Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Affair season 4 episode 8.

There's been a fair bit of mystery around Ruth Wilson's departure from The Affair. Her character, Alison, was recently killed by her married boyfriend Ben.

Despite showrunner Sarah Treem explaining that death "was always a possibility" for the character and that Wilson was the one who had asked to exit the show, the actress told CBS This Morning: "I did want to leave, but I'm not allowed to talk about why."

Then, Showtime responded to her comments with the following statement: "We can't speak for Ruth, but heading into season four everyone agreed the character's story had run its course. Ultimately, it felt like the most powerful creative decision would be to end Alison's arc at the moment when she had finally achieved self-empowerment."

Now, Wilson has told Variety that she is unhappy with the way her character was written out of the show – and has claimed she had "no say" over Alison's exit.

Showtime

She said: "No, I had no say over how the character's arc was going to end, or how she would die and leave. I always hoped that she would… I always had the image that she would walk into the sunset with her son with no man.

"That's what I hoped for her. But no."

Digital Spy has reached out to Showtime for comment.

Alison actually left the show when her body was discovered in the ocean, looking to all intents and purposes like a suicide. However, it was revealed in the next episode, 'Secondary Drowning', that she was murdered by Ben (Ramon Rodriguez).

In a brutal episode, we first see events unfold via Alison's wish fulfilment dream – Ben comes clean with her about his marriage and his traumatic past in Afghanistan, before saying he has left his wife and wants to be with her.

Then, in a second version of events, Ben lashes out at Alison when she confronts him over his marriage and kills her in a fit of rage, before dumping her body in the ocean.

The Affair airs its season four finale on Showtime in the US on Sunday, August 19 at 9pm ET. Sky Atlantic airs the show in the UK.

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