returns to Showtime for Season 2 on Oct. 4, leaning into its controversial device: shifting points of view, a stuttering editing style and contradictory storylines as the characters recall events in flashback.
Beyond adultery, it’s about memory and how it becomes distorted in relationships.
Playwright and writer-producer Sarah Treem was on the defensive before critics at the media tour this summer regarding the truth, the style and the time-jumping complications of “The Affair.” She shouldn’t be: the show continues to transfix.
The series co-created by Treem (“House of Cards,” “In Treatment”) and Hagai Levi (“In Treatment”) is engrossing and psychologically taut. For better and worse, it requires more attention, even more work than the average drama. It feels alternately like a play, a novel, a puzzle.
In Season 1, vacationing family man Noah (Dominic West) met Alison (Ruth Wilson), a waitress still devastated by the death of her son. The two launched a torrid affair, which, when discovered, reverberated through the families. At the end of last season, a mysterious death was still being prosecuted.
Noah, Alison and their respective spouses Helen (Maura Tierney) and Cole (Joshua Jackson) collide and interact and hold conflicting memories.
Season 2 is about consequences; Season 3 will have some redemptive elements, Treem said.
Pushing back against critics who questioned the drama’s very specific and challenging style, Treem addressed the “truth” of the tale:
“The truth is in the conversation between the two P.O.V.s,” Treem said. “As storytellers we’re just excited about pushing the form a little bit.”
The actors, also at the press tour, similarly discussed how their show denies objective truth. “It’s a complex show. The conceit is about perspective,” said Wilson (“Luther”).
“The discomfort you’re describing … that’s the essential mission of the show,” agreed Joshua Jackson (“Fringe”).
After much discussion about what did or didn’t really happen, West (“The Wire”) said, “I thought I’d got it down, but now I’m completely confused. My main concern is that everyone likes Noah, which, of course, is not possible.”
Maura Tierney (“ER”) said she has struggled with the flawed memories of the characters, too.
But this is what life is like: As a child of divorce, Jackson said, “I know my parents had two different stories of what happened.”
The relationships among the four central characters, in a show about subjective truth and points of view, will continue, although the court case will conclude this year, Treem said.
The recollections of the people are intentionally divergent, Treem said, especially in stressful situations. Witness accounts are not to be trusted. “Their memories start to get radically different. That’s the principle we were operating under.
“I think some viewers are getting it. I think others are more confused. We’re not doing it to make sure everyone understands it perfectly. We are actually OK if people start to think it’s tough to believe.
Ultimately, the tale “compounds itself. … You’re retelling the memory of the last time you told it.”
When the time frame jumps three months as the season opens, viewers are left to fill in gaps based on what we know from other characters’ points of view.
Not to fear, Treem says she has endpoints in mind for each character.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or @ostrowdp
