They are spinning versions for different reasons, but those spun versions are what we hear them say to the detective. Since the flashback scenes we see don’t match what they say, it’s reasonable to conclude that the flashback scenes are their actual memories.
Remember how early in episode 2, Noah is explaining to the detective how he was avoiding Bailey, staying as far away from her as possible. In the flashback scenes we see while he’s saying this, we see him going to her house and generally trying to find her wherever she is.
What they are saying is what they want the interviewer to know.
What we are seeing is their actual memory.
To the extent that 1 and 2 are different, then he/she is being dishonest.
To the extent that the two version of 2 are different, then their honest memories are different. To the extent that the difference are major then we have to wonder how that can be.
I should have given credit to Ellis Dee for these “rules” (assuming he agrees with my summary). I haven’t really had a chance to test them…the two stories didn’t overlap in ep #4.
The one variation was when the detective gave two different accounts of his marriage… I don’t think it could be anything other than a investigative ploy could it?
OK, this show just isn’t going anywhere. I’m just about ready to give up. It’s not very interesting watching these guys every week as they can’t figure out if they really want to have an affair or not. And this episode was weird-- her story picked up where his left off, so we didn’t have much to compare.
So last night we learned who died and that the manner of death could conceivably have been an accident.
There wasn’t a whole lot of overlap to the two stories being shown nor did we hear much of what they were telling to the detective to look for inconsistencies there.
The sex scenes were different but I’m not sure what that suggests.
A couple of things that I noticed…
Allison unlocked a deadbolt at the house, then she left before he did but they didn’t make any arrangements to lock the house up. That could be explained away though.
When Allison arrived at the nursing home she was in a dress but when she left she had her uniform on. I didn’t notice whether she had a bag with her or whether it was big enough to hold a uniform without it being wrinkled. Again that could be explained (was in the car all along; we just didn’t see her go back to get it).
This episode is strange in that their stories depicted themselves as kind of jerks and the other as saints. That’s in stark contrast to the earlier episodes, where they paint themselves in more flattering light than the other. Consider Noah:
In his memory for the first few episodes he’s just a salt of the earth family guy trying to be good, but the waitress is all over him so he caves. In Alison’s memory, Noah follows her around, borderline stalks her, stands creepily in the bushes watching her and her husband have sex, and in general is very pushy about wanting sex from her at a time when she’s so vulnerable (anniversary of her son’s death or birthday) she barely knows what’s happening. Noah comes across much, much better in his memory than hers.
Now in this episode, in Alison’s memory Noah is practically a saint. He’s all smiles, nothing but super nice and supportive, attentive in bed, just all around Mr. Perfect. In Noah’s memory, he’s kind of a dick to pretty much everyone around him: His wife, Alison, that guy who owns the diner, his in-laws. Noah comes across much, much better in her memory than his.
I’m still not sold on the story being told to the dick vs their actual memory vs. what actually happened thing. In the example you gave above, why isn’t the dif explained as him not wanting to tell the whole truth to the detective?
I’m not sure I understand what you mean. The difference is indeed explained by him not wanting to tell the whole truth to the detective. That was my whole point.
Good ep! Please ignore everything I said above about the whole two-story dif situation…I have no idea what I was talking about.
Two things that seemed odd…
Wouldn’t confronting your parents as part of your therapy have been further down the therapy road than the time frame provided?
I wasn’t sure whether Mrs. Solloway knew that Allison was a home wrecker when they met at the boutique. She seemed mean to her but not mean enough if she knew. If she didn’t know it seems that she would have mentioned that she had seen Allison the Stalker when Noah admitted his fling.
Yes, I’m with you on point #2. I’m thinking it was before, but I’m not certain.
The one thing (and this is pretty nit picky, but it still bothered me) that I thought was odd was when the cop went to The End and asked the clerk about Solloway, and she knew immediately how to spell it. Now, I’m a pretty educated guy, and I would never in a million years guess the correct spelling from just hearing that name. I mean, she didn’t even skip a beat.
Also, it was really, really stupid of the two of them to meet (last episode) at that place anyway. Noah is not likely to be noticed there, but Alison would be for sure.
