Frankly, The Affair this season, up until tonight's episode 5.6, was almost a waste of time watching. But tonight's hour - devoted completely to Joanie in the future - made Season 5 all worthwhile.
The science fiction aspects, which I've commented upon before, were excellent. Indoor strawberry gardens to make oxygen, phones in the ear, Google-like-glasses (worn by Joanie to see what the dock looked like on the night her mother died), were all fun to see. But they weren't the best part of the episode.
That came from Joanie, wonderfully acted by Anna Paquin, discovering that her mother likely did not commit suicide and then being certain that she was murdered, by Ben. She makes this journey with the help of EJ, a great new character (a researcher into trauma, with a great sense of humor and other endearing qualities, well played by Michael Braun). He and Joanie not only wind up in bed together, but he helps her, well, get over her trauma at the loss of both of her parents. And he therein frees her brain to figure out what happened to Allison.
I've been thinking all season that it would have satisfying if Cole had been alive - as Joanie says, he was only 72 when he died (of a heart attack, or a broken heart, and she aptly puts it). But his death was worked very well into tonight's narrative. It's a large part of the motive for Joanie to look into her mother's death.
Tonight's episode is a turning point in the season and thus the series. I wouldn't mind seeing Noah again only in the future with Joanie, and I wouldn't miss anyone else too much from our present, in California. That won't happen. But let tonight's episode at least begin Joanie getting good long segments. She and the series deserve it.
See also The Affair 5.1: Death, Nobility, and Science Fiction ... The Affair 5.2: Tears and Floods ... The Affair 5.3: The Raya App ... The Affair 5.4: 2053 ... The Affair 5.5: No One Happy
And see also The Affair 4.1: Quakes and Propaganda ... The Affair 4.2: Meanwhile, Back on the Island ... The Affair 4.3: Dire Straits (Not the Band) in California ... The Affair 4.4: Ben ... The Affair 4.5: B'shert ... The Affair 4.6: "Good News and Bad News" ... The Affair 4.7: Noah and Janelle ... The Affair 4.8: I Don't Believe It ... The Affair 4.9: Two Alisons ... The Affair Season 4 Finale: Best Scenes
And see also The Affair 3.1: Sneak Preview Review ... The Affair 3.2: Sneak Preview Review: Right Minds ... The Affair 3.3: Who Attached Noah? ... The Affair 3.4: The Same Endings in Montauk ... The Affair 3.5: Blocked Love ... The Affair 3.6: The Wound ... The Affair 3.7: The White Shirt ... The Affair 3.8: The "Miserable Hero" ... The Affair 3.9: A Sliver of Clarity ... The Affair 3.10: Taking Paris
And see also The Affair 2.1: Advances ... The Affair 2.2: Loving a Writer ... The Affair 2.3: The Half-Wolf ... The Affair 2.4: Helen at Distraction ... The Affair 2.5: Golden Cole ... The Affair 2.6: The End (of Noah's Novel) ... The Affair 2.7: Stunner ... The Affair 2.8: The Reading, the Review, the Prize ...The Affair 2.9: Nameless Hurricane ... The Affair 2.10: Meets In Treatment ... The Affair 2.11: Alison and Cole in Business ... The Affair Season 2 Finale: No One's Fault
And see also The Affair 2.1: Advances ... The Affair 2.2: Loving a Writer ... The Affair 2.3: The Half-Wolf ... The Affair 2.4: Helen at Distraction ... The Affair 2.5: Golden Cole ... The Affair 2.6: The End (of Noah's Novel) ... The Affair 2.7: Stunner ... The Affair 2.8: The Reading, the Review, the Prize ...The Affair 2.9: Nameless Hurricane ... The Affair 2.10: Meets In Treatment ... The Affair 2.11: Alison and Cole in Business ... The Affair Season 2 Finale: No One's Fault
And see also The Affair Premiere: Sneak Preview Review ... The Affair 1.2: Time Travel! ... 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 1 Finale: The Arrest and the Rest
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