Thursday, November 19, 2015

What I’m Watching: The Affair


The Affair: Season 2, Episode 7 (B+)

A lot of time has passed since last we saw these characters, but as I mentioned last week, not having the perspectives overlap but instead cover different events is enabling the show to tell much more of a story. Starting with Alison showed just how much of a background player she is in Noah’s success story. Talking to a gossip columnist about the fact that Noah isn’t actually divorced was an unfortunate mistake, and Noah not being furious about it was about the one good thing he did this entire episode. Getting ready to fly on Thanksgiving and inviting his publicist to spend the holiday with them after he showed up late and forgot to pick up the turkey were hardly kind gestures, and his willingness to go along with the rumors that the book is based on her was especially upsetting to her. The way that they remembered events differently is a superb way of bringing the show’s different perspectives up and emphasizing the power of how a situation is perceived. Even though their night ended bitterly, Alison and Noah’s Thanksgiving did result in one quick coupling and wasn’t as vicious as the Lockhart dinner. Cole got very angry about the book, and his mother’s confirmation of their brutal family history was a miserable revelation. Going to see Luisa in the city was a high point, and they’ve obviously come a long way from her dating Scotty. The future bombshell that Cole and Luisa have a baby together is big news, and at the rate this show is going, I suspect we’ll learn much more about that very soon.

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