Welcome to the weekly recaps of the 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 Tuesday for a dissection of the week's episode featuring thoughts of the show in general as well as predictions of where things are headed.
It is the big day. Masters and Virginia are about to be interviewed about their upcoming book. As they return to New York after a visit, they discover that things aren't quite as in order as they would hope. As the reporters show up, Betty (Annaleigh Ashford) has to take care of them as Masters deals with the gravity of his brief affair with the secretary and the wrath that Virginia has on him taking control of the research as well as setting up the dinner that made a fellow sex researcher break up with his wife. Nobody is liking him. Considering that he has some other allegations to face, it isn't going to be a quick fix.
As the reporters grow upset, Virginia confronts Masters about his actions. This doesn't go well, especially since she refuses to get back with him. Likewise, he faces Libby (Caitlin Fitzgerald), who tells him about the controversial comments that landed him in hot water. She also reveals that she already knew about Masters' affair. As he becomes worried, he goes in for questioning regarding comments that his son made about him. He is briefly arrested, but is soon let out with the belief that he would return to the office to hold the interview in full. While some of it was done, it isn't completed just yet.
Virginia decides to fly away with her new lover. Masters decides to tailgate her from the prison to the airport. As he hurries, he comes to the slow realization that things aren't going to work out. He has almost everyone in his life mad at him. He has nothing really to live for. Instead of having the taxi drive him back into town, he stops in the middle of a street and is let out. There he is abandoned, forced to deal with the fact that there isn't really anything else for him to live for. What good is his research if his partner doesn't want any part of it?
Rating: 4 out of 5
As one could expect, Masters ends the episode alone and abandoned. Everything that he has worked for has been for naught. All of the sexual inadequacy studies symbolized his deeper conflict with how he sees others. While most are compatible in some regards, he is left with foolish pride, letting his personal life get in the way of the research. He is alone now, possibly without Virginia in his life and a wife that isn't likely to trust him anytime soon. Even if the episode itself was a tad slower than I'd hope, it did build to that visual moment that I was waiting for. That moment where he sees the person who changed his life fly away, possibly forever. Considering that there's likely to be a next season, I don't know that Masters of Sex will keep them apart for long. It's just a question as to how self-loathing Masters will be at the start of it all.
It does seem odd that everyone else seems happier in spite of Masters' continual misery. Virginia has finally found someone who made her happy. Considering that she has a rebellious daughter and started the season with a sham marriage, it does feel like there's some fulfillment there. As the show became more focused on its wants and needs, so did Virginia's character. While I do feel like the lack of dynamic between the two central characters was at times felt this season, it inevitably added to the tension that made the back half of the season actually pretty good overall. It proved that success couldn't be everything. Sometimes it requires connection.
On the bright side, this looks to be one of Libby's stronger seasons as well. In a move that felt brilliant last week, she has to deal with her son being convinced that he ruined the family. It's not what any child wants to hear, but is inevitably what it felt like. There's tragedy as those things slip away, especially as Libby finds solace in another man who may actually raise Johnny (Jaeden Lieberher) in the proper manner. Compared to the past few seasons where Libby has been the love child of some racial subtext, this is probably the strongest she has been since the early run.
The one benefit this season was that it knew what to focus on. Even if it took awhile to get to its resting point, it did manage to uncover a lot about the sexual politics that happened a decade into their career. It dealt with their growing popularity, the inevitable impact it would have on their kids. The impact it would have on them now that they were literary celebrities. Even if it didn't all come together, it unveiled itself nicely and gave us a lot of richer subtext to be taken from Masters' foolishness as everything went to his head. Meanwhile, I think that Virginia had a lot going on, but wasn't nearly as interesting as she had been in past years. She was more distant and unwilling, which was required. However, it doesn't always make for great drama.
I do plan to do a TV Retrospective on this series tomorrow, so stay tuned for the column. However, I will say that I am glad to see that at very least this season is a vast improvement over the last one. It wasn't always great, but it did capture a more consistently enjoyable attitude that made me excited to tune into the show. I do worry now that the show is aware of its conflict between the protagonist that things may become more tense and feature less interesting plots, but that's to be seen. For now, I can say that this season ended strong enough to maintain my enthusiasm for this show.
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