‘The Affair’ Creator Sarah Treem Previews the Characters’ Season 4 ‘Reinvention’
Preview
It’s been more than a year since we saw the broken philanderers at the center of The Affair.
Showtime’s complicated drama ended with all four main characters — Alison (Ruth Wilson), Cole (Joshua Jackson), Helen (Maura Tierney) and Noah (Dominic West) — taking steps toward healing the wounds caused by Noah and Alison’s extramarital liaison. “Season 4 is about moving on, about reinvention,” creator Sarah Treem says, “and whether it’s possible to let go of your past once and for all.”
Helen Solloway
(Steven Lippman/SHOWTIME)
Noah’s ex has moved their children to California, where her boyfriend, Dr. Vic (Omar Metwally), has a new job. “Helen is my proxy for a transplanted New Yorker in Los Angeles,” says Treem. “She feels like this should be a period where she’s enjoying life, and she can’t.” Why not? Noah’s still in it!
Noah Solloway
(Steven Lippman/SHOWTIME)
Our problematic protagonist has relocated to L.A. too. “He’s going back to his roots,” Treem says of the professor’s job at a charter school in Compton, where he strikes up a relationship with the principal (Sanaa Lathan). Notes Treem, “He gets himself overcommitted to her and her family because he’s being boxed out of his own.”
Alison Lockhart
(Steven Lippman/SHOWTIME)
Alison, now a crisis counselor, remains in Montauk, New York. Early on, she meets a man (Ramon Rodriguez) and finds they have a past trauma in common. “They fall in love pretty quickly,” which, Treem adds, isn’t necessarily a good thing on The Affair.
Cole Lockhart
(Steven Lippman/SHOWTIME)
Like Helen, Cole still struggles with his feelings toward his ex. “Cole, more than almost any other character, is having a hard time letting go,” says Treem. And that starts to cause stress with current wife Luisa (Catalina Sandino Moreno). Uh-oh.
The Affair, Season 4 premiere, Sunday, June 17, 9/8c, Showtime
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