Missing True Detective? Watch The Affair

By Reuben Levine | May 25, 2015

The second season of True Detective is less than a month away, but it will be changing things up big time. This includes the storytelling mechanic of flashbacks won’t be making a comeback. It was a unique way to tell a story, and served the first season of True Detective well. But True Detective season two is looking to change all that.

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If you were as much of a fan of that format as we were, moving forward may prove a tad difficult. Lucky, there’s another show out there that channels True Detective pretty well and should help with those interrogation scene withdrawal. Welcome Showtime’s The Affair.

The Affair wrapped up its first season in December, so it would be easy to catchup on. And it’s worth it. The series is a heavily dramatized version of a simple affair and how it causes lives to spiral out of control. But it’s also much darker than that.

We’re not talking True Detective levels of darkness here, but just enough to keep you hooked. The Wire’s Dominic West and Luther’s Ruth Wilson star as the cheating couple in question. The Affair got a fair bit of buzz when it premiered last year, but it becomes something even greater when looked at through the lens of True Detective.

Without heading into spoiler territory, The Affair and True Detective have a lot in common. Their focus on character progression, for one, and they both utilize flashbacks in an interrogation setting. The rest is for your to discover.

The Affair is the perfect show to watch — or binge watch if that’s your thing — between now and True Detective’s return. We’re giving this an official recommendation, so True Detective fans out there should get on this train sooner rather than later.

Next: Friendly reminder: True Detective's Glenn Fleshler will be on Hannibal.

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