The Affair: A Family And Romantic Drama That's Actually Quite Interesting

You see me bitch and moan about family and romantic drama a lot, probably in every post but I don't completely hate it. I only hate it when it's cheesy, repetitive and contains hammy acting which a lot of is does, but when it's done well it's pretty swell (I'm trying to make using this word a thing, just go with it) to watch. The Affair from Showtime is one of those dramas that is swell to watch and insanely addictive, because even though the show is called The Affair theres a hell of a lot more to it.

The Affair centres on an affair (obviously) between Alison Lockhart (Ruth Wilson) and Noah Solloway (Dominic West). Both parties in the affair have a happy facade on for the outside world but on the inside they are quite frustrated with their lives and struggling to move on. Alison is married to Cole Lockhart (Joshua Jackson), together they had a son that passed away some time before the events of the series and they are both attempting to get their marriage back to the way it was but without success. Cole seems to have successfully moved on from the tragedy and is unable to understand why Alison hasn't which leads to some friction between the two, that probably aids in her choice to embark on an affair. Noah is the complete opposite to Alison in many ways, he has a loving wife and four healthy children. He also has a stable job and has had some limited success as an author in the past although he is having trouble writing a follow up. Unfortunately for him he is living under the shadow of his father in law who has had numerous best sellers and is constantly giving him unsolicited advice. Being trapped in a house with him for the summer is probably one of the reasons he turns to Alison, to lash out at the family that makes him feel inferior. 

Their romantic entanglement would probably make for a decent show itself but The Affair goes much further than chronicling the events of an affair that happened one summer, we actually see both Alison and Noah retelling their stories and one or both of them is laced with bias. Alison is saying that Noah is the one that pursued her, and of course Noah believes it's the other way around. We see both subtle and major differences in their stories and I guess it's really up to us to decide who is telling the truth, who knows if the show will actually ever tell us. What if they're both lying? Anything possible, and I don't think I've ever spent so long speculating about a fictional affair. Bravo Showtime, bravo.

Not only do we have the question of whose telling the truth, but we also have the question of why they are saying anything at all. They both seem to be in a police interview so it is likely that a crime has been committed, something related to their activities. I'm three episodes in and I'm still not sure about what's going on, all I'm certain about is that someone died not so recently (most likely a Lockhart) and the police have begun to believe that it may have been a murder. So we have three mysteries in what could have been a simple drama:

1) Who is lying, Alison or Noah? 

2) Who died/who was murdered?

3) Who killed them?

I know I said it before but I'll say it again, bravo Showtime, bravo. The Affair has proven to be a brilliant piece of drama and has given me plenty of things to mull over in just three hours of the story. I honestly can't wait to see what it has in store and eagerly await the next episode. Its not just your average drama, it goes way beyond that and I'm sure I'll enjoy watching it unfold. If you haven't already seen it just check out the trailer below and see what you think. And if the trailer doesn't sell it for you just watch it anyway. If you don't then theres something wrong with you.

Live Long and Blog!