe all of this is to show that the love is still there among all of them, even though they do move on. I do think Alison was going to tell Cole that Joanie was his, and that's why she knew she has to tell Noah first. But I guess now that Noah and Alison have this "unspeakable secret" between them about Scotty, they decided to make Joanie another one.

[racked]

I'm still trying to digest everything I saw last night.  I definitely wonder why they didn't call the police and say that Alison (the sober one) had been driving with Noah in the passenger seat and Helen in the back.  They could have easily said they were dropping Helen off on their way to The End and crazy drunk Scotty wandered out in front of the car on a dark road. Easy fix...but then we wouldn't have the show.

Ooh yes that would have been the smartest thing to do. Even if they didn't think of that, I don't understand why they'd take a chance with Noah being charged with what seems like murder (?) versus Helen being charged with, at most, leaving the scene of an accident, which sadly is almost never prosecuted in New York.

[izabella]

The writers seem determined to demonstrate that they love each other.

 

 

I thought they went out of their way this season to show how much they really don't love each other, and are working against each other.

 

Noah not telling Allison that his divorce was final, Noah almost cheating except that his assistant turned him down and the Whitney fiasco, Noah not wanting the baby he believed was his, Noah wanting to run away to France and bang every woman who would have him - where's the love?  Allison cheating and lying about the baby's paternity, Allison lying to Noah about her classes, Allison wanting to be in Montauk without Noah or her baby...where's the love for Noah?

[CleoCaesar]

Holy shit, what a finale. The twists just kept on coming. Noah and Helen just spark together in ways that he and Alison never did. I thought it was bitterly poetic that Noah had the chance to "repair" his affair mistake by throwing Alison under the bus and return to Helen, but he sacrificed himself instead.

 

Man can the actor playing Scotty sing or what. He looks like Don Draper Lite.

 

Here's hoping Cole and Luisa get custody of Joanie and never have to see any of those toxic people again.

[40Love]

I'm still trying to digest everything I saw last night.  I definitely wonder why they didn't call the police and say that Alison (the sober one) had been driving with Noah in the passenger seat and Helen in the back.  They could have easily said they were dropping Helen off on their way to The End and crazy drunk Scotty wandered out in front of the car on a dark road. Easy fix...but then we wouldn't have the show.

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. They could have even come forward the next day when the news of Scotty's death was reported. They could have just said "Hey, we thought we hit a deer and kept going... had no idea we hit a person. Oops, so sorry about that". Sure the cops would have given them the side-eye. But, if the booze was out of their system by then... they probably could have gotten away with it. 

 

But, like you said then there would be no show. Plus, no one was really thinking clearly that night. Helen and Noah both were high as a kite and Allison was totally freaking out that she had just literally thrown someone under a moving "bus"... and that person died. Allison and Helen both went into self-preservation mode. Allison immediately fled to the bushes... and Helen didn't even want to stop to check on what was hit... desperately trying to convince Noah it was just a deer. 

 

And I'm with the poster who says they don't believe Allison's version that Scotty was trying to molest her. I think he made one too many drunken, hyped-up threats and Allison just snapped and pushed his irritating ass into the road when she saw the car coming. 

 

In any case, Noah should just stopped his lawyer from calling the cop and said "Look I want to make a plea bargain... can we stop this? I just want to confess!"  I didn't watch this show from the beginning... but I'm fully on board now and looking forward to Season 3.

[Quiche]

I thought they went out of their way this season to show how much they really don't love each other, and are working against each other.

 

Noah not telling Allison that his divorce was final, Noah almost cheating except that his assistant turned him down and the Whitney fiasco, Noah not wanting the baby he believed was his, Noah wanting to run away to France and bang every woman who would have him - where's the love?  Allison cheating and lying about the baby's paternity, Allison lying to Noah about her classes, Allison wanting to be in Montauk without Noah or her baby...where's the love for Noah?

 

I am going to watch again, since I like this episode so much.  But my impression was that they still loved each other.  It is not an easy love and has a lot of kinks to it.  It is imperfect, but that's what makes it so realistic.

Edited December 21, 2015 by Quiche

[scrb]

OK, don't Helen and Noah get drunk on the beach before they get into the car because he's sobbing to her about how Joanie is not his, Alison slept with Cole?

 

So why would in the present Alison need to steal the pacifier?  She presumably knows and when the lawyer told her to get DNA evidence, he was working from the theory that Scotty was the father.

 

But Helen could have told the lawyer it's Cole who's the father and the pacifier would just confirm it.

 

How did the lawyer get Scotty and Cole's DNA?

[GeminiDancer]

 

OK, don't Helen and Noah get drunk on the beach before they get into the car because he's sobbing to her about how Joanie is not his, Alison slept with Cole?

 

Noah didn't tell her that Joanie wasn't his daughter, just that he didn't want to have her because he felt Alison trapped him.

 

 

How did the lawyer get Scotty and Cole's DNA?

 

There would be DNA all over the the front of his car, plus I imagine that it's easy to get blood samples or something.

[cardigirl]

If anything, this season felt like the ending of Descent coming to fruition - the man realizing that this woman he blew up his family and life for wasn't who he thought she was and wasn't worth it and in the end, in a fit of anger and bitterness, he kills her. I don't think the killing Alison part will happen but I have a feeling the show will end on the original ending Noah had - the couple sitting down quietly to dinner with this big secret between them. Basically in my opinion, I think The Affair is really a tragedy. This isn't a love story but a Shakespearean tragedy of how one decision can change the course of so many lives. 

Yeah, I believe that's a "smoking gun" that will come to fruition somehow.  

[chick binewski]

My favorite part of this episode was the scenes between Noah and Helen. The two actors have great chemistry together and they make me believe that they have a history and still feel a lot of love for each other even though they aren't necessarily meant to be a couple.

Agreed. Maybe it's my undying Tierney love and the fact that Noah is Noah but I perceive those scenes as Helen experiencing nostalgia and Noah just plain pining for what he blew to pieces. And Noah, there was no "I could have cheated on you but I didn't because I'm awesome". There was your publicist leaving you high and dry after a getting-the-clothes-off make out session. Then there was you setting up anther tryst with same publicist. Which was only interrupted by you thinking you could score a hot tub threesome with two teenaged girls. One of whom was your daughter. Shut up, Noah.

 

I HATE that Helen was the driver. But I hate the plot contrivance of Helen's attendance at the wedding even more. However, Margaret is the kind of gal I love to get seated next to at weddings. Passing out the Xanax and cheerfully asking her ex son-in-law to show pictures of his baby, more than likely to confirm the kid looks nothing like Noah. Kathleen Chalfant rocks.

[ScoobieDoobs]

OK, I admit it, I do read recaps, unlike some said earlier in this thread.  Some of the recaps are pretty good & some are dumb as hell & some are too taken over by Noah-hate.  

 

I stopped reading the recaps in The Observer cuz I think they're just so off-base.  Anyhoo, while I won't link to it, I do like the title of the recap from The Observer dudes -- ‘The Affair’ Season 2 Finale Recap: Treem Me Up, Scotty.  Catchy, eh?  

 

Now, The Observer recappers say Helen & Noah had "drunk ocean sex".  Um, what?  Seriously, what?  Did they cook this crap up themselves?  Cuz I didn't see this.  Er, do I need to watch this finale 800 more times (or play it backwards) to catch this?

 

Hey, will Scotty come back next season as ghostie Scotty, singing another haunting song in Alison's POV's?

Edited December 22, 2015 by ScoobieDoobs

[cardigirl]

How did the lawyer get Scotty and Cole's DNA?

He didn't have Cole's.  He just knew that Noah wasn't the father and that Scotty was related.  Noah told him that Joanie was Cole's.

[Ellaria]

I wonder if they'll show us next season what happened directly after? If Noah actually went to Max's to wash off the blood? He didn't mention that in Alison's POV. I'm intrigued by where his "confession" takes us. Does he go to jail? Does Helen or Alison step forward to try to clear him? When will poor Cole ever find out about Joanie?

 

That's an interesting question: where does this pickup next season? We've seen significant time jumps this season but I don't think that can happen in the S3 premiere. The closing moments of the finale have to be addressed quickly in order to set-up the next arc of this story. It has to go back to the trial or its immediate after-effects. Super Lawyer Gottlief will make sure that Noah doesn't go to prison thru some TV-only legal maneuvers. Helen and/or Alison will not step forward. S3 will have these characters trying to deal with the fall-out of their actions and their destructive, irresponsible choices.

 

Seems anti-climatic to have Cole find out about Joanie next season but that's where we are. I am honestly no longer interested in that story line. 

[grommit2]

Oh boy...good episode.  Turned out EXACTLY how I predicted.  

 

Everybody could get off if Alison 'fessed up and said she pushed Scotty off her.  That would free Helen from  being guilty.  The only crime is not telling the truth about exactly what happened: obstructing justice. 

 

Now, the only downer in this episode is that there was no Whitney...my favorite bratty, annoying, disgruntled, know-it-all teen. 

[Anne Elk]

It's a sign of how contrived this ending was that they've left themselves nowhere to go next year. They're not going to turn this into a prison drama, so even though Noah just confessed to murder in a courtroom, they'll have to get him out on appeal or something. But then what? Meanwhile, Alison will be living in NYC and doing ... what? In the interest of making Noah into a self-sacrificing hero, they just turned Helen into a mustache-twirling villain who would not only run a guy over and ignore his body lying in the middle of the road, but try to pin the blame on Alison, who as far as she knows wasn't even there. And since no one plans on telling Cole about Joanie, and Alison will not be in Montauk, there's no longer any reason for him to interact with any of these people at all. 

 

I'm sure they will come up with some more preposterous legal wrangling or something to keep the show going, but honestly, it's contrived. I'll still watch it, because I like the show and don't care how contrived it is, but there's no denying it.

Edited December 21, 2015 by Anne Elk

[Adultosaurus]

Like The Knick, I think this show just gave us an ending that would suffice as a serial end as well as a season end.

[Former Nun]

How did the lawyer get Scotty and Cole's DNA?

 

 

Cole's?  Easy...subpoena.

[JennyMominFL]

It's a sign of how contrived this ending was that they've left themselves nowhere to go next year. They're not going to turn this into a prison drama, so even though Noah just confessed to murder in a courtroom, they'll have to get him out on appeal or something. 

I think they will be  forced to declare a mistrial, and then the will decline to retry, due to new info

[cardigirl]

OK, don't Helen and Noah get drunk on the beach before they get into the car because he's sobbing to her about how Joanie is not his, Alison slept with Cole?

 

So why would in the present Alison need to steal the pacifier?  She presumably knows and when the lawyer told her to get DNA evidence, he was working from the theory that Scotty was the father.

 

But Helen could have told the lawyer it's Cole who's the father and the pacifier would just confirm it.

 

How did the lawyer get Scotty and Cole's DNA?

That's why I thought that maybe Helen and Noah were pulling a long con on Alison.  The lawyer didn't know about the baby not being Noah's, so Helen plants the idea that Alison had something to lose, to create doubt in the jury's mind.  And Noah is done with Alison, but pretending to be protecting her...

It doesn't make sense that all 3 know the same thing.  Helen knows about Joanie, but doest Alison know that Helen knows?  Helen knows that Noah was breaking up with Alison.  But does Alison know?    It seems that maybe Noah has more secrets to keep from everyone.  

 

Still mad that they involved Helen at all.  Phooey.  

[kissmekate]

Am I the only one who hates the recaps here?  I realize this series is flawed, but I choose to watch it and I choose to discuss it.  I wish they could find two people who don't hate watch every episode to recap it...

I agree.   Their reviews are not informative and consist of bashing a pretty good show.

[Cirien]

This got me thinking.  Through the whole episode, it was looking like the Noah/Alison relationship was on thin ice.  Then Scotty gets mowed down, and in Alison's POV, Noah comes back to the Lobster Roll and there's slow dancing, hugging, crying and a bunch of "I'm sorry's" and " I love you's."  What if Scotty never got killed? Would Noah and Alison even still be together? Is this the only reason they are together? 

 

It wasn't just you. I had to rewind and turn on the closed captioning to hear what they were saying.  Viewers shouldn't have to do that.

Maybe. Their relationship started via secrets and the need to hide something, then when Noah and Allison were in a stable relationship they started to fall out of love with each other. Noah seemed to be recapturing that chemistry with ex wife . Then this happened.  I don't know on some level I think Noah and Allison get off on doing something underhand or something that goes against the norm. This may be an extension of it. He didn't look like a  man in love when he looked back at Allison at the end of the ep

[Constantinople]

Hey, will Scotty come back next season as ghostie Scotty, singing another haunting song in Alison's POV's?

 

Scotty & Gabriel will sing a duet during a huge rainstorm.

[LibertarianSlut]

One way for Cherry to make some money so that she can stop working as a housekeeper: sue the rehab facility that let her son interrupt his program to attend an event that is notorious for family tensions and an open bar.

 

Rehab, even while court-mandated (which it apparently wasn't in this case), is always voluntary. People are free to sign out at any time, and if someone breaks the rules, the rehab can discharge them immediately. If Scotty had been in a psych ward under a 72 hour hold, maybe this idea could hold some weight, but would Cherry really have standing to sue for wrongful death? (I ask because I honestly don't know. I'm a member of the New York bar, so I should know, but I'm a member of another state's bar as well, and the statutes kind of a blend together years after taking the bars).

 

What I don't understand is why Noah and Helen were on the road to The End, rather than the Butler house.

Don't take this to the bank because it's been about 15 years since I've been out to Montauk, but it is a skinny hamlet on the very tip of the south fork of Long Island, and there really is only one major road--route 27--to travel east and west. And I do believe the road they were driving on was route 27 aka Montauk Highway, because of the likeness to it portrayed in the show.

The 11th Hour Confession (!!!) -- Noah, you dolt, why didn't you just let Gottlief point all the evidence in the world toward Alison, get acquitted, and THEN confess, along with getting Helen to artificially corroborate your story (because a confession alone isn't dispositive of guilt in the eyes of the law)?? Noah wouldn't be in any trouble because of double jeopardy, and even if the state went after Alison, Noah's confession and Helen's corroboration would be enough to establish reasonable doubt in her case. (Noah would just have to be damn sure neither the Feds nor the army could go after him for this incident before confessing. Helen's payment for Gottlieb's services could probably get him to clear this up for Noah in less than a day).

[Direwolf]

Everyone who called Helen driving was right! It's so contrived that she would even be attending honestly (why on earth would Margaret be paying for this wedding at the Lobster Roll? Makes no sense), but I guess they had to to set up Noah's self-sacrificing choice (great discussion above about this kind of dumb move appealing to his need to be a "great" man--spot on). Interesting that they redeemed him by pretty much throwing Alison under the bus, no? (No pun intended re: Scotty's SUV demise.) That reconciliation with Noah was ludicrous but made their relationship finally crystallize--they're simply bound together by fear and nothing more. Fear that they blew up their lives for nothing, fear now that they caused a man's death because of it and might be found out.

 

Margaret offered to have the wedding at her house as a favor for Luisa's mom working for the Butlers for over 30 years. Luisa and Cole declined the offer, so I am assuming Margaret did the next best thing and offered to pay for everything at a different venue.

 

Helen accompanied Margaret earlier in the season to a gala (Max was there as well). Its plausible that Helen is her date for other events, including weddings.