Joshua Jackson May Not Return to ‘The Affair’ Season 5

By Claire Spellberg @c_spellberg
Published Sep. 25, 2018, 3:59 p.m. ET

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Showtime drama The Affair just can’t stay out of the news. Just a few weeks after Ruth Wilson left the show under suspicious circumstances, her on-screen ex-husband, Joshua Jackson, may be exiting, as well. Entertainment Weekly reports that Jackson is “unlikely” to return for The Affair’s fifth and final season and is currently in discussions about how to wrap up his character’s story line. As of now, it is unknown how many episodes of Season 5 will feature Jackson’s character, Cole Lockhart, but a source tells Entertainment Tonight that he will only appear in “one episode.”

According to Entertainment Tonight, Jackson’s Showtime contract only stipulated that he remain on the show until Season 3, but he agreed to sign on for another season after hearing his character’s story line. Producers, including executive producer and creator Sarah Treem, have reportedly been trying to get Jackson to commit to Season 5, but he’s no longer interested; this time, “he left on very distinct terms,” with no plans to return.

Jackson’s potential departure comes at a particularly interesting time for his character. At the end of Season 4, Cole’s ex-wife Alison Bailey (Wilson) died under ambiguous circumstances (her death was ruled a suicide by drowning), and Cole was left to care for their daughter. EW reports that The Affair’s writing team is “figuring out where his character would go” after Alison’s death, so it’s possible that Jackson simply wasn’t happy with the direction these conversations have been going and decided to exit the series.

It’s also possible that Jackson’s departure is tied to his co-star’s mysterious drama. In August, Wilson told CBS This Morning that she asked to leave the show, but she’s “not allowed” to talk about why. Two weeks later, she told The New York Times that “there is a much bigger story” here, but declined to elaborate. For their part, Showtime insists that the killing off Alison was a “powerful creative decision” and had nothing to do with ill-will towards Wilson.

Decider has reached out to Showtime for comment and will update as more details become available.

Watch The Affair on Showtime