Joshua Jackson may not return for the final season of The Affair

First it was Ruth Wilson, and now it’s Joshua Jackson who may not be returning for the fifth and final season of The Affair.

EW has learned that Jackson, who plays Cole Lockhart on the Showtime drama, is unlikely to be back on the show next season. According to a source close to production, Jackson was initially only contracted for a couple of seasons, but due to his interest in his character’s story line, the 40-year-old actor continued to sign on for additional seasons as they came.

Showtime declined to comment on the news of Jackson’s departure.

With story arcs for The Affairs‘ final season still in development, the source adds that the creative team is in the middle of figuring out where his character would go now that his primary love interest (Wilson) has died, and Jackson is presently in discussions on how they’d wrap up Cole. Whether that’s one episode or more is unknown for now.

At the end of season four, Wilson’s character Alison was killed under ambiguous circumstances, leaving Cole distraught and at a loss to where his life would go from there, taking solace in his shared daughter with Alison. Wilson confirmed back in August that she was not returning to the show, telling CBS This Morning that her characters was dead and that she “did want to leave, but I’m not allowed to talk about why.”

The Affair will likely return early next year for its final season where all the characters’ story arcs will find their conclusions.