'The Affair' season 5 finally sees Helen taking care of herself and in a romance unlike any toxic relationship from her past
While the upcoming fifth and final season of 'The affair' will focus primarily on Noah Solloway's (Dominic West) redemption arc, in a parallel timeline set in the future, we'll see Alison's (Ruth Wilson) daughter Joanie (Anna Paquin) returning to Montauk to dig into the mystery surrounding her mother's death.
The other significant factor panning out will be Noah's ex-wife Helen (Maura Tierney) finally pursuing a new romance which seems strikingly different from the men she has indulged in, in the past. And all we can say is, about time!
Helen has been through one cheating husband after the other, and if she is "sashaying around town like Nicole Kidman" because she's dating a big-shot actor now, good for her. The lady has earned it!
Helen's journey on the show begins as Noah's wife and the mother of his four children. With the show's entire focus on Noah's affair with Alison, and Helen suffering the aftermath of it by taking care of their children while he goes philandering with another woman, to say that Helen deserves a relationship without toxicity would be an understatement.
After she and Noah broke up for good, she fell in love again with Vik, a seemingly decent handsome hunk of a man, but even that bliss didn't last long. Vik got diagnosed with cancer and soon it was discovered that the terminally ill man had actually been sleeping with their next-door neighbor, who was expecting his child by the end of season four.
Luckily, season five looks a lot different for Helen. With Noah's semi-biography being brought to the big screen, Helen is introduced to Sasha Mann (Claes Bang) who will expectedly play the role of Noah on screen, or that's what the trailer suggests.
And thus begins a wild romance for Helen where she is just having fun, attending all the glitz and glamour loaded parties and indulging in the joys of the youth she had to do away with, being caught up in the several collateral damages of her first husband's infidelity.
Sasha, an A-list movie star, is also a stark contrast to Helen's previous husband whose forte was intellect. But speaking of ex-husbands, Noah is trying to do everything he can to convince Helen that he is the one for her. This is where the interesting tale of the tables turning begins: Helen is having none of it.
She doesn't hesitate from reminding Noah the several, multiple second chances he has had, and doesn't fall for his concerns with co-parenting either. Helen's vivacious and charismatic new beau can be seen resembling Noah in several ways, and as Noah says in the trailer, "Sasha is trying to woo Helen by becoming a replica of Noah", which means Helen is still in love with Noah, essentially.
Luckily, Helen isn't letting Noah get to her either. As she parties around town frolicking with her glamorous boyfriend and indulging in his many events, she also reminds Noah that Sasha is indeed like him in many ways, only better.
And we couldn't be prouder of the leading lady for finally getting her starring role. We don't know if history will repeat itself cause Helen does seem to have a pattern, but the mere fact that she is not putting up with Noah's garbage treatment is progress. Helen is finally taking care of Helen and season five explores that brilliantly.
'The Affair' season five arrives on August 25, at 9 pm only on Showtime.