Showtime romance drama The Affair announced its Season 3 premiere this week and will commence on Nov. 20th.
Rottentomatoes: 91%
Metacritic: 85
IMDb: 8.0
Golden Globes: 3 Nominations 2 Wins
*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***
Noah Solloway is a public school teacher and author who is married with four kids. While on a summer vacation with his in-laws, Noah meets and falls in love with a local waitress Alison Bailey.
The drama of the series mainly revolves around the investigation of a vehicular homicide victim Scott Lockhart.
After a wildly unsuccessful first novel, Noah writes his second book ‘Descent’ loosely based on the events that he experiences during his relationship with Alison in Montuak, New York.
The two develop a serious romantic relationship, during which Noah is informed of Alison’s deceased son, Gabriel. And also prunes much of the background research he would eventually use to write Descent.
Noah decides to divorce his wife Helen and pursue a romantic relationship with Alison. The two have a daughter named Joanie.
Noah’s book Descent enjoys an overwhelming reception and becomes a New York Times best-seller.
Noah is charged with obstruction of justice and vehicular homicide. Helen hires a top-shelf lawyer to litigate the case, one Jon Gottlief. Gottlief does his best but the evidence is overwhelming.
Noah confesses his guilt in court for killing Scott Lockhart, even though isn’t guilty, his wife Helen is.
“She’s the mother of my children.” — Noah Solloway
There’s something pure about it. When I’m in the classroom I feel like I have something to offer, you know? Something to give. I know something. They don’t. If I can teach them, I can help them.
— Noah Solloway
“Martin your grandfather has a swimming pool, two tennis courts, and a sauna on his property. It categorically does not suck.” — Noah Solloway
“You suck.” — Martin Solloway
“That’s a more defendable hypothesis.” — Noah Solloway
“I am your parent. Now, you may not like that or me, but I’m still your dad. And by the way, we’re not asking permission here. We’re telling you what’s about to happen.” — Noah Solloway
“Trevor, come here a second. What are you gonna read this summer? Come on man. You got three glorious uninhibited months ahead of you and you got a whole bookshelf in front of you. Pretty soon you’re gonna be 9, then you’ll be 10, then you’ll get a job, then you’ll meet a girl, and then you’ll have kids. You will never have the chance to read for pleasure ever again. Seize this opportunity little man.” — Noah Solloway
“Actually I like teaching Bruce and I wouldn’t quit it even if I could.” — Noah Solloway
“It’s a self-regulatory mechanism I’ve developed over many years.” — Noah Solloway
“I believe love is a kind of faith. And when two people both believe something very powerful happens.” — Noah Solloway
“I think of God the same way as I think of love. I think if you think that God exists, then He does, because your faith and your actions bring His presence into the world, and the same is true of love. If you believe in its power and conduct your life with respect of its— of its sanctity, then it’ll always be there to serve you. But if you don’t then my book happens.” — Noah Solloway
“No, you don’t understand how my brain works I’m totally neurotic. This is gonna haunt me for years unless I buy you a pony or something.” — Noah Solloway
“What Shakespeare’s trying to say is that pure love cannot sustain in an imperfect world.” — Noah Solloway
“There’s a certain type of man that history reveres. We see it over and over. Jefferson, Hamilton, Picasso, Hemingway, all of them cheaters. It’s like they have this bald desire this— this willingness to take whatever they want, that ends up making them remarkable. ”
“My whole life I’ve been afraid of what other people think of me, and I’m done. I’m just done.” — Noah Solloway
“I was never fun. I think you’ve become more fun. That’s the problem.” — Noah Solloway
“I still love her. But if I had to do it again I — I might’ve waited just a little bit longer… given myself a little more time to… to see who I might become.”– Noah Solloway
“There’s this hypothesis in theoretical physics that I used to love back at school, about time travel. About what would happen if you could travel back in time and make a different choice in your past, how that would affect your life in the future. So the theory goes that um… your true life, your first life continues as is unchanged, but at the moment of decision a new life splits off along a tangent into a parallel universe. So you could in a way live both lives.” — Noah Solloway
“No, no. The Fresnel lens is incredible. Fresnel was this french physicist that had the idea to take a glass lens and cut grooves in it in concentric circles. And each groove acts like a prism that refracts the source light and concentrates it into a beam that can be seen much further away using a much thinner piece of glass. And the first-order lens, which is what this is, is the biggest one ’cause it’s got a prismatic dome on top. You can see it from like, 30 miles. I’m sorry this shit really interests me.” — Noah Solloway
Scholarly, pensive, thoughtful, and a man of the written word Noah Solloway is a Rational.
Alison is waiting the restaurant she works at The Lobster Roll in Montauk, New York when Noah Solloway and his family visit. She witnesses Stacey Solloway choke on a piece of food, and gives her the Heimlich maneuver. She is emotionally perturbed by this as her son recently died due to secondary drowning.
She later caters a private party and encounters Solloway again, where Noah shows her the private beach and they share a kiss. The two develop a strong romantic relationship, and Alison serves as the primary inspiration in Noah’s best-selling novel ‘Descent’.
Alison and Noah move in together into a rural lake guest house, where Noah finishes writing Descent.
The couple experience some turbulence, and Alison goes to a spiritual retreat with her mother Athena whom is a reiki specialist.
Later it is revealed that Alison’s newborn daughter Joanie is actually Cole’s child, and not Noah’s.
“Marriage means different things to different people.” — Alison Bailey
“Well, I used to think it meant there was this one person I would put above everything else. Above myself.” — Alison Bailey
“I’m sorry. I am so so sorry Gabriel died. I don’t know what we did to deserve that. We loved him. We took good care of him. But he’s gone. And I see him all over your face and your body. You’ve changed for me.” — Alison Bailey
“I don’t know. You’ll figure it out. I have faith in you Noah Solloway. — Alison Bailey
“I love you. But I’ll die if I stay any longer. I don’t wanna die.” — Alison Bailey
“You’re a writer? God. I could never write a book. I love reading, though.” — Alison Bailey
“Guess what my favorite book is.” — Alison Bailey
“I want you to buy something you always wanted.” — Alison Bailey
“Why you? I like you. I like everything about you. I like the way you talk. I like the way you think. I don’t even care what you’re saying. I just like listening to you.” — — Alison Bailey
I don’t believe there are good people and bad people. I mean, yeah, there’s rapists, sociopaths, but beyond that, I think we’re all just doing our best to get by. — Alison Bailey
“We used to come down here and pretend it was neverland and peter pan and the lost boys on the shipwreck and i was tiger lily, waiting for them on the beach. My grandfather used to say if I listened closely to the wind, I would hear Peter calling for me.” — Alison Bailey
“I didn’t have very many friends left after that summer, I only really had Cole and his family. I felt like I had to be so strong for them. Because if they knew what I was really thinking, they’d be terrified of me.” — Alison Bailey
“I was sure I’d never see him again. The summer people, they come in. They leave. They barely even notice us. The one’s who wait their tables or bait their lines. We might as well be traffic lights to them. Stop signs. Lamp posts. We blend in with the scenery. I thought it’d be the same with him. For all I knew, he was already gone.” — Alison Bailey
“You can’t fuck him, he’s married.” — Alison Bailey
“You don’t understand this town, detective. We’re like family here. We may fight, we may hurt each other, but when it really counts, we show up– weddings, funerals, no matter what.” — Alison Bailey
“No, but it doesn’t matter. I understand that you’re describing something that you love. It certainly is beautiful.” — Alison Bailey
“Sometimes I kind of take a giant step back into myself and watch everyone else go by, like from a window high above. I felt like I could see so clearly from up there… the way a crowd of people swelled and thinned, ebbed one way then changed direction, like the tide. It made me feel better being so far away from everyone else. I was alone. I was safe.” — Alison Bailey
“Anything you want. I’m yours.” — Alison Bailey
“Well, maybe you should try living a little. And then you’ll have something to write about.” — Alison Bailey
“You’re married. And you have a family. And you love them? And you don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.” — Alison Bailey
“I get it. Of course I do.” — Alison Bailey
“I just want you to have something that you love.” — Alison
“I tried to stay away from him and then that one night he kissed me on the beach and… it was the first time in my life I… I couldn’t say no. And all I could think about was being close to him, touching him, being naked with him, getting away from everything in my life, and… it was terrifying. But… it was wonderful.” — Alison Bailey
“I felt like I’d been asleep for years, in this fog of grief. And then there’s this person… that makes me feel alive and it…” — Alison Bailey
“So if you need help with your book or you need someone to talk to feel free to call me. But I promise I won’t call you.” — Alison Bailey
“Since Gabriel died I just stopped talking to people, I didn’t see the point in it anymore. They didn’t understand and, um… sex became a way of feeling things without having to talk to anybody.” — Alison Bailey
“Using reckless behavior as a way of feeling like I was still alive.” — Alison Bailey
Compassionate, sensitive, amorous, and emotionally fortuitous Alison Bailey is an Idealist.
Helen Solloway is the loving mother of Noah’s four children.
Helen grew up rich and finances most of the families expenses. After the affair Helen remains vigilant and tries to repair the relationship.
Without much success, she starts a brief romance with an old fling and family friend Max. Unfortunately this relationship does not pan out.
Helen then starts seeing the doctor that operated on Martin’s perforated bowel, Dr. Vik Ullah.
Later it is revealed that Helen was drunk driving home with Noah when she crashed into Scott Lockhart and killed him. They subsequently flee the scene.
“You repeat things too, ya know.” — Helen Solloway
“My mother worked so hard to make everything perfect for the party and he just comes in and shits all over everything.” — Helen Solloway
“Yea, it does seem to be a sort of never-ending shit show, doesn’t it?” — Helen Solloway
“I just talked to my therapist she’s gonna help us find someone out here for her to see. And she also says we should be having as much contact as possible with her.” — Helen Solloway
“I just want you to be happy.” — Helen Solloway
“I mean what is a date really? It’s just an interview for sex.” — Helen Solloway
“Family dinners, weekends. We need to be more involved.” — Helen Solloway
“I don’t want to do this anymore. I can’t fight with you anymore it has to stop.” — Helen Solloway
“Look I know you don’t want to talk about it but what does it matter how much money we accept from them. If it makes our lives easier. And it’s all gonna be mine one day anyway.” — Helen Solloway
“Fuck you. and you better be home for fucking family dinner.” — Helen Solloway
“Part of me hoped you would give up on writing and just be content with me and the kids.” — Helen Solloway
“I loved him… so much. I love him for who he was and you convinced me that he wasn’t enough, so I hope you’re happy now that you’ve ruined everything. My marriage, my entire life.” — Helen Solloway
“I don’t let my mother do anything she does whatever the fuck she wants to do and she does not ask my permission.” — Helen Solloway
“I have to. It’s so important to my mother.” — Helen Solloway
“It really was a stressful summer. It was awful, really, with my dad and whitney and im sorry i made you go there again im sorry i make you go there every year.” — Helen Solloway
“You have a lot of balls coming to my house.” — Helen Solloway
And I knew you were never going to be president or famous or rich, but I didn’t care about that, because I had a rich, famous father and he was such a fucking asshole, and you adored me. I knew you would never cheat. And you wouldn’t leave, and you would be a good father, and we would have a nice life, and we would grow old and die together and everyone would talk about how lucky we are and what a smart choice I made. — Helen Solloway
“You know, we used to be a team.” — Helen Solloway
“No I don’t think I’m overreacting. I don’t. And you have lost the right to say that to me.” — Helen Solloway
“Yeah, you’ve been kind of distant lately. And you don’t want to fuck me anymore.” — Helen Solloway
“At first, Noah seems like the greatest guy on earth. He’s, um, there for you, and he wants you, and he’s romantic and passionate and understanding. But then you start to really get to know each other, and he feels safe enough to let you see who he really is. And then he takes all of his fears, all of his failure, all of his petty bullshit, all of his fucking headaches in the morning, and he makes all of that your fault. And then you become the enemy, just because you know who he is. And then one day, somebody’s gonna show up at your house. Thinking they fell in love with the greatest guy on earth. If you’ll excuse me.” — Helen Solloway
“I feel old. Do I look old?” — Helen Solloway
“Tough life.” — Helen Solloway
“We have to do better.” — Helen Solloway
“She thinks she can get into Williams because she’s a legacy, but with her grades, we really would have had to donate… like…. a library.” — Helen Solloway
“You need to be very careful. I mean it. You have been looking for this kind of attention your entire life, and now that you’re finally getting it, I think that you are a little drunk on the power.” — Helen Solloway
“I’m just drunk period, Helen.” — Noah Solloway
“Fine. fine. fine. But you’re never gonna be successful if you only write one book a decade.” — Helen Solloway
“I’m still a great lay, right?” — Helen Solloway
“I’m gonna press charges. You can join me or not.” — Helen Solloway
“I want you to get the fuck out of my house.” — Helen Solloway
“I want this to be as fast and painless as possible.” — Helen Solloway
“You’re so selfish. How did I not see that all these years?” — Helen Solloway
‘It’s called ‘glamping’. I would do that.” — Helen Solloway
“Why do you get to fuck up and I don’t?” — Helen Solloway
Loving, intrepid, courageous, a rock of Gibraltar Helen Solloway is a Guardian.
Cole Lockhart is a local Montaukian Alison’s ex-husband. Him and Alison suffered through the tragic passing of their son Gabriel due to secondary drowning, a rare condition.
Cole and his family own a local ranch that eventually goes under. Cole’s family has a history of engaging in elicit behaviors including bootlegging, and selling cocaine. Cole attempts to get away from the exploits of his family and moves to the city to begin a relationship with Luisa.
Alison sells her inheritance house, and the two use the money to buy a foreclosing Lobster Roll at auction and become business partners.
The events of Scott Lockhart’s murder take place the night of Cole and Luisa’s wedding while Scott was walking home from the Lobster Roll.
“Love that dress on you.” — Cole Lockhart
“I don’t have a story.” — Cole Lockhart
“I have everything I’ve always wanted. Right here.” — Cole Lockhart
“That would make you a fucking idiot.” — Cole Lockhart
“He a good guy? He good to you?” — Cole Lockhart
“My father hung himself on my tenth birthday. Which I used to think just meant that he didn’t give a shit about me, or anybody else for that matter. But now… I don’t know I think maybe he was just drowning.” — Cole Lockhart
“Maybe he’s not lame ’cause he’s a teacher he’s lame ’cause hes’ your dad.” — Cole Lockhart
Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t blow your fucking brains out right now, ’cause I can’t think of one. — Cole Lockhart
“Good for me to be working with my hands again.” — Cole Lockhart
“People survive this. They do. You know that. It’s incredibly hard, but they survive together. They heal together.” — Cole Lockhart
“I will do whatever you want. We can get married wherever you want, and we can live wherever you want.” — Cole Lockhart
“And I thought if we could just keep on moving forward — if we could just move forward that, eventually, everything was gonna get better. But it didn’t get better it just got worse.” — Cole Lockhart
“Ya, ya. I come from a long line of unforgivable men.” — Cole Lockhart
“I don’t give a shit what you want, Alison. Make the call.” — Cole Lockhart
“No, I do not care. Not anymore. I can’t tell you how fucking good it feels to stop having to care about my family and their spectacular dysfunction all the time, to worry about me and my life for a little while.” — Cole Lockhart
Resilient, grounded, spontaneous, with undeniable street-smarts Cole Lockhart is an Artisan.
