‘The Affair’ season 3 premiere: Who would stab Noah?

Warning: This piece contains major spoilers for the Season 3 premiere The Affair. Reading further without seeing the episode may cause your own personal Descent.

Noah Solloway may be out of prison, but he’s certainly not out of the woods.

In The Affair’s third season premiere, we saw the author, played by Dominic West, struggle as he acclimated to life three years after falsely confessing to the murder of Scotty Lockhart. He started teaching at a university in New Jersey, but merely “to have a job.” His father died. His son wasn’t speaking to him. He only had enough money to live in student housing. To top it off, he was being followed by an eerie security guard (Brendan Fraser). Oh, right and he was stabbed!

As Sunday’s episode came to a close viewers got the distinct feeling Noah was being watched as the camera showed him through window shutters. Then there was the sound of Noah’s apartment door opening. Then footsteps coming closer. And closer. As the camera crept up on Noah from behind.

A shadowy figure stealthily stabbed Noah just once in neck, causing Noah to fall to the floor in pain, with his cell phone just out of reach. Noah held his neck to stop the bleeding as the screen faded to black.

Noah’s assailant is one of the mysteries the writers have weaved into the series’ tertiary season. Here are the questions that were raised during the premiere:

Who stabbed Noah?

Is it the security guard that Noah saw at his father’s funeral, around campus, and again at the liquor store? He seems a likely suspect since Noah asked his parole officer if anyone who worked at the prison would have access to his whereabouts. We need to know more about his motive.

Where is Alison?

We know very little about Alison’s (Ruth Wilson) current life except for what Noah divulged when he left her a voicemail.

“I know you told me not to contact you, but I just needed to hear you voice,” Noah said in his message.

We would guess Alison cut ties after Noah sacrificed himself so his first wife, Helen (Maura Tierney) wouldn’t have to go to jail. Also, since Alison and her daughter, Joanie, are the only voices on the greeting, we’re led to believe she is single.

What happened with Noah and Helen?

While last season put the notion in our heads that a reunion for Noah and his first wife, Helen was possible, Noah has consistently pushed the mother of his children away. Though we’re not sure why.

The first time Helen visited Noah in prison he told her he confessed because he “didn’t want to leave anything to chance.”

“You and the kids are safe,” he said. “That’s all that matters.” He said he owed this to Helen and thought it might be his way of “wiping the slate clean.” When Helen asked what she should do while Noah served his time, he told her to “just wait.”

What is Noah’s sister hiding?

At their father’s funeral, Noah expressed his appreciation that his sister, Nina (Jennifer Esposito) still believed in him.

“You know you’re the only whose ever forgiven me Nin,” he told her.

“Well, you forgave me once for something pretty awful so…,” Nina trailed off. “Besides I think you’re innocent.”

Other things we predict will be storylines this season: the manuscript on Noah’s dresser titled The Autobiography of Jack Hunter, and Rebecca Solloway who according to her tombstone died in 1986 and was a “loving daughter, wife, mother.”

The Affair airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime.