An Affair to Remember

Our columnist gets hot and heavy for The Affair’s Joshua Jackson

- Emily Hirshey

WHEN I WAS 9 YEARS old, I told my mom I wanted to watch a new show called Dawson’s Creek. She quickly found our TV Guide, read about the show, and told me it was wholeheartedly inappropriate. But Niki’s mom is letting her watch, I whined. Fine, she buckled, I’ll watch the first episode with you and then I’ll make a decision.

Cut to 20 years later and Dawson’s is still one of my (and my mother’s) favorite shows of all time. And about 99 percent of my love for it is owed to one man, my forever North, my fake True Love: Pacey John Witter. Even typing his name makes my heart twerk. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Let’s start with a synopsis of the show I just watched for 32 hours, shall we? Showtime’s The Affair is about—you guessed it—an affair, and the ensuing fallout of said illicit relationship. The affair-ees in question here are Noah Solloway (Dominic West), who’s married to Helen (Maura Tierney), and Alison Lockhart (Ruth Wilson), who’s married to Cole Lockhart (Joshua Jackson). The show toggles between the perspectives of these four and, to be honest, spends probably the least amount of time on Cole’s story. And yet, it was enough time for me to come up with my very own conspiracy theory. After watching The Affair, I am certain that Cole Lockhart is merely Pacey Witter, The Adult Years, and I’m here to convince you all of the same.