When HBO The Wire’s creator, David Simon, said he was co-writing a series about the adult film industry and its correlation to the scene around Times Square in the 1970s, I was in. When The Wire’s most beloved actors, Dominic West, was slated to star in a new series, I was also in, cautiously.

Several years later I still watch, and unfortunately, both are concurrently in their final seasons.

Episode 4 of The Affair

Showtime’s The Affair is an hour long show always told from at least two perspectives, and it centers around a married man of four and struggling author (West’s Noah Solloway) deciding to leave his family for a waitress while on a family vacation to Montauk . Sounds pretty generic, but the writers have put placed so many twists and turns, I am at the point where I want to see how it ends.

This season the perspectives are not just regarding the events following season 4, but from well into the future from Joanie Lockhart’s (!) played by Anna Paquin (not that I am complaining, but does she have a show her boobs clause in her contract?). While Noah continues to struggle with his decision to leave his wife, it looks like Joanie is trying to find out more about her family, and mother who “died” is season 4 mysteriously due to leaving the cast.

Last Sunday’s episode four, spent time focusing on Noah’s building jealousy of his ex-wife’s relationship with Sasha, the star, executive producer and director of his best-selling novel, Decent, which was story of himself. The episode also spent time focusing on the oldest Solloway girl, Whitney, and her struggle to stay afloat while her artist-fiance does who knows what? The highlight of the Noah perspective was the one liners dropped by his former mother-in-law, Margaret, who is taking care of Helen who is supposedly grieving over the death of Dr. Vic, yet has one foot out the door because she needs to start taking care of her dementia-stricken husband, Bruce, played by The Wire’s and Philly’s own John Dorman. Margaret provided filler about being the only one doing anything productive at Helen’s, but it was interesting when she welcomed Noah back after he insisted on waiting outside the bathroom with his youngest daughter while she struggled with a visit from, Margaret’s line, not mine, “Aunt Flo”. Noah’s character seems destined for an attempt at full reconciliation with Helen, but I do not think the writers want that outcome.

The Whitney perspective was fair considering her story is very similar to younger adults in today’s culture, but things got “Affairy” when while making love to her ex-artist lover, another artist “watched” while pleasuring himself in front of her. Even though I am not a fan of the idea of someone watching, etc., that is what makes me come back to The Affair. Little twists.

The show concluded with a little bit of the Joanie in the future perspective where she turns back on her father’s home’s electricity and visits the grave of….her father, which was surprising and not surprising at the same time since Joshua Jackson essentially left the cast after season four as well as Ruth Wilson. I recall reading that Jackson is not officially gone so maybe we see what happens to him; however, the Lockharts’ story has gotten a little old as the series went on.

Episode 2 of The Deuce

I am a David Simon fan, and I always like the pacing of his television shows. The Deuce covers one of my favorite topics so well that I am really sad the show is over after this season (3) focusing on the VHS, cocaine and AIDS scare mid 1980s.

Even though I have enjoyed learning how seedy it was in Times Square, I enjoy how this season we are following Lori Madison’s character as she tries to make it big in LA. There’s nothing like filming on a sunny day in southern California. Everything looks so much brighter including the adult film actors filming their scenes. I also really enjoy the arcs that the twin Martino characters are taking. Are you team Frankie, Vinnie or Martino? Franco’s convincing performance has me forget about his stoned comedic roles in Seth Rogen films. Frankie’s story is always up and down, including his naive attempt to sell his amateur movies to a purveyor of child pornography in tonight’s episode.

Since Simon uses a lot of the same people in his shows, I find myself calling all of them by their Wire character names. Frank Sobotka would tell his Deuce character Bobby to take off that terrible toupee, and DeAngelo’s Officer and Detective Alston is a different character, but maybe the same core values (?). Let’s not forget The Soprano’s Jackie Aprile’s Rudy finally in charge of a crew that lasts more than four episodes.

The show covers so much in each hour long episode, a re-watch is almost necessary, just to take in the outstanding sets and backgrounds. I also believe I can relate to city where trash on the streets was not uncommon where now you have to make sure you are throwing trash into the appropriate receptacle.

I also am interested in learning about how television can depict the heavy cocaine usage and fear people had about contracting AIDS during the 1980s. It seems like cocaine was as commonly used as LSD was in the 1970s, but its effects had a more visible impact in regular life. NBA players lost careers, professionals lost jobs and people had a really good time. The AIDS scare must have been awful considering the free love era that preceded it.

What does everyone else think?