An encounter in a Long Island diner is all it takes to spiral these two families into a world of hurt, pain and betrayal. Yet all is not as obvious as it seems and by the end of The Affair it will have you wanting more.
This US production stars two British leads - Dominic West and Ruth Wilson - and has bagged itself two Golden Globes including Best Drama, pipping Game of Thrones to the post. What makes this series so good, I hear you ask? Well, let's start with the characters.
Noah (Dominic) has it all on paper. He is married to Helen (Maura Tierney) his college sweetheart, they have four beautiful kids, and live in an exquisite New York home. Albeit, with the help of his wealthy father-in-law who he would rather not rely on but is able to teach and more recently write novels, which is what he has always aspired to do. However, when he meets a waitress in a yellow dress (Ruth) during a journey to stay with the in-laws in he makes a 'mistake' that will cost him everything and more.
Likewise, Alison (Ruth) is a married woman stuck in an unhappy relationship with Cole (Joshua Jackson) her young love, and is dealing with the grief of losing a child. Something the couple cannot seem to recover from, as the weight continues to crush down on not just her shoulders but her entire soul. This all appears quite cliché at the moment. They meet, fall in love, leave their other halves and everything is dandy. Except that isn't how it goes.
Each episode is split into two parts. The audience are shown a series of events from both Noah and Alison's point of view and how they recall them to a detective. I won't quite spoil why this is (even though it's revealed in the second episode). It is intriguing to see all the subtle differences and the major ones, such as who approached who? The differences are even visible in the clothing worn by the characters in each account.
Like in everything, there are always three sides to a story - one person's side, the other person's side and the truth - it's getting to the truth that's the difficult job. Reminiscent of Gone Girl in many ways, the audience are left not knowing who to root for. Between you and me, I was unable to like any of the characters. I didn't feel sorry for Alison know matter how hard the writers/directors threw a heap load of excuses and sob stories down my throat. Despite this, I still wanted to watch it. It may have been nice to have had a special one-off episode dedicated to the thoughts and actions of Cole and Helen as a result of the affair, but I suppose we can't have it all.
And of course, there is a lot of sex - both awkward and uncomfortable. It's a grown-up drama that comes with grown-up sex, not the polished, perfect, hopeful bate for adolescent fantasies you find in Game of Thrones.
As always, the bottom line is should you watch it? If you're looking for something a bit different with plenty of backstory, mystery, and has you filling in the blanks then this is for you.
Real affairs can fizzle out quite abruptly but this one keeps you coming back for more.
Catch The Affair on Sky Atlantic at 9pm.
