# The Affair; Episode 2.1 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504 "2015-10-04T15:48:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/1 "2015-10-04T15:48:21Z")
I don’t know what keeps me watching this show, because there is so much to bitch about, but it keeps drawing me back in. SHOW had a marathon of season 1 yesterday, and I started to watch an episode. Then they screwed up the schedule and showed something different (even though my screen guide said it was supposed to be 2 more episodes) so I went to OnDemand only to see that Episode 2.1 was already available even though it doesn’t air untill tonight. I won’t spoiler it at all except to say that the writers are including more viewpoints this season. It’s not just Noah and Allison anymore. And they’re including a bit of a jump-forward at the end, as they did in the Season 1 finale. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/2 "2015-10-05T02:48:53Z")
I can see there isn’t much love for this show here. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/3 "2015-10-05T13:53:10Z")
Well, it’s better than Ray Donovan, which I gave up on midway through this past season. It seems the Affair’s time shifts and multiple points of view allows it to push the unresolved plot points out further than most shows - confusing at times but not annoying (yet). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/4 "2015-10-05T14:39:09Z")
> [@Mixolydian](#): > > Well, it’s better than Ray Donovan, which I gave up on midway through this past season. Yeah, I gave up on that one, too. Really a shame, because I liked the early episodes. Then when it became more about his irritating wife and spoiled kids… well, that didn’t interest me at all. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/5 "2015-10-05T14:42:10Z")
I am watching but not sure I really like it. The mediation perspectives were too conflicting- yes, I get it that they’ll see it differently but it seemed a little extreme. And are they living in Allison’s house on the island? That was a little unclear but if true it’s pretty weird and inappropriate IMHO. But it is like a train wreck- hard to look away… ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/6 "2015-10-05T15:10:07Z")
I watched the first season and enjoyed the style of storytelling, but ultimately I didn’t see the chemistry between the two and forgot about the show. I wish they made it more believable as to why they decided to have their first affair with each other–especially him. I never really saw the emotional spark. If all he was doing was satisfying some physical need, I would have expected him to have had lots of affairs in the past. I didn’t really get a good feeling as to why he kept up with the affair either with all the problems it was bringing up. But I found it very interesting to see the different sides and how each one put themselves in the best light and remembered events as they wanted them to be. It’s very much like real life. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/7 "2015-10-05T15:56:34Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > But I found it very interesting to see the different sides and how each one put themselves in the best light and remembered events as they wanted them to be. It’s very much like real life. Yep, I really enjoyed that. I binge watched it this summer and will likely catch 2.1 tonight. I think the show actually did a fairly interesting job of developing the story from the different POVs. I do agree that some of the differences between Noah and Allison’s POVs seemed extreme, but I can also see how if you look back far enough you may have a completely different idea of what is going on from someone else there (I’m not entirely sure how far the time jump was from the summer of the affair to when they were getting questioned about it). I’ve had plenty of conversations with friends where we’ve disagreed about things like where something happened, so I can get the differences with Noah and Allison. Though in that case, it was a disagreement about place about something that happened like 5 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/8 "2015-10-05T16:13:17Z")
I like the show. Its easy to get confused… I’m going to have to reread some of the threads from last season to even remember where they left off. Also the TWOP site (I think that’s the one I’m thinking of). If the interest in this thread picks up can we have SPOILER added to the title…it’s hard to discus without spoiling. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/9 "2015-10-06T05:40:39Z")
> [@LVBoPeep](#): > > And are they living in Allison’s house on the island? That was a little unclear but if true it’s pretty weird and inappropriate IMHO. But it is like a train wreck- hard to look away… No, he’s renting someone’s guest cottage. Her house is on the beach, not literally on the water like the cottage. ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/10 "2015-10-06T14:52:30Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > No, he’s renting someone’s guest cottage. Her house is on the beach, not literally on the water like the cottage. Originally I thought that Cold Spring was supposed to be a pseudonym for Cold Spring Harbor, which lies on the north shore of Long Island (and also the name of Billy Joel’s 1st album) - the outdoor shots of the impending storm looked very similar to what I remember, but I’ve since discovered that there is a town called [Cold Spring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring,_New_York) on the Hudson River. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/11 "2015-10-06T14:55:14Z")
> [@Mixolydian](#): > > Originally I thought that Cold Spring was supposed to be a pseudonym for Cold Spring Harbor, which lies on the north shore of Long Island (and also the name of Billy Joel’s 1st album) - the outdoor shots of the impending storm looked very similar to what I remember, but I’ve since discovered that there is a town called [Cold Spring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring,_New_York) on the Hudson River. Yes, it did look more like a river than the LI Sound. So, he’s actually out in the opposite direction of where Allison lives (or lived). ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/12 "2015-10-06T18:33:24Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I can see there isn’t much love for this show here. 🙂 That’s one way to look at it. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/13 "2015-10-06T18:40:27Z")
I grew tired of the premise and the plot in Season 1, but I stick around to watch Maura Tierney act circles around everyone else. She was, unsurprisingly, incredible in the latest episode. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/14 "2015-10-06T18:48:13Z")
I like the expansion of viewpoints this season. I imagine a Cole viewpoint will be coming up soon - I mean no one else seems to have any reason to interact with him at this point, as Allison is in Cold Springs with Noah. Though maybe Allison and Cole have to have an awkward mediation as well. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/15 "2015-10-06T18:57:12Z")
In addition, I really enjoyed how Helen’s POV makes Max out to be a horrible lover (and interestingly in comparing, from what I remember, HA!, from last season’s Noah perspective and last night’s Helen perspective, Max is a total douche in both viewpoints, isn’t he? - though he has his moments). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/16 "2015-10-06T20:10:31Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > That’s one way to look at it. There are many perspectives, aren’t there? ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/17 "2015-10-07T15:01:00Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > In addition, I really enjoyed how Helen’s POV makes Max out to be a horrible lover (and interestingly in comparing, from what I remember, HA!, from last season’s Noah perspective and last night’s Helen perspective, Max is a total douche in both viewpoints, isn’t he? - though he has his moments). Helen’s Story is going to be interesting… I wonder how long she’s been banging Max and smoking weed. …and whatever hapenned to the “for later (wink wink)” part of the pot lozenge? I read a review at the Daily Beast in which they suggested that part of last year’s story was just plain wrong and not a reasonably dif viewpoint. I actualy don’t think they think that. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/18 "2015-10-07T23:45:39Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I like the show. Its easy to get confused… I’m going to have to reread some of the threads from last season to even remember where they left off. Also the TWOP site (I think that’s the one I’m thinking of). > > If the interest in this thread picks up can we have SPOILER added to the title…it’s hard to discus without spoiling. It’s not TWOP… it’s the New York Observer: > **[‘The Affair’ Season 2 Premiere: Of Max and Men](https://observer.com/2015/10/the-affair-season-2-premiere-of-max-and-men/)** > > Stop staring at that novel you’ll never finish, pop in a pot lozenge, and settle in with someone who is most definitely not your spouse because the second best thing on TV about getting ass o… ---
**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/19 "2015-10-08T00:44:30Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > It’s not TWOP… it’s the New York Observer: > > [http://observer.com/2015/10/the-affair-season-2-premiere-of-max-and-men/](http://observer.com/2015/10/the-affair-season-2-premiere-of-max-and-men/) That was good. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504/20 "2015-10-08T17:35:36Z")
Max is definitely operating in CREEPY mode, if you ask me. He’s not many steps away from boiling a rabbit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-affair-episode-2-1/733504.md?page=2)