‘The Affair’ Season 3 Spoilers: Is Gunther Really Trying To Torture Noah? Episode 5 Recap

Does Gunther actually exist or is the creepy correctional officer just a figment of Noah’s imagination? So far in Season 3 of Showtime’s “The Affair,” Noah has been tormented and seemingly stalked by Gunther but a near-death experience in episode 5 left us wondering whether Noah is making Gunther up.

As usual on “The Affair,” the episode was broken down into two parts. This time it focused on Alison (Ruth Wilson) and her estranged soon-to-be ex-husband Noah (Dominic West).

Alison:

The episode picks right up as Alison is leaving the beach and spots Noah driving by in a tiny red car. Noah pulls over and approaches Alison. He tells her that he came to see her and wanted to surprise her. Alison looks frantic and tells Noah that they can’t be seen in public together. She’s especially worried about what will happen if Cole (Joshua Jackson) finds out Noah is back in Montauk. Noah says he was going to ask people in town for her address. Alison gives him her information, but she tells him not to follow her and makes sure he doesn’t park his car in her driveway.

Safely at her home, Alison asks Noah who stabbed him in the neck. Noah says he has no idea and that the police are investigating but don’t have any leads. Noah’s neck starts hurting, so he goes and sits down on Alison’s couch. Alison starts explaining to Noah that they can’t be in contact with each other because her daughter Joanie’s (Reagan Grella) lawyer told her that it could cost her the joint custody case. As she’s talking, Noah falls asleep on her couch.

He ends up spending the night at Alison’s house — she put him in Joanie’s room — and Alison catches him taking some pills before he gets into bed. Noah tells her that they are just muscle relaxers and she grabs the pill bottle and looks at it. She says they’re Vicodin and warns Noah that he can get addicted to them. Before Alison goes to her room to go to bed, she tells him that he has to leave in the morning.

The next day when she wakes up, Noah is in her kitchen making breakfast. He tells her that he wants to spend the day at Block Island with her and Alison tells him there is no way she’s spending the day hanging out with him. She then hands Noah an envelope. It’s divorce papers. Noah tells her that he’s not ready to give up on them yet.

All of the sudden, Cole is seen pulling up to Alison’s home. She makes Noah hide on the back deck and lets Cole in. Cole is there to apologize about them sleeping together, telling Alison that he’s not leaving his wife Luisa (Catalina Sandino Moreno) and it can never happen again. Cole also says he wants Alison to have joint custody of their daughter, so Alison tells him that he can help her case by telling the judge that she’s doing a lot better now and is fit to take care of the little girl. When Cole hesitates about putting in a good word for her Alison tells him to get out. Cole leaves reminding Alison that she can pick up Joanie from the Lobster Roll for her birthday. Noah comes back in and tells Alison that if she goes to Block Island with him he will sign the divorce papers. She agrees to spend the day with him but warns him not to touch her.

On the boat ride over to Block Island, Noah is having a good time while Alison seems uncomfortable. Once they reach the island they grab food, sit on the beach and talk about her situation with Cole. Noah thinks Cole will always look at her like she’s damaged goods, but Alison thinks Cole will help her get back custody of Joanie. As they are walking and talking, Noah spots a vacation home that has its outdoor hot tub turned on and bottles of wine in a cabinet. Noah strips naked and gets into the hot tub, but Alison is worried the people who own the home will return. Noah says the people are most likely gone for the season. Alison eventually strips naked too and gets into the hot tub. As they are enjoying a glass of wine, the owner comes home. Alison and Noah grab their clothes and takes off running down the beach.

The get dressed in the woods and try to make the last ferry out of Block Island, but they miss it. They are forced to spend the night on the island in a bed and breakfast. Noah tells Alison that he will sign the divorce papers when they get back to her house but says that he did love her. As they are laying down about to go to sleep, Alison tells Noah the story of her leaving Joanie for six months to get help. Noah tells Alison that she doesn’t have to be the greatest mother on Earth, she just has to be there for Joanie and that will be enough.

Noah:

Noah’s narrative starts off very different from Alison’s. In a flashback it’s revealed that Alison tells him she wants a divorce while he’s still in jail during one of her visits. In Alison’s narrative, the conversation happened in the kitchen of her home after his release. While Alison and Noah are talking, Gunther (Brendan Fraser) is intently staring at them. As Gunther is walking Noah back to his cell, he says that Noah shouldn’t worry about his marriage falling apart and asks if Noah thinks Alison is sleeping with someone else now. Gunther also wants to know why Noah is in prison.

Noah explains that he hit someone with a car and they died, but Gunther isn’t buying it. The guard tells Noah that people like him don’t go to jail for stuff like that so Noah either has bad luck or he’s not telling the truth. Gunther promises that he’s going to get to the bottom of it. Gunther then grabs the book Noah is writing and starts reading it out loud. Gunther tells Noah he’s going to hold on to the pages and Noah gets angry and tries to grab them from the guard. Gunther grabs his stick and starts hitting the cell bars with it, yelling at Noah to calm down.

Back in the present, Noah wakes up next to Alison sleeping soundly next to him. They are still on Block Island. Noah hears a noise outside and when he gets up and looks out the window, he sees Gunther standing in the distance. Noah goes outside to look around but doesn’t see anyone. Alison comes out and asks him if he’s OK and he says he thought he saw someone he knew. They go back inside and sit downstairs by the fire place and talk. Alison is telling Noah that she never wanted to be like her mother, but she fears she is.

Noah tells Alison about his dad dying and asks her what she knows about her dad. She tells him that she doesn’t know much about her father. Alison wants to know if Noah’s father left him anything when he died, and he tells her that his father left him the house. Alison says that’s weird and asks Noah when was the last time he’s been to the house. He tells her that he hasn’t visited since his mother passed away because she died in the house.

Noah then goes into a heartbreaking story about how his mother had been sick for a really long time, and his father and sister basically left him to care for her. Noah says that the worst day of his life was when he got accepted into the college of his dreams because he knew he wasn’t going to be able to go because his mother had no one else to care for her. Noah says that his mother eventually found out about the college accepting him and knew that Noah wouldn’t leave because of her so his mother told him that she was ready to die.

Noah tells Alison that his mother was too sick to open a bottle of pills so he did it for her, crushed the pills up, put them in yogurt and fed it to his mother. Noah breaks down in tears and Alison hugs him. Noah tells Alison that he loves her so much because she’s the only other person he’s met that knows what it’s like to watch someone you love die. Noah and Alison go upstairs to go back to bed and end up sleeping together, although Alison swore she wouldn’t.

In another flashback, Gunther shows up to Noah’s cell and throws the book pages at him. Apparently, Gunther thinks Noah wrote about him calling him a loser. Noah says the character isn’t Gunther. The guard then tells Noah that he slept with Alison and tosses her picture at him. The picture is covered in semen and Noah loses it, reaching through the bars trying to grab Gunther and yelling that he’s going to kill him. Other guards rush in knocking Noah to the ground.

Back in the present, Noah signs the divorce papers, and Alison tells him that she’ll walk him out. Noah gets in his car and follows Alison to the Lobster Roll where she picks up Joanie. Noah continues on his way and as he’s stopped at a red light a truck slams into the back of Noah’s car. He looks through the rearview mirror and sees Gunther behind the wheel. Noah speeds away but crashes his car as he’s trying to get away from Noah. Noah gets out of the car but there’s no sign of Gunther or his truck.