Did Ben Really Kill Alison on The Affair?
Without a doubt, we are going to keep talking about the demise of Alison Bailey, formerly Mrs. Cole Lockhart, formerly Mrs. Noah Solloway, maybe even into the 5th season of “The Affair,” and especially if it turns out that Ben Cruz is not the person who did her in.
Ruth Wilson appeared on CBS News today, August 16th, but she really didn’t shed any light on the whole thing, other than to say she thinks it’s murder. Duh! Well, everyone does now. She says she’s not allowed to talk about why she left the show but it wasn’t over pay issues, which is fine. That leaves it open for plenty of gossipy unknown sources for articles on “the real reason” why and perhaps, an eventual “Ruth Wilson Breaks Her Silence” headline! Wilson talks about “The Affair” at about the 3:42 mark in this video.
Soppy Jeanie accidentally kills her mommy by leaving the interior car light on again. Ali tried the jumps herself from a nearby surfin’ dude’s M/C in the beach park, snuffs it and a loose Mont Moose dumps her bod into the briny in fury because theJapanese takeover of the LR has scrapped the monster refuse bins
he’s been scavenging in for years. Ali n Sierra clearly become an item. Ben’s just great and continuous his cheatin’ lying ways. Noah hooks up with his wonderful French mistress and Scottie returns to his surfin love nest on the West Coast.
I love the show and I’ve learned so many new ways to manipulate my friends and family- especially my mom! I’m considering becoming vegan too, moving to a yurt in the desert and growing my own weed x oh and getting an immersion tank on the side
@VJ – Hey stranger! Well?! What did you think of “The Affair” Season 4 finale? My take, in a word… Disappointing! (A second hyphenated word to describe it could also be “semi-predictable”.)
First, Noah’s POV – Was it just me, or did the group of students (and professor) at Princeton act like they’ve never been around an African American student before?! And then Anton used their stereotypic image of him to his own advantage & hits it out of the park when he blindsides Noah by asking in his essay if he’s the essence of white privilege or just a sociopath! That was awesome! And we’re also reminded of what a misogynistic jerk Noah is by not doing anything to participate in Alison’s funeral… What a loser!
Cole’s POV – He was SO right to run off w/ Alison’s ashes! What was Athena thinking? It seems like everyone is buying into the “Suicide Theory” re: Alison’s death (at least for the time being), which means she killed herself w/ the assistance of the Atlantic Ocean, the place from where they scooped up her decaying body. SO, her mother wants to throw her back into her Waterloo?! If a person jumped off a tall building to their death, would you gather a group of mourners together, return to the roof and dump their ashes down toward the spot where (s)he went “splat”?! (And the fact that Gabriel fell victim to the ocean, too. Athena is not only self-serving, she’s morbid!)
The one thing that did garner my attn in Cole’s segment, however, was when Ben the Barbarian (you may recall, I LOATHE him!) spoke at the service, Cole showed no reaction. You would think that if Cole still had any inkling that Ben murdered Alison, his very presence at her funeral would set him off, but he seemed unfazed by his attendance. Interesting…
And finally, Helen’s POV – First things first… I knew that Sierra was going to reveal that she was carrying Vic’s child. That couldn’t have been more obvious. Equally predictable was the heart-to-heart that Helen and Noah had, basically exchanging kudos in the “mutual admiration” final segment. (But hey, wasn’t Whitney GREAT?! She plays the role of the rebellious, “my-family-is-the-most-dysfunctional-on-the-planet-and-they-ruined-my-childhood” teenager/young adult to the max!)
Which leads me to the same question that you asked not so long ago… Where do they go from here?! How can they continue to connect Montauk & LA w/out Alison being in the picture? Of course, after Vik dies, Helen will likely move back to NYC, but I still don’t see how they affix the two parties without her?
OK, girlfriend – It’s your turn! Whatcha got?😎
@JJ – I’ve just been patiently waiting til I knew you saw the episode. I agree that it was disappointing for the viewers, on the one hand. No big cliffhanger putting the authorities on Ben’s trail. But it’s probably what would happen in real life when no suspicions are falling on Ben yet.
Noah’s POV: I thought Noah would run into Juliette at Princeton but now a new character has been added to the mix. I thought Noah was mad about Anton throwing in the little detail about his mother. LOL. I don’t really know what to make of Anton playing the Princeton group like that. Let’s hope they drop that angle.
Cole’s POV – what caught my attention on the beach was that Oscar was there and held the urn for a little bit. And that heated exchange with Cole telling Athena: “She was MY WIFE!!” with his real wife standing right there. Luisa’s like, “we’re done” right then. However inappropriate it was or wasn’t, Athena was still right that it was her right to make the arrangements. I guess Cole was too pissed about the beach ceremony to even think about Ben.
Helen’s POV: I agree that the actress plays rotten self-centered Whitney to the hilt, but poor Helen! She didn’t even have time to change her shirt with the vomit on it. Is Sierra going to be the new Alison now? She’ll somehow be part of Helen’s life how? If Helen was smart, she’d see it as a chance to never have to see Vik’s mother again. LOL!
I can’t see where they are going from here either. Even if Ben is the killer, I don’t see how that affects any of the Noah/Helen characters. The only thought on that I have is if Noah is still out on the West Coast when Anton goes to Princeton, Noah will ask Cole to check up on Anton. Seems too contrived, right? But whatever they come up with will probably be equally ridiculous 😀
Fantastic analysis, VJ! I ALWAYS enjoy reading your “takes” – you have keen insight and you’re fabulous when it comes to the “written word”!
Yup – I completely forgot to comment on Luisa and Cole’s blunder about Alison being his wife. As of this moment, Luisa is the only decent person on the show. She’s tried to be a great wife despite Cole still carrying a torch for Alison. She IS an amazing mother figure to Joanie. She’s truly got it going on! SOOOO… do the writers turn her into a sinister wench in Season 5? Everyone else in the cast has an ominous side, I’d be surprised if they spared her?!
And I’m also in TOTAL agreement w/ you about the Anton storyline. Please discontinue playing the “race game” – first he was an adopted child of a gay couple while in Wisconsin because the hotel owner was a racist and now he’s flaunting his “street smarts” to make his presence known at Princeton?! I don’t like it. This show is about deception, secrets, dishonesty, lust… let’s stick to those angles, please!
I also bet we see Juliette again. She was a fairly strong character and to utilize her for just that one season seems a bit of a waste…
I doubt they’ll drop it, JJ. I imagine they’ll have Anton playing musical beds with stereotypical guilt-ridden white girls. They’ll have students asking him to get them weed and so on. LOL. They started him out with that “stereotype” angle, in class with a hoody and an attitude, then surprise! He’s the principal’s son.
Also, the illegal immigrant angle with Luisa is probably gonna be a big part of the next season, with her narrowly escaping deportation.
And speaking of musical beds, like Lip on Shameless, I can’t fathom what is so wildly attractive about Noah but I guess in this case, he’s got that “famous author” thing going for him.
I hate to do it, but I have to agree w/ you about Anton, VJ. I wouldn’t be surprised if next season he becomes wrongfully arrested on campus due to “racial profiling”. Again, I hope we’re wrong, but this is the kinda “jump the shark” stuff that happens when writers start running out of ideas and forget what made them successful in the first place. It almost makes me want to “chunder”! 😉
And you are correct about Noah – He AIN’T all that BUT he does have that celebrity status thing going for him now. Cole, on the other hand… now he’s a handsome lad! No question he was hired at least in part to serve as a little “eye candy” for the women viewers! 😁
We should be betting on how many Season 5 episodes it will take for us to chuck this show for good
I got a dream to tell you about — I’ll put it on Spoiler Talk
@Rhonda, remember my comment bubbles about Helen, Vik & the neighbor? In the finale, Helen did have a similar conversation about it after she found out about Vik & Sierra, but it was with Noah, not Vik. LOL!!
VJ and JJ, I didn’t see the interview, but I saw that Ruth Wilson was on CBS News this morning, in case you are interested. I imagine it will be available on line.
Thank you darlin’! I’ll look for it! 😘
Yes, thanks, Rhonda. I’ll check it out too.
@JJ, I knew you would love “Drivin’ My Life Away” because…. Eddie RABBITT! 😀 The Alicia Bridges number is something we always have a great time singing and dancing to.
You could be right and I don’t like Ben either. I didn’t like Alison much for that matter and in that first scene where she was like oh, Ben, you lied to me — it won’t work, I was thinking sez the gal who let Noah think he was Joanie’s father.
Given the history of this show, I’m just assuming the next episode will throw more confusion into the picture but we’ll see how it plays out
You’re welcome, guys. Hope you are able to find it, I’ll look for it when I have a chance.
JJ, I’m happy that you are going to go with The Americans first!
@VJ – I KNEW IT! Ben is a snake! A rat! A weasel! A skunk! A leech! A parasite! A tick on the backside of all of humanity! And, to top it off… I really don’t care too much for the guy!😡
So now, w/out any ado whatsoever, I offer the Jeopardy Jeff take on the penultimate episode of “The Affair/Season IV”:
Alison’s POV #1: She truly likes this creep for whatever reason (gag!) despite having learned about the wife and his deception, so she concocts this fantasy of how she HOPED their rendezvous would go. Thus, we get a soft-spoken, remorseful, romantic, every-word-he-utters-is-perfect Ben (double gag!). He does some handyman work, cooks for her, and then confesses about the accidental killing of a kid when he was at war. She in return, comes clean re: her ongoing pain for her part in Gabriel’s death (and he has a son named Gabriel, also?! Really?! Gag x3!), they jointly commiserate awhile longer and then BOOM! (Cue the sex scene.)🤮
BUT, in Alison’s POV #2, “Ben the Bloodsucker” shows his true colors! He storms up to her doorstep donning a black hoodie (perfect!) in an irate frame of mind, demanding food, almost gleefully volunteering that he killed that kid intentionally because he was “bothering him”, then accuses her of being a seductress and ruining his life. When Alison says she knows about his marriage and gives him the ultimatum to leave or she’ll spill the beans about their fling, he becomes violent, throws her around the room and eventually kills her by picking her up w/ his serpent-like arms and tossing her into the ocean where she will rest among other bottom-feeders just like him… (Did I mention that I’m not fond of Ben?!)
I’m sure that perspective isn’t novel – 98% of those who saw the show likely share the same viewpoint – but I sincerely believe that he did it, despite the “alibi” that Det. Jeffries mentioned. AND, did you see that Whitney will be in the season finale?! Hip! Hip! Hoo-RAY!
(OK, girl – your turn! Your thoughts, please!)
@JJ, I love your take on it esp “Ben the Bloodsucker” and a tick on the backside of all humanity. OMG!!!
I was pretty disgusted by this episode as in “there’s an hour I can’t get back” as I previously indicated. My disillusion began when after giving Ben the bad news in POV #1, he turns around and offers to fix her sink and she says OK. That was so ridiculous. Then in POV #2, for the first time, he comes in like a totally different personality, demanding explanations on her sudden disappearance and turns into a crazy meanie, attacking her over the wifey. Alison was gone a week and he never got any signs from Heidi that anything was amiss so why would he even think that right off the bat?
I’ve seen the theory that POV #1 was actually Ben’s alibi and it would have made more sense if it was entitled “Ben,” right? And the reason his alibi held up is because Alison was still alive when he tossed her in the drink so she did die by drowning.
Anyhow, I can’t help but feel this is too pat — Cole’s first instinct was it was Ben and then it was Ben?
I can’t really recall how long they took to reveal that it was Helen that killed Scotty and not Noah, do you?
I couldn’t agree w/ you more re: how neat & tidy this all seems if “Brutal Ben” truly is the murderer, and I’m sure I’m way off base by putting all of my eggs in his lone basket. I guess I just WANT him to be the villain because (get ready – this is somewhat of a news flash!)… I REALLY don’t like him!😠
And if my memory serves me semi-correctly (but don’t hold me to this cuz “The old grey matter just ain’t what it used to be”!), it was well into season two before the big “Reveal Party” that Helen was behind the wheel when Scotty was mowed down. So you’re right again – the writers are NEVER in a hurry to wrap a bow around plot package.
Do you remember the late 70s primetime comedy “Soap”? (OMG! I loved the first couple of seasons of that show! SO funny!) If you do, you’ll recall that at the conclusion of season one they turned the final episode into a cliffhanger w/ the voiceover saying “Jessica Tate did not murder Peter Campbell, BUT one of these people did” and they posted pics of Chester, Jodie, Corinne, Benson & Burt.
Maybe that’s how Sunday’s episode will end… “Ben Cruz did NOT kill Alison Bailey, BUT one of these people did: Luisa, Cherry, James (Alison’s father), Oscar or Furkat. (What?!? We know he hits women! I’m not ruling him out quite yet!)
Regardless – I’m incredibly hopeful that the finale is a real “Jim Dandy” because this show was rapidly going south until they killed off Alison, making hope spring eternal that the final act will be entertaining…
On a totally different note, BOTH “I Love the Nightlife” & “Drivin’ My Life Away” are two of my favs from the late 70s/early 80s! Good call, darlin’!!!