Extramarital relationships are messy, complex and common. A relatable to many part of the human experience. That is why a series like this hit home with so many viewers. All the characters here are relatable in one way or another as they are all flawed. Or very human. No one, though they are all physically attractive, are without fault here. No one is really to blame. There are no bad guys but also no clear cut good guys either.
Trying to show the different sides of the affair is done in a really original and interesting way. We get the same story from both Alison and Noah’s points of view. To illustrate the difference the characters talk differently and even dress differently in the different viewpoints. You can imagine that it is an accurate depiction of how each of them remembers what is going on.
Leaving the New York City for a summer in Montauk with his wife’s parents is not exactly Noah’s (played by Dominic West) kettle of fish. The author and public high school teacher dreads it. Little does he know that he is going to meet someone who is going to change his life this summer.
On their way to Helen’s (played by Maura Tierney) parents house, the Solloways stop at The Lobster Roll for lunch. Alison (played by Ruth Wilson) is their waitress. She and Noah make an almost instantaneous connection. Neither is looking for anything but soon they are head over heels in love. Noah cannot seem to help himself. Even though he believes himself to be a happily married man with four kids. Alison is a little bit of a different issue as she and her husband Cole (played by Joshua Jackson) went through an unspeakable tragedy and have never really recovered from it.
The story of season one unfolds from Noah and Alison’s different points of view. But also thrown in is interviews each of them has with a police detective (played by Victor Williams) investigating a murder. A murder of whom we don’t really find out exactly until the end of the 10 episodes. Obviously time has passed between the beginning of the affair and the murder investigation. The lives of Alison and Noah have obviously changed.
Special Features:
-Biographies
-Tale of Two Costumes
-Ray Donovan Season 1, Episode 1, Madam Secretary Season 1, Episode 1, Happyish Episodes 1 + 2
-Character Profiles: Montauk, Alison, Noah, Helen, Noah