Masters of Sex S1E5
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
Tragedy strikes Masters of Sex, and Masters is powerless to stop it.
Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia (Lizzy Caplan) are moving to the next stage in their research, couples. Dr. Langham (Teddy Sears) eagerly signs back up, hoping for more research with Jane (Helene Yorke), the young woman who is only interested in a tryst with a married man if its for "scientific research." But Masters and Virginia are experimenting to see if there is more than just the physical condition during sex; the hard-to-quantify chemistry variable. So they match Dr. Langham with an unknown partner, and he is unable to perform. When they rematch him with Jane, he is still unable to perform, offering a comedic subplot to an otherwise dark episode.
Dr. Haas moves forward with the bedding of Vivian, "deflowering the Provost's daughter," as confident Jane tells him. His relationship with Vivian leads to Scully (Beau Bridges) viewing Dr. Haas (Nicholas D'Agosto) in a new light, and the Provost begins to tout Ethan's accomplishments to hospital trustees. The iciness between Scully and Masters is obvious.
Scully is also celebrating his 30th wedding anniversary with his wife, Margaret (Allison Janney). The Scully reveal a few episodes ago suggests that Margaret may play a significant role in upcoming shows.
Virginia is balancing a tightrope of work and family, which is not uncommon today as it would be in the mid-1950's. She is truly interested in the research and the respect that she gets for participating in its direction. But her son is rebelling because, ... well, he's 10 years old. Dr. Haas agrees to give her son some mentoring, but we can only hope he does not teach the kid how to cope with being scorned.
Libby (Caitlan Fitzgerald) loses the baby, a girl that Masters intended to name "Catherine." Masters is unable to console his wife, showing her very little emotional support and treating her like any other patient at the hospital. He also still holds anger toward his mother for his childhood abuse. His father's failure as a parent make him question his own impending parenthood. Masters has delusions of grandeur, but his inability to change his wife's (and his) situation brings him back to reality.
Masters of Sex has wonderful slow-burn tension. The pacing of the show is different than most contemporary television dramas. I like that I do not usually know where an episode is within its 60 minute window, and more than once I have been surprised when the credits roll. I look forward to this show every week.
Random Thoughts:
- I still don't like Ethan.
- Dr. Langham's treatment of his case of the shanks should be quite funny.
- Really like Masters' mother (Ann Dowd). I hope to see more of her in future episodes.
What did you think?
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