The Affair - Season One

Told separately from the male and female perspectives, the absorbing narrative uses distinct memory biases to both misdirect and intrigue. When Alison (Ruth Wilson), a young woman waiting tables at a popular Hamptons diner, meets Noah (Dominic West), a dissolute schoolteacher and novelist resentfully spending the summer at his in-laws' estate, they fall into a dalliance with far-reaching repercussions. Alison's husband Cole (Joshua Jackson) is struggling to keep it all together in the wake of tragedy, and with the financially-strained ranch that has been in his family for generations.

Their emotionally-charged marriage becomes even more complicated as Alison's affair with Noah escalates, in turn casting a shadow over Noah's marriage to Helen (Maura Tierney), his college sweetheart, best friend, mother of his children, lover and wife of 17 years.