The Affair "3" Review: What Do You Make of That Ending?

The Affair S01E03: 3

Showtime's The Affair is the most captivating new drama of the fall, thanks to a "he said, she said" storytelling framework that forces viewers to assess the unspooling love affair between lead characters Noah (Dominic West) and Alison (Ruth Wilson) with a cautious and sometimes skeptical eye. After three episodes, it's clear that the series is in no hurry to provide us with answers; its slow, freewheeling pace is as laid-back as summertime in Montauk. But the murder investigation at the heart of the show replaces the sunny disposition of the past with a harsher, colder reality in the present, and the identity of the whoever was killed is starting to keep me up at night.

Here's what we know: Noah and Alison are independently recounting the events of their extramarital affair to a detective who's investigating the death of a man who was run down by a car on a road that led to a mostly tourist-frequented locale. As each episode reveals more of Noah and Alison's story, we're steadily getting to know who they are as people, in their own eyes as well as in each other's eyes.

Up until the end of this week's "3," their stories differed only slightly; any obvious disparities were usually reflected in the clothes they remembered each other wearing or in how seductive and flirty one of them acted toward the other. We saw interactions from two different points of view, but for the most part they were recalling the same events. But that changed in "3" when Noah remembered arriving at a town hall meeting right after it ended and then having sex with Alison for the first time. Meanwhile, in Alison's version of the same night, Noah missed the meeting entirely and later texted her to apologize, after which she woke up her husband Cole for some late-night nookie. It marked the first time where their stories have truly diverged, so now I'm thinking in circles trying to figure out what it means. Let's try to work though a few of The Affair's biggest mysteries together, shall we?

First, whose death is being investigated?

The most obvious answer is Joshua Jackson's Cole, so let's consider him Possible Victim #1. That would explain why the detective thinks it's necessary to rehash Noah and Alison's affair, because if Cole was murdered, the wife's lover would certainly be Suspect Numero Uno, right? But Cole's also got beef with at least one person in Montauk: Alison's boss Oscar wants to open an entertainment center (with a bowling alley!) to bring in more business, and Cole is leading the resistance. However, is Cole too easy of an answer? For that reason alone, I'm also inclined to believe it's not him, especially when you consider Alison's detached demeanor whenever she talks about the deceased. Plus, I cannot imagine a world in which anyone kill off Joshua Jackson. That's like TV show suicide, man.

Which leads me to Possible Victim #2: Helen's (Maura Tierney) father and Noah's father-in-law, Bruce. It's been implied that the victim was a local, and Bruce is a world-class asshole. He's also a famous author, which could explain why Alison said she'd miss him but in a way that suggested she didn't know him too well.

As for Possible Victim #3, let's go with Cole's brother Scotty, simply because he's one of the only other locals we've met, he's someone Alison's connected to, and he certainly doesn't mind fraternizing with tourists. Although those criteria also apply to Oscar, so he can be Possible Victim #4.

What do you think?

thekaitling:list:the-affair-whos-dead/

When did the victim die?

"I really doubt it was anyone at the party that ran him down," Alison told the investigator in Episode 2, the same episode in which both Alison and Noah recalled the details of an event held at the home of Noah's in-laws. We know that a fair amount of time has passed between the summer that Noah and Alison are describing and the investigation that's being conducted—at least enough time for Alison to have been pregnant and given birth—but how much time? And when did the victim actually bite it? It it possible that Alison's talking about more than one party? Because if it's an annual event, she could be referring to the same party but in a different year. Episode 2 ended with Alison nearly being run over by a car full of jackholes, but everyone we've met so far who might currently be dead was still alive in Episode 3, after the party we actually witnessed in Season 2. Also, why was the death originally ruled an accident, and what changed that it's now being labeled a homicide?

What do Episode 3's different endings mean?

Since Noah's account ended with he and Alison having sex and Alison's account ended with her climbing on top of Cole (and whispering the same "don't wake up" that Noah used in his scene with Helen earlier in the episode), I have to wonder which recollection is more accurate. Is Alison attempting to hide the truth about when she and Noah first had sex? Was that the night she got pregnant with the child she mentioned in the series premiere? Because if it was the night she got pregnant and Cole was led to believe it was his child, it makes sense that she would lie about the first time she slept with Noah. Or maybe she's protecting someone else?

Of course, it's also possible that Noah is just confused and is mixing up two different evenings. Both explanations are completely plausible.

The Affair is simultaneously a study in how our brains work with regard to memory and an advanced storytelling exercise involving multiple unreliable narrators, both of which are built around the murder of an unknown-to-us victim. As such, we have to assume that the diverging stories we saw in Episode 3 are important, even if we don't yet understand why. When Noah met with Bruce's editor, he pitched his new book as the story of an affair between a married small-town girl and a married man from the city... and when the editor pressed him for details on what would make Noah's story unique, Noah revealed that in the end, the guy kills the girl. Did he make up that plot turn on the fly because he hasn't actually written anything yet? Or is it indicative of something that's yet to come. Alison is obviously alive to recount her story, so what's it all mean?

Last question: Are you enjoying The Affair as much as I am?