The Affair

I troubled myself to understand the thing that makes this show so seductive, so different. To discover what is the ingredient that creators ably slipped into this immensely emotional and sensual potion. Something that imbues this show to its firm core. After a long consideration, I realized, that this one thing I was looking for is nonexistent. Because this show in its entirety is that special thing. The combination of intriguing, complex characters, empathy that they draw from the viewers. Mystery, that so elegantly dances through the plot, while hypnotizing us to follow its perfectly composed, unpredictable step. Casual, compelling, conversations that silently pull you even deeper down this beautifully directed world. By telling this story through the eyes of the characters, we find out that their view of the same situations vary. Not only that they see or understand something through their psychological state, this multi-character experience exposes us to realization that each person is living a life as vivid and complex as our own. This would be impossible to achieve if not the breathtaking actors and actresses that catapult this show to another dimension, yet never more close to humanity, to now, to us.

Season 1 deserves a 10 star rating in my opinion. Loved the 2nd season as well. Afterwards, it's just an okay show but since I fell in love with (some of) the characters I just had to continue watching it till the end. Overall, I think they focused on too many other things like Whitney's story, also Joanie's in the future. It didn't catch my attention, at times I found it quite boring and unnecessary. In later seasons, the parts that were told from Noah's and Helen's perspective were by far the most interesting ones.

Good show with a brilliant season 1 and 2 but sadly with a lot of flaws in later seasons.

I wish this show chose a different path. Season 1 was amazing and season 2 was great. Noah's storyline in Season 3 & 4 have been horrendous to the point where I skip them. I wish they stuck to the original cast and their complexities and didn't add in so many unnecessary characters and relationships. I'm just watching it to finish the series, but I wouldn't even bother after season 2.

This series is meant to keep viewers hanging on. I like that. We're witnessing a train wreck. I can't stop looking, waiting for the outcome. Like any train wreck, there are eye witnesses with differing accounts of the events leading up to the aftermath of the event. Alison and Noah are providing their perceptions of the wreck and collateral damage. The train hasn't stopped screeching toward halting to a stop. The debris field isn't complete. The Affair is a piece that makes you observe and think. I don't find it all that entertaining. Those reviews that are complaints are looking to be entertained. Asking why are the characters doing this or that...IT'S A STORY. FICTION. A WRITER'S STORY. It may also hit a nerve for viewers who've had an affair or contemplated one. Art imitating life?

Setting: Picturesque, folksy, idyllic, New England seaside tourist/fishing village town. Plot: Male (Dominic West) novel writing work/summer vacation with wife and children, meets and gets drawn into the life of married local woman (Ruth Wilson).

Appreciate the complexity, undisclosed undercurrents, the conflicted psychology of the main characters, all the while, aware of the cloaked elephant in the room.

Story told similar to True Detective's style with the detective's interviews of the affairees shown remembrances, somehow relating to whatever is going to happen. One half is his side, the other half, hers.

Lots of sideways glimpses of character and intentions, challenging what you thought you understood.