S03.E02: Episode 2

[truthaboutluv]

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Also, another point to think about: Would Cole really be fine with having Noah helping to raise his child with Alison? The man that admitted in court that he killed his brother?

Doubt it. He not only went to jail for killing Cole's brother but he played a part in not telling Cole that Joanie was his. Seriously, if ever a character had reason to hate another character, it would be Cole, regarding Noah. My guess is it never came up because Noah was already in jail when Alison finally got around to admitting the truth about Joanie. But yeah, with Alison herself a mess, there is no way Cole will be okay with Noah anywhere near his kid. 

Edited November 30, 2016 by truthaboutluv

[attica]

2 hours ago, MaggieG said:

The vagina pic in the middle of Vic and Helen in the cab ride was the highlight of this episode.

I felt so bad for the unseen cabbie, who had to have that in his rear view mirror!

[Chas411]

Do we believe Vic's story about lunch? That text message about the lunch was shady looking and not something you'd send To a acquaintances daughter.

Having said that I really like Helen and Vic together and I'll be sad for her when it goes to shit. Especially over Noah who really isn't worth it.

Alison the victim - still selfish to the core and playing the victim in every situation. Dreading to watch Cole bulldoze his life and every character get torn to shreds just to prop Alison and her big giant victim status.

Edited November 29, 2016 by Chas411

[Growsonwalls]

50 minutes ago, Chas411 said:

Do we believe Vic's story about lunch? That text message about the lunch was shady looking and not something you'd send To a acquaintances daughter.

Having said that I really like Helen and Vic together and I'll be sad for her when it goes to shit. Especially over Noah who really isn't worth it.

Alison the victim - still selfish to the core and playing the victim in every situation. Dreading to watch Cole bulldoze his life and every character get torn to shreds just to prop Alison and her big giant victim status.

Well ... I think it's just become one of the (unintentional????) threads of the show is that Cole loves Alison unconditionally. They might be apart but he has a real love for her and it's a contrast to every other relationship on the show. I don't know when they started writing the show that they knew that Joshua Jackson would become such a sympathetic character but Cole will always care about Alison and he will do what's right for Joanie so ... 

[Bcharmer]

On 11/28/2016 at 9:49 AM, Scrappygrrl said:

 

On 11/27/2016 at 8:57 PM, Bcharmer said:

Helen to Noah:  "Trevor's in a play... The Tempest, set in Cuba, so it's half in Spanish with samba music."  Did that give anyone else pause, since samba is Brazilian, not Cuban? Or was it supposed to be wrong like that, on purpose? I couldn't tell. Took me way out of the scene, though. 

It didn't give me as much pause as a scene that was "one year ago", has Helen mentioning the "dickhead dad that voted for Trump". That was a headscratcher...

 

 

Right! That really threw me, as well. How could that even make sense, unless the first episode supposed to take place in 2017? The samba comment was just lazy, and inaccurate, but voting for Trump? Were they talking about the primaries, maybe? Ehh.. who knows. Who cares. I'm basically hate-watching at this point, but so far even that isn't as much fun as it used to be.

[scrb]

Thing I couldn't shake is that Helen had prolonged sexy time with her fuck buddy and then put on her pants without panties, rushed upstairs in the same shirt and hurriedly made sandwiches for the kids, without washing her hands.

The kids would have been better off if she gave them money to go to some greasy diner.

Then again, it's these kids so who cares?

[jrlr]

10 hours ago, Bcharmer said:

 I'm basically hate-watching at this point, but so far even that isn't as much fun as it used to be.

Perfect assessment.  I've already given up on hate watching Masters of Sex, and I think The Affair is on the short list to be next.  

[RabbiBeth]

What was with the mail Alison picked up?  I didn't see/catch whom the mail was from. Thanks!

[truthaboutluv]

They were letters from Noah, while he was in prison. 

[RabbiBeth]

Thanks re the letters!

[GeminiDancer]

One of the big problems that I'm having is how much we're told stuff, and not actually experiencing it. I wanted to see Cole learn about Joanie from Alison and the fallout from that. How did she tell him? Did he confront her? I also wonder if he will ever know the truth behind Scotty's death. I know JJ would kill that material.

[Bcharmer]

3 hours ago, jrlr said:

Perfect assessment.  I've already given up on hate watching Masters of Sex, and I think The Affair is on the short list to be next.  

Same here. Gave up on MoS a while ago. I'm giving The Affair one or two more episodes, and that's it.  Life is too short.  :)  Truly, the only show I am 100% into right now is Rectify... and I will cry real tears when it's over.

[jrlr]

22 minutes ago, Bcharmer said:

Same here. Gave up on MoS a while ago. I'm giving The Affair one or two more episodes, and that's it.  Life is too short.  :)  Truly, the only show I am 100% into right now is Rectify... and I will cry real tears when it's over.

I'm so disappointed in these shows that start so interestingly and then lose all their steam after the 1st or 2nd season.  I've been meaning to try Rectify.  I also get Acorn TV as an add-on to Amazon Prime, and I've been bingeing on all sorts of British TV series (some GREAT detective and police procedurals).  I highly recommend it to anyone who like intelligent writing and real acting.  All 18 seasons of Midsomer Murders (although I think you can get that on Netflix without an add-on) was what got me through the election!

[MamaMax]

22 hours ago, attica said:

I felt so bad for the unseen cabbie, who had to have that in his rear view mirror!

I am so so sure that a NYC cabbie has seen a lot worse stuff in the backseat.

6 hours ago, scrb said:

Thing I couldn't shake is that Helen had prolonged sexy time with her fuck buddy and then put on her pants without panties, rushed upstairs in the same shirt and hurriedly made sandwiches for the kids, without washing her hands.

The kids would have been better off if she gave them money to go to some greasy diner.

Then again, it's these kids so who cares?

Seriously. I couldn't help but think that she HAD to smell like sex, wouldn't anyone notice???

 

And lastly...what is the story with Maura Tierney and Ruth Wilson's lips/mouths. Have they both had too much filler/botox?  Maura Tierney especially looked like she was doing Alec Baldwin doing Trump on SNL!

[Blakeston]

On 11/29/2016 at 11:49 PM, Bcharmer said:

Right! That really threw me, as well. How could that even make sense, unless the first episode supposed to take place in 2017? The samba comment was just lazy, and inaccurate, but voting for Trump? Were they talking about the primaries, maybe? Ehh.. who knows. Who cares. I'm basically hate-watching at this point, but so far even that isn't as much fun as it used to be.

I took the samba line as a joke about how lazy and inaccurate the kids' show was.

Edited December 1, 2016 by Blakeston

[NutMeg]

6 hours ago, Blakeston said:

I think the samba line as a joke about how lazy and inaccurate the kids' show was.

Yes. Or as Helen being so nervous and distracted that the more she wanted to appear the behave normally, the more the words out of her mouth were just random words that didn't make sense :)

[Trace]

I've read through much of the posts and I haven't seen this mentioned.  I think the major reason Alison left was because SHE was the one responsible for Scottie's death.  I think she freaked and fled.  I don't buy that the only reason she took off was her child's illness.

[islandgal140]

Three things I liked about this episode:

1. No Noah;

2. Cole looking like a prosperous DILF in his sexy dad cardigan; and

3. Because I'm petty - That both Allison and Noah's lives are in utter shambles post-Affair.

[scrb]

7 hours ago, islandgal140 said:

3. Because I'm petty - That both Allison and Noah's lives are in utter shambles post-Affair.

I can understand both of them being emotional wrecks.

But in Ep. 1, Noah moves into a shabby apt, like he's hard up for money.

In this ep, Alison moves into a very modest place in Montauk.

So what happened to Noah's book money?  What about that fashionable apt.?  I thought Helen paid for the lawyer so why wouldn't Noah have any more money?

Or for that matter, Alison had money from the house in Montauk and she invested in the Lobster Roll?  Plus didn't she even talk about getting a piece of Cole's family home in the divorce settlement?

And Helen shouldn't have to work, unless she completely broke off from her parents.  The rich daddy is a fun character so I hope he comes back,

[truthaboutluv]

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Plus didn't she even talk about getting a piece of Cole's family home in the divorce settlement?

There was nothing for Alison to get from Cole's family home. This was established in the first season. The property wasn't worth what they thought because the Lockharts didn't own it anymore, the banks did. Cherry just neglected to inform Cole and his brothers of this all while they were drug dealing to keep up the payments on the property. 

As for the fancy house, I don't know all the details and I do think the drastic reversal of fortune is odd, but I do think Alison mentioned using what she had left from the sale of the NY apartment to pay for the Institute she was at for however many months. Guess it was a fancy Institute. 

Frankly, the crazy NY apartment never made sense and now this drastic reversal of fortune makes no sense. Like you said, Helen apparently paid for Gottlief so Noah couldn't have been that buried in legal fees, unless she couldn't afford it anymore. And who knows, maybe Cherry and Cole's brothers filed a civil suit against Noah and he had to pay them for killing Scotty. 

[NutMeg]

6 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

As for the fancy house, I don't know all the details and I do think the drastic reversal of fortune is odd, but I do think Alison mentioned using what she had left from the sale of the NY apartment to pay for the Institute she was at for however many months. Guess it was a fancy Institute. 

Wasn't it rented?

[chocolatine]

I thought the flashy Manhattan apartment was rented, too. That probably blew through most of Noah's book money, and if sales tanked after the trial, that would mean no more money was coming in.

Alison can't be completely destitute, because Montauk is an expensive place, and even a "modest" two-bedroom apartment wouldn't be cheap there. Also, she never seemed to be into the material stuff, it was mostly Noah's thing, so I wouldn't be surprised if she still has a lot of money and chooses to live below her means.

[MamaMax]

8 hours ago, chocolatine said:

I thought the flashy Manhattan apartment was rented, too. That probably blew through most of Noah's book money, and if sales tanked after the trial, that would mean no more money was coming in.

Alison can't be completely destitute, because Montauk is an expensive place, and even a "modest" two-bedroom apartment wouldn't be cheap there. Also, she never seemed to be into the material stuff, it was mostly Noah's thing, so I wouldn't be surprised if she still has a lot of money and chooses to live below her means.

I believe she told Oscar the douche that she used her money from the sale of her Montauk house to pay for her stay in the "institute" which makes sense to me, as she was not employed (as far as I remember -- lonnng break HBO!) and would not have health insurance that would pay for a prolonged stay in a psych hospital, especially a nice private one.

I really doubt the accuracy of Alison's version of Cole and Luisa's response to her return.  It seems that they KNEW she was unwell, the whole conversation about her signing over custody took place while she was hospitalized.  Alison's version framed it as "You were away so long! You abandoned her!  She's ours now!"

I would bet Cole's version would be that Alison swept back into town and thought she was going to take Joanie back full-time or even 50/50 and he say "Hey sister, slow your roll! You were away and not well and we need to ease back into this! No overnights yet, never mind custody!"

[cakes1975]

On ‎11‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 10:54 AM, jrlr said:

It seems to me that the writers/producers have completely lost all hold on Allison as a recognizable character.  She seems to be used by them now not so much as a character but as a device to toss into the story when there needs to be chaos and disruption for anyone involved with her.  Allison had good reason to be a shut down, broken-down woman in the first season and I even sympathized with her - but in the intervening four years, one baby and one marriage (maybe?), she seems not to have moved in personal development one bit.  I thought the "it's when Joanie turned four" explanation for Allison breaking down again was ridiculous and ridiculously weak.  If you're panicked that your second child is going to die at four years old, you do what?  Run away?  I can't dislike her as much as I dislike Noah, because he is an a-hole to the bone;  Allison is more like an irritant that just disappears and reappears like toxic smoke.   There's no there there, at least not for me. 

I have to take exception to this because people grieve differently. My best friend lost her son to SIDS twenty+ years ago, and we saw her have mental breaks on his birthday and death day for years. I found that on the day of his death, if we were both working I would go over to her desk and acknowledge the date and ask if she wanted to talk to keep her from spiraling because if she did not have a way to allow herself her feelings, she would go out and do something self-destructive. The family would celebrate his birthday together with a party for years. Her therapist thought these simple things would keep her from self harming, and I believe these rituals, and her finding a faith that comforts her saved her life and sanity.

My fiancé died on July 7, 1993. After all these years and relationships later, I still get quiet and weepy on that date. So Allison's mental state around the time of Gabriel drowning and her fears for Joanie rang true to me; but YMMV.

[Empress1]

On 11/25/2016 at 7:45 AM, truthaboutluv said:

It really highlighted Alison's selfishness when Luisa laid out it flat - that they (she and Cole) just had to accept it when after two long damn years she finally thought it necessary to tell Cole Joanie was really his child and then despite her lying and selfishness, dictated joint custody, which they accepted too. Then she goes insane, skips out in the middle of the night and then shows up still feeling she has a right to her demands because she's Joanie's mother. 

I am totally Team Luisa. She's put up with a metric ton of Alison's shit and she's over it. I am too and I'm just watching her - she's not altering my life with her selfishness. Marriage vows say for better or worse; Alison is the "worse" in Cole and Luisa's marriage.

[Superpole2000]

I actually enjoyed the Helen half. I find that character interesting, and I am a fan of the actress. She is all I have left on this show.

The Alison half was truly awful. That scene with Oscar was incredibly boring. Talking about past off screen events with tinkly music in the background is about as bad as TV can get. I don't know where her character goes from here. I have zero affinity for her, and I pretty much just want her to go away.

[chabelisaywow]

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I actually enjoyed the Helen half. I find that character interesting, and I am a fan of the actress. She is all I have left on this show.

This. I've been a fan since ER. Just can't stand she's obviously still in love with her dumbass ex.

The timelines are just so odd to me.  The Vic/Helen/Whitney/Furkat dinner occurred while Noah was still in jail, but in the future? Trump comment.

So we don't know what's going on with Helen/Vic when Noah is stabbed? UGH whatever.

[Aqua]

Oh please please can someone still be watching this so I can get some feedback here.

The first episode of this season, at Noah's father's funeral started with "Three Years Later" i.e. 3 years after Noah confesses guilt in the courtroom.

This episode is "One Year Previous."

So this episode is 2 years after Noah's confession, and we get a convenient recap via Oscar and Alison of the past six months.

Thus there is an 18 month gap of time between Noah's confession and Joanie's sickness that has been unexplained, and this is what I don't know and I think the writers don't care that I don't know and this is pisses me off: What happened to the deal of Cole and Alison co-owning the Lobster Roll? Did she sell her portion back? And what happened to her relationship with Noah? Why is she refusing his calls and letters when he took the blame for her? I suppose it's possible I could hate her more than I do but I doubt it.