The Affair: Cole and Alison Are Meant to Be
(Episode 3.04)
ShowtimeSee, I told you that Cole and Alison were meant to be together. They know it, too!
I’ve decided that what I don’t like about this season is Juliette’s story. I was glad to leave her behind and get back to my favorite couple, Cole and Alison. Thankfully, this week we’re back to the usual format, where we see two stories through different eyes. This is what I like about the show.
The episode begins with Cole in bed with Alison—except it isn’t her. It’s only a dream.
He and Louisa are planning a birthday party for Joanie. Louisa, who’s been Joanie’s only mother figure for six months, is feeling territorial, but Cole won’t have it. He insists that Joanie and Alison have a relationship.
Which means their relationship is bound for trouble.
Then, we get to Alison’s story. She’s on her own, crafting and living for her Tuesday visits with Joanie. She’s also meeting with her case worker to fight for custody of Joanie, and she doesn’t think it goes well.
I would guess it’s hard to fight back when you’ve had a complete mental breakdown and signed away custody rights.
She prepares for Joanie’s birthday by making a cake, and she intends to put peanut butter in it, even though, or perhaps because, Louisa is allergic to it.
Most of the time I think Alison is simply mentally ill, but then she does something intentionally cruel and I’m not sure she doesn’t have an evil streak.
Now—finally—we get to have a round of “He Said/SheSaid”
He said: He went along to the park with Alison and Joanie with the case worker. He thought Alison was a little too protective and she didn’t let Joanie walk all the way across the monkey bars.
She said: She was afraid, but Cole just ignored it and sat on the bench with the case worker. In Alison’s telling, Joanie walked across the monkey bars like a tightrope walker and she hugged her and was proud of her.
I’m going with Cole. Moms don’t sit by and watch a four-year-old kid pull a stunt like that. Four-year-olds can’t even do the monkey bars well.
He said: Alison was bringing a cake and tried to get Louisa to take hers back, and Alison didn’t push it on them.
She said: Cole gave her permission to make the cake and that Louisa returned it like the bad b that she is.
(Oscar also comes into play in this game. I’m not sure if this will be important later, but it seemed like it might be. In Cole’s story, Oscar has the baby in a baby carrier and says that the kid can sleep through anything. Loud noises don’t affect his sleep at all. In Alison’s story, the baby is inside and Oscar is running to check on him because the baby wakes at the tiniest noise. I’m not sure how this one will play out later, but somehow, my guess is that whether a baby wakes up will matter.)
He said: When Joanie falls off the pony at the party, he restrains Louisa and lets Alison take the lead. Alison runs over and comforts Joanie.
She said: She saw blood coming out of Joanie’s mouth and Louisa ran over to tend to her daughter while she stood panicking. Cole comes over and says to her, “Don’t worry, it happens to me, too.”
I tend to think that Alison did rush over to Joanie, and then Cole calmed her down. It seems likely that both were a necessity.
What they do agree on is that the cops come to question Alison and then Cole. He comes to the house and the inevitable happens, his dream comes true.
Of course, Alison is still married to Noah—why she isn’t divorced, we don’t know. Louisa has decided to make nice with Alison.
But Noah is back in town. I hope Noah and Louisa hook up and leave town.
Keri is a professional chatterbox who loves watching TV & movies, reading about pop culture, and gawking at any craziness on the internet. You can follow Keri on Twitter.