List of The Affair episodes

Flashforward: In Montauk, Noah meets with Cole to talk about a missing person.

Six weeks earlier: Noah has moved to Los Angeles, to be closer to Helen and the kids, who have moved with Vik. Noah is an English teacher at a charter school in Compton. Noah shows special interest in one of his students, Anton.

Flashforward: Noah and Cole sit in a vehicle and are joined by Anton.

In Montauk, Cole has a business meeting with investors about franchising the Lobster Roll; and Alison shows up late to the meeting, angering Cole. Cole and Luisa go to dinner with the investors, and Alison misses the dinner completely. Luisa expresses her frustration to Cole about her dependence on him because she's not a legal U.S. citizen.

Flashforward: Noah, Cole and Anton are driving in Philadelphia looking for a missing Alison. They learn that Ben was last person she spoke to.

At the school, Noah brings up Anton at a faculty meeting calling him "brilliant" but expresses concerns about him and his home life. Noah later learns that Anton is the son of the principal, Janelle Wilson. Noah later apologizes to Janelle about the comments he made. In the classroom, Noah and the students discuss their next assignment: reading The Waste Land. Anton expresses his objection to reading it because it's not relevant to them and suggests different authors. Noah tells his students that they have collectively more power than they think, and this sparks an impromptu walkout led by Anton, with the rest of the school following suit. The police show up and Noah becomes the main person the media speaks with, where he calls the walkout school sanctioned. Some of the teachers go to a bar afterward, and Janelle shows up. Noah speaks with Janelle about disciplinary practices. In the parking lot, Noah kisses Janelle.

Flashforward: Cole speaks with Detective Jeffries over the phone about Alison missing.

Alison goes to a work conference about EMDR therapy and meets Ben there. They use the EMDR techniques on each other and Alison mentions her fear of water, but not her son's death. Alison and Ben rent a boat and go onto the ocean as a form of immersion therapy. On the boat, Alison opens up and tells Ben about her son's death, as well as her past addiction to self-injury and her suicide attempt. The two kiss but stop themselves from going further. Alison then plunges into the water, before swimming back up. Ben dives in and they float on the water together.

Vik talks to his parents about his life insurance and the money that will go to them when he dies, but his mother can't bear to talk about it. Vik has a hard day at work when he has to tell the parents of a young girl that she may have liver cancer. At the fertility clinic, Vik and Helen learn the injections aren't working, because Helen hasn't been taking them. Helen tells Vik she can't have a child without Vik being there. Vik then impulse-buys an expensive Porsche and goes for a joy ride with his neighbor Sierra. Back at her house, Vik tells her he has cancer and confesses his feelings about it. The two then have sex.

Noah goes to pick up Trevor for a concert, but Trevor screams at Noah telling him he doesn't want to go and to leave them alone. Noah then goes to Janelle's to talk about Anton's application letter to Princeton University. Janelle explains that Anton's father (and her ex-husband), Carl, went to Harvard but left because of how he was treated, due to him being black. According to Janelle, Anton is now afraid of doing well, because of his father's experience. Noah gets a phone call and discovers Alison is in jail.

After purchasing a pregnancy test at a grocery store, Helen informs Vik she is not pregnant. He curtly tells her that she is probably entering menopause. Helen runs into her neighbor Sierra, and decides to join her at a "moon circle" retreat at Joshua Tree. At the retreat, Helen meets Sierra's guru, Gael, and other women in attendance. Over dinner, Gael asks the women to write down their fears on a piece of paper. Gael reads the fears aloud, and when Helen imparts knowing advice on motherhood, Gael is impressed and transfers over the title of guru to Helen. Back at their yurt, Sierra tells Helen she likes to sleep with married men because they appear more secure. Then, Sierra and Helen have sex. On their way to a rowdy house party where there is a sensory deprivation tank, Helen tells Sierra to "lay off" married because the affair harms too many people. Later inside the tank, Helen panics. She decides to leave Joshua Tree, drive home, and tell Vik she doesn't want him to die.

The episode presents two different versions of events during an encounter between Alison and Ben at Alison's house in Montauk. In the first version, Ben visits Alison after she returns from Los Angeles and confesses to her that he is married, but Alison already knows. Ben has left his wife and wants to be with her. But, Alison doesn't want to repeat her past mistakes. Ben explains that his PTSD, which was caused by killing a teenager whom he thought had a live RPG, put strain on his marriage and he developed a drinking problem. Alison tells Ben the whole truth about her son's death. The two then make-up and have sex.

At Princeton, Noah and Anton go to a creative writing seminar. Noah catches up with an old friend, Ariel, who is a professor there. After encouragement from Anton, Noah leaves for Alison's funeral.

On the way to the church, Cole is told by Luisa that Athena has moved the service to the beach, infuriating Cole. At the service, Cole confronts Athena about Alison being cremated instead of being buried alongside their son Gabriel. Cole believes this type of service is not what Alison would have wanted. Cole angrily stares at Ben during the service. While Alison's urn is being passed around to the mourners to say goodbye, when it's Cole's turn, he takes it and runs. Cole goes to the gravesite for his son with Alison's urn. Cole falls asleep and is awoken by his mother Cherry who comforts him. Cole eventually returns home to Luisa, and they mutually agree that their relationship is over. However, Cole offers to stay married so Luisa can become a U.S. citizen and Joanie's legal guardian. The following morning, Cole takes Joanie on a road trip so they can properly mourn Alison.

Noah meets with actor Sasha Mann, who is set to direct and star in an adaption of Noah's novel Descent. Noah then attends Vik's funeral with Janelle. After the service, Noah witnesses Helen arguing with Vik's mother Priya about whether he should be buried or cremated; because his mother is Hindu, she wants Vik to be cremated. Back at Helen's house, everyone watches a video Vik recorded before he died, and Noah discovers that Whitney and her boyfriend Colin are getting married. After everyone has left, Noah stays behind to clean-up the kitchen and when he takes out the garbage, Helen exclaims "That's Vik's job!" and yells at Noah about how he left her and their four children and that she had to raise them alone.

In flashbacks set before Vik's death where he is in hospice, Sierra gives birth to a baby boy, but Vik is unresponsive and soon dies. While Helen is cleaning up Vik's hospital bed, she finds a USB with a note, "For Helen. Play Me."

Janelle video chats with her son Anton who is away at university. Janelle and Noah then to go Vik's funeral, where she realizes they're the only ones not wearing white, per Hindu culture. Janelle is then introduced to Noah's children. After the service, back at Helen's house, Janelle encounters several annoyances; including Helen's father Bruce mistaking her for the wait staff, and Helen asking her to help with a problem with the valet, who she learns is black. Janelle leaves and goes to a meeting with the board of directors at her school regarding her position, that she'll now be co-principal. Janelle goes to her ex-husband Carl's house for advice. Carl tells her not to accept, and instead run for school superintendent. Carl tells Janelle he still wants to be with her and they kiss.

Three months later, filming for Descent has begun and Helen and Noah are watching on set. After a scene is filmed, Sasha asks for notes from Helen, and she suggests her character in the film be more strong and less "broken". Sasha then invites her to lunch, but she declines. Helen and Whitney attend a rehearsal for Trevor's school play, where Helen dozes off, which has been a recurring problem. At home, Helen researches online if she has narcolepsy. Helen then accepts an invitation to Sasha's house where he asks her questions for the film. Later, Helen reveals to Sasha that she lost her partner and about her fatigue issue. Sasha introduces Helen to aerial yoga to help her. Back at home, Helen watches the video Vik left for her, where he urges her to live for herself.

Noah is interviewed by Vanity Fair reporter Petra Raines. Noah has dinner with Whitney, where he expresses his doubt that she should marry Colin. On set, Sasha expresses his concerns to Noah about the ending, asking him to rewrite it so his character returns to his wife. Noah and Janelle have been broken up for three months, and she finally calls Noah back to meet. Noah arrives at Janelle's as she is preparing for her campaign for the school board position, which is being led by Carl. Janelle and Carl have also gotten back together. Janelle asks Noah to keep their relationship a secret, so as to not ruin her chances at the position. This angers Noah and he leaves. Noah goes to a karaoke bar where Sasha has invited the film crew after a long day. Noah confronts Sasha about his relationship with Helen. After rewriting the script at night, Noah heads to set, but learns he's no longer permitted on set, and that Sasha has already rewritten the script.

At lunch with her mother, Helen learns her father has dementia and has lost most of their money. Margaret wants Helen to move back to New York to help care for Bruce, but Helen wants to stay in Los Angeles. At the karaoke bar, Sasha reveals to Helen that his fiancée died by a drug overdose. Later, a drunk Noah shows up at Helen's house and rants that Sasha is just using her to get to him.

Noah meets with his representatives for the film and discovers that Sasha will be receiving a co-writing credit alongside him and that Sasha has taken creative control over the film. As his jealousy grows, Noah attempts to sabotage Sasha and Helen's relationship during a Halloween party at Sasha's home, by placing a woman's bra in Sasha's bed but he is caught in the act by Sasha and Helen.

Whitney and her boyfriend Colin are having issues; their rent is past due and Colin is not working as he does not yet have a work visa. While working at her art gallery job, her artist ex-boyfriend Furkat shows up and invites her to an event, but she declines. Whitney questions what Colin does all day and Colin refuses to show her his paintings as he claims they are not complete. Colin wants to skip the wedding months from now and just get married now, so he could apply for a work visa. Whitney's boss forces her to take her to Furkat's event. At the gallery opening, Furkat attempts to win Whitney back. At an afterparty, an intoxicated Whitney has sex with Furkat, while his gallery collector friend watches. Whitney attempts to stop it, but Furkat promises he could give her her own gallery.

Sierra is overwhelmed by being a single mother. On her way to an audition, Sierra leaves Eddie in the car by himself after he finally stops crying and falls asleep. When she returns, she immediately regrets her decision and checks on him. Sierra's mother, Adeline, who is also an actress, is back in town and visits her and Eddie. Sierra finds out from her agent that she got the part and Adeline agrees to babysit Eddie. Adeline runs lines with Sierra to prepare and she ends up making Sierra feel self-conscious and question her own acting choices. The next day, Adeline bails on Sierra for babysitting, claiming she has the flu. Sierra goes to Helen, but she is busy, and Helen tells her "you brought a child into this world, figure it out." However, Stacey agrees to babysit. After the first day of production on the film, Sierra goes to a nightclub and ends up doing cocaine and having sex with the director. Sierra picks up Eddie at Helen's house and Eddie starts crying. Sierra becomes overwhelmed again and drives around the block to hopefully quiet him. She ends up driving erratically and crashes into a large dumpster. After regaining consciousness, she retrieves Eddie from the backseat, who hasn't been hurt.

Noah and Whitney go to Montauk to prepare for her wedding. They arrive at Helen's parents home where they plan on having the wedding. Noah notices Bruce's dementia has worsened, as Bruce doesn't remember who he or Whitney is. Whitney realizes the wedding has become too expensive and they make other plans. Noah and Whitney run into Luisa at the Lobster Roll. Luisa tells them she's moving to New York and she and Cole have separated, and Cole is taking Joanie to Vermont. Whitney confesses to Noah that she cheated on Colin. Noah receives a call from Petra, the Vanity Fair reporter who previously interviewed him, where she tells him that his former publicist Eden has lodged an allegation that he forced her into an unwanted sexual encounter, which he denies.

Helen gets hired at a high-end design firm. Child Protective Services is investigating Sierra after the car crash for child endangerment. Helen meets with Christianna, who tells Helen that her mother left her an inheritance of money, but Sasha is in charge of it and she wants Helen to talk with Sasha to terminate the trust. After a visit from CPS, Sierra tells Helen that she thinks she's an unfit mother and wonders if she should give up Eddie. Helen believes instead that she needs professional help. Sasha flies into town and surprises Helen for her birthday. Sierra mother's Adeline shows up at Helen's to take Sierra, and wants to put her in a psychiatric facility. Helen stands up for Sierra and believes she's suffering from postpartum depression, and has Sierra and Eddie stay with her.

Noah's expose in Vanity Fair comes out and the Solloway family is extremely affected by the news. Helen is fired from her high-end interior design firm before she even starts. Noah has been accused by six women who describe a pattern of behavior ranging from inappropriate comments to unwanted advances and emotional distress. Noah is offered a buyout from the Descent producers to change the title and remove his name from the film. A wildfire causes the Solloway family to evacuate the area, and Helen and the kids stay at Sasha's. Helen watches an Entertainment Tonight interview with Audrey Nelson, one of the accuser's and Noah's former student. Sasha writes a formal statement for Helen to release. Later that night, they watch Eden on Busy Tonight discuss Noah and she reveals she came forward because a reporter asked her about Noah. Helen figures out it was Sasha who put Petra onto Noah and accuses him of just wanting Noah off the film. Helen and the kids leave to look for Whitney.