It's probably been mentioned before, but was anyone else annoyed due to Phelps having a complete and pointless affair with the German singer? It felt as though Team Bondi just wanted to throw in another noir cliche and complete the checklist.
The relationship just felt unmotivated.
Anyone criticizing Phelps for cheating on his wife doesn't understand that having a flawed central character is essential to any noir story. Phelps isn't a traditional hero, he's an anti-hero at best.
shareI think the reason for the affair was possibly connected to what Galloway talks about with vets taking lip from their wives. Phelps is tracking down serial killers, his old unit is being killed left and right, and he's got his war flashbacks too. His wife probably doesn't understand, so the affair is his way of getting out of it. Also remember when Roy Earle introduced Phelps to Elsa. Did Earle see that Phelps had a chance to expose the dirty secrets that some of the cops have. Roy probably saw this as a chance to take the perfect cop and turn him into the bad guy. This would save half of the force's backs. This whole plot is crazy, so this is what I got out of it. Playing that game is like trying to explain the plot of Inception to someone who hasn't seen it.
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