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[RatskyWatsky]

The show has been renewed.

 

[-Stranger-]

Noah is so fucked up.
Can't see him and Helen getting back together.
I'm glad Vic left though, he was a dick.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

I'm glad Vic left though, he was a dick.

Was he? He seemed pretty nice to me, especially in the last few episodes.

 

[Matt]

Noah is so fucked up.
Can't see him and Helen getting back together.
I'm glad Vic left though, he was a dick.

Vic was the nicest guy on the show...

 

[RatskyWatsky]

New episode tonight!

308

Spoiler

An unexpected event gives Alison reason to celebrate but it also provokes a sobering realization. Soon after, a startling warning leaves her pondering the unthinkable. Meanwhile, Cole's frustrations with Alison come to a head and reveal a radical truth.

 

[spindoctor]

Was he? He seemed pretty nice to me, especially in the last few episodes.

It changes depending on whose perspective we're seeing. From Noah's perspective Vic behaved like an ass in the last episode.

They're really milking this one secret about Noah unfairly going to jail. It feels like every single conflict this season is happening because that secret needs to be preserved. I'm still a little confused how Noah's relationship with both Helen and Allison has completely broken down in the 3 years that he was in jail. Allison explained that she needed distance from him so that his shadow wouldn't interfere with her child custody proceedings, which is fine, but it doesn't explain why she doesn't actually seem to love (or even like) him anymore. Same goes for Noah and the way he seems to treat Helen with disdain throughout this season. She has been putting up with a lot of his shit because she feels indebted to him but he just continues to be a dick towards her.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Good episode. Cole's story is finally getting interesting. I hope he doesn't fuck things up with Louisa.

Also, that scene between Alison and Helen was a treat.

It changes depending on whose perspective we're seeing. From Noah's perspective Vic behaved like an ass in the last episode.

Assholes often view other people as the assholes~

 

[Daffy Duck]

It changes depending on whose perspective we're seeing. From Noah's perspective Vic behaved like an ass in the last episode.

They're really milking this one secret about Noah unfairly going to jail. It feels like every single conflict this season is happening because that secret needs to be preserved. I'm still a little confused how Noah's relationship with both Helen and Allison has completely broken down in the 3 years that he was in jail. Allison explained that she needed distance from him so that his shadow wouldn't interfere with her child custody proceedings, which is fine, but it doesn't explain why she doesn't actually seem to love (or even like) him anymore. Same goes for Noah and the way he seems to treat Helen with disdain throughout this season. She has been putting up with a lot of his shit because she feels indebted to him but he just continues to be a dick towards her.

Yeah the whole details on why they all hate each individual is pretty odd, and the fact they haven't explained any of it is also weird.

Also, that scene between Alison and Helen was a treat.

That scene was fantastic, Alison's reaction to the been a weird day line was hilarious.

 

[Heisenberg]

I thought Noah resented Helen for him taking the blame and going to prison? That's what it seems like to me.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

The penultimate episode of the season is tonight!

309

Spoiler

Helen's escape to Montauk exacerbates her guilt and hastens an identity crisis. Meanwhile, Noah's world collapses, leaving him to process something horrific.

 

[Daffy Duck]

That was a good episode.

Interested to see how this is wrapped up next week.

 

[dead souls]

That was the best episode of television that has aired in 2017 so far. Completely amazing from start to finish.

 

[Lumpy Onion]

Wow that was intense and so damn good. Both Helen and Noah's story were riveting. When she just blurted that bit about Scottie at the dinner table I was shocked. And now I'm wondering how much of that abuse from Gunther was even real or just delusions brought on by Noah's psychosis. Watching Noah at the end there with that expesssion of utter hopelessness on his face...goddamn. Dominic West is killing it this season.

 

[Discotheque]

God damn at that episode. if that's really the interpretation of his past that actually happened then this puts Noah in a whole new light for me, even more negatively as well.

pretty damn baffling how Dominic West never gets nominated for this show btw. Brendan Fraser was pretty good too surprisingly.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Yeah, that was a really good one. Nice to finally have things out in the open re: Helen and Scotty.

 

[spindoctor]

Someone explain one thing to me. Noah's flashback where he's being chased ends with his father exclaiming "What have you done?" right? Presumably this refers to Noah poisoning his mother? That means that father was still around when this happened. This is in contradiction to his memory/story that his father and sister left him alone with his mother at the end. Of course we learn that his memory of events are somewhat fictional, but why does his sister acknowledge the father's mistake if it didn't happen?

 

[UrbanRats]

So how was this season so far? Havent had time to watch it yet.

 

[Saty]

I prefer this over some wacko stalking but i didn't like it much how they swept the carpet under the viewer's feet. Yes, we had evidence that much of the stalking was imagined but to then seemingly fabricate the scenes/memories at the prison? Or how intimidated Noah was by Gunther when Helen met him there? Or how he was roughed up?

And didn't the cops flat out say they ruled out the stabbing being self-inflicted? Surely they should know by the wound and the angle of the cut etc. if Noah could have cut himself that way or that it would have required a second person behind him.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

The season finale is tonight!

310

Spoiler

Season 3 ends with a chance encounter offering Noah a possibility for healing a relationship that is in desperate need of repair, and his visit to Paris provides Juliette with a distraction from unpleasant realities at home.

 

[CreepingFear]

The season finale is tonight!

Season finale? Damn, feels like the season just started.

 

[Daffy Duck]

I prefer this over some wacko stalking but i didn't like it much how they swept the carpet under the viewer's feet. Yes, we had evidence that much of the stalking was imagined but to then seemingly fabricate the scenes/memories at the prison? Or how intimidated Noah was by Gunther when Helen met him there? Or how he was roughed up?

And didn't the cops flat out say they ruled out the stabbing being self-inflicted? Surely they should know by the wound and the angle of the cut etc. if Noah could have cut himself that way or that it would have required a second person behind him.

Maybe it's the memory bias and Gunther did really attack him. We don't know for sure, Noah is all sorts of fucked up at the minute.

 

[Discotheque]

So how was this season so far? Havent had time to watch it yet.

The Noah and Helen stuff is great. Whenever they are in focus it's damn good tv. Sadly I found a lot of the Alison and Cole shit pretty boring

Also a surprisingly solid subplot and performance involving Brendan Fraser

 

[-Stranger-]

I heard the finale isn't very good
Accidentally spoiled myself

 

[RatskyWatsky]

I must say that that was a truly strange way to end the season. Given everything that happened last week with Noah, it was totally jarring to see him completely fine and "over it" in Paris, not to mention there not being any continuation of or "big moment" relating to Helen's revelation to her family re: Scotty. Add to that Alison and Cole being absent and it all adds up to something really quite off putting.

Alison and Cole's storylines this year were completely unrelated to the main plot and I'm not sure it was a good idea to keep them on when the writers clearly didn't have much for them to do (they were only even showcased in like 4 of the 10 episodes). This season might have worked better if they had just focused on Noah, Helen, and Juliette (maybe throw Vic a bone and make him the fourth POV character).

Or maybe they could have just come up with a less Noah centric main storyline? I don't know, but season 3 (while still good) could definitely have been made to feel less disjointed and more inclusive of all the characters.

Anyway, Noah's half of tonight's episode was good, particularly his scenes with Whitney (even though Noah was a total shit with that "I am like Furkat, but at least I never hit your mother!" line when he literally raped her like 2 episodes ago...). Juliette's scenes were also good, but she made so few appearances this season (I believe this was only her second POV episode) that it was hard to care as much as I felt like the writers wanted me to.

 

[Discotheque]

I liked it but it was an odd closer to the season considering what we got last episode. It felt like an epilogue, which I suppose was what they were going for.

Noah half was great...though I wonder if he's lying to himself when he tells Juliette that people blame themselves just to make sense of things. Hopefully he's not and he really has moved past all that, because it was nice to see things working out for him at the end of the episode.

Although that last minute has me worried he's going back to Montauk to blow things up again lol.

 

[DragoonKain]

That felt like a series finale to me, not a season finale. Sure, is every storyline completely wrapped up perfectly? No, but I've seen certain series drag things on and end up ending worse than if they stopped it 2-3 years prior.

This show is going to drag on to the point where it gets completely ruined IMO.

Spoiler

-Noah and Allison are over
-Noah found peace within himself
-Noah may or may not have found a new love in Juliette, but it would be ok ending it ambiguously. Many shows have done so before. But importantly, Noah is himself again.
-Noah made amends with his kids.
-Cole admitted he still loves Allison, but appears to choose to keep his current life.
-Allison became a mother and got partial custody of her child like she wanted.

I mean, that is plenty wrapped up for a show. Now I feel they are going to force unnatural plot progressions and hurt the show instead of helping it.

On a side note: Juliette is one of my favorite characters in the show. I really liked her, she was a good addition. Interesting, sexy, and not a moody nut.

 

[Coxy100]

That felt like a series finale to me, not a season finale. Sure, is every storyline completely wrapped up perfectly? No, but I've seen certain series drag things on and end up ending worse than if they stopped it 2-3 years prior.

This show is going to drag on to the point where it gets completely ruined IMO.

Spoiler

-Noah and Allison are over
-Noah found peace within himself
-Noah may or may not have found a new love in Juliette, but it would be ok ending it ambiguously. Many shows have done so before. But importantly, Noah is himself again.
-Noah made amends with his kids.
-Cole admitted he still loves Allison, but appears to choose to keep his current life.
-Allison became a mother and got partial custody of her child like she wanted.

I mean, that is plenty wrapped up for a show. Now I feel they are going to force unnatural plot progressions and hurt the show instead of helping it.

On a side note: Juliette is one of my favorite characters in the show. I really liked her, she was a good addition. Interesting, sexy, and not a moody nut.

I really enjoy the series but I agree that they are ruining it a bit for me. For me I wish Noah and Alison were still together. I get that they both 'needed' each other at that particular time but I don't like how they changed it from S1 to S2 - how Noah suddenly became a complete arsehole. I get why some people would want Alison to be with Cole though as well.

S3 has just been so random for me. I still enjoy it, but for me it's lost its focus. I love the dynamic Alison has with the men and they've not focussed enough on that for me. Juliette has almost taken over that role (being sexy etc)

Also as a sidenote. How come Noah was so poor in S3 - did he lose all of his money by going to prison?

 

[UrbanRats]

The Noah and Helen stuff is great. Whenever they are in focus it's damn good tv. Sadly I found a lot of the Alison and Cole shit pretty boring

Also a surprisingly solid subplot and performance involving Brendan Fraser

So, par for the course.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Had to put this on the back burner with so many Sunday shows, but I'm catching up now. Really digging Episode 5. Noah letting loose, getting butt naked in the hot tub was fun. Different vibe for this show but some levity is appreciated.

Prison scenes still stressful as fuck. It's The Night Of all over again

 

[yodandy]

This season bored me to tears. Really enjoyed S1 and S2 wasn't bad, but this season just seemed aimless. Half of the finale was dedicated to french chicks problems...cool? I know it's been renewed but I'm not sure I'll be watching next season. Shame.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Fwiw, the creator said in an interview that she wanted to make next season the last one. Nothing has been made official, however.

 

[Lumpy Onion]

That was a different season finale than I expected after the rollercoaster ride of stress and misery last week. I started tearing-up during the conversation with Whitney about watching out for guys like her dad. Paris was visually a nice change of pace. Even though Juliette wasn't in a lot of episodes I though her story arc was thoughtfully done. Overall it was a rather hopeful finale in a season full of hopelessness.

 

[Acorn]

On ep 9. Man Alison and Coles episodes have been so sucky.

Without either Noah and Helen I find myself checking out my phone.

 

[Saty]

The finale:

https://track3.mixtape.moe/gptibw.webm

Completely hijacked by Juliette and her stuff. Glossing over all that happened last episode. We got zero clarifications.

How much were the Gunther scenes imagine or made up? Was there any kernel of truth? Was Noah terrorized by Gunther in prison? Whats the complete story on Noah's mother's death? Did he really try to push her into ending her life for his own selfish reasons? What happened with Helen admitting the truth to Vick? Did she also tell the Lockeharts? Noah's meltdown. Lingering issue of Noah being 'forceful' having sex with Alison and Helen. Teenage Noah possibly trying to kill himself after he aided\pushed\carried out his Mother's death?! Like, hello, you fucking threw aside basically everything this season was building to. Like, finally the a-ha! moment, finally the cards are on the table and what do they do? They flip it over.

And for what? For who? Juliette? This stopgap character? It's not like they gave a damn about her only having one half on an episode through her PoV. They were even trying to establish this character much at all. It feels like she's only a bullet-point to correspond to Noah's. 'This character is attending to a loved one who is on his deathbed'. This whole thing wasn't at all fleshed out or focused on. Really, her main purpose was to enable Noah having sex scenes.

Heck, even that group of 4 students we got introduced through via Juliette was never to be heard from again even though it looked like an interesting direction to see them discuss Noah's work and life and put him under the spotlight.

To be honest a lot feels like something they made up as they were going on. 'How do we make a second or third season? What will be in it?'. Suddenly we have this big thing looming over in Noah's past regarding his mother. And by the end we can hardly say one thing or the other about it because his condition makes it all a toss up which the writers don't bother to set straight.

S4 with Noah after his breakdown and realization, seeing a therapist through which we gain a better understanding of his ordeal in the past and his adult affair (in the vein of the standout episode of last season). Noah trying to get to better terms with his kids. How far is Helen planning to go with owning up to killing Scottie? Helen and Allison confide with each other regarding Noah forcing himself. Nina POV. Most of this was brushed aside because of this finale.

So in light of this and considering the writers' choices with this show, here is a sort of an outline of what they could do with S4:

'The Descent' publisher strikes a deal to make a film adaptation of the book (and maybe a film on Noah?). Noah is begrudgingly involved as an advisor (needs the money\trying his best preventing a farce). Coupled this with media interest to cover or dramatize Noah's own life: the affair, going to prison, his mother's death, trying to kill himself, mental breakdown. Giving interviews or what not. Good opportunity to surface the core of the show again, the affair, to confront it again, the rape allegations etc. The film director tries to take liberties with the source material or whatever; suggests they make changes like having the dramatized film Noah take the fall to protect Helen ('viewers want to like him, believe he's a good guy). Noah gets into a relationship with the woman who is cast to play his daughter..

Bring back Eden and Sabine.

 

[Septimus Prime]

Juliette is such a worthless character. Her having two segments this season means she stole an entire episode, too, when you add it up.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Season 4 will move production from New York to California, so I'm assuming this means all of the characters will relocate to California for some reason? Or maybe they'll try to make it stand in for New York somehow?

 

[Saty]

All the more reason to embrace my suggested plot of adapting Noah's book to a movie!

 

[UrbanRats]

The Noah and Helen stuff is great. Whenever they are in focus it's damn good tv. Sadly I found a lot of the Alison and Cole shit pretty boring

Also a surprisingly solid subplot and performance involving Brendan Fraser

Started watching it, and you weren't wrong.

Watched 4 episodes so far, and all the Noah and Helen scenes (as well as the new French lady) i was glued to the screen, and the creepy stalker subplot, is more interesting than the murder mystery of past seasons.

Cole remains the weak link of the show, just such a bidimensional character.
And them being complete assholes to Alison doesn't help, i want him and Luisa to take a boat trip and sink in the ocean, or something.

Alison is still somewhat interesting though, her regression as a character, is in line with her general arc.

I think the show runners are in general able to write better female characters than male ones, with the exception of Noah, which is absolutely fantastic, so the comparison makes the rest of the male cast, look even worse.

Noah's and Helen's parts, though, are more than enough to get me hooked.

 

[stenbumling]

Such a weird show. Often compelling, well-acted and sometimes well-written, but on the flip side it's also a bit hokey with literally unbelievable or flat-out offensive character moments. No other show have made me say "I gotta stop watching this" this many times, and yet here I am. But then you get an episode like 309 and you are reminded why you're watching this.

Spoiler

And then you get 310 and you are, almost as a relief, back to hating it again.

 

[UrbanRats]

Finished the season.
Fantastic final episode, just what The Affair does best, with none of the bullshit.

The

Spoiler

Fight Club twist in ep 9 made me roll my eyes, it's such a lame cop out nowadays, but it kind of make sense for the themes of the show.
So much of the show has become about subjective perception at this point, almost to parallel dimensions levels, that it almost felt like Noah's dimension, collided with an alternate one in a big fever dream (metaphorically, i'm not implying a sci fi subplot, lol).

Juliette was a fantastic character, and Binoche knocked it out of the park, of course.

Honestly, the final episode could've just been the finale to the whole show, if it wasn't for Allison still needing some closure.

I'm kind of worried about next season, i hope they won't come up with some other gimmick, ruining the development these characters have had so far.

Like a serial killer rolls into town, or lions are let loose at the local zoo, or God knows what the fuck.
Keep it simple, please, keep it about these characters interacting and growing.

Such a weird show. Often compelling, well-acted and sometimes well-written, but on the flip side it's also a bit hokey with literally unbelievable or flat-out offensive character moments. No other show have made me say "I gotta stop watching this" this many times, and yet here I am. But then you get an episode like 309 and you are reminded why you're watching this.

Spoiler

And then you get 310 and you are, almost as a relief, back to hating it again.

Find this baffling, i'm the complete opposite.

Spoiler

The big dramatic moment in 309, though i feared it was coming, felt like over dramatic bullshit, 310 was inherently happier in tone, but it packed more punch for me.
Like when Etienne mistakes the daughter for the wife, that's heavier than Noah stabbing himself and having trite hallucination.

I mean, talk about hokey.

I still liked his overall development, but they should tone that shit down.

The finale:

https://track3.mixtape.moe/gptibw.webm

Completely hijacked by Juliette and her stuff. Glossing over all that happened last episode. We got zero clarifications.

How much were the Gunther scenes imagine or made up? Was there any kernel of truth? Was Noah terrorized by Gunther in prison? Whats the complete story on Noah's mother's death? Did he really try to push her into ending her life for his own selfish reasons? What happened with Helen admitting the truth to Vick? Did she also tell the Lockeharts? Noah's meltdown. Lingering issue of Noah being 'forceful' having sex with Alison and Helen. Teenage Noah possibly trying to kill himself after he aided\pushed\carried out his Mother's death?! Like, hello, you fucking threw aside basically everything this season was building to. Like, finally the a-ha! moment, finally the cards are on the table and what do they do? They flip it over.

And for what? For who? Juliette? This stopgap character? It's not like they gave a damn about her only having one half on an episode through her PoV. They were even trying to establish this character much at all. It feels like she's only a bullet-point to correspond to Noah's. 'This character is attending to a loved one who is on his deathbed'. This whole thing wasn't at all fleshed out or focused on. Really, her main purpose was to enable Noah having sex scenes.

Juliette was, in two segments, a more interesting character than Cole has ever been.
If you're worried about someone wasting screen time, it should be him.
Allison also didn't have that interesting of a development this season, honestly.

I agree dropping the Helen stuff was lame, but everything else felt pretty self explanatory to me, with Noah

Spoiler

seeing himself in the lake

and essentially just recounting the events multiple times.
Honestly i think the whole

Spoiler

"it's all a dream" idea

was misguided from the start, and it wasn't gonna be a final episode to salvage it.

Infact, i'd argue the interaction with Juliette would've been more aid to Noah's grief storyline, than any stupid ass plot about

Spoiler

awfully convenient hallucinations

, especially since it was just out of nowhere, this season.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Season 4 logline:

Season 4 finds Noah, Helen, Alison and Cole in their own orbits, alienated from one another, spinning farther and farther away from where they all began. Every character is involved in a new relationship, forcing each to decide if they’re ready and willing to leave the past behind for good.

 

[netguy503]

Season 4 logline:

When does it start?

 

[UrbanRats]

Season 4 logline:

Again, hopefully no gimmick this time.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

When does it start?

Should be early 2018.

Again, hopefully no gimmick this time.

Agreed!