I suspect many viewers of Showtime’s 10-episode The Affair will consider the drama’s pacing too slow, too gradual in its revelation of the central crime – a murder where the victim’s identity was only recently revealed. But they’re missing the point.
The Affair is about many things. It’s about memory and details. It’s about recasting your history. It’s about parenting. It’s about marriage. It’s as much about money and privilege as it is about the permanent residents of Montauk, New York. The murder and the conflicting sides of the surrounding events, as with any great drama, are really the gateway to a deeper meaning.
It’s a beautiful series. One that has completely and unexpectedly knocked me off my feet.
For those not in the know, The Affair details the budding romance between Noah Solloway (Dominic West), a married author, and Alison Lockhart (Ruth Wilson), a married waitress. The widely publicized hook of the series involved telling their story from each perspective. Initially, there were only a few minor differences: Alison portrayed Noah as the aggressor in the relationship. His memory was, of course, of Alison as the sexual predator. In her version, she wore matronly frocks and made fresh-squeezed orange juice for her husband. In his version, his family life is suffocating with domineering in-laws running the show.
As the series has progressed, the dual sides have become increasingly in opposition. Episodes take on a near dreamlike state when events are told and re-told completely out of order or omitted from one version completely. We’ve also started spending an increasing amount of time in the present as a police detective conducts his interviews a la True Detective, ultimately revealing the identity of the murder victim in its most recent episode.
Viewers will take from this what they will. Again, some will be off-put by the somewhat laconic pacing, but I find it completely appropriate given the emotionally complex nature of the story. This series (thus far) paints a vast canvas of the adult experience ranging from haunting loss to gut-wrenching guilt to all-consuming lust. This isn’t Breaking Bad or Sons of Anarchy. This series is its own thing, a delicate flower that needs room to breathe.
The acting by West and Wilson continues to be excellent with Wilson the better of the two. As I’ve mentioned before, she has more complex role as her characteristics radically differ between the two versions. However, other actors are doing equally brilliant if less flashy work. Maura Tierney is fantastic in the smallish role of Noah’s wife, and Dawson’s Creek’s Joshua Jackson is surprisingly effective in the role of Alison’s cuckolded husband. Also memorable is Deirdre O’Connell in the amusing role of Athena, Alison’s new-age healer mother.
With five episodes under its belt, The Affair is a confident, engrossing, and mature television show. It is also something of a high wire balancing act. Given the presumed time lapse between the present day interrogations and the lush flashbacks, you have the sense that there is a great deal of story left to tell. The trouble for the show will be sustaining the gradual peaks as it dives into intimate details between the two leads. I also have concerns about stretching this story beyond a single season as it was recently renewed for a second.
But that lies in the future… The Affair as it currently stands is nothing short of brilliant.
