The Affair Recap S2 E8

When the episode opens, we see Jon Gottlief (Richard Schiff) stewing over the new evidence. He is interrupted by his assistance, who provides him with the phone call records. They discover Scotty calls Alison (Ruth Wilson) erratically, but never received an answer. They come to the conclusion that Alison must’ve slept with Scotty. They question whether or not the baby could be his and if Alison could’ve killed Scotty. Moments later, Helen Solloway (Maura Tierney) enters and asks to speak with Jon.

In the present, Helen and Whitney (Julia Goldani Telles) tour the university. Whitney snaps a few pictures of her mother, before they continue onward to Payne Hall. Helen tells her daughter about her own experience at the school, but Whitney is having none of it. She continues annoying her mother. Whitney finally breaks the news that she has made a Tinder profile for her mother and has already received several matches. She insists she is trying to help her mother, who needs to move on from her father.

After they return to the hotel, Whitney continues arguing with her mother. Helen attempts to convince her daughter she’ll be fine alone, after she drops her off with Chrissy (Lyrica Okano). Despite Whitney’s constant pestering, Helen refuses to meet one of the men on Tinder and suggests he can wander around all night. The pair head on their way to meet with Chrissy, when Whitney spills the beans that she doesn’t want to go to college. She admits she wants to go to New York to be a model. Helen learns about Whitney’s new photographer friend, who is very old and could be a sexual predator.

They argue a little more, before running into Noah (Dominic West), who is in the city for his book tour. When asked, Eden (Brooke Lyons) admits she knew the couple would be in the city, at the same time. Chrissy finally arrives and whisks Whitney away. Before they separate, Noah asks Helen, whether or not she is coming to his reader. She refuses, before we flash forward. Helen speaks with Jon and attempts to gain insight into his strategy for the trial. When asked about alternative suspects, Jon admits they have one, but he doesn’t tell Helen who it is. Helen attempts to help, by asking what type of confirmation is needed to classify the individual, as a suspect.

Afterwards, Helen gets drunk at a bar, before saying screw it. She decides to make her way to Noah’s reading. After they visibly acknowledge one another, Noah begins the reading. He reads passages, which pertain to his past with Helen. After the reading has concluded, Noah is asked several questions by audience members. Noah manages to answer the questions and improve his status with the crowd and Helen. Afterwards, Helen and Noah go for a walk together. When he notices she is cold, Noah gives her his hat.

Afterwards, they head to a classy restaurant. They order food and Helen complains about her past birthday party at the facility. Eventually, they begin speaking about Whitney and her desire to model. Noah seems up to ideal of allowing her to take time off, but Helen disagrees. After they finish their argument, they head outside and Helen apologizes to Noah for forcing him out of Harlem in the past. Noah offers Helen to sleep at his place, but she refuses and heads on her way, after giving back back Noah’s hat.

We flash forward and witness Helen and Noah watching Martin’s (Jake Siciliano) wrestling match. Noah has his baby and it spits out her pacifier. When he gets up, Helen snatches the pacifier and stashes it away. Then, we switch to Noah’s point of view. He speaks with Alison over Skype or a similar problem and learns that she has moved his desk and transformed his office into a nursery. Afterwards, Noah heads to the restaurant and reads the newspaper. He is angered by a writeup from Earnest Schiffbaum (Jordan Carlos), which compares his book to porn.

He meets up with Eden and immediately complains about the review. Before the reading, Eden attempts to convince Noah to read the shower scene. He proceeds and does so, until he notices Helen in the crowd. He switches to a section, which focuses on his relationship with Helen. An attractive woman (Courtney Reed) asks Noah how he manages to write women so well and he answers charmingly, before Earnest gets to ask a question. Earnest attempts to belittle Noah’s book, but Noah manages to turn things around.

Earnest also announces that Noah lost a writer’s award. to Annie Zheng. Afterwards, Noah signs book and the attractive woman passes him her phone number, before Helen interrupts. The pair go out to dinner and Helen immediately gets drunk, while Noah blames his loss on affirmative action. Helen manages to get the phone number away from Noah, before she snatches his phone and learns about Eden’s obsessiveness with Noah. Moments later, Earnest enters the bar and Noah attempts to confront him, but Helen stops him.

Once they leave, Noah asks Helen how the book was and she admits she cannot read it, without crying. Once she leaves in a taxi, Noah heads inside and confronts Earnest. He makes a fool of himself, when he punches, but misses, Earnest. When he returns home, Eden shows him a video of himself and insists he has now established himself as a bad boy. The pair begins making out and nearly has sex, but Eden stops herself and insists she doesn’t mix work with pleasure. Afterwards, we flash forward and see Helen take the pacifier to Jon.

 

The Affair Review

The episode showed us that things may not be over between Noah and Helen after all. The pair can still get along from time to time and they may be headed towards a rekindling. Why else would Helen be so protective of Noah? Now that Jon has the pacifier and the baby’s DNA, it should only be a matter of time, before we learn who the real father is. All in all, a good episode, which deserves an 8 out of 10. Be sure to catch up with other episodes of The Affair right now!