The Affair (TV series)
The Affair is an American television drama series created by Sarah Treem and Hagai Levi. The series premiered on Showtime on October 12, 2014. It ran for five seasons, concluding with its final episode on November 3, 2019.
The series primarily stars Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, Maura Tierney, and Joshua Jackson, and it explores the emotional effects of extramarital relationships. Episodes are often separated into two parts, with each half being told from the point-of-view of a specific character. The use of this dramatic device has been used by Treem to describe The Affair as "the Rashomon of relationship dramas".
The series won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama and Wilson won for Best Actress – Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards in 2015. At the 73rd Golden Globe Awards in 2016, Maura Tierney won the award for Best Supporting Actress.
Series overview
The Affair explores the emotional effects of an extramarital relationship between Noah Solloway and Alison Bailey after they casually meet at the diner where Alison works. The series begins with the Solloway family traveling to the resort town of Montauk, New York. Noah is happily married to Helen with four children–Whitney, Martin, Trevor and Stacey but he resents their dependence on his wealthy father-in-law. Alison is a local waitress trying to piece her life and marriage to Cole back together after the death of their four-year-old son. The story of the affair is depicted from Noah's and Alison's perspectives respectively, complete with memory bias which often results in vastly different scenarios. Each episode has two parts, one as remembered by Noah, the other by Alison.In the second season, the narrative is expanded to include the perspectives of Noah and Alison's original spouses, Helen and Cole, as they all move forward with the dissolution of their marriages and deal with the ramifications. The subsequent death of Alison's brother-in-law, Scott, and the ensuing police investigation and criminal trial, are explored in flashforward scenes at the end of most episodes. Alison gives birth to her second child, Joanie.
The third season is set three years later, following the culmination of the flashforward trial scenes, after Noah is released from prison. Season 3 introduces an occasional perspective, Juliette Le Gall, a professor and Noah's love interest.
In the fourth season, Noah has moved to Los Angeles to be closer to his younger children Trevor and Stacey, as Helen and Vik have moved there. Noah is also an English teacher at a charter school where he gets romantically involved with its principal, Janelle Wilson. Cole and Luisa are living together in Montauk, while Alison is working as a grief counselor. Season 4 features opening flashforward sequences, featuring Noah and Cole, in its first four episodes, which ultimately lead to the discovery of Alison's death.
The fifth and final season takes place in two different time frames: a present-day storyline including Noah, Helen, and their four children and the other decades later featuring a now-adult Joanie Lockhart returning to Montauk and discovering the truth about her mother's death. The season introduces the perspectives of Joanie, Janelle, Whitney and Sierra.
Episodes
Cast
Main cast
Perspective characters
The Affair is told from multiple distinct perspectives, marked by title cards at the start of each 'part'. Episodes in season one are split between the perspectives of Noah and Alison, with additional characters incorporated in subsequent seasons.Recurring cast
- Victor Williams as Detective Jeffries
- John Doman as Bruce Butler, Helen's father
- Kathleen Chalfant as Margaret Butler, Helen's mother
- Mare Winningham as Cherry Lockhart, Cole's mother
- Colin Donnell as Scott Lockhart, Cole's brother
- Danny Fischer as Hal Lockhart, Cole's brother
- Michael Godere as Caleb Lockhart, Cole's brother
- Kaija Matiss as Mary-Kate Lockhart, Hal's wife
- Deirdre O'Connell as Athena Bailey, Alison's mother
- Darren Goldstein as Oscar Hodges, owner of The Lobster Roll
- Nicolette Robinson as Jane, waitress at The Lobster Roll
- Stephen Kunken as Harry, Noah's publisher
- Lynn Cohen as Joan Bailey, Alison's grandmother
- Jennifer Esposito as Nina Solloway, Noah's sister
- Richard Schiff as Jon Gottlief, Noah's attorney
- Joanna Gleason as Yvonne, a publisher who, along with her husband Robert, owns the guest house in which Alison and Noah stay
- Peter Friedman as Robert, Yvonne's husband
- Brooke Lyons as Eden Ellery, Noah's publicist during his book tour
- Abigail Dylan Harrison as Stacey Solloway, Noah and Helen's youngest daughter
- Brendan Fraser as John Gunther, a prison guard
- Sarah Ramos as Audrey, a student of Noah and Juliette
- Reagan and Savannah Grella as Joanie, Alison and Cole's daughter
- Jonathan Cake as Furkat, an aged photographer, Whitney's love interest
- Christopher Meyer as Anton Gatewood, an intelligent student at the school where Noah teaches
- Russell Hornsby as Carl Gatewood, Janelle's ex-husband and Anton's father
- Emily Browning as Sierra James, Helen and Vik's neighbor
- Ramon Rodriguez as Ben Cruz, a Marine veteran and Alison's love interest
- Zenobia Shroff as Priya Ullah, Vik's mother
- Zuhair Haddad as Abdul Ullah, Vik's father
- Adam Shapiro as Joel, a teacher and later principal at the school where Noah teaches
- Claes Bang as Sasha Mann, an A-list movie star and Helen's love interest
- Max Fowler as Colin, Whitney's fiancé
- Lyriq Bent as Paul, a sports agent and Joanie's husband
- Mozhan Marnò as Petra, a Vanity Fair journalist who interviews Noah for her magazine feature
- Jennifer Jason Leigh as Adeline Taylor, Sierra's mother
- Dana Drori as Christianna, the daughter of Sasha's deceased fiancée
- Michael Braun as EJ, an epigenetics scientist who helps Joanie
Production
After the conclusion of the fourth season and prior to the start of production on the fifth and final season, several series regulars departed the series. Ruth Wilson requested to leave ahead of season four, and her character was killed off at the end of the season. Although Wilson did not fully disclose the reason for her departure in 2019, The Hollywood Reporter did an exposé alleging that Wilson had been uncomfortable with the amount of nudity required for the role and naming showrunner Sarah Treem and executive producer and director Jeffrey Reiner as behaving inappropriately towards actors on set. Treem would later deny the accusations that she had coerced Wilson into nude scenes while admitting that Wilson was not comfortable with the amount of nudity required for the character and that body doubles were frequently used. Treem also corroborated that there had been an investigation into Reiner after he allegedly shared nude photos of a body double with producer, writer and actress Lena Dunham despite the fact that she was not involved in the show in any capacity.
Joshua Jackson did not return for the final season. Omar Metwally and Sanaa Lathan appear until episodes 2 and 3 respectively, and are removed from the main cast thereafter. Catalina Sandino Moreno appears in episodes six and seven as a guest star, in both the present-day and flashforward storylines.
Reception
Critical response
The first season received praise from critics. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 90%, based on 51 reviews, with an average rating of 8.18/10. The consensus reads: "Thanks to some smart, creative storytelling and spectacular performances, The Affair is a somber, bewitching exploration of truth and desire." On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 85 out of 100, based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".The second season received continued positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 90%, based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 8.01/10. The consensus reads: "The Affair shifts its emphasis in season two, moving psychological drama to the foreground and expanding the show's central crime story to include two new points of view." On Metacritic, it has a score of 78 out of 100 based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Gwen Ihnat of The A.V. Club gave it an "A-" grade and wrote that "With its bold new move to double our number of perspectives, it appears that The Affair will sail over that sophomore slump that has felled so many other Showtime dramas.
The third season received positive reviews from critics, although less acclaimed than the first two seasons. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 71%, based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 7.67/10. The consensus reads: "The Affair adds to its cast of strong characters and deepens the mood, tension, and intrigue, even if the plot sometimes struggles to move forward." On Metacritic, it has a score of 72 out of 100 based on 8 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
The fourth season received continued positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 91%, based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 7.44/10. The consensus reads: "The Affairs captivating character study returns with fewer kinks than its previous outing, resulting in a more emotionally grounded season that regains much of the show's initial allure."
The fifth season received continued positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 87%, based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 6.71/10. The consensus reads: "As addicting and outlandish as ever, season five proves the perfect farewell for The Affair." On Metacritic, it has a score of 77 out of 100 based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".