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S03.E01: Episode 1


AmandaPanda
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I missed having the other point of views. Noah and Alison's POVs never interest me alone. I like to the compare and contrast their perspectives with Cole/Helen or, at the very least, each other. Not the best episode but I still want to know what happens and how the characters got to where they are in the present. Helen looked very pathetic in this episode but I'm hoping it was just Noah's perspective coloring her character.

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Did they ever reveal who was the father of Alison's baby? I remember Helen taking the pacifier but I don't remember if they revealed the results. 

 

Edited to add ..... ok, I just saw the episode 2 preview and it pretty much answered my main question. But did they do the reveal in court or was it in person with those involved? I am drawing a blank.

Edited by HollyG
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14 hours ago, HollyG said:

Did they ever reveal who was the father of Alison's baby? I remember Helen taking the pacifier but I don't remember if they revealed the results. 

Edited to add ..... ok, I just saw the episode 2 preview and it pretty much answered my main question. But did they do the reveal in court or was it in person with those involved? I am drawing a blank.

Attorney Toby told Noah that Noah did not father Joanie, which Noah already knew. It was my belief Alison always knew Joanie was Cole's child. 

A Noah-centric episode is a tough watch and the premiere didn't give me high hopes for the season, but I thought the final scene was a dream. Is attaching Noah to a terrorizing prison guard supposed to make him more sympathetic? Because between Negan, Outlander and the presidential election I am not enjoying brutalizer as Plot Device.

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Note to writers:  Want to save the season?  Give us more Whitney!  Yes...I need more whiny, uber-privileged, self-centered teenagers, and Whitney is the best.  ;>  Martin is cliche...the disgruntled, sullen, silent teen.  That's easy to play:  there are several in my neighborhood (according to their parents). 

How will the disgruntled kiddies (Whitney, Martin, Trevor) and the adults (Cole, his new wife Luisa, Helen's parents, et al) react when they find out that Noah was NOT the driver and gallantly (?) protected both Helen (the actual inebriated driver) and Alison (who shoved Scott into the path of the oncoming vehicle)?

Is Noah teaching at Princeton?  It did not look like Rutgers, although that would have been the better choice (see "Live Free or Die Hard"). 

What happened with that drug trafficking business out on Montauk?

Will Detective Jeffries somehow come to Noah's defense?

And remind me:  why was Alison walking on the road, in the woods on that fateful night?   

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I was very bored.   My only curiosity was where were Noah's college scenes filmed, wasn't Princeton as far as I know from two visits.  An all Noah POV is just not interesting.  That dinner scene was so lengthy and clunky.   There are so many plotlines and characters to pursue the last thing I need is to hear college discussions on "no means no."  

Anxious to get more of Maura Tierney and Ruth Wilson.   

Edited by weaver
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All I could think re the college was Seton Hall. The sister (I refuse to learn her name until she fixes her highlights) said it was a "good" school, but I'm thinking Rutgers & Princeton would probably have the same opinion of Noah that most of us share. As far as where they're actually filming - I'm guessing a Westchester college? 

@grommit2 I just re-watched most of season 2 and I still can't reconcile both Alison and Scotty's location on the road along with Helen & Noah's drive (in Alison's POV she takes off after fighting with Scotty & whispering Joanie's parentage to Noah). Since Alison is the most unreliable narrator ever, I'm hoping something else is revealed (I would welcome Dead Scotty as a new POV if it means spending less time listening to Noah's theories on sexual behavior). Also, I think Whitney is getting a good chunk of story this season to brat her way through:

Spoiler

Jonathan Cake is playing a recurring role as her boss/love interest

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I just watched, WTF was that ending about?  I mean is Noah dead?  How did that happen?  Was it a ghost, a Ninja?  I'm watching and then Noah suddenly starts bleeding and I'm like "huh?"  Was it the guard, or maybe Cole?  Maybe that's how this show will end, with Cole going to jail for killing Noah.  Now THAT would be interesting, especially since I never liked Cole.

I think the problem with this show is that once we found out what the big "murder" was about, I was thinking WTF?  I mean that wasn't even a murder really.  Why didn't the ME autopsy Scotty's body and see that he was drunk out of his mind, and figure; drunk guy gets hit by a car and killed....I'm sure shit like that happens often, doesn't sound like you need Sherlock Holmes for that one.

I'm going to have an issue with the whole "brutal prison guard" trope.  The truth is that most people are in corrections because it's a state job with benefits and a pension.  The husband of a very good friend (who recently died) is a state corrections officer, and that was exactly why he was there; I watch the A&E show "Behind Bars:  Rookie Year" many of those young people are screed shitless in those jobs, but they are doing it for the benefits.   When I saw the prison guard I was like, "they're really going to go there," and shook my head.  I don't think I'm going to watch this season, at least I won't watch it live.

Edited by Neurochick
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I thought it was more than likely that Noah has some type of PTSD from his time in prison. It's clear something happened to him in there that's messed him up very badly and has to do with this guard he keeps seeing. It would also explain his shift in feelings towards Helen. The flashback of Helen visiting him when it  looked like he'd just been imprisoned had him trying to be positive and more importantly he was warm and comforting towards her. He sort of makes light of the whole thing, is convinced he wouldn't be kept in jail for the whole three years and when Helen talks about them, he tells her to wait, sort of suggesting that there was some unresolved feelings between them. 

Flash forward to post prison and he's hard and angry with her and gives the impression of wanting nothing to do with her. I think despite his belief that he'd likely be out quickly, maybe for good behavior and being a first time offender, being locked up for three years and then whatever trauma he experienced really hardened him, especially because Helen's the one who hit Scotty. 

I can definitely see why some didn't love the episode because honestly, Noah has always been my least favorite character and the POV I've always had the least interest in. Plus, I was looking forward to getting a sense of what was happening with either Helen or Alison or Cole. But that said, I actually did enjoy the episode. It was depressing as hell but still interesting.

I do think the dinner scene with the obnoxious students went on a little too long because they were all so annoyingly pretentious and the whole thing came across incredibly fake and forced. Also, if I ever needed more proof that the writers read the boards, the student bringing up the scene with Alison and Noah and whether or not it had rape undertones, was definitely it. 

Edited by truthaboutluv
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I've never been a Noah fan, but I enjoyed him this episode, so of course he maybe died.  A real highlight for me was his student lecturing him about never feeling safe anywhere because she's a woman but being completely oblivious to the fact that Noah seems to be suffering from PTSD from some kind of trauma that he suffered in prison and/or was being stalked and actually knew what it is like to literally not be safe anywhere. 

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On 11/14/2016 at 11:12 AM, chick binewski said:

Attorney Toby told Noah that Noah did not father Joanie, which Noah already knew. It was my belief Alison always knew Joanie was Cole's child. 

A Noah-centric episode is a tough watch and the premiere didn't give me high hopes for the season, but I thought the final scene was a dream. Is attaching Noah to a terrorizing prison guard supposed to make him more sympathetic? Because between Negan, Outlander and the presidential election I am not enjoying brutalizer as Plot Device.

I completely agree with you. I took Walking Dead off my DVR and I haven't watched the news for over a week. I need a long break from the real world brutality as well as the fictional TV kind.

I really love the show, but I didn't really enjoy the solo Noah episode, but maybe after a few more episodes l will get into it again.

Thanks for reminding me about Noah and the baby reveal.

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I didn't love the Noah-only POV either. It was very slow and a lot of emphasis on characters I expect won't be prominent past this episode. Helen came off very desperate this episode. Probably Noah's POV, but then she's always been pining for him in her point of views, too. Is the doctor still in the picture? I can't remember if I saw him in the season previews. Don't know what to think of the ending. Definitely not enough to get me to subscribe to showtime now, I'll wait til Homeland comes out in January and catch up then. 

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Damn, when I read that Brendan Frasier would have a recurring role this season, I thought it would be as a love interest for Helen or Alison, not as a murderous prison guard (hallucination). I'm not sure I believe that Noah is really dead. If he is, then all of his upcoming scenes would be prison flashbacks, no? Right before he heard noises he was washing a knife with his bare hands - perhaps he cut himself, touched his neck/shoulder (he seems to have chronic pain in that area based on the pills and the way he keeps touching it) and that's how he got blood on his shirt. Then he passed out at the sight of the blood and thought someone had slashed him.

I would have preferred a second POV this episode, but I like the new "dark" Noah. He got so insufferably smug last season, hanging out with the literati, living in the $$$$$ Manhattan apartment, whining to Cynthia Nixon about wanting to be a great man rather than a good man, almost hitting on his own daughter at the Hamptons party, so it's nice to see him humbled. Of course even "humbled" Noah gets to have a hot French literature professor hitting on him.

Is that a new actress playing Stacey? I guess they needed to swap her out because of the time jump, but then Martin and Trevor still look pretty much the same after supposedly three years. I wish Whitney had also been at the funeral.

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But that was a hell of a lot of blood. It was GUSHING out and the shot of him on the floor played for several extended seconds. I think he has to be pretty seriously injured at the very least...unless it's a hallucination. Honestly though I think he should be dead based on the way that blood was pumping out, but...then there'd be no need for that new professor and Sarah Ramos to be on for the rest of the season.

ETA: Hmm. This interview with West has a slight spoiler on what happens next with Noah.

Edited by taragel
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I know Irene Jacob is a critically acclaimed actress, but I couldn't stand her in the first episode.  She seemed so loudly on-point about everything and everyone that she came off as smug to me.  Also, I couldn't stop thinking "Isn't this supposed to be the Juliette Binoche part?" 

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On 11/19/2016 at 3:49 PM, jrlr said:

I know Irene Jacob is a critically acclaimed actress, but I couldn't stand her in the first episode.  She seemed so loudly on-point about everything and everyone that she came off as smug to me.  Also, I couldn't stop thinking "Isn't this supposed to be the Juliette Binoche part?" 

Yeah, I can't with her. And I'm always thinking 'isn't that supposed to be Julia Ormond's part?'!

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That self-righteous college girl screaming about consent and berating everyone who dares to disagree with her black-and-white views was painfully accurate. They really captured the current climate on college campuses, and the French prof did a nice summary of how coddled college students are now and how afraid everyone is to be pushed out of their safe spaces.

What a dull episode. I watched the season 2 marathon today and every episode was so tense and well plotted. This was just a snooze.

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On 11/18/2016 at 4:27 AM, chocolatine said:

Damn, when I read that Brendan Frasier would have a recurring role this season, I thought it would be as a love interest for Helen or Alison, not as a murderous prison guard (hallucination).

When I read he'd be appearing, my first thought was, "How are they going to conceal his baldness?" Answer: a prison guard hat! 

My suspicion is that it'll be revealed that Noah was a victim of some sort of sexual violence at the hands of Brendan Fraser and his hat hence the clumsy telegraphing via the roundtable dinner discussion at the French prof's house. 

I surely hope Helen didn't wait around for three years for Noah's dumb ass. 

And once again, I am awestruck at Dominic West's terrible acting and unnervingly large face. 

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There was a "Part I - Noah", wasn't there? I obviously did not find the episode boring, because when I checked to time to see if we were close to Part Two, I was already 45 min in.

I liked that we got glimpses of things to come, which have taken place in the past, similar to previous seasons. I liked seeing Nina again, missed Whitney, didn't miss Alison, not sure yet about the new characters.

Interesting to me were the scenes that were like negative images of what we saw in previous seasons. Noah the weird teacher vs. Noah the great teacher adored by all, depressing new digs vs. ridiculously huge and expensive place, PTSD and fear vs. arrogance and certainty of being/doing right, loneliness at the funeral vs. being the star at the party, etc. etc.

Of course, this is Noah's point of view, and he's a man of extremes, so if it's not all good it is all dark and horrible - which is why I'm very curious about what other points of view will be. I have a strong feeling that the French teacher or the student do not have the same recollection of their scenes together. 

Overall, I'm mostly glad the show is back and looking forward to this new season.  

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I would love it if they killed off Noah - one of the most useless characters on television - but I cant imagine we're that lucky.

This show has become a parody of itself, with Noah (despite being a convicted killer) landing a job at an elite university where the students are hellbent on discussing whether his sex life has been ethical - and of course meeting another alluring woman who finds him fascinating. However, if we see from another POV that she had no interest in him whatsoever, I'll withdraw that criticism.

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So, was the guy in the wine store the prison guard or not?  I'm curious to know if Noah is just being paranoid/has PSTD or if a prison guard actually stalking him.  I can't really think of a reason why that would be.  Blackmail?

I definitely think that the prison guard was not the one who stabbed Noah.  That would be too easy.  I guess who stabbed him is the central mystery of the season.

Interesting to see Noah is still hung up on Alison.  He had her picture up while he was in prison and then of course, the phone call.  I'd like to know why Alison doesn't want him to contact her since his lie included protecting her as well as Helen, from her POV.  I get it if she wants to break it off with him, but no contact at all?   

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Interesting to see Noah is still hung up on Alison.  He had her picture up while he was in prison and then of course, the phone call.  I'd like to know why Alison doesn't want him to contact her since his lie included protecting her as well as Helen, from her POV.

Alison wouldn't see Noah as protecting her as well as Helen. I may be wrong, but I don't think Noah knows Alison shoved Scotty into the road. I think he just believes she was there and saw when Helen ran him down. Because in Noah's POV of the accident, we just see him get out of the car and as he's freaking out about Scotty, notices Alison hiding in the bushes. It's Alison's POV that shows that she shoved Scotty.

Therefore, Alison may have viewed Noah's actions as protecting Helen and she's pissed that he was willing to leave her and Joanie I guess, since he was still raising her, even if he knew she was Cole's, to take the fall for Helen. Remember in the last episode, before Noah confesses, Alison tells him to just say what happened, when they're standing outside the court room. 

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The season premiere was kind of dull. I was able to focus a little more on that low background music that runs throughout, my friend Marcelo Zarvos is responsible for that. Composing scores for HBO doesn't really bring much attention to the music at all but it's not supposed to, it's just supposed to be 'there' to add suspense or drama to a scene. Other than that, I was a little disturbed by the middle-aged-spread that's taken over Brenden Fraser's body. I assume we'll be seeing flashbacks of Noah and the guard and bad stuff happening that causes Noah PTSD.  We'll find out soon enough I'm sure. I just need some Allison and Cole back.

I'm hoping that this season won't involve so many flash backwards, flash forwards and I think there was even a few flash upside downs in last season. That gets distracting when it's overdone.

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On ‎11‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 1:00 PM, ApathyMonger said:

Not the best episode, but I'll keep watching.

It took me ages to realize where I knew the student Noah went off on from: Sarah Ramos from Parenthood! I don't think I've seen her in anything else besides a Drunk History a few weeks ago.

Ugh.  Yes.  And she was just as self-righteous, annoying, and smug here as she was as Haddie.  I mean, yeah, yeah, Noah was a shit to her in class and she didn't deserve his tirade.  But still.  She bugs. 

Of course, so does Noah.  So all of their scenes together were quite unpleasant (for me).

On ‎11‎/‎15‎/‎2016 at 3:28 PM, heatherchandler said:

Oh dear GOD that was BORING.  I was so excited to watch.  What happened to this show?  It used to be one of my favorites.

Indeed it was.  Well, until the last 60 seconds or so.  I'm hoping it gets more interesting now that we've got the Noah's POV episode out of the way.  But now I wonder... are going to just focus on one character for every episode this season?  It would seem so, based on this episode.  That would be too bad, because I really dug the multiple POVs that they've done in the past. 

I had NO idea that was Brendan Fraser until I saw the credits roll.  Whoa.  I think I need to go watch School Ties to cleanse my eye palate.

Edited by Duke2801
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I'm confused.  Was Noah seeing visions of his father's ghost or visions of the prison guard?  I had assumed throughout the entire episode it was his father's ghost, but I have no frame of reference what his father looked/dressed like.  I don't remember the character at all from past seasons.

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Madame Eau So Franch really bugged me.... she was such a cliche!  I hated the dinner scene, with the students debating consent over an array of burning candles & bowls of ripe fruit (or whatever).  Do students really go over professor's homes for dinner & intellectual debate?  Like, is this really a thing???...  And then her coming onto him for a piece of hot convict sex.  But I have to remind myself this is all from Noah's perspective, and he never thinks of women as having any dimension.  I think we will have to wait until further episodes to see Madame Franch her in any other capacity and/or from anyone else's POV (including her own).

In the final scene, we never actually saw Noah get stabbed.  Maybe I need to watch again, but I thought he was holding a knife, and then suddenly he was falling to the floor, cringing in pain, blood spurting from his shoulder.  Did he stab himself in a frantic attempt to stop the visions and the chronic pain from his mysterious shoulder injury?

Final thought - was Helen wearing a wig in this episode?  Her hair looked fake.  I am hoping it will look better from someone else's POV.  

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6 hours ago, Snewtsie said:

I'm confused.  Was Noah seeing visions of his father's ghost or visions of the prison guard?  I had assumed throughout the entire episode it was his father's ghost, but I have no frame of reference what his father looked/dressed like.  I don't remember the character at all from past seasons.

 

Me too. I thought that because he didn't have a good relationship with his father, it was haunting him.  Also, the lady at the house after the funeral, said he killed (not literally) him.

I'll be dating myself here, but Madame Eau So French reminded me of Claudine Longet, who at one time was Mrs. Andy Williams.

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Just now, preeya said:

I'll be dating myself here, but Madame Eau So French reminded me of Claudine Longet, who at one time was Mrs. Andy Williams.

Who killed Spider Sabich! (Also dating myself.)

I'm confused.  Was Noah seeing visions of his father's ghost or visions of the prison guard?

It was the prison guard -- you could tell by that giant hat. I think Noah having hallucinations of him at this point.

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3 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

Alison wouldn't see Noah as protecting her as well as Helen. I may be wrong, but I don't think Noah knows Alison shoved Scotty into the road. I think he just believes she was there and saw when Helen ran him down. Because in Noah's POV of the accident, we just see him get out of the car and as he's freaking out about Scotty, notices Alison hiding in the bushes. It's Alison's POV that shows that she shoved Scotty.

Therefore, Alison may have viewed Noah's actions as protecting Helen and she's pissed that he was willing to leave her and Joanie I guess, since he was still raising her, even if he knew she was Cole's, to take the fall for Helen. Remember in the last episode, before Noah confesses, Alison tells him to just say what happened, when they're standing outside the court room. 

That was all Noah's point of view though.  In his POV, he hears something and looks into the bushes but we don't see him see Alison.  In Alison's POV, she steps out from the bushes and says to Noah "I pushed him."  And then from her POV, he goes back to the Lobster Roll and they have a conversation about him having the car fixed in the morning.  There would be no reason for him to do that if he hadn't seen Alison.  

I do think she wanted Noah to "tell the truth," that Helen was the one driving.  But she did not want him to tell the whole truth, that she pushed Scotty into the road.  So I think she wanted him to protect himself instead of Helen and was disappointed that he didn't.  Even so, from her POV, he was protecting her as well. 

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1 hour ago, preeya said:

I'll be dating myself here, but Madame Eau So French reminded me of Claudine Longet, who at one time was Mrs. Andy Williams.

Dating myself, too, because that made me laugh!  

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Is it for sure that Joanie is Cole's child? Scotty, when he was momentarily with Alison alone (season 2), referred to Joanie as "our baby". The time between seasons is way too long; I forget everything!

And what did I miss in that typical pretentious and boring "dinner party" scene. Madame Professeur asked Noah if he wanted a tour of the house, he said he did and they went upstairs. However, the snarky students were still sitting at the table when they went upstairs. She seduced him and they began to tango. When he fled, it seemed the students were already gone. Was there a "Goodnight--thanks for dinner" scene or were they about to tango while the students were still there?  I know we are supposed to assume some things, but clearly, we never saw the students leave.

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I really hated this episode, with all of it's ridiculous troupes, baby-boomers vs. millennials, parodying of safe spaces on campus, and making something about identity politics when actually it's just a matter of constructive criticism vs. nonconstructive/abusive criticism.   And of course the irony when the student was reciting hashtags meanwhile Noah has PTSD and is genuinely not safe or comfortable anywhere. There is a third option/perspective here beyond these stereotypical conflicts being presented

I'm sure after three years in the hellish american prison system, Noah does need therapy to learn how to deal with people in an empathic way.   At this point I really wouldn't mind if Noah was actually dead because I'm sick of him and everyone else on this show.

Edited by Glade
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3 hours ago, subina167 said:

Is it for sure that Joanie is Cole's child? Scotty, when he was momentarily with Alison alone (season 2), referred to Joanie as "our baby". The time between seasons is way too long; I forget everything!

Joanie is Cole's child. She never slept with Scotty. He said it as Joanie is a Lockhart, not Solloway.

If there's one thing I'm glad they addressed, it was whether or not the tree sex was rape. It was definitely something that we talked about at length during season two.

Edited by GeminiDancer
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Tough room. I actually liked the premiere.

Sure it wasn't glossy, but it would've been disingenuous for him to get out of prison and have his life go back to normal. As if prison was just a footnote and not a life-altering experience.

Of course he's going to be a wreck. He took the fall for a crime he didn't commit and all of the prestige he was courting is gone; probably for good. His kids hate him and won't talk to him (though that's a blessing in disguise because those kids are awful. Yes, I still hate them). and he's barely hanging on to a teaching job.

His life is a somber, suck-ass mess. The premiere reflected that.

He did treat prison like a retreat at first, but clearly, he got humbled. I just hope that the show doesn't go the cliche route and have it be some kind of Tobias Beecher/Oz type of situation with that guard he's hallucinating.

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10 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

I may be wrong, but I don't think Noah knows Alison shoved Scotty into the road. I think he just believes she was there and saw when Helen ran him down. Because in Noah's POV of the accident, we just see him get out of the car and as he's freaking out about Scotty, notices Alison hiding in the bushes. It's Alison's POV that shows that she shoved Scotty.

I don't think Noah knew about Alison's involvement either. Both Noah and Alison have completely unreliable POVs, but Alison invents some stuff out of whole cloth. And that stuff usually portrays Noah in a more positive light concerning their relationship.

That being said I think the main reason I disliked this ep is due to the single POV. Whenever an ep starts with Noah I'm usually waiting for the second act for a more truthful position. 

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On 11/15/2016 at 2:15 PM, chick binewski said:

The sister (I refuse to learn her name until she fixes her highlights)

That was A MESS. I was completely distracted by Jennifer Esposito's hair the entire time she was on screen. It looked like maybe a professional colorist intentionally tried to show how a "poor" woman's hair would look if she did it herself, but the level of lift (amount of bleaching) on different areas was the same, so it's not actually how an inexperienced/home job would look.

This show makes me tired. It feels like it's been on way more than only two seasons. I don't know why I watch.

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3 hours ago, JodhaBai said:

Noah was taking painkillers for his neck or shoulder?    Maybe the stabbing at the end was him having a flashback to something that happen to him in prison.

That was how I took the same.

I was very surprised to see that he regained his obsession with Alison while in jail. I kind of thought the point of season two was to show how they might not be the perfect match once the secrecy of the their ~amazing love was out in the open. I thought he stayed with her to cover up the hit and run.

Disappointed with how desperate Helen came off in that scene where she more or less asks him if they're getting back together. 

Also not looking to another season of Alyson fucking around with everyone's head while simultaneously playing the victim.

hopefully next episode will be better.

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