It's interesting, because I both agree and disagree with you, which goes to show how differently our perceptions of the same thing -- let alone memories of events -- can be.
Noah has lived and learned. Whitney has lived and learned. They each realized it about the other. Whitney finally realizes that everyone makes mistakes and that adult relationships are tricky.
I don't see much evidence that either of them have lived and learned, or that they particularly realized it about the other. Whitney still doesn't understand why Furkat is such a horrible choice, even after he was physically violent with her, let alone emotionally abusive. Noah has, miraculously, unbelievably, gone from psychotic opiate-addicted mess, to all better now, within the span of a few months. Things don't work that way.
As Alison said (if she said it, but at least she did in Helen's POV at the bar), you can't save anyone else, but you can save yourself. Juliette didn't save Noah, nor did Noah save Alison, or Noah save Alison. No one can save anyone else.
The show is called The Affair and the entire thing is about the fall out. I'm amazed at how many people thought it was a love story about Noah and Alison. They didn't love each other at all. Alison needed solace and Noah saw youth and freedom in her.
I agree, seasons 2 and 3, and to a degree season 1 was about the fallout of The Affair, not the affair itself. Nor do I see it as a love story about Alison and Noah. Both Alison and Noah were searching for solace from the respective pains they'd carried in life, and guilt; that was the basis of their relationship, and sex, which was related because it was an emotional and physical -- as well as emotional -- salve for both of them.
I was also amazed that people gave Alison a pass while trashing Noah as if he was the worst person who ever lived. Cole was probably the most damaged in the aftermath of anyone. I think Helen really loved Noah and truly mourns her marriage, but she was like her parents - she made him feel like a loser.
I too was surprised that Alison often got a pass, and and Noah was seen as a completely horrible person, without an redeeming features. He was a selfish a$$, without doubt, but was he really that much worse than Alison?
I have more compassion for Cole than any of the main four characters. IMO Noah was the most damaged. No one else went completely off the rails and directly into psychosis, completely with hallucinations, except Noah. Alison was second in line, and then Cole, then Helen.
I do think Helen did genuinely love Noah, as Noah once loved her. There were things that underlay this, as there is in no doubt most if not all relationships, because how many of us can lay claim to being
completely healthy, and having no issues whatsoever?
Helen also wanted to hang on because she felt guilty. Alison not at all. Noah went to prison more because of Alison than Helen. Alison wanted no more to do with him. Which one truly represents "marriage"? This was a huge point for me.
I think Helen wanted to -- and did -- hang onto Noah for so long not only because she felt guilty, but also because he was, after all, the father of her children, and they'd been married for 20+ years, and as we were shown in the pilot, there was nothing insurmountable between them. They'd gone off track in their marriage, yes, but overall they still liked one another and were still sexually attracted. Not bad for 20+ years, given 4 kids and toxic in-laws.
Without question, in my mind, Helen and Noah represented a marriage far more than he and Alison did. The ease and connection between them was again shown in the episode when Helen met up with Noah in Boston (I think it was Boston) during his book tour. We never saw that with Alison; primarily a lot of sex -- for better or for worse.
I was disappointed that Helen and Noah didn't get back together. It would have been good to see a marriage revived after so much damage. With that said, I like the Juliet storyline. She's the type who can probably make him happy at last and vice versa. Noah learned that firm young flesh is meaningless when a sophisticated woman his own age provides so much more.
I have mixed feelings about Helen and Noah getting back together. While it would be nice to see a couple manage to revive their basically solid marriage after it being put through hell-fire, I'm not sure that's what I want to see. Maybe. Depends on how the show handles it.
I don't see how Juliette can make Noah happy, nor Noah make her happy. In his POV, he was pretty detached, while she saw more in their relationship from her POV. I thought their goodbye was a real goodbye, at least from his viewpoint, if not from hers.
Gunther's actions were in his head. Noah struggled with how his hometown viewed him. He never fit in (and was probably way more intelligent). His mother's death also loomed over all of it. Gunther was apparently a nice guy. If he really was the monster, he probably would have beaten the crap out of Noah and called police. It's a huge no no for an ex prisoner to go anywhere near a guard. Gunther let him go. I can't overstate how much not fitting in, especially while dealing with a dying mother, can mess you up. I've seen this personally.
I agree that Gunther's actions when Noah was imprisoned were in Noah's head, but don't agree Noah struggled with how his hometown viewed him. I don't think Noah cared how his hometown viewed him, only that he wanted to get out of there, and be the person he thought he could be -- someone talented, someone who could be more than a prison guard, or someone who worked at the failing coal mine, or work at the local hardware store. And so he proved himself to be. He worked hard in school, and in swimming, earned himself a full scholarship from swimming, and eventually wrote a novel that proved to be a best-seller.
I don't know that Gunther, given the actual circumstances, would have beaten the cr@p out of Noah. I thought the way Gunther was portrayed, as a real person, made sense, unless he really was a sadistic prison guard, but we were given enough reason to believe that wasn't the case, and Noah was mentally ill. But I think Gunther was, in reality, much as what we were shown in episode 9.
I've personally been in the position -- recently -- of being the sole caretaker of a dying parent (twice, in fact). Not fitting in was the least of my concerns, although I acknowledge it's a different thing when you're only a high school student, at 17, when it is when you're an actual adult.
Noah did tell the police about Gunther, but the police essentially disregarded it, no doubt because he was a recent ex-con, versus the word of a long-time prison guard.
reply
share