The season one finale of Showtime's "The Affair" is scheduled for this Sunday at 10 p.m., and I've been on the edge of my seat, so to speak, since the series began.
Creator Sarah Treem's choice to incorporate two separate narratives worked to portray the dynamic, complex characters of Noah and Alison, and we've teetered on the line of loving and hating them as the plot unraveled.
Is Noah - the writer we know him to be - manipulating the truth with his gift of words?
Is Alison using her grief and guilt over the loss of her 4-year-old son to seem more believable?
As this steamy, adulterous love story progressed, we may have let the plot line of murder slip under the rug, but someone is guilty of killing Cole's brother Scotty Lockhart, and hopefully this final episode will bring the killer into the light. If the show sticks to its true nature, we are in for an intense finale that surely will bring yet another unexpected plot twist.
Last week's episode revealed a potential motive for Scotty's death. When Noah discovers that his daughter Whitney is pregnant after finding a positive pregnancy test in the garbage, he ventures to the Planned Parenthood site (Whitney schedules an appointment for an abortion) with hopes to figure out who got her pregnant. He is immediately enraged when Scotty Lockhart - a ranch hand who is several years her senior - walks through the door.
Do we think the soft, yet easily agitated Noah could have been capable of murdering Scotty? The preview for the finale did show a quick glimpse of Noah clasping his hands around someone's throat, and that someone looked an awful lot like Scotty. Sources say that Noah will also have a conflict with another "unnamed" member of the Lockhart family.
In last week's dramatic previews for the season finale, Alison was shown standing at the train station - her attempt to run away from her sins and the town that serves as a constant reminder of her son's death - where she is confronted by . . . wait for it . . . her husband Cole AND Noah. Talk about a game of tug of war.
Alison recently learned that the Lockhart ranch - the livelihood of her family and life with Cole - is basically worthless, which could serve as another catalyst for her departure.
However, let's slow down a little bit. Alison is a waitress, hostess, drug dealer, etc. and Noah is a struggling author who relies on his father-in-law's money to help support his family. If Noah and Alison ran away together, they wouldn't make it and Noah would never be able to fully sever his ties to his wife or children. This leads me to think that both Noah and Alison are going to choose the safe route and end up back with their partners, Helen and Cole.
Even though Helen throws Noah out when she finds Alison's bra tucked away under his clothes in the dresser, she doesn't want their relationship to be over for good. Also in the preview, Helen says she misses Noah and wants him to come back, so maybe he will because his hopes of living a fantasy life with Alison have dwindled since he saw her with Cole at the train station, which led him to believe that she chose Cole over him.
I have a strong urge that Alison will wind up being pregnant, since she has been sleeping with Noah, Cole and, as of last episode, Oscar. Although Oscar seems to be pinpointed as a villain, I think it is all talk, and his actions are taken out of context because he has strong feelings for Alison - ones that will never be returned.
If you've been creeped out by Detective Jeffries so far, the final episode is said to uncover some secrets about him. He is always seen lurking in the background of scenes while trying to put the pieces together in order to solve the murder, but he may be a liar. Noah calls him out during their meeting when Jeffries mentions "his two sons," when in fact, he has two daughters. "Are you f------ with me?" Noah asks.
Or, how about a totally random, but plausible explanation for the entire show. Part 1 and Part 2 are chapters and the whole series is a fictionalized plot, one written by Noah Solloway in which he alters the point of view for every chapter, and each new season will build upon the story, so none of our questions will be answered in the finale. Let's hope that's not the case, but who knows?
All I know is that I will be back on my couch this Sunday at 10 p.m. waiting for some answers.
"The Affair" has been nominated for Best New Series at the Writers Guild of America Awards, Best Television Series for a Drama and Best Actress for a Television Series Drama for Ruth Wilson at the Satellite Awards, according to Hollywoodtake.com. It earned three nominations for the 2015 Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series for a Drama, Best Actress for a Television Series Drama for Wilson and Best Actor for a Television Series Drama for West. Job well-done.
It has recently been renewed for a second season, and rumor has it that a third may even be in the works!
