Critics are not shy about comparing “Rashomon,” Akira Kurosawa’s seminal 1950 rumination on memory and multiple viewpoints, to Showtime’s new series “The Affair.”
Scripted by Sarah Treem (“In Treatment,” “House of Cards”), the series stars Britishers Dominic West (“The Wire,” “The Hour,” “300,” “John Carter”) and Ruth Wilson (“The Prisoner,” “Luther,” “The Lone Ranger,” “Saving Mr. Banks”) as married Americans who secretly drift toward each other in the Hamptons beach community of Montauk. The American characters they abandon are played by Canadian Joshua Jackson (“Fringe”) and New Englander Maura Tierney (“NewsRadio,” “ER”).
The series shares a structure with HBO’s “True Detective” in that the two main characters separately relate their stories to police detectives but we’re not entirely sure why – at least in the early going.
The first episode has been online for a week (see above), so I won’t belabor how I found it engrossing, frequently gripping and superior even by pay-cable standards. Its pilot is certainly one of the best things Showtime has ever aired.
... the first episode, at least, is terrific, with a distinct, involving tone, and it does very right by its leads. I'll check back in after I've seen some more episodes, but this is a fine start to what promises to be a very messy story.
... its theme is already compelling: The more you know about people, the more complicated their truth becomes. …
... subtle, smart and an intelligent examination of the way in which we are all the unreliable narrators of our own lives. …
... There aren’t many series at the moment quite like it or as good. …
… a smashing pilot ... a terrific idea lyrically written and perfectly cast. …
... the acting is strong and the story is compulsively intriguing. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... a premiere episode that exemplifies the sort of creative storytelling viewers have come to expect from premium cable. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... Treem and Hagai employ the Roshoman [sic] effect to perfection …
... Am I hooked? Absolutely. This intelligent, well-cast drama isn’t just about cheating; it’s about subjectivity, and how we each see the facts in our own way. The acting is extraordinary, with the mesmerizing, cat-like Wilson — so creepily good on 'Luther' — stealing the show. …
... absorbing … hypnotic … What is never in doubt is that the nuanced writing (by In Treatment's Sarah Treem) and the superb performances will keep us fascinated in this torrid study of troubled marriages and an emotional escape that apparently ends badly for someone. … As unnerving as it is erotic, The Affair promises to be a show to remember.
... gets off to a strong start, as affairs so often do. …
... meticulously crafted and cleverly introduced, it’s likely to hook a discriminating audience …
10 p.m. Sunday. Showtime.
