The Affair: Season Two

The second season of the Showtime drama about an affair between frustrated New York City novelist Noah Solloway (Dominic West) and Montauk waitress Alison Bailey (Ruth Wilson) picks up with the publication of Noah's bestselling novel, which twists real-life events into fiction and reverberates through the lives of the principals and the community of Montauk. The first season limited the show's perspectives to Noah and Alison, but the second adds Helen (Maura Tierney), Noah's wife and the mother of their four children, and Cole (Joshua Jackson), Alison's husband, as they all work through separation, divorce, and new relationships. It also flashes forward to the arrest and trial of Noah for a hit-and-run that killed Cole's brother, a drug dealer and junkie with plenty of enemies, but saves the revelation of what really happened for the season finale. Given that viewers are expecting some sort of twist, creators Hagai Levi and Sarah Treem wind up delivering a double whammy that gives the trial sequences unexpected resonance. The Affair is a difficult series to watch, with its flawed characters, anger, resentment, and emotional damage, but the fact that this is a serious adult drama is also its strength, centering on people fumbling through good and bad times with a mix of selfishness and generosity. Presenting all 12 episodes from the 2015 second season, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)