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| Top to bottom: Nicholas D'Agosto and Lizzy Caplan |
Welcome to the weekly recaps of the new Showtime series Masters of Sex that follows the history of Dr. William Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia Johnson's (Lizzy Caplan) actual studies of sex. Make sure to tune in every Wednesday for a dissection of the week's episode as well as thoughts of the show in general as well as potential thoughts of where things are headed. Also, please feel free to check out my recaps on Bob's Burgers every Tuesday and Brooklyn Nine-Nine every Thursday.
Plot: Masters and Virginia continue to find patterns in ways that couples experience orgasms despite placing one man into a study with a woman that he didn't want. His erectile dysfunction keeps him from passing the study. Virginia's children are beginning to dislike her and want to live with their father instead. Masters and Libby (Caitlin Fitzgerald) is entering her second trimester and couldn't be happier to have a baby. Ethan (Nicholas D'Agosto) is still dating Vivian (Rose McIver), who forces him to go to a party that her parents (Beau Bridges and Allison Janney) are throwing. Virginia tries to make things up to her kids by planning to take them out to dinner after work from the hospital. This doesn't go well and Henry (Cole Sand) runs away only to be caught by Ethan, who tries to convince him that his mother is a good person. When suggesting to Virginia to be the boy's friend, she thinks it would be too confusing and intrusive. During the party, Libby begins feeling some sickness and is rushed to the hospital where a miscarriage is performed. It shatters Masters' world and leaves him eager to start work again just to forget about it.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
As I mentioned last week, I wasn't entirely sure what the point of Ethan Haas was in the overall story. This week, things become a little more clear. While it had been established that he was a coworker at the hospital, it was confusing on why he was significant. In this episode, he is pretty much the crux of majority of the action that occurs. He introduces us to the party where the Masters first are introduced to their miscarriage. He rescues Henry from running away and almost comes across wanting to be a father figure. He seems like a do-gooder all the way by simply trying to help those around him. He is charming and the results quickly elevate his significance in the overall story to something more important and authentic.
However, I feel like this episode's success lies more in the final moments and execution. Even if the story revolved around couples and sex, the episode presented one of the most surreal tragedies that the show has had. It is a miscarriage that puts the Masters into severe depression and gives the sense that maybe Libby doesn't entirely love him. Right before the unfortunate events, she states that "You didn't help make it, but you can at least watch it go" suggesting that either there is some tension over their relationship in general, or that Libby's possessiveness is only getting worse.
Henry is another character that almost seems like a tragic hero to the story this week. We first meet him barging in on his mother in a bathtub and going on about how much cooler his father is. We get the sense that he doesn't love her at all to the point that he runs away and has one of the best conversations of the series with Ethan. Of course, this only makes the complexity of Virginia more intriguing because not only is she striving to be respected at work, but her own son seems to disown her for the father whom she claims doesn't want him around.
Throwing these two together into a sex study with a man suffering erectile dysfunction almost brings everything to surreal new heights. Earlier in the episode as they are studying their research, they discuss sexual tension and attraction in ways that suggest that they relate to each other in some strange way. There may be tension there, but my belief tended to be that Masters didn't love Libby's pregnancy all that much and was looking for an exit strategy. As the closing scene would suggest, he is sad maybe not because of the baby's death, but because of some weird moments between him and Libby. He also wants to be seen as a man in front of Virginia, forcing her to shut her eyes and cries. It is almost like he doesn't want to seem vulnerable in front of her.
But the dysfunction works on so many levels in terms of the show's couples. Henry and Virginia have conflict. Libby and Masters begin to have conflict when he begins sleepwalking and his mother (Ann Dowd) comments on his sleepwalking behavior as problematic. Things are falling apart and it is why the most powerful scene of the episode features Masters' future, a dead baby, being cradled in his arms. Everything he has worked for and the legacy may be moving slowly forward, but for the time being, the one hope of a normal life is ruined. In fact, he suggests that the trauma is too much and doesn't want to have sex with Libby ever again.
This also is implied in his decision to want to do studies with complete strangers where Virginia wants to do it with couples. Masters is running away from his fears and there's a good chance that his relationship with Libby is about to get bleak. Virginia feels like a strong, confident woman who as mentioned in "Thank You For Coming," won't be swayed by weakness at any point. The episode left with a sense that Masters was attracted to that. Maybe it is his own form of dysfunction of being attracted to maternal conflicts, but he seems to have more chemistry with his partner than his wife. In fact, it seems like the only one he cries in front of is Virginia, which suggests that while he won't let her watch, he is starting something personal with her.
With this being just under halfway through the first season, it does leave the question of where the show sees itself going next. While it started off slow, it has quickly picked up pace and has given us characters with personal struggles as well as a fascinating look at sex. The juxtapositions are often eerily relative and only helps to make this story more psychological and reflective of damaged people trying to make sense of the world. The only question is if the insinuation in this episode and the whole story's explicit statement of Libby and Masters getting together is going to be played out soon, or if we will watch the downfall of the Masters family momentarily. Can't wait to find out.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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| Left to right: Rose McIver and D'Agosto |
However, I feel like this episode's success lies more in the final moments and execution. Even if the story revolved around couples and sex, the episode presented one of the most surreal tragedies that the show has had. It is a miscarriage that puts the Masters into severe depression and gives the sense that maybe Libby doesn't entirely love him. Right before the unfortunate events, she states that "You didn't help make it, but you can at least watch it go" suggesting that either there is some tension over their relationship in general, or that Libby's possessiveness is only getting worse.
Henry is another character that almost seems like a tragic hero to the story this week. We first meet him barging in on his mother in a bathtub and going on about how much cooler his father is. We get the sense that he doesn't love her at all to the point that he runs away and has one of the best conversations of the series with Ethan. Of course, this only makes the complexity of Virginia more intriguing because not only is she striving to be respected at work, but her own son seems to disown her for the father whom she claims doesn't want him around.
Throwing these two together into a sex study with a man suffering erectile dysfunction almost brings everything to surreal new heights. Earlier in the episode as they are studying their research, they discuss sexual tension and attraction in ways that suggest that they relate to each other in some strange way. There may be tension there, but my belief tended to be that Masters didn't love Libby's pregnancy all that much and was looking for an exit strategy. As the closing scene would suggest, he is sad maybe not because of the baby's death, but because of some weird moments between him and Libby. He also wants to be seen as a man in front of Virginia, forcing her to shut her eyes and cries. It is almost like he doesn't want to seem vulnerable in front of her.
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| Left to right: Cole Sand, Caplan, and Kayla Madison |
But the dysfunction works on so many levels in terms of the show's couples. Henry and Virginia have conflict. Libby and Masters begin to have conflict when he begins sleepwalking and his mother (Ann Dowd) comments on his sleepwalking behavior as problematic. Things are falling apart and it is why the most powerful scene of the episode features Masters' future, a dead baby, being cradled in his arms. Everything he has worked for and the legacy may be moving slowly forward, but for the time being, the one hope of a normal life is ruined. In fact, he suggests that the trauma is too much and doesn't want to have sex with Libby ever again.
This also is implied in his decision to want to do studies with complete strangers where Virginia wants to do it with couples. Masters is running away from his fears and there's a good chance that his relationship with Libby is about to get bleak. Virginia feels like a strong, confident woman who as mentioned in "Thank You For Coming," won't be swayed by weakness at any point. The episode left with a sense that Masters was attracted to that. Maybe it is his own form of dysfunction of being attracted to maternal conflicts, but he seems to have more chemistry with his partner than his wife. In fact, it seems like the only one he cries in front of is Virginia, which suggests that while he won't let her watch, he is starting something personal with her.
With this being just under halfway through the first season, it does leave the question of where the show sees itself going next. While it started off slow, it has quickly picked up pace and has given us characters with personal struggles as well as a fascinating look at sex. The juxtapositions are often eerily relative and only helps to make this story more psychological and reflective of damaged people trying to make sense of the world. The only question is if the insinuation in this episode and the whole story's explicit statement of Libby and Masters getting together is going to be played out soon, or if we will watch the downfall of the Masters family momentarily. Can't wait to find out.
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