Thursday, January 26, 2017

What I’m Watching: The Affair


The Affair: Season 3, Episode 9 (C+)

It’s always hard to negotiate a twist that you don’t like with a show’s quality, but in this case, I’m pretty sure that we’d be better off without it. Even back in season one, I thought that the mystery of what happened with whoever it was that got run off the road late at night and both Noah and Alison being suspects was the least engaging and compelling part, and that’s triply true now in season three. I think most had probably begun to suspect that there was no way that what Noah was experiencing could be real, with his hallucinations at Helen’s house being the most telling. But to learn that he built up this relationship with a guard who barely even knew or spoke to him while he was in prison suggests that he’s had a total break with sanity. Before, Noah was a terrible person who couldn’t stay with any woman because of his selfishness and desire to do what he wanted, but now he can’t really be blamed because he’s not in control of his actions. I don’t know where we go from here, since the revelation that he was the one who attacked himself isn’t going to go over well with any of the many women in his life. We got to see a different kind of crazy on full display as Helen’s parents dragged her into their panic room to lock her up before she could go tell the world that she was driving the car – which she ended up doing, just to make sure that someone hears her and ends up turning her in. With just one episode left, I don’t know where this show can possibly go, and I think I’ll be headed into season four considerably less excited than I have been in the past after this disappointing redirection.

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