Official Discussion Thread: "202" (Season 2 Episode 2)
Air date: October 11, 2015
Alison's summer with Noah is interrupted. Cole's lifestyle causes concern.
Posted Oct 12, 2015, 1:14 AM UTC
1012
I have some questions about Cole: are the drugs to blame for his completely different perspective on the meeting with Allison, versus what she remembered? She remembered being practically afraid of him and wanting him to gtfo asap; he remembered her making him eggs and coffee, and chatting on the couch, and hugging when he left? Also, why is he not speaking to Scotty? Did Cole know of Whitney's pregnancy?
I'm also a little confused on the time frame. The first 50 minutes shows the 4 of them in the year after the original affair, when Scotty is still alive. The last 10 minutes it's years later (Noah and Allison are married and have an 18mo/2yo child), Scotty is dead, Noah is being charged with vehicular homicide.
I really hope we get the defense attorney's point of view. I loved how he knocked Allison down a peg. I used to have sympathy for her, but I think she's officially tainted by being with Noah.
I hate Noah. Helen is right (from last week) he is completely selfish and self-absorbed.
Do Allison and Noah have absolutely anything else in their relationship besides sex? I can hardly imagine those two hedonists having a baby. After all, you're not supposed to have sex for 6 weeks after a baby is born; they wouldn't be able to handle that. Allison can't even get a job without Noah flipping out. What if he had to make his own non-fishy dinner????
6
My theory behind the differences in their viewpoints: Allison has always played the role of the victim. Ever since last season, everything is done to her. She is never the aggressor and she is always so sad. I think she views herself in that way to appear sympathetic. So, she remembers the interaction with Cole as being aggressive because she needs to feel justified in leaving him. Same reason why she remembers the interaction with Noah when he returns as so cold and off putting, it's essentially her having a pity party at all times. (To be fair I dislike Allison (and Noah) so this could be clouding my own perceptions!)
As for Cole, his perspective shows that he views himself as a hot mess: he has bloodshot eyes, he is messy and rumpled, doing drugs, and has gained weight. But, with all of that, he still very much loves Allison and would take her back. So he has her on a pedestal, which would explain how he views their interaction as warm and friendly, because he needs to believe there is a chance to continue to have her in his life. She's the only good thing he has, so he believes.
So I think their actual interaction is probably a mix of the two. Allison probably was more welcoming, but not overtly so as she was in Cole's perspective. And Cole probably did have a bit of an attitude and acted a little bit like a jerk.
11
I think Alison does view herself as a victim but that She is also afraid of Coal and was overly polite to him in the real version out of fear, whereas he thinks she was being affectionate and kind to him she was really just afraid.
1
What could someone possibly share with you that would let you move on from the loss of a child?
For me the Alison perspective in S2E2 pretty much confirmed my opinion on their relationship as a Dom/Sub one. Noah can be the master of his own life and couple, away from his wife and her parents who made him feel "inappropriate" his entire life, and Alison can fully submit, abandon her own body and watch herself be reborn under him as a new person, the only escape pod from her life of grief.
I'm not saying this is healthy, to be honest nothing in this show is healthy, it's just how I see it. Also I don't quite see it as hedonism; it should be taken as a parallel to Alison begging Cole on the car at the start of Season One. Alison is running away from her past, and that's the only way she knows.
3
I definitely think Cole's perspective of himself is much more believable, but I can't imagine Alison being as friendly as she was to him. This entire time, she's been....practically scared of the guy. And now that she's in love and happy, she's still going to keep in contact with her ex? It doesn't make sense. And why would Alison hide the chest with all of her son's memories? Does she not want to explain to Noah how it got there? Also, did anyone notice the sly smirk/malicious look Cole had on his face at the end of the episode? I definitely think something's up with the case. I don't think Noah actually did murder Scotty; it was Cole. But then, why would Noah be having nightmares about a murder that he didn't commit? The tangled web of The Affair....
5
did anyone notice the sly smirk/malicious look Cole had on his face at the end of the episode?
What the long close up shot of his face with hugely ominous music that went on for ages? No I think we all missed that.
1
man Noah's friend is wild
1
[deleted]
1
Hmmm so Cole and Allison remember that day quite differently.
And Helens father is a big piece of shit. Noah has inspired him to leave his marriage too. Great!
Also Alison has a baby girl, who resembles Cole more than Noah. But I'm guessing it's Noah's (5th) kid. So no matter who ran down Scotty, I hate Noah so much I would be okay with him going to jail, just sayin'.
The baby resembles the restaurant owner that she had the one night stand with
When was that?
yes, she resembles Oscar. Does the timeline support her having Oscar's baby? Don't think so, maybe they hooked up again?
The differences between how Cole and Alison remember their meeting is what I find so intriguing about the show. One nuance I noticed was in Alison's memory, Cole says he will get his tools from the truck (to fix the toilet). He obviously comes in a cab but Alison would not know or remember that.