The Affair Season 1 Episode 6 Review: The Curtains Opened
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It's time for honesty -- who saw that reveal coming?
On The Affair Season 1 Episode 6 it was time for some of Cole's shiny armor to get a little tarnished. Sure, he has a deep love of family and his heritage in Montauk, but preserving their little slice of heaven also means selling drugs to keep things afloat.
The curtains open and looking inside reveals the Lockharts are drug dealers.
It's highly unlikely anyone in the family doesn't know about it, and it seems that most people in town are aware, but somehow they've managed to skirt the law with their elaborate cover story.
Oscar's soft spot for Alison is revealed when he sets up Noah to take information to her about a phone call turning in the Lockharts for dealing. It's actually pretty cunning of him to do that.
Cole is a much more evolved character than I have given him credit. The two sides of his personality seem at war with each other. On the one hand, he's a loving family man, but on the other he's willing to do anything to keep his family at the ranch.
There has to be story behind why the family is a hundred grand in the hole. Is the life of a summer town so variable that they would literally bleed money, requiring them to make rather bold choices to stay afloat?
Seeing him as a drug dealer puts Alison's relationship with Cole into a whole new light. His dealings with Martin are also of interest. One moment he's kindly inviting the kid to breakfast and the next rough handling him because he lost the mare. Martin purposefully letting the mare out makes me wonder if witnessed something at the ranch.
Noah's and Alison's version of events were wildly different. As their emotions change, so do their perspectives. Alison's admission she doesn't care if she lives or dies is met with some hope from Noah about their future together, but by the end of the hour, he claims he's done with her.
The reveal of the drug dealing takes the entire Lockhart family and makes them unattractive. They're not the pillar trying to hold up a community any longer, but a desperate family clinging to something that is no longer there -- but why? With $30 million on the table, what is tying Cole, especially, to the dangerous job to hold on to the place?
Noah meeting Max at "The End," when in The Affair Season 1 Episode 5 he firmly stated he had never been to the club leads me to believe he doesn't so easily break things off with Alison. What is the tie in of the club and the death? He didn't deny being there because it might out the affair, he already did that.
Helen expressing her vulnerability over whether she's still attractive to Noah was well timed considering what he learns about Alison's alter ego that very day. Their passionate encounter, family be damned, reconnects him to his wife and allows him to look differently at Alison as a result. Perhaps it's a step back to clear his head.
Is their affair really over? Can it be that easy? There are still so many moving pieces and none of them make a whole lot of sense.
Why is Will no longer on his own boat? Why would Oscar risk the wrath of the Lockharts to out Alison's affair? If they're no longer talking to Det. Jeffries, for what reason are Alison and Noah still recounting events?
Right now, I have nothing other than understanding why Noah told Alison to buzz off. This is what happens when you choose not to share details about your life before jumping into the sack. What are your theories after this crazy hour?
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.