The Affair Season 2 Episode 1 – Let’s Discuss!

It’s been a long hiatus but I am so excited to dive back in and get under the covers with you every Sunday night for my guilty pleasure of the week. Thanks for joining me!

There is always something about the opening Fiona Apple song, Container, that gives me butterflies as the show begins. You know what I mean?

PART 1: NOAH

1. WRITER’S RETREAT, COLD SPRINGS, NY.

 

The show opens with Noah dreaming about recklessly speeding down a dark road on a foggy night. He is about to hit a little girl or woman (not sure) and then he wakes up. Is this supposed to leave us to believe this is how Scotty got killed? Hmmm

Noah is living in a writer’s dream home in Cold Spring, NY. It’s the exact place you would imagine any writer would go to write a novel. Harry, his book publisher, gave him the perfect setting to write his masterpiece.

2. HARRY

Harry is not pleased with Noah’s ending of the book as Harry feels it should end in murder instead of at a dinner table. It is certainly clear the book is about the Lockhart’s even though Noah claims it is fiction.

3.  JORDY

Noah randomly walks into one of their “close couple friends” in Fort Greene. Two things I thought were weird with Jordy:

1. Who asks for plans the same day you run into someone you haven’t seen in months?
2. His reference to the Google calendar? I mean I usually say I have to check my calendar but GOOGLE calendar? no.

4. MOVERS & MISERABLE MARGARET 

Noah returned home to grab the rest of his belongings. (I will mention the moving guys were the most clean shaven movers I have ever seen, not that I am judging) Margaret, Helen’s mom, is such a wench. She basically won’t let Noah take any of his belongings until they are appraised. Did you notice how his entire wardrobe fit in less than two suitcases?  When Noah’s movers ask him “Is this all your stuff?” in a sort of patronizing way, Noah isn’t going to let Margaret get away with it and fights for his things even if its paperbacks, old pots & coffee mugs and, of course, his father’s painting.

As Noah threatens to throw Margaret down the stairs (I wish he would), poor Martin appears from his bedroom – whoops, he’s home – with a bad stomachache. A psychologist would interject here and say that his stomach issues are a sign of sickness due to loss of his family life.

5. TREVOR

I am not really sure how Trevor left a note and ran away from camp for the day but I loved how Sarah Treem threw in the Hilary 2016 T- shirt. Nobody envies Noah at all when he has to explain to Trevor why he and Helen are divorcing. It was considerate that Noah did not put the blame on Trevor’s mom, HOWEVER, who in the world tells their 10 year-old kid they fell in love with somebody else? Seems ridiculous and Noah definitely deserved a punch in the face for that comment (that’s my two cents).

6. JEREMY THE  MEDIATOR

I almost fell over when they showed “Jeremy the Mediator”. If you watch Better Call Saul, you will know that this is the embezzling Craig Kettleman! The Solloway’s are trying a more amicable approach. Hiring a mediator is definitely a smoother route to take when it comes to getting divorced but Jeremy the mediator is such a schmuck. Anybody watching this for sure wants to smack him.  Especially after he mentions the process is taking so fast, he may even be home into for an “afternoon delight.” I thought Dominic West did a fantastic job of showing the two points of view (this is the only scene in the show that was shown twice, fyi). In this scene Helen learns Noah is writing a book that will actually turn a profit. But no, Noah is not living with Alison. (sure).

7. AHH ALISON

Back home with Alison, looking pretty as ever. Perfect peppers,  fresh flowers and all! I wonder if Greg walked into the house and I was decked wearing a dress with no bra, cooking pasta on the stove if he would marry me all over again. Ah, the beginning…

As awful as Noah’s day was, he is glowing around Alison.  He’s getting divorced, his kids are a mess, his book needs work but life with Alison is perfecto.

8. THE DOCK

 

I couldn’t figure out the significance of the chair and why it was left for him but now realize its the chair from Williams College – where he met Helen. As Noah sits in the chair we see an impending storm in the background. Foreshadowing much?

9. JAIL

Flash Forward to the future. Jeffries is scaring Noah into a plea deal and then….

 

PART 2: HELEN

1. MAX

First of all I love that they opened the scene up with just the words “PART 2”.  You are led to believe its the morning after a very drunk night with Alison & Noah as you think this is Alison’s story (tequila, used condom, half eaten food, pillows everywhere, etc)  but alas, it’s Helen’s.

And then I wanted to vomit for so many reasons:

 

1. Max’s porn talk during sex.  When he says “your ass is so tight, I am squeezing it so hard, can you feel it?”
   Seriously, what??
   If someone (cough, Greg)  said that to me in bed I would start hysterically laughing. You can definitely sense the “please lets get it over with” in her response, “yeah, I can feel it.”
2. Watching Max cum (I was going to write “climax” but that sounded boring and not really the vibe in the scene) as he  banged on the headboard when he finished was it for me. Poor Helen. We know she is just along for the ride. Escapism at its finest. Funny that he ordered my kind of breakfast, the quintessential healthy hotel room breakfast (protein scramble, almond milk cappuccinos and gluten-free toast) but I wanted to punch him because he is such a condescending asshole about the fruit and he felt the need to mention that he just bought the hotel. Vile. Nobody cares especially Helen.
3. The penis shot. Even in Masters of Sex they have never showed full frontal on a guy.  I thought that once the penis is shown it goes into the X rated department. The Affair may just be getting risqué this season. Woohoo! Although, for some reason, seeing Max’s tallywhacker made me squirm.

Helen’s breakdown in the shower is heartbreaking. So begins the aftermath of Noah’s extramarital affair….

2. WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK

For the first time we see how much stress Helen is under. Who knew Helen was a toker? Someone definitely needs to let her in on the cartridge pen idea (aka oil).  I find this would be a much safer way for Helen to get high instead of carrying around Mary Jane in a cherry candy box.

3. JEREMY THE MEDIATOR

Back with Jeremy. This time we know why Helen is so chill (vape pen).  She is wearing a long sleeve sheer top looking more sophisticated than in Noah’s version of Helen where she was wearing a silk tank and slouchy pants. Noah is NOT wearing a suit but rather a button down and jeans with a Vince-like jacket. He also DOES NOT have a bloody nose.  Did you notice how Helen suggested helping Noah (with her parents money) find an apartment nearby for the kids to stay so they can be closer? Noah actually suggested this idea in his version with his “book” money. He also denies living with Alison.

4. BALLET CLASS

Girls will be girls. It is no surprise the gossip is getting around about their divorce but it sucks for Helen to overhear it first hand. Winning line of the scene is when her disgusting “friend” asked if there were any clues Noah was cheating and Helen responded, “you know, now that you mention it, there was a sort rainbow shooting out of his dick last summer. I probably should have paid more attention to that.” Applause here.

5. LIFE AT HOME

 

Helen has her hands full. Four kids, two of which how are not taking it well at all. And Whitney (Oh, do I love her). Whitney is the epitome of the “classic teenager.” Her life is consumed with writing her college essay about her near-death experience (Remember when Cole pointed a gun at her head?). Love it. I guess the abortion wasn’t dramatic enough.

*side note
When Helen and the kids were sitting around the dinner table miserable, picking at their food, I couldn’t help but think back to Noah’s lovely dinner on the deck, dancing with Alison in his arms.

6. BENEFIT

As much as Helen does not want to go to this benefit for her mother, she puts on a swanky dress, throws her hair up, smokes some pot and heads out. Max and his pompous ass surprises Helen as her escort. Margaret is a pig in a shit listening to him go on and on about how rich he is and how he had a crush on Helen since college.  Thank gd Max brought her a pot lozenge.

7. HOME

As Helen’s night unwinds during the “storm”, she notices Noah took the painting from their bedroom. It thunders some more.

8. JAIL

Last scene is set in the future. Interesting enough its Helen, not Alison who shows up in Montauk with Noah’s suit. Treem did an amazing job here to point out the future with Helen’s new haircut…bangs and all. A final surprise was when the lawyer who Helen hired, Jon Gottlief, (Yes Robert Schiff who has been in a zillion things but known most for his role as Toby in The West Wing), arrives and Noah claims he cannot afford him. Maybe Noah’s book was not such a success after all.

That’s a wrap!

I am going to assume we will see Cole’s perspective in episode 2. Looking forward to that…

Until next week!

I did want to acknowledge that these are just my observations. Could be right, could be wrong? Who knows but fun nonetheless….What were your thoughts?

 

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