The Affair Season 5 Spoilers

According to Showtime, the final episodes will "chronicle the aftermath of last season's horrific events and find the characters coming to terms with the consequences of their choices." Along the way, each character will "make the realization that if they really want to change their futures, they must first face the past."

WHO'S OUT?

Ruth Wilson officially departed the series following Alison's death in the penultimate Season 4 episode. The actress has since suggested that there is a "much bigger story" behind her exit, which she is "not allowed" to disclose. A Season 5 cameo is not in the cards.

Joshua Jackson, who plays Cole Lockhart, will not return as a series regular. There has been no word on a potential guest appearance. 

Catalina Sandino Moreno, who plays Luisa, is no longer a series regular. Luisa's story seemed to reach a natural endpoint in Season 4 when she and Cole determined that their relationship was over, but agreed to remain married so she could apply to become a U.S. citizen. 

WHO'S BACK?

Original series regulars Dominic West and Maura Tierney will return as Noah and Helen Solloway. 

Sanaa Lathan will continue in a series-regular capacity as Noah's girlfriend Janelle. Russell Hornsby will again play Janelle's ex-husband Carl. 

Omar Metwally, who plays Helen's terminal cancer-stricken boyfriend Vik, has been demoted from series-regular status. He will, however, return as a guest star.

Emily Browning, who plays girl-next-door Sierra, will also be back. Viewers will recall that she ended Season 4 pregnant with Vik's child.

Julia Goldani Telles will be back as Noah and Helen's daughter Whitney. Meanwhile, Max Fowler will again play Whitney's boyfriend Colin, and Jonathan Cake will reprise his role as ex-boyfriend Furkat. 

Jadon Sand, Jake Siciliano and Abigail Dylan Harrison will all be back as Whitney's younger siblings Trevor, Martin and Stacey. 

John Doman and Kathleen Chalfant will return as Helen's parents, Bruce and Margaret Butler. They last appeared in the Season 3 finale.

Additional returning guest stars include Richard Schiff (as Noah's attorney Jon Gottlief), Adam Shapiro (as Noah's coworker Joel) and Brooke Lyons (as Noah's former publicist Eden). 

Ramon Rodriguez, who plays Ben, was recently spotted at a Season 5 cast dinner, though he has not been photographed on set. While Ben did in fact kill Allison, the other characters were led to believe that she died by suicide.

WHO'S NEW?

Anna Paquin (True Blood) has signed on as a series regular. She is set to play Alison and Cole's now-adult daughter Joanie Lockhart. 

Joanie returns "some years in the future" —  to piece together the truth about what happened to her mother, bringing the whole story full circle." (FYI: When last seen, Joanie was 5-years-old; Paquin is 36.)

Lyriq Bent (She's Gotta Have It) is set to recur as Paul, husband of Paquin's Joanie and father to their two daughters. Over the course of the season, Paul finds himself in a constant struggle to keep his wife from "falling off the cliff of depression."

Michael Braun (The Night Of; pictured left, with creator Sarah Treem) will recur in future-set scenes as EJ. "He's an epigenetic scientist that Joanie meets in Montauk," according to our sister site Deadline. "His work in studying generational trauma helps Joanie understand her life in a way she never has before."

Jennifer Jason Leigh, who recently starred opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in Showtime's Patrick Melrose, will appear in an undisclosed role. Our money's on Sierra's mother, based on this behind-the-scenes snapshot and the following caption by Treem: "Marking rehearsal with Sierra and her famous Mom. But who is she????? Any guesses? #mystery"

Mozhan Marno, who recently departed The Blacklist as a series regular, will guest-star in an undisclosed role. Her character appears to be in Noah's orbit based on multiple behind-the-scenes photos.

Danish actor Claes Bang will recur as Helen's new boyfriend Sasha Mann, a charismatic, A-list movie star who "will influence how [Helen] lives her own life in the wake of a personal loss." He offers to give her "everything that she's been missing."

The Affair's fifth and final season kicks off Sunday, Aug. 25 at 9/8c. It consists of 11 episodes, and concludes with a series finale written and directed by Treem.