With this episode of The Affair we’ve jumped forward a fair bit in time to the point where Alison and Noah are sitting pretty on the success of his novel, The Descent, with a second printing even looming on the horizon.

It’s nice to see the show settling into this phase of its narrative — not to mention the bonkers new apartment that Noah and Alison have moved into — as their issues now have progressed past the usual fracture points that have been picking away at them for the past few episodes now. While it might feel a little beneath Alison to have to be worried about Noah’s comely publicist that’s taking up all of his time now — he plays into the matter accordingly, reflecting the version of Noah that all too easily could throw away a family for a shiny new model — the story is working for the moment at least, lest it not go down the same familiar trappings.

Petty jealousy unfortunately isn’t the best use of Ruth Wilson’s skills, but watching her listen to her unborn child’s heartbeat is a worthwhile detour and a revelatory example of her ability. The concept of children has been so fundamental to her character, and so watching her get so close again to that ideal is equal parts beautiful and heartbreaking.

Elsewhere Noah continues to be the absolute worst as Alison and Athena try to cobble together a humble Thanksgiving between family and friends (also how crazy is it that Max is there with them!) as he slowly tracks mud through the night whether he’s trying to or not. The point is that he’s just so oblivious to how hard Alison has attempted to create a bit of tradition here, and if this is an example of preoccupied and successful Noah, then maybe that’s not someone she’s interested in.

As table set-y (and hey, it’s Thanksgiving) as the beginning of Alison’s half of the episode begins to feel, it certainly pays off by the ending where Noah’s publicist is suggesting he leverage his history with Alison to sell copies of his book. This essentially boils down to the point of the whole show, where Noah and Alison are debating over what actually happened in their lives as the specifics of their history have gotten impossibly muddled at this point. To see the show applying the gas in this direction once more as it heads into the final episodes makes sense. Let’s just see where it goes.