The Affair

[l2 0 5 5]

I just watched the first episode, so I haven't read the thread for fear of spoilers. I just want to know if the first episode is indicative of the rest of the season. I've heard great things about this show, but I thought the first ep was really boring.

Yeah I thought the same at first. It gets better.

[Howdyphillip]

Although I am a bit disappointed that the finale left us without a resolution, I really have to applaud this show. I do not think that I have ever seen relationships explored as thoroughly on screen before. It is sometimes hard to watch because how authentic the writing is. I will be sticking around to see where it goes next season.

[Ravenhair]

I got sucked into watching this show because I watched the free first episode that was offered. I think Howdyphillip's comment about the authenticity of the writing and the exploration of relationships being shown so thoroughly is very on point. Ruth Wilson does an amazing job in making Alison's vulnerability so very real, and she portrays emotional rawness so well. I thought the penultimate episode was really hard to watch, but it was so very good. Mare Winningham and Ruth Wilson's scene together in that episode was brutal, but fabulous. In the finale, strangely, it was Joshua Jackson's scene at the end that really got to me. A second season will be interesting, and I will watch, but I wonder, as others have, where they will go with the story.

[phoenix_rising]

just binged watched all 10. kept me engaged the whole way. I liked the true detective meets he said she said dynamic.

not sure if that's how they want to be pegged.

great characters that developed as they doled out info in each episode. I found myself flip flopping on empathy to each pov.

with no clarification on who beat up the younger bro or who the people on boat were. I think they are the ones who killed scotty.

noah's a dog not a murderer.

weird thing is , I watched this by myself on purpose. and I don't know why I didn't wont to watch with my spouse... :dunno:

[D_P]

i just watched the first episode last night and the unreliable narrator trope really does it for me. i wasn't really hooked until we see things from ali's point of view and every time her story unfolded differently than mcnulty's, i was like oh, hell no. i'm certainly going to continue watching. also, not for nothing, but this show is full of actors that i've liked in other roles. good times.

[RenlyIsNotRight]

So I finally got around to checking out this show. Initially it didn't particularly interest me, but seeing all the hype it got made me kind of curious so I watched the first 4 episodes on demand last night and I like it a lot more than I thought I would. I found myself particularly drawn in by the setting (which is familiar to me - my grandparents live on the North Fork) and the juxtaposition between the more traditional rural townspeople who want to keep it local (the Lockharts) and the townspeople who see an opportunity to profit off its status as a resort town and change it (Oscar). Myself having grown up in an area that is sort of in that grey area between rural working class and affluent upper middle class commuters, I'm intrigued to finally see a show that addresses these dichotomies in communities.

My only really complaint is that while the two perspective, unreliable narrator thing is cool, it does feel a bit overly similar to True Detective at points. I also haven't read any of the other posts as so not to spoil but I heard mixed reviews of the finale. Without spoiling it, what should I make of that?

[denstorebog]

This series was great until the ending, which fucked just about everything up. Holy hell, that has to be the worst ending to a season I've ever seen.

So they spend nine episodes on taking us through the engaging motions of a secret relationship. They make us care about every move the two lead character make towards and away from each other. They're unpleasantly honest about all the facets of infidelity; the secrecy, the suffering, the temptations, the joy. They build an entire series on the little developments and emotions, and they make us return again and again to see how Noah and Alison will find closure in a situation that's certain to leave everyone devastated.

Aaaand ... then they end the main plotline in a random place, jump ahead a year, tell us that the two got married, had a child, Noah became famous, and end the season on a cliffhanger related to the least relevant part of the narrative frame, the investigation.

Wow. Way to completely miss the point of your own show. More than any other season ending, this seems like some exec jumped in, identified the murder mystery as the central element of the show and told the writers to beef up that shit. Ending the season with the previous episode's cliffhanger (the train) would have made more sense than this.

So bravo, writers. You're now left with a show called The Affair where the affair has been resolved in the most predictable manner imaginable, and you have a murder mystery hanging which no one cares about any more because it relates to a timespan in your plot that you decided to jump out of. Well done.

[Nictarion]

I wasn't nearly as upset with the finale as all that (worst ever?) but your points are pretty valid.

It certainly wasn't where I saw the show heading. So is next season going to resolve the investigation quickly, and then focus on them having an affair with other people or something?

I'm always a little skeptical wrt Showtime anymore.

[phoenix_rising]

On the whole detective part. A New York detective has a year to work this case? He had McNulty/Noah dead to rights for lying and bribery . 20 g obstruction of justice is nothing to laugh off.

And is the detective lying about his family on purpose?

[Red Tiger]

Something else altogether, but I was playing Mass Effect 2 the other day and uhmmm, well take a look at Femshep (not my playthrough, just bringing it up as an example)

I can't unsee it

[Calibandar]

Finished watching this show. Overall very interesting, very engaging, but the ending was weird.