What I am watching
I have to be honest, the last thing I wanted to do this summer was sitting in front of the TV and watch endless shows. I should be in Italy right now visiting my family. I was supposed to take my kids camping, and I wanted to take a stroll by the beach. But… COVID-19 ruined everything for everyone, so we are stuck at home, hoping, praying, that my son Nicky and my husband won’t get sick. So, here we are.
Lately I’ve been watching all kinds of shows trying to find something good… I saw a several shows that I can’t really suggest, they were just weird or bizarre. Then FINALLY I came across this one… ALLELUJA!!! Something really good!
I can talk endlessly about The Affair! SO MUCH resonated with me.
Surprisingly, I’ve never heard of this show until last fall when Showtime was heavily advertising the 5th and final season. If a show goes on for 5 seasons it should be pretty good, right?
With a title like “The Affair”, I am not surprised that I wouldn’t be interested before. I’ve never cheated, never would, never could. It’s just not “me”. However, when Showtime was advertising the 5th season I noticed that the main star of the show was Dominic West, which I LOVED in “The Miserables” last year, and I also recognized Ruth Wilson from a miniseries I watched last year about her grandmother (Mrs. Wilson). Both were amazing shows on PBS Masterpiece which I highly recommend if I haven’t before. I also noticed that the main characters (Noah & Helen Solloway) were MY age or around there. There are very few movies/tv shows where the MAIN characters are my age. For the record, I am 56, Maura Tierney is 55 and Dominic West is almost 51.
So, I figured… let’s watch the first season, if it’s good I have enough shows to last me a while (5 seasons!) if not, then, ugh, the search continues.
Well, my search ended.
Right off the bat I was intrigued. A beach town (Montauk, NY) is an awesome atmosphere. I am a beach girl at heart. I LOVE the ocean. He is an Author (so am I). Alison had lost a child and was having a hard time coping. (Oh yes, I can definitely relate!)
Then there’s the “point of view” thing. First half of the show is seen from one character’s POV, the other half from another. One may think one person is awful from one person’s point of view, then when we watch it from their point of view is…. an eye opener. Sometimes I wondered if the truth was just somewhere in between?
Watching this show, in general, makes me want to steer in being a little less judgemental, which is always a good thing. People are, afterall, good at heart. There is “almost” always a reason on why people do what they do. I don’t excuse Noah’s behaviour, BUT I thought he paid his dues for what he did… and then some. He tried to make it up to his family in so many ways…
Without giving anything away, there is a lot that these characters go through besides the central “affair”. There’s losses, there’s tragedies, there’s relatives being manipulative, even mean at times, there’s the harshness of trying to cope, but there is also a lot of LOVE. There’s secrets, there’s lies, there’s tears and there’s laughs. There’s injustices and there’s lots of sex. There’s weddings, there’s stepparenting, there’s everyone trying hard to move forward. You feel awful about one character you despised the episode before. But the “affair” is central to everything and its repercussions are far and wide.
This show truly grabbed me and that’s all I could think about for weeks.
Thumbs way up!
What I am Reading
It’s no secret that I think that the current occupant of the White House is a sociopath.
I don’t really talk about it on social media much if at all because I don’t really care to convert people to my thinking. How everyone feels is like… whatever.
This. BTW, has NOTHING to do with Politics.
I *never* liked this man, EVER. I always thought he was disgusting. But since 2015, he’s gotten repulsive to a new level. A horrible level.
I’ve read many books that talk about his antics and this is just the latest, one that can perhaps explain to all of us how he got this way. Because… how can anyone grow up to be this devoid of empathy, compassion and human decency?
I mean… his mocking of the disabled, his thousands of lies, his separating babies from their parents at the border, his paying off porn stars, his insults to a gold star family, his calling nazis fine people, his grabbing women by their… you-know-what, his denial of science, his stealing from charities, his revolting twitter rants, his vile hatred of minorities & people of color, his misogyny, his hate of immigrants unless they are his wives. Mexicans are all rapists, right? I just… can’t…. he sickens me in so many ways. I cannot find a single redeeming quality for this man.
A single ONE.
Thank you Mary, for telling us what’s up with your icky Uncle and telling us how he got that way. Something tells me this is going to be an amazing read.
Love & Light,
