S04.E08: Episode 08

[Maximona]

Wow.

Extraordinarily good story-telling in this episode.  Made all the occasionally clunky exposition on this show totally worth it.

I have to think that the original showrunner planned from the very start to end the show with Alison's death:  Fiona Apple's song is such strong foreshadowing.  Possibly she didn't plan Alison's death with one season left to go because there's gotta be something to fill up that season, and that can only mean—ding! ding! ding!—murder investigation!

From a narrative point of view, an Alison suicide is far more primal, elegant and emotionally moving than an Alison murder.  Murder kinda screws with the archetypal arc.  But in TV, I guess you roll with what you can do with the actors available to you.

Ben is too obvious a suspect, so I can't really imagine he killed Alison.

If Oscar puts in an appearance at the funeral, then we know it was him!  And I don't see how the funeral can't be next week's episode; At this point, I am so NOT disinterested in Vik, Helen, and Star Child a/k/a Wow!-Vik's-sperm-hit-the-egg-on-his-first-shot (okay, okay!  Just guessing with that one!) 

I always liked the character of Alison myself.  I was abandoned fairly often as a kid, too.  It leaves you with deep damage that's very hard to articulate.  Kind of as though you're a hologram that exists only through the interference of beams from a light source. When that light source flicks off, you feel as though you cease to exist.  

[Double A]

I've decided that in real life the original author of this story left his wife for his lover and could only get this this show greenlit by killing her off. We should have seen Alison's death coming! Love it when a show has the nerve to take down one of the main characters. This is a great twist a la Six Feet Under.

[CountryGirl]

You could have knocked me over with the proverbial feather when I realized that yes, indeed, they had gone there and Alison was dead. 

Like others, I shouldn't have been surprised, given the show's theme song, but I was and I know Alison wasn't the most popular character, but there was a part of me that rooted for her to come out on the other side of her grief and bad decisions. Now, she never will. 

Perhaps the shadow of Vik's impending death made what should have been obvious impossible to see.

That having said, this season and this episode, especially, have been so amazing.

JJ and DW were outstanding in this episode - from their bickering to their fake coupling (and pretending to watch TLC's SYTTD LOL) to their shared and yet separate grief over Alison's death. While JJ had the more physical grieving, particularly with his near-faint, DW was just as powerful in his moments where he identified Alison in the morgue and later, alone at the diner table, seeing his own family at the other table and seeing Alison as she had been that very first day, trying to choke back his tears. 

CM's Anton is a revelation, spot-on with his observations about Alison and the two men forever intertwined with her, his quips "she was going to relax herself to death?" and his need to see this through. 

I was thisclose to checking out after last season and now, I'm all in.

Edited August 6, 2018 by CountryGirl

[DFWGina]

So at least we now know that Cole was in Madison, WI for the conference and that is relatively close to O'Hare....  

Loved them playing along with the thought that they were a couple at the motel.  Anton was hilarious and a great roadmate for Cole and Noah.

I was so hoping it wasn't Alison and totally shocked that they went there...  Glad I watched this "live" last night...

[izabella]

2 hours ago, Chas411 said:

I think by wanting to leave Ruth Wilson has unintentionally rejuvenated the show. It's been great this year.

While she's been the focus Alison and her self pitying ways have long been dead weight to the show. Id rather her gone and spend the final season showing the characters move on from her. While I don't think Cole/Luisa will be end game I would like to see him move on from the fantasy of what he seems to think there love story is. He could never move on while she's alive, maybe in her death he will or at least he'll just find happiness raising Joanie. I just don't feel he'll be in the constant trail of destruction he always seems to be with her.

Cole is never going to get over it.  First his son, now his wife (his real wife, in his mind) is dead.  Allison's death will turn her into a saint in his mind.  Luisa is going to have a husband carrying a torch for his dead wife forever and ever, especially since he never got to tell her she was the love of his life and he wanted her back, so I think Luisa will leave him.

Edited August 6, 2018 by izabella

[HollyG]

7 minutes ago, izabella said:

Cole is never going to get over it.  First his son, now his wife (his real wife, in his mind) is dead.  Allison's death will turn her into a saint in his mind.  Luisa is going to have a husband carrying a torch for his dead wife forever and ever, especially since he never got to tell her she was the love of his life and he wanted her back, so I think Luisa will leave him.

Cole needs to confess this to Luisa and let her go. Cole & Joanie will be ok in time. 

[JennyMominFL]

I think Alison did kill herself. It fits for her. Its real. People with plenty to live dor kill themselves all of the time. I loved how Noah described Cole as Mopey....well so was Alison.

[Kimmel77]

I was expecting to the last moment for it not to be Allison's body that was identified. With the reveal i'm still not shocked or overly bothered by her death, I think her story had run its course. If she was murdered I guess it can be 'filler' until the season end which is okay. The only way this has pay off for me is if she was killed by Helen or Vic. Even better if Vic dies and never tells anyone.

[Guest]

16 hours ago, chick binewski said:

And they shot all of Wilson's stuff first? It sounds like she really wanted out. I

Man, I wish I had the fortitude to quit this show like Ruth Wilson. And I’m not even getting paid to paricipate. 

I LOL’d at Cole telling Noah he was on his way to O’Hare and to “stay put.” I’ve never been through O’Hare but from the sounds of it, there’s only one terminal and no one needs to know where a passenger is standing in order to find them. 

[Diane12251]

I was completely shocked by Alison's death.  I kept thinking that it wasn't going to be here in the morgue.  At first, I thought Athena might be calling Otter to tell him that to get him to stop trying to see her or get her kidney.  Now I keep hoping that it was murder instead of suicide because suicide seems much sadder - although both are terribly sad.    If it is murder, then I think either Luisa or Otter were involved.  Otter because of the kidney factor - and Luisa wanting to get full custody of Joanie to said her immigration status.  But then there's the theme of "sink back into the ocean," and suicide is much more fitting for the song.  I will say that this season has been the best one since the beginning of the series with last night's episode being the best by far.  Joshua Jackson's acting on last night's episode was simply amazing.  As far as Ruth Wilson goes, she apparently has two other projects she's working on so asked to leave the show after this season.  She was pivotal to the series, and although she annoyed me at times, she will be missed.  And BTW, I think the "Duck Face" comments are cruel - she's a very good actor and should be commended for what she brought to this series.

[Diane12251]

40 minutes ago, Giant Misfit said:

Man, I wish I had the fortitude to quit this show like Ruth Wilson. And I’m not even getting paid to paricipate. 

I LOL’d at Cole telling Noah he was on his way to O’Hare and to “stay put.” I’ve never been through O’Hare but from the sounds of it, there’s only one terminal and no one needs to know where a passenger is standing in order to find them. 

O'Hare has four terminals and is HUGE.  

[weaver]

15 minutes ago, Diane12251 said:

O'Hare has four terminals and is HUGE.  

O'Hare was at one time the busiest airport in the US.  It might still be. FINDING someone at O'Hare is the problem.  

[MBayGal]

On 8/5/2018 at 8:18 AM, GussieK said:

Is this the season conclusion?

I thought it was, and think it would have been good if it was.  When I read in the blurb on the tv that Cole would make a "horrific discovery," I assumed that Alison would be found dead, so I was not surprised.  I can't believe they are doing another season, but will probably waste the time and watch it.  

I thought the first half hour was the funniest thing I've seen on this show.  A lot of ROTFLOL lines.

[Guest]

37 minutes ago, weaver said:

 

53 minutes ago, Diane12251 said:

O'Hare has four terminals and is HUGE.  

O'Hare was at one time the busiest airport in the US.  It might still be. FINDING someone at O'Hare is the problem.  

 

Right! That’s why I laughed...”hey, I’ll pick you up at O’Hare. Stay put.” *click* No need to establish a pick up point in a massive metropolitan airport!

[EtheltoTillie]

13 minutes ago, Giant Misfit said:

Right! That’s why I laughed...”hey, I’ll pick you up at O’Hare. Stay put.” *click* No need to establish a pick up point in a massive metropolitan airport!

Well, in the age of cell phones, I give them a break on this one.  They can later establish the pickup point.

I just loved Anton.  Hilarous addition to the team.  Yet good hearted. 

Edited August 6, 2018 by GussieK

[MBayGal]

From the interview with Treem in the Hollywood Reporter:

"The thing that's always true about The Affair is that it's all coming from perspective. And so in my mind … James didn't necessarily ask Alison for a kidney in this. You just don't know. He's specifically playing a character who is not necessarily the same character as the man that Alison met. That was filtered through her own perspective"

To me, this is a ridiculous statement.  I know this show often shows people recalling things differently, but this goes too far.  Unless they want us to think that Alison is totally psychotic, why would she think he asked her for her kidney if he didn't? 

When Anton said xanax would only kill you if you mixed it too much with alcohol, I thought that was how she would die. 

[EtheltoTillie]

10 minutes ago, MBayGal said:

From the interview with Treem in the Hollywood Reporter:

"The thing that's always true about The Affair is that it's all coming from perspective. And so in my mind … James didn't necessarily ask Alison for a kidney in this. You just don't know. He's specifically playing a character who is not necessarily the same character as the man that Alison met. That was filtered through her own perspective"

To me, this is a ridiculous statement.  I know this show often shows people recalling things differently, but this goes too far.  Unless they want us to think that Alison is totally psychotic, why would she think he asked her for her kidney if he didn't? 

When Anton said xanax would only kill you if you mixed it too much with alcohol, I thought that was how she would die. 

Couldn't agree more.  I read this yesterday, and it was truly nonsensical. 

[preeya]

1 hour ago, weaver said:

O'Hare was at one time the busiest airport in the US.  It might still be. FINDING someone at O'Hare is the problem.  

O'Hare is now 2nd to Atlanta as busiest in the USA

[Rockfish]

I, too, figured Alison was dead based on the episode description, but I was hoping I was wrong.

Cool effect at the end was the scene where Noah noticed the family and waitress: at first, her hair was down and loose and her dress was short, which changed to her hair being pulled back and her dress being much longer (knee-length)—nicely reminiscent of the first episode.

I don’t blame Ruth Wilson for wanting to move on to other projects; if viewers found Alison’s character arc (or lack of one) frustrating, I can imagine how frustrating that would be for a talented actor. 

[DiabLOL]

And of course since the last scene in the diner was from Noah's perspective the waitress practically disrobed right then and there.

As much as seeing him burst into tears was powerful I really don't think Noah was ever that into any woman he's been with. 

So did I hear Ben say that he was leaving his wife for Alison?! (when confronted by Noah and Cole in his office)

 

I agree the extremes with the different POVs are too much at times.

[A-Lo]

I always fast-forward through the theme song at the beginning, assuming it's the same every episode.  Has anyone noticed a difference in the words?  Or is it just having more of an impact given Alison's mode of death?

 

Also, Ben looked really rough in that scene where Noah and Cole confronted him in his office.  Like a ghastly gray.  Would that be from mourning someone he knew for only six weeks...and for whom he'd allegedly vowed to leave his wife?  Or is that the pallor of a guilty murderer?  I can't wait to find out!

[preeya]

2 hours ago, A-Lo said:

I always fast-forward through the theme song at the beginning, assuming it's the same every episode.  Has anyone noticed a difference in the words?  Or is it just having more of an impact given Alison's mode of death?

 

Also, Ben looked really rough in that scene where Noah and Cole confronted him in his office.  Like a ghastly gray.  Would that be from mourning someone he knew for only six weeks...and for whom he'd allegedly vowed to leave his wife?  Or is that the pallor of a guilty murderer?  I can't wait to find out!

 

killer or accomplice
 

Edited August 7, 2018 by preeya

[snarts]

7 hours ago, Blakeston said:

I find it odd that Athena informed Alison's father about her death before contacting Cole and Noah. They were the ones looking for Alison, and they were a hell of a lot closer to Alison than her dad was.

The only way that makes sense to me is if Athena called in a moment of anger to place some of the blame on him.

This. And why wouldn't Althena be the one to identify the body? She's most definitely next of kin.  Both Cole & Noah are exes.

[nara]

2 hours ago, MBayGal said:

From the interview with Treem in the Hollywood Reporter:

"The thing that's always true about The Affair is that it's all coming from perspective. And so in my mind … James didn't necessarily ask Alison for a kidney in this. You just don't know. He's specifically playing a character who is not necessarily the same character as the man that Alison met. That was filtered through her own perspective"

To me, this is a ridiculous statement.  I know this show often shows people recalling things differently, but this goes too far.  Unless they want us to think that Alison is totally psychotic, why would she think he asked her for her kidney if he didn't? 

 

I think the point was that he probably didn’t come out and ask for the kidney like that. Perhaps he mentioned needing a kidney and she (already on edge) interpreted it as a demand.

1 hour ago, Rockfish said:

 

I don’t blame Ruth Wilson for wanting to move on to other projects; if viewers found Alison’s character arc (or lack of one) frustrating, I can imagine how frustrating that would be for a talented actor. 

Agreed. There’s been a lot of complaining on this board alone about how repetitive her story is.

 

 

re: Anton, I like that we’re seeing the wit and maturity expected of a Princeton hopeful.

[Kimmel77]

1 hour ago, A-Lo said:

I always fast-forward through the theme song at the beginning, assuming it's the same every episode.  Has anyone noticed a difference in the words?  Or is it just having more of an impact given Alison's mode of death?

 

Also, Ben looked really rough in that scene where Noah and Cole confronted him in his office.  Like a ghastly gray.  Would that be from mourning someone he knew for only six weeks...and for whom he'd allegedly vowed to leave his wife?  Or is that the pallor of a guilty murderer?  I can't wait to find out!

I think he said he was back on the booze so it could be the appearance of a relapse. But I think the producers gave him that look for a reason.

[Elizzikra]

Quote

I just loved Anton.  Hilarous addition to the team.  Yet good hearted. 

I love him. 

[jenifaohjenny]

On 8/5/2018 at 2:17 AM, DakotaLavender said:

Oh this episode is just shocking. I am going to wait to discuss the content of the episode because I am not even sure how I want to approach having a conversation about itl it just got to me. 

On a side note because my brain is fried. Why WAS Alison flying to California after she realized Ben was married and after her father asked for her kidney? And after her talk with Helen, she went back to Montauk? 

I am just so... sad. Even though I know it is just a "movie," it was heartbreaking. 

I agree. I actually said out loud...it’s just a tv show...because I felt so terrible about the death. 

[bilgistic]

I suppose we'll find out next week, but I've not seen this addressed: how did anyone know it was "Alison Bailey" (per the label on the envelope with photos at the morgue) that was found? Who would've known to call Athena when a Jane Doe with no wallet/ID was found? I suppose she'd been reported missing by Athena and a woman matching her description was found...? But again...who would tell Athena it's DEFINITELY Alison? She'd HAVE to ID her to know. Athena called Alison's father's house to say they found Alison. Her body hadn't been identified yet. Noah IDed her.

[Elizzikra]

Maybe Alison will come back in Season 5 and we will learn that her death was just a horrible dream...

[Pallas]

12 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

But again...who would tell Athena it's DEFINITELY Alison?

The detective likely told Athena, after he too had viewed Alison's body. He was probably only the last of several local professionals who had already recognized her, including the EMT, police and people at the hospital where she used to work, in the town she lived in virtually all her life. 

[Bandolero]

2 hours ago, DiabLOL said:

 

So did I hear Ben say that he was leaving his wife for Alison?! (when confronted by Noah and Cole in his office)

Oh my goodness... I totally forgot about this! Just after six weeks mind you.. insane. He and Alison were not even a couple... they barely knew each other really.

[DiabLOL]

14 minutes ago, Bandolero said:

Oh my goodness... I totally forgot about this! Just after six weeks mind you.. insane. He and Alison were not even a couple... they barely knew each other really.

Thank you for confirming that I heard this!!!

[bilgistic]

28 minutes ago, Pallas said:

The detective likely told Athena, after he too had viewed Alison's body. He was probably only the last of several local professionals who had already recognized her, including the EMT, police and people at the hospital where she used to work, in the town she lived in virtually all her life. 

I just saw the scene at the beach with the detective again because the show was on when I turned on the TV. He mentioned her "making it to 35" "when I was investigating your 'thing'” (Scotty's death?), so I guess I can handwave that he recognized her.

I highly doubt that in real life they'd tell a mother over the phone that a woman they found dead is definitely her missing daughter, but OK, show.

[preeya]

The suicide/body discovery timeline doesn't sit right with me. They are at the father's house. The call comes in (perhaps). They find out she's dead. They go to I.D. the body. They meet up with the detective at the sight where she drowned. Then the detective starts giving out all the investigative measures that were taken. The maintenance man, the condition of Alison's apartment, the banking transaction, etc.  How in the name of my sanity did they manage to do all that in what seems like a few hours of real-time??????  Before Noah ID'd the body they weren't even sure it was her, yet they told her mother she committed suicide. I highly doubt that.

Also, the phone call at the father's house seemed as phony as a three dollar bill.

It went like this:

That was Athena.
They found her.

They've... found her body.

She drowned herself.

She's dead.

This entire scenario is highly suspicious at best.

Edited August 7, 2018 by preeya

[Lsk02]

I re-watched the scenes with Ben because I had a hunch his stories didn’t match up. When Cole sees him at the conference Ben tells him things ended on a good note, that Allison said she felt good standing up for herself, that he tuned out after 20 minutes. 

 

When Noah and Cole confronted him at the VA, he said it took 20 minutes, that she broke it off with him and she said she’d been hurt one too many times. It did not sound like it ended on good terms like he said previously. So no glaring differences, but there’s definitely something not adding up. 

 

One “differing perspective” (or writer oversight?) thing I noticed, when Noah looked at his phone in the airport, there were 4 missed calls from Cole. Which actually makes no sense since he was in the air and his phone was off, but whatever. We only saw Cole call Noah once, at the conference, and Noah called him back just a few minutes later. Just another of those subtle little perspective things you can catch often with this show. 

 

 

ETA-Well now I rewatched the end of episode 7 and Cole actually calls Noah and Noah answers, so that completely flipped into this episode. Guessing Cole was so exhausted he just has no idea what the details are. 

Edited August 7, 2018 by Lsk02

[JennyMominFL]

7 hours ago, Diane12251 said:

.  And BTW, I think the "Duck Face" comments are cruel - she's a very good actor and should be commended for what she brought to this series.

I can think she has duck lips and be a great actress. And i do think shes fantastic. I also think shes really beautiful. I just think she could lay off of the lip fillers that it looks like she has. She doesnt need them.

Edited August 7, 2018 by JennyMominFL
So many typos

[MojitoMama]

my mind keeps going to Cherry, She might have been afraid Cole would go back to Allison, she might have found out Allison's role in Scotty's death, etc. She (and possibly Luisa) met Allison on the pier and either deliberately or, more likely, accidentally killed her,

[cardigirl]

29 minutes ago, preeya said:

The suicide/body discovery timeline doesn't sit right with me. They are at the father's house. The call comes in (perhaps). They find out she's dead. They go to I.D. the body. They meet up with the detective at the sight where she drowned. Then the detective starts giving out all the investigative measures that were taken. The maintenance man, the condition of Alison's apartment, the banking transaction, etc.  How in the name of my sanity did they manage to do all that in what seems like a few hours of real-time??????  Before Noah ID'd the body they weren't even sure it was her, yet they told her mother she committed suicide. I highly doubt that.

Also, the phone call at the father's house seemed as phony as a three dollar bill.

It went like this:

That was Athena.
They found her.

They've... found her body.

She drowned herself.

She's dead.

This entire scenario is highly suspicious at best.

I think the investigative part was done, at least some of it, before the body was found, after she was declared a missing person. So they would have had that information in hand when they found her. 

[Mindthinkr]

14 minutes ago, MojitoMama said:

my mind keeps going to Cherry, She might have been afraid Cole would go back to Allison, she might have found out Allison's role in Scotty's death, etc. She (and possibly Luisa) met Allison on the pier and either deliberately or, more likely, accidentally killed her,

I’m not a conspiracy theorist but I like yours. (I’ve put a few out there takes on this myself). 

[LilaFowler]

On 8/5/2018 at 3:53 PM, LotusFlower said:

Ben told Cole and Noah that he went to see Alison and told her that he was married, and then she broke up with him.  But hadn’t Alison already figured out that he was married when she met his wife in his office?  So Ben is lying, right?  

Well according to the showrunner, Allison basically hallucinates a lot in her POVs and it's entirely possible that there was never any woman in Ben's office that day, let alone his wife.

[preeya]

2 minutes ago, LilaFowler said:

Well according to the showrunner, Allison basically hallucinates a lot in her POVs and it's entirely possible that there was never any woman in Ben's office that day, let alone his wife.

That is a totally bogus cop-out. How the hell are viewers suppose to figure out a hallucination from reality?

[LotusFlower]

11 minutes ago, preeya said:

That is a totally bogus cop-out. How the hell are viewers suppose to figure out a hallucination from reality?

I agree.  That feels too much like Bobby Ewing-in-the-shower-it-was-all-a-dream territory.  Even when the show was more Rashoman (which I miss), they didn’t go so far as to include a character or part of a scene that didn’t happen.

[bilgistic]

56 minutes ago, JennyMominFL said:

I can think she has duck lips and be a great actress. And i do think shes fantastic. I also think shes reqlly beautiful. Ai just think she could lay off of the lip fillers that it loks like she has. She doesnt need them

Below is a picture of her and some of the cast of a 2006-2007 British comedy show, Suburban Shootout (one of her first projects). Her mouth shape appears to be natural.

[Lkw8596]

So, in real life she left the show over a salary dispute....on the news today.  She was being paid less than Dominic West. 

I too believe the Ben angle is a red herring...too convenient. 

Season 5 is the last....Vic is dying which will leave  Helen free again.  I bet Noah and Helen get back together as changed people by “the affair”....full circle.  

[JennyMominFL]

5 minutes ago, Lkw8596 said:

So, in real life she left the show over a salary dispute....on the news today.  She was being paid less than Dominic West. 

I

Of course she was. Thats a shame. I dont blame her one bit for leaving if this is true

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, Lkw8596 said:

So, in real life she left the show over a salary dispute....on the news today.  She was being paid less than Dominic West. 

I saw the Daily Mail had an article about this but they were dredging up an interview she did back in February where she talked about how she was pretty sure she was paid less but she hadn't brought it up with Dominic West.  I think it's just speculation based on the fact that she left.

[Lkw8596]

Yes, her discussing the pay disparity goes back to February, at which point she requested to leave the show and they obliged.  That was today’s news.  Google it and lots of sources come up. 

[Chas411]

So it was money. Fair play for her to sticking to her and asking off the show then. I'd be lying if I said i was sad about it though. I had only been saying to my husband after the last Alison self pitying centric that I couldn't see it being a satisfying ending if she was still alive. Harsh yes but I just couldn't see her ever finding long lasting happiness without ruining it for herself and I could imagine Cole and her daughters lives being ruined as a result of it. While Cole deserves whatever he gets with her at this stage, Joanie does not.

[mxc90]

Will Allison's father try and get that kidney now? I wouldn't be surprised if his wife killed Allison for that reason.

From octopus to grilled cheese.... those are sad options!

Too bad there wasn't enough time in Noah's story. I'm sure he got his "grief" out with the new waitress!!

Edited August 7, 2018 by mxc90

[Pallas]

The full question and response from Sarah Treem in the Hollywood Reporter article:

Q: James yells out when Athena tells him Alison is dead. He came into her life suddenly and asked her to donate a kidney. Her death means that option is gone. Is there any genuine sadness for the loss of Alison or was that completely a reaction to his own loss of the chance for a transplant?

A: The thing that's always true about The Affair is that it's all coming from perspective. And so in my mind…James didn't necessarily ask Alison for a kidney in this. You just don't know. He's specifically playing a character who is not necessarily the same character as the man that Alison met. That was filtered through her own perspective, so yes, I do believe that there's genuine feelings and there's genuine loss for James in that moment. I think this James is a more complicated character than the one Alison met, who's basically an incredible user and sort of evil.

--------------

I don't take this as saying that Alison was then, or ever, entirely fabricating encounters. I think Treem means that memory is impressionistic, and Alison's, especially so. (That susceptible yet wary quality of hers is a piece of what engages men: lovers and predators both.) What the audience hears as if it were verbatim, is what Alison "hears" in the psychological sense. Every word her father said about anything -- let alone, his mortal illness -- had first to penetrate and then accommodate her lifetime of fantasy, suspicion and denial about him. His absence was the forerunner of Gabriel's death. His lifelong absence is what continues to make Gabriel's death unendurable to her.  

And a parallel lifetime of feeling unknown and used by men in general, and abandoned by nearly everyone who claimed to care for her. Her father James may simply have said that the dialysis was not working, and he did not want to to die without making himself known to her. What Alison hears from her father-the-myth are new verses to an old, inner lyric. What Alison hears begins, as always, "I made you; I never wanted you; I never saw you; I never knew you; I had already left you." And since the new verses must follow the old, as she sits in the house of the father who lived the next town over, all her life, what Alison hears next is, "I saw you; I saved you; I left you again. I found you; I don't want to know you; I want only a piece of you. Say yes and I'll wait to reject you; say no and watch me leave you forever. This time you'll know for sure it was your fault."