The Affair: Season 3, Episode 10 (C)
This was a real disappointment. After a serious story misstep in the previous episode, this finale didn’t even address it and instead sent Noah off to Paris to have a random reunion with his daughter that doesn’t remotely address this show’s two strongest characters, Alison and Helen. Opening up this show’s perspectives to include Helen and Cole in the second season was a fantastic and enormously effective decision, and I cannot understand why Juliette got her own take this season. I would have been much more interested in seeing how Luisa perceived things, and we’ve seen a lot more of her than Juliette. Having the non-mistress (Noah isn’t really married anymore) go to Paris and just happen to encounter her husband waking up out of nowhere and then dying felt enormously forced, and out of place since we really don’t know much about Juliette, a character that hasn’t been featured heavily. This show moved to the style of storytelling popularized by “Lost” and “The Walking Dead” where characters don’t appear for multiple episodes in a row, and it’s a real disservice considering the great players who weren’t even featured. This season has been an inconsistent mess, and while I loved the eighth episode, there was nothing about it that was referenced in this hour, and that’s a sign that this show doesn’t know where its strongest assets lie anymore. Noah’s ending question made me ask, “Where is this show going?” Let’s hope that we see less of Noah and his new life and more of the things that made this show superb originally in season four.
Season grade: B-
Season MVP: Maura Tierney as Helen
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