THE AFFAIR - s5 - back Tue 27th 9pm

[Blondeshavemorefun]

So we know she is dead

Will we find out who killed her

Was it boyfriend ?

Have hazy memory of last episode

May have to rewatch

Not sure what plot they can use for this series

Great final episode, I had a bit of cry at various points through it. My only criticism is that I'd have liked to see where all the other characters ended up. I'm assuming Noah and Helen remarried as it said Helen Solloway on her gravestone, that Stacey became a writer, obviously Eddie and Noah's futures were explained but it would have brought it all to a complete conclusion if there was a bit about the others too.

I'd have liked more closure on the Alison storyline but it was almost irrelevant in the end. I liked it when Noah listened to the court recordings and said he was so sorry to Alison, it was like he finally realised how much suffering he'd caused her as well as Helen. The final Joanie scene was just perfect, and Noah's advice to her was brilliant. I guessed it would be Helen's grave Noah was leaning against but I didn't guess it was Stacey's book. The ending was just perfect, and you have to assume the children all had happy lives and were still alive due to no gravestones. Brilliant ending and I have forgiven them for season 3 now.

I loved it. I nearly gave up after series 3. I'm sad that its all over now.

Very good finale.

Liked seeing the four DC! Positive sibling dynamics always heartwarming

I loved it - really sad it is over.

Yes but why did Trevor marry them did I miss something?

I think it was me who started the original thread when it first came out. I loved it apart from season 3. I never took to the future parts though it just seemed too sci fi for me. Like it was way in the future not 30 years.

The Whole of the Moon is one of my favourite songs and it was a perfect choice.

In the US anyone can get a licence to officiate at a wedding, assume Whitney wanted him!

Whole of the moon - what a great choice of song. About how we see and interpret and do things differently (I think). Still feels like a love song though.

All very moving.

Just sat & bawled my eyes out. Really beautiful.

I absolutely loved the finale. Wrapped it up so well and I found myself warming to Joannie as her story at the end. Lots of 'closure' all around.

The bit I didn't really get (although I'm sure there is a reason - maybe to highlight the difference between the two women's perspectives of marriage? How damaged their relationship was?) was how horrid Whitney was being to her mum when she was helping her get ready. Just felt like a horrible way to start the wedding.

The dance at the end was fab!

Yeah, Whitney was a right cow to Helen. But to be fair to Whitney a lot of stuff has happened and some of that was down to Helen. Loved the scene with Whitney, Helen and the mother/grandmother, v well done and acted. The grandmother’s dark floral dress was stunning too!

Yes didnt Helen look drab at the wedding?

Her outfit was stylish but much more understated, which think is in keeping with the character and her probable mixed feelings about the wedding!

I have a fairly low bar for dressing up, but Helen's wedding outfit was definitely odd.

I think the dress might have been saveable if she hadn't put clogs on with it and done her hair like she was a 5 year old going to nursery LOL. Odd choice - and she must have been FREEZING!

Whitney looked stupendous though.

Why was Whitney so nasty to Helen? I thought she went really overboard on Noah as well - first they have a lovely time planning her wedding and then she seemed to suddenly remember he once looked at her in a pervy way by mistake and totally lost it. Sometimes the time shifts in The Affair have confused the storyline for me, but I enjoyed the different perspectives it gave, which I suppose links to the song at the end. Helen's dress surprised me as it was quite drab and she had really started to get very stylish when she was with Sasha, but maybe that's the point and she was just wearing what she liked to wear. I agree about her hair!

Yes, great make up too. The other DC and entourage all looked good too.

For me the grandmother’s dress and overall look won!

Didn't Helen have on a different dress in the first part of the episode? The bit where from Noah's perspective and he's just about to leave before Whitney arrives. It was a long kind of sculptural one shoulder black number and she wore her hair fully up. That was much nicer than the dress she wore when it switched to her perspective. Actually thinking back a lot of Helen's clothes have been drab in the sections from her perspective, and much more stylish when it's from someone else's perspective. I guess that's a metaphor of how she views herself versus how others do.

I can’t do the link but just watched the dance again on you tube. Search the affair flash mob dance. Made me cry again.
I loved that for Helens mum lived until 100. Another 30 years for them to argue!
So inappropriate for them to tie the father to the chair but still made me laugh.
A great finale. After watching for all these years I sort of feel part of their dysfunctional family

My DH had an affair a few years ago - we got back together because we realised how much we loved each other.

Helens emotions throughout the series , the pain & the range of emotions was really moving for me because she echoed my whole experience.

I often see on Mumsnet women utterly baffled & judgemental about women who stick with the relationship.

For me it was summed up beautifully yesterday in the sense that life is short , it can often be difficult & painful ... if you love that person & they love you back then ultimately in the long term what is going to make your life more meaningful? Forgiveness for me was the right decision.

Life is not black & white. Reasons for affairs are difficult & complex .

There are of course lots of situations where the above would not be right .

@ifonlyoureyessawsouls very interesting comment and I can totally see that. I think that that is why The Affair is so good because it shows the long distance of a marriage, how things change and also stay the same. Helen maintained her dignity, I think and I like that! She's not perfect at all, but comes through it all right. I suppose Noah going to prison for her and never ever telling anyone about that sort evens it up!

@cheesewitheverything absolutely.

It's interesting because school mums and my family, all isolated me when i allowed my husband to move back in .
Like Helen, i had immediately gathered all his wordly belongings and thrown him out with everything in binbags.

People felt that was i being a "mug" and "weak" with the way I went about things. Ie had him around for tea to keep contact with our children etc , i remained true to my own values i think.

Everyone called me weak for going against what the accepted norm is , of ending it completely & making his life difficult.

The irony is that i needed more inner strength to go against all that they wanted me to do , & what i knew was best for me & our children. He like noah came to see that he had fucked up massively in trying to run away from a marriage that had been through so much trauma ( infertility, ivf, premature babies, miscarriage, pre-eclampsia, PND ... )
This against his background of narcissistic emotionally cruel parents .

My family very much saw me through Whitneys eyes of being "pathetic ".

Although they only saw the tip of the iceberg in terms of my pain & grief.

I have never condoned his behaviour, and i had very clear boundaries moving forward of what I would accept. And if he did it again, then yes it would be the end.
And yes your marriage changes & it changes you as a person.

But would i want to be without him , no.
Would i rather us both continue working on our relationship together so that we can still benefit from having each others love still in 2 or 3 decades time ? Absolutely.

The Affair for me was so insightful into complex human relationships & the power of understanding & forgiveness in achieving a happy & content state of mind.

@IfOnlyOurEyesSawSouls wow, you have shown great strength - what a time you have had... Well done doing what you wanted and not giving in to all that disapproval. I felt Helen's pain and rejoiced when she got her chance to say how she had felt when Noah finally looked at her and appreciated how generous she was and what she had been through. I hadn't liked Helen at the start but by the end I thought she was the best character.

IfOnly what a lovely post.

I really loved the finale. I found it all quite moving, and Noah and Helen getting back together didn’t feel predictable or clicheed, it felt right which shows how good the writing was. I just wish we could’ve seen what happened to Helen. She was my fave character. She died the same year as her mother - I wonder what happened..? A shame that Noah was the last one standing, he didn’t deserve to be!