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The Affair Episode 4 begins with Noah and Alison on a boat together, for reasons I won’t bore you with, but just before they get to chat after he buys a coffee.. an old friend of hers goes up to chat to her, so he keeps his distance. Still, what about the bit just before when an idiot bumps into him, causing him to spill boiling hot coffee all down his shirt, which he somehow casually ignores??
While going clothes shopping, they almost get it together again (in his mind) but get disturbed by the assistant. Outside, they behave like an old couple, yet how come he can spend so much time away from his wife and family? She gives him the impression she’s very promiscuous, which is a bizarre conversation to have when they’re talking about whether or not their parents are dead.
Hang on, but before long, he talks about them not having had sex, and agrees when she says that he only had his hands down her knickers? (which didn’t happen in her timeline anyway). It certainly looked like they had a bit of “how’s your father”, albeit very briefly.
Then, just as he thinks she’s taken the early ferry back home, she’s let slip to a store owner that she is his wife, and they end up spending a fortune on an expensive hotel room to do the do. Why does everything cost far too much out there? $250?!!
For a change, Alison’s part picks up where part 1 left off, as they shag all over the room. And in the buff, too! They’re trying to make it look like they’re having sex, even though, obviously, they’re actors so they won’t be doing it. Soon after, she’s back in the police station, finishing talking to the cop and heading outside.
Further attempts at getting nookie on in the hotel, just an hour before the ferry leaves, are thwarted by him spotting her self-harm marks on her left thigh.
When leaving Block Island, Alison wants to call time on their fling, but we know that if they did that, then it’d be a short season, and there are still 6 more episodes to go as well as, at least, one more series.
The only significant part of this whole episode comes towards the end when Alison tells Noah how her late son died due to drowning.
However, her sad tale does not an intriguing drama make. Add to this, a final bonk to end the episode, and it just makes the whole thing feel even more like a bad soap opera. Probably because that’s what it is.
And as the ever-decreasing scores, go, we go down to 3/10.
The Affair continues next Wednesday on Sky Atlantic at 9pm, and click on the top image for the full-size version.
Episode 4 Score: 3/10
Director: Jeffrey Reiner
Producer: Andrea P Stilgenbauer
Writer: Melanie Marnich
Creators: Sarah Treem and Hagai Levi
Sound: Marcelo Zarvos
Cast:
Noah Solloway: Dominic West
Alison Bailey: Ruth Wilson
Helen Solloway: Maura Tierney
Cole Lockhart: Joshua Jackson
Whitney Solloway: Julia Goldani Telles
Bruce Butler: John Doman
Stacey Solloway: Leya Catlett
Trevor Solloway: Jadon Sand
Martin Solloway: Jake Richard Siciliano
Cherry Lockhart: Mare Winningham
Margaret Butler: Kathleen Chalfant
Detective Jeffries: Victor Williams
Oscar Hodges: Darren Goldstein
Mary-Kate Lockhart: Kaija Matiss
Jane: Nicolette Robinson
Jocelyn: Rebecca Rittenhouse
Caleb Lockhart: Michael Godere
Scotty Lockhart: Colin Donnell
Hal Lockhart: Danny Fischer
Ruby: Paulina Singer
Will: Sean Kleier
Harry: Stephen Kunken
Cook: Alfredo Diaz
Jules: Carolina Ravassa
Miranda: Teresa Yenque
Cashier: Sam Oz Stone
Customer: Pallavi Sastry
Salesgirl: Elise Kibler
Bartender: Shaun O’Hagan
Teenage Girl: Kailani Coba
Old Woman: Donna Mitchell
Hotel Clerk: Todd Cerveris
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.