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.
Masters decides that it is a good idea to invite Virginia to a dinner with her lover and his actual wife. Things immediately go south as Virginia realizes that this is a ploy to break them up. It doesn't work, as her lover decides to break up with his wife to be with Virginia. Meanwhile, Libby (Caitlin Fitzgerald) must find a way to convince her son Johnny (Jaeden Lieberher) that his father loves him despite neglecting him. Libby is also having close relationship in front of Johnny with his coach. The answer is that he is intimidated by him and doesn't know how to show love due to past experiences with his own father. This is followed by a police officer coming to the Masters residence and unveiling that Masters is mistaken as doing inappropriate things with minors. This is untrue, but the police officer refuses to let anything up based on comments Johnny made to his friends. Masters has to rush home to take care of matters, leaving Virginia to take control of the situation at dinner.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
After a season of going back and forth, it looks like the series is set to end on a high note. For most of the season, it has been a matter of seeing Masters struggle to remain relevant to almost everyone in his life. He hasn't really been seen much with his family, nor has Virginia really shown much enthusiasm to be near him. At best, there was Betty giving Masters the cold shoulder recently to not annoy everyone about his problems. In this moment, everything culminates and his desire for Virginia to come back to him doesn't work largely because he is being very obnoxious about the situation at hand.
Masters has always had control issues. He wants to be in command of the situation that stands before him. We have seen what has happened this season when he is left to his own devices. He is incapable of making proper judgments without the help of an assistant, and more specifically Virginia. They have to work together, or else things will just go horribly wrong. Masters assumes that putting her name on the upcoming book will solve some of the problems. If anything is to be taken from their constant bickering throughout the episode, it is that he would have to do a lot more to stay on good terms with everyone.
While this episode culminates in Masters being backed into a corner that will be interesting to weasel out of in next week's finale, it also is the perfect fodder for what this season has always been about: sexual inadequacy. Not in the way that you're thinking. Last season saw things halt when erectile dysfunction symbolized the show being unable to progress the narrative in meaningful ways. This time, it is a more deliberate look into the inadequacy that Masters shares with everyone. By the end, he is left alone and without much hope of promise, especially if he keeps bugging Virginia for attention and to control how their research goes. He is not good on his own. That's the obvious.
But then there's Johnny. If the show has had one issue, it is the lack of focus on the younger generation. While Tessa has been prominent, it has largely been the study of Masters losing touch with everyone. It doesn't seem so bad, especially as they all seem happier/more interesting. But with Johnny's story, it is interesting that his backlash came in a roundabout way based upon jealousy towards his father. It was all meant to be a harmless taunt, but may end up putting Masters into some sticky situations. It also helps that Libby feels a lot more like a character this season than she had last season. As a whole, the subplot with Libby and Johnny this week was phenomenal and captured a more personal look into why Masters, in general, is doomed to be alone.
This all has been building to something, and I am excited to see what. For the most part, this has been a really good season with a lot of great moments. Even if the magic from the first season hasn't been matched, it has at least been close in season three. It feels like everything is stronger and more confident, resulting in some of the series' best moments. I do think that the ending will make or break the overall enjoyment of the season, though it does help when there's episodes this good to remind you just what made it so appealing in the first place. Most of all, how screwed will Masters be by this time next week? Here's hoping that it all comes together nicely.
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