"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History

Monday, October 20, 2014

The Affair 1.2: Time Travel!

No, there wasn't any actual time travel in last night's The Affair 1.2, but Noah was sure talking about it to Alison in a pivotal scene, and he got the multiple worlds solution to the grandfather paradox just right, kudos to the writers.  (See my 2-minute explanation of this business on Vidoyen earlier this year.)

Meanwhile, there was an important convergence of the Noah and Alison renditions of the story of their affair near the end, when, for the first time, it's clear that Alison is as attracted to Noah as he is to her.  When he tells her he's been thinking about her all week, and asks if she's been going through the same, she replies, in a sultry, vulnerable voice, "Of course."  Two crucial words in this ongoing story.

The overarching mystery of the death - not only who did the murder, if that's what it was, but who was murdered - continues to loom menacingly in the background.  I was pretty sure after the first episode that it was Cole - Alison's husband - but now I'm not so sure.  Maybe it was one of Cole's brothers - perhaps the one who was on the verge of doing something with Noah and Helen's underage daughter - but who knows.  It could also be Helen's father, played as a consummate a-hole by John Doman (his specialty, I mean that as a compliment), who clearly has a list of enemies, with Noah on the list.  Or it could be Cole after all.

But the slowly unfolding story of Noah and Alison, and their attraction to each other, remains the appealing centerpiece of this series, beautifully played and evocatively photographed, and shown at the perfect time, when the summer has just gone from North America, and with it the sand and the water and the sun all above it which is shown to such good effect on The Affair.

See also The Affair Premiere: Sneak Preview Review ... The Affair 1.3: The Agent and the Sleepers ... The Affair 1.4: Come Together ... The Affair 1.5: Alison's Episode ... The Affair 1.6: Drugs and Vision ... The Affair 1.7: True Confessions ...  The Affair 1.8: "I Love You / I Love You, Too" ... The Affair 1.9: Who Else on the Train? ... The Affair Season One Finale: The Arrest and the Rest





podcast review of every 1st season episode

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