Both Homeland and The Affair have been renewed by Showtime, that most forgiving of networks where you really have to screw up in order to get the boot. (Minor spoiler for last night’s Homeland: That definition of screwing up does not include temporarily convincing even the most discerning of viewers that you’ve abandoned a season-four reboot to revive a dead character.) Announced via press release, the renewals come down at a time when the audiences for both shows are expanding, with Homeland adding as many as 4.5 million viewers after its initial airings (even as its overnight ratings have been slightly lower than those of the season-four premiere). For The Affair, now halfway through its 10-episode first season, the renewal is a vote of faith—the sort of thing the show’s dueling narratives would advise against, as even those whom you’ve pledged your life to are bound to betray you in one way or another. For long-running Showtime series, such betrayal usually comes in the form of lumberjack beards and ghostly hallucinations.
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