Hey, everyone! How’s it going? Today I’m here to review the drama The Affair, which revolutionizes relationship storytelling through multiple perspectives on betrayal, memory, and the devastating consequences of extramarital romance.
The Affair premiered on Showtime on October 12, 2014, running for five seasons until November 3, 2019, with 53 total episodes. Created by Sarah Treem and Hagai Levi, each episode typically runs 60 minutes and features the innovative narrative structure where each installment is divided into two parts, told from different characters’ perspectives. The series stars Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, Maura Tierney, and Joshua Jackson, exploring how one extramarital relationship destroys two families while questioning the nature of truth and memory.
This psychological drama earned critical acclaim and a Golden Globe for Best Television Series Drama, establishing itself as one of Showtime’s most sophisticated offerings. The Affair uses its dual-perspective format to demonstrate how the same events can be experienced and remembered completely differently by different people, creating a “Rashomon” effect that keeps viewers questioning what really happened.
The series follows Noah Solloway, a struggling novelist, and Alison Lockhart, a young waitress, whose summer affair in Montauk sets off a chain reaction that reverberates through their marriages, families, and ultimately leads to a mysterious death that haunts the entire series. The show’s strength lies in its refusal to present simple victims or villains, instead creating complex characters whose motivations and actions feel authentically human.
The Dual Perspective Revolution: Truth Through Multiple Lenses
The central innovation of The Affair lies in its storytelling structure where each episode presents the same events from different characters’ points of view, revealing how memory, guilt, and self-justification shape personal narratives. This approach transforms typical relationship drama into sophisticated psychological exploration of how people construct their own versions of reality.
Noah’s perspective often portrays him as more charming and justified in his actions, while making Alison appear more seductive and available. Conversely, Alison’s viewpoint shows her as more vulnerable and Noah as more aggressive in pursuing the relationship. These differences aren’t just stylistic choices but profound insights into how people remember events that serve their emotional needs.
The format prevents viewers from settling into comfortable judgments about who’s right or wrong, instead forcing engagement with the complexity of human behavior and the unreliability of personal testimony. This narrative technique elevates The Affair beyond typical infidelity drama into territory that feels genuinely innovative and psychologically sophisticated.
Dominic West: Noah’s Self-Deceptive Charm
Dominic West delivers a compelling performance as Noah Solloway, a frustrated novelist whose midlife crisis manifests as an affair that he convinces himself represents authentic passion rather than selfish betrayal. West captures the character’s intellectual pretensions and moral blind spots with remarkable authenticity.
Noah’s journey from seemingly sympathetic husband to manipulative narcissist unfolds gradually, with West maintaining the character’s likability even as his actions become increasingly destructive. The performance demonstrates how ordinary people can rationalize terrible behavior through self-serving narratives that feel convincing even to themselves.
West’s portrayal avoids making Noah a simple villain, instead showing how privilege, entitlement, and creative frustration can corrupt someone who believes himself to be fundamentally good. His chemistry with the ensemble cast creates believable family dynamics that make the affair’s consequences feel genuinely devastating.
Ruth Wilson: Alison’s Grief-Driven Vulnerability
Ruth Wilson brings extraordinary depth to Alison Lockhart, a woman whose affair with Noah represents both escape from unbearable grief and a form of self-destruction that feels simultaneously healing and harmful. Wilson’s performance captures the complexity of someone using sexuality and romance to process trauma in ways that feel both understandable and concerning.
Alison’s backstory, involving the death of her young son, provides context for her behavior without excusing the pain she causes others. Wilson navigates this emotional terrain with remarkable sensitivity, making Alison’s choices feel authentic even when they’re clearly destructive to everyone involved, including herself.
The performance demonstrates how grief can make people vulnerable to relationships that seem to offer healing but actually perpetuate cycles of pain and self-punishment. Wilson makes Alison’s eventual exit from the series in Season 4 feel like a profound loss that reverberates through the show’s final season.
When Memory Becomes a Crime Scene
The series’ most compelling storylines involve the gradual revelation of a death that may or may not be connected to the affair, with each character’s perspective offering different clues and potential motives. This mystery framework allows The Affair to explore how guilt and trauma affect memory and decision-making in ways that feel both psychologically authentic and dramatically compelling.
The investigation serves as a catalyst for deeper character exploration, forcing everyone involved to confront the real consequences of their actions while questioning their own memories and motivations. The mystery elements never overwhelm the character development, instead serving to illuminate personality traits and relationship dynamics that might otherwise remain hidden.
The series uses the death investigation to explore themes of responsibility, causation, and moral complexity that extend beyond the original affair into questions about how individual actions ripple through communities and families in unpredictable ways.
Showtime’s Critical and Commercial Success
The Affair earned widespread critical acclaim throughout its five-season run, earning a 7.9/10 rating on IMDb and winning Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series Drama and Best Actress in a Television Series Drama for Ruth Wilson. The series demonstrated Showtime’s commitment to sophisticated adult drama that tackles complex themes without resorting to sensationalism.
The show’s success proved that audiences appreciated innovative storytelling techniques and complex character development over traditional narrative approaches. Despite Ruth Wilson’s controversial departure after Season 4, The Affair maintained its reputation for sophisticated psychological drama throughout its concluded run.
The Perfect Complex Relationship Drama
If you love psychologically sophisticated storytelling and complex character dynamics, The Affair is the perfect series to binge on Showtime or Paramount+. The show successfully transforms familiar infidelity themes into groundbreaking television that challenges viewers to question their assumptions about truth, memory, and moral responsibility.
Why This Perspective-Based Drama Captivates
Positive Aspects:
- Dominic West and Ruth Wilson deliver exceptional performances that capture complex moral ambiguity without simple villains or heroes
- Revolutionary dual-perspective format creates innovative storytelling that reveals character psychology through narrative structure
- Maura Tierney and Joshua Jackson provide strong supporting performances that ground affair consequences in realistic family dynamics
- Sophisticated writing explores themes of memory, truth, and responsibility with remarkable psychological insight and emotional authenticity
- Beautiful Montauk cinematography creates atmospheric settings that enhance both romantic and tragic elements of the story
Negative Aspects:
- Dual perspective format can occasionally feel gimmicky when overused or applied to less significant story moments
- Ruth Wilson’s departure after Season 4 disrupts narrative momentum and leaves some character arcs feeling incomplete
- Dark subject matter and morally ambiguous characters may frustrate viewers seeking clearer emotional resolution or justice
- Later seasons struggle to maintain initial narrative innovation as mystery elements become more conventional
- Complex timeline structure and shifting perspectives can be confusing for casual viewers not paying close attention
The Affair proves that relationship drama can achieve artistic sophistication when it refuses to provide easy answers about complex human behavior and moral responsibility.
Series Details
- Number of Episodes: 53 episodes across 5 seasons
- Platform: Showtime, Paramount+
- Release Years: 2014-2019
- Current IMDb Rating: 7.9/10
- Genre: Psychological Drama/Relationship Drama
- Production Type: American Premium Cable Drama
- Status: Completed after 5 seasons (November 2019)
- Main Cast: Dominic West (Noah Solloway), Ruth Wilson (Alison Lockhart), Maura Tierney (Helen Solloway), Joshua Jackson (Cole Lockhart)
- Supporting Cast: Julia Goldani Telles, Jadon Sand, Leya Catlett, Sanaa Lathan, Anna Paquin
- Creators: Sarah Treem and Hagai Levi
- Production Company: Showtime Networks