‘The Affair’ Season 5, Episode 4 Recap: Quid Pro Quo

Why did Whitney go to the party wearing a nightie??

Noah, you disappoint me. When Sasha asked what you were doing in the bedroom you could have said you were retrieving Erica's clothing since you'd made out with her earlier there.

It seems, through Whitney, we are discovering the Solloway gene for self destruction doesn't reside on the Y chromosome.

I was disappointed with this episode. Is there any way the writers could create a more upbeat story line? Everything is doom and gloom and I'm growing tired of the continual misery that everyone's lives revolve around.

Totally unbelievable but far more run than the previous two dreary seasons.

The men this season! Yikes. Now to add to the utterly insufferable principal and Sasha, we have the useless, good-for-nothing (and now abusive) Colin, the hideously ugly and gross FurKat (LOL, "Lindsay"), the weird, creepy voyeur, and, well, Trevor's a spoiled, overly self-absorbed brat who seems to be trying WAY too hard to be campy. (Although his line "Like Grandpa?" was a killer, LOL.) I wonder why Vik didn't leave Helen any of his $$. What happened to all Helen's trust fund $$? Did that all get spent over the years? What about her Brooklyn brownstone, surely she'd have some money from either renting that out or selling it? Ah well, this is TV land. Kind of odd that all the Butlers are struggling financially now. Glad we're going to see Priya again (per the trailer for upcoming episodes). I still would love to see Margaret and Priya go head-to-head ... Margaret would knock Priya right off that sanctimonious pedestal she's built for herself. I tried to feel empathy for Whitney, I really did, but dang that girl is self-destructive and all her problems are of her own making. Heh, I wonder, will she think it's worth it to have prostituted herself to get her own gallery? In the real world, someone like Whitney would -- but in The Affair, she'll probably have angst. Broke my heart to see Joanie throwing all the memories away. Later, when she discovers her mother was murdered and didn't commit suicide after all, will she regret throwing all that stuff away ...

What are the writers thinking indeed? All the characters are twisted, even Joanie (who finally decided on an American accent instead of the previous mish mash). And she certainly does not fall far from the tree that was Alison. Woddy Allen's movies are more uplifting (and less scary). Once again, notice the small amount of comments compared to last season. And we were all so looking forward to this one.

It was sort of heartbreaking how Joanie--waking up the morning after the night before ( having had brutal sex with the bartender)-- goes through the relics of her parents home and disposes of all the family photos. Very sad to watch her throwing out the photo of her mother Alison holding her as a baby. I somehow get the feeling that, by the show's end, Joanie will end up like her mother. It's sort of in the cards. Hopefully there will be a scene with Joanie and her father Cole, showing him at the end of his life before he died in 2053. THE AFFAIR is still a strong, engaging series.

I'm ready for a show featuring Margaret. She wins hands down again. Love her.

I’m curious about the Joanie perspective - want to know more. About those photos in Cole’s old house - they are NOT of Cole & Alison with baby Joanie, but rather Cole & Alison with baby Gabriel - Joanie was born when Alison was with Noah, and it was sometime later that DNA proved that Cole was father (didn’t Helen swipe Joanie’s pacifier for the test?) - maybe Joanie is somehow resentful of this past - trashing pictures & even Gabriel’s toy chest?

Not to be THAT nitpicky, but my bike’s tires lose all their air just over the winter months - how is it that Joanie could just ride away on Alison’s bike which had been sitting in a garage for 20-30 years?

I have yet to see the Art world realistically depicted in the Media and this is no exception. The gallery scenes in The Affair sound, look and feel like trite, florid artificial posturing. The inane dialogue, the sets and gallery goers are so off it is distracting from the story. Why can't someone get this right?

Where's Martin this season? Not that I miss one more Salamander brat. How many total episodes this season?

I think the entire futuristic Joanie storyline is actually a new book being written which picks up where Descent left off. That autobiography of Jack Hunter by Noah (and perhaps about) was just a sidetrack. The film storyline we are now seeing is really irrelevant. We are being given the Descent sequel while we are "watching" Descent. I would even venture to guess that the author is Anton.

"A slow-motion shot of his ex-wife Helen as she enters the room indicates that he is falling for her again, ..." ------- No. It has been obvious all season that Noah is feeling possessive and somewhat desperate over Helen. But that lingering shot was meant to show Helen's transformation finally from a New Yorker dressed in somber colors to a technicolor West Coast woman with a new life and a new love. All her internal shifts were made vivid by that uncharacteristic turquoise dress and those caramel boots. And Noah took it in.

In the scene at the cemetery, three gravestones were visible: Scott's, Cole's, and Gabriel's. The dates on Gabriel's, strangely, were 1953-1986. Was there another Gabriel aside from Cole and Allison's young son? (Cole's father, perhaps?)

I still find this show gripping on many levels, and marvel- remember how the little toy chest was a treasured holy box, to be discarded in a trash bag with all the rest of paper people trash that is burying the earth and water, 35-40 years later no connection or meaning to it at all, to someone else, even your own child. Just ‘stuff’ And it’s painful to watch ‘Whitney’ unable to speak, turn to a parent and say, can I have my old room back please it is HORRIBLE out here. A lot of real day levels to this show.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Noah and Helen are reconciled in the end. That they had to go through such pain and suffering in order to understand themselves— and appreciate each other fully—seems like one of the points here.

Furkat and Sasha are like brothers; self-centered and annoying to the max. The Whitney POV was well done. The person she has become is relatable, and noble -- such as when she rejects Helen's help -- "We're fine" -- even though she and the boyfriend are clearly struggling. She goes back home after the party -- I don't have a feel for what's next for her. It doesn't seem like she'll go the victim route any more, but who knows? Way disappointing how the writers had Noah planting underwear in Sasha's room. Also hard to believe Noah's really into Helen now; feels off. Time for more Joanie, and catching Alison's killer.

The best part of the POV segments used to be that we'd see the same events through different people's perspectives. We got none of that this time. I don't even know if the Noah/Whitney segments took place during the same time; there was no mention of Halloween during Whitney's segment.

Did they ever say what happened to Montauk? Why is it abandoned? It isn’t flooded, obviously.

The scene with poor Whitney, Furkat and the public, live video installation actually made me furious. He had some nerve doing it without her consent. It reminded me of the spoiler in the novel "The Woman Upstairs" (although F. did it out of self-adulation, not out of spite). She should sue his sorry a---. And is Colin in it only for the green card?

The summary was excellent, as usual, but the series feels like it is grasping at straws as it comes to and end. Why did Trevor have to wear a dress? Doesn’t that reinforce certain cliched views of gay people? And did Trevor mean to intimate that his grandfather might be gay? Why do that? Noah dressed up as a repairman was a nice ironic touch. After all, he doesn’t fix things. He wrecks them. And the sex toys bit? Just silly. I think this otherwise excellent show has gone on one season too long.

Something that has puzzled me for a long time. I know Noah has done and is still doing self-destructive behavior --- although this last stunt really seems off the charts unbelievable, even for him (what's going on the writers room?). But no one ever refers to the mostly selfless act of repentance he did in taking blame for the accident that killed Scotty, and what his time in prison did in twisting his psyche even further. Helen seems to have no guilt feelings at all now for her act. And I must say, it says something good about Noah that he never feels tempted to tell his beyond-annoying son Trevor, who appears to have no respect for him, about what part his Mother played. I would so love to see that kid's smug attitude get wiped off his face for once.

I become very sad watching this show. It was one of my favorites for the past four years. Removing two of the most important characters, moving forward eight or nine years and making action revolve around minor characters leaves me with the feeling that what was once great is now haphazard. I saw in the previews Helen telling Noah, "I don't love you anymore." so perhaps we will have more drama among the major characters. Helen with a not so nice movie star boyfriend who is sticking it to Noah, karma?

I'd love to know how Margaret went out for sanitary pads and came back with a cache of sex toys. Must be a helluva CVS in Malibu! Noah's segment was so stupid and cringe-worthy that I fast forwarded through it. What grown man would ever think it's a good idea to act out the plot of an '80s teen sex comedy? Highly unbelievable and, quite frankly, lazy writing. I was also glad Whitney got finally a POV, though- and surprising that it actually reinforced Noah's from last week.

Joanie's POV lasted all of two minutes. Whitney needs to leave her loser of a boyfriend pronto, it's apparent that he's a freeloader and will never amount to much. She knows he's using her at least I hope she's smart enough to realize this and her boss is awful to her. I'm hoping her dreams of opening a gallery of her own comes true but without the strings of being paired up with Furkat again. I don't think she wants to go down that road again.

What show is this reviewer watching? None of these people are interesting anymore. The show has unfortunately drifted from a complex point-of-view drama to a barely watchable soap of miserable human beings. The only thing worth watching anymore are the last 5 minutes with Joanie which just goes to show how much the show made you care about the Lockharts.

Whitney’s story was great, and what a fine actress I vote Noah off the show and let’s have more of Whitney please

The Whitney segment was so troubling to watch; before it, she always struck me as a spoiled, entitled princess. Now we know that in the world of Whitney, the struggle is real: dingy apartment, past due notices for the rent, an engagement on thin ice, a grotesquely insensitive boss, and an ex who ropes her back into another cycle of abuse. It'll be interesting to see if she'll go forward with her wedding. Noah's prank was low, even by his standards. Five seasons in, he still doesn't get it and hasn't matured much since the pilot episode. I know a lot of viewers don't like the Joanie storyline, but I'm patient and willing to see where it will go. I'm hoping that she will learn the truth about what really happened to her mother.

Did Noah really think he would get away with his scheme to have Helen leave Sasha? I almost felt sorry for him. He's desperate and (yawn) still doesn't get that he broke up the marriage, that he is still in denial and now he wants Helen back? If anything Helen has learned from past mistakes and has taken Vic's advice and to finally live her life. Time for Noah to grow up and live HIS life alone.

Did Joanie even know about Gabriel, or did her parents keep him a secret from her? I want to know what happened to her to make her want to erase his memory (by discarding his toys and photographs). Only a few more episodes left to this series, when we we get to Joanie's story (my ISP says Cole appears in one form or another next week). Cole lived to age 74, so what happened to him in the intervening years? Not old by today's standards, but long enough. I see Joanie is very handy-dandy with electric matters (fixing the solar panels) - reminded me of Nicki Grant on Six Feet, who did her own roofing and moved large appliances on her own without help from the boys. So, we know Joanie is smart, independent and not afraid of heights. What else don't we know about her? Why would she erase her big brother?

Noah channeling his anger into revenge and a more congealed focus - getting Helen back. Whitney, no longer the spoiled brat, facing life squarely in the face of her past and choosing to escape, figuratively as yet, her suffocating present. Joanie throwing away the baggage of her past with a deftness and finality that is literally a fresh start for her future. Since it appears Cole lived a normal life span, I'd be more interested in his life post-Alison than in his death. I'm not sure what I want for Whitney, except to grow up, which is occurring before our eyes. And for Noah and Helen? I want them to come full circle, and not throw away their past.