The ramifications of Masters' disastrous presentation continue to ripple beyond his firing from Maternity Hospital as Libby, worried about supporting their new baby, pushes him to get another job. Meanwhile, Virginia, still working for Dr. DePaul, must fight off the advances and innuendos stemming from the continued belief that she was the woman in the film.
Masters of Sex was one of last year's best shows. It got a handful of well-deserved Emmy nominations last week - notably for leading lady Lizzy Caplan and guest stars Beau Bridges and Allison Janney. As the story of real-life sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson, it was a very exploratory drama about sexual politics in 1950s America. Bill and Virginia are compelling character for the time because they are willing to ask all of these questions about sex for which the society around them simply isn't ready. Much of the first season was about the sex study and getting it off the ground and collecting data. In the process, Bill and Virginia got close and pulled apart. Their relationship is such an interesting dynamic because of its ability to walk that line of what is professional and personal. The year ended with Bill presenting the study to his colleagues and them rejected it as smut - just like Bill's boss Barton Scully said all along. It was a devastating conclusion to the season's arc. And yet, it ended on a very hopeful moment as Bill winds up on Virginia's doorstep to declare his love for her despite the failure of the study and wife Libby giving birth to their son.Second two picks up just a little bit of time later but we still get multiple flashbacks to the seconds following Bill's big proclamation to Virginia last year. It really is a marvelous way to dole out this information. We are aware that Bill and Virginia are sleeping with each other without all the wires attached to them. But they hardly interact in the present-day stories. Additionally, we see them having sex after his big speech but we get to see it from both of their points of view. For the first half hour of the episode, we see things from Bill's point of view - and the second from Virginia's. It's not until the very end of the hour where we see the two of them sit down and come to terms with what this all means.
And boy is it a very complex answer to that very question. Neither see this as an affair while technically it still is. Bill is approaching all of this out of true love for Virginia. He's no longer able to connect to anything else happening in his life. He has always been a cold and closed-off character but nothing quite beats the moment where he puts on a record instead of caring for his crying child. He still feels this immense love for Virginia. With Virginia, like always, it's much more complex. She does still view a lot of it as work. She's doing all of this so people out there can better understand human sexuality and intimacy. And yet, she turns down Ethan's proposal. In her mind, she's putting work ahead of her personal life. That's a major ahead-of-her-time mentality - that a beautiful woman would want to work instead of settle down with a husband and a family.
But then, there is the world around the leading duo which is quite in flux right now. Dr. DePaul is slowly dying from cancer but her friendship with Virginia is stronger than ever. Austin is trying to stop sleeping around but his wife publicly shames him at the hospital. Jane and Lester are heading out to Los Angeles to focus on their respective characters. But Betty the former prostitute is back and so is her husband, the pretzel king! It's because of them that Bill is able to get the new job - but one I'm sure will have a few strings attached later on.
Lastly, there's the Scully family. So much emotional turmoil happened to them last season as Margaret realized that her husband hasn't pleasured in the way that she is supposed to have been pleasured. They've grown separate because Barton is secretly gay. That revelation is devastating to both. Margaret can't accept it and Barton wants to fix himself in order to be the man who Margaret deserves. So, he's now taking electro-shock therapy which is so brutal. That only grows stronger once he wakes up confused and can't remember anything and is just crying out for Margaret. He's trying for her but she doesn't want him to think of her as something she's not. His attempt at sex is denied because she can't take having him imagine her as a man. It's not what either of them wants but they also have no clue what that means for them. For Barton, he's basically given up on life going so far as to try to commit suicide which Margaret and their daughter stop before it's too late. It's so brutal and yet so masterfully done. I have no clue what Michelle Ashford's plans are for the Scully's long-term this season but this episode should be more than enough to secure Bridges and Janney Emmy nominations next year as well.
Some more thoughts:
- "Parallax" was written by Michelle Ashford and directed by Michael Apted.
- I didn't even get to mention the beats of Virginia being harassed at the hospital even more now since everyone assumes it's her in the footage. That does play a little like the show finding a way to force her out of the hospital as well in order to continue the work on the study. And yet, it also reads as very demeaning of Virginia. She gets to stand up for herself which is great. But it also leads to a very awkward bit of misunderstanding in the parking lot.
- Annaleigh Ashford is a full-fledged series regular this season. So her story will get even more importance this year which I'm so excited for.
- Also joining the cast here is Danny Huston as the head of Bill's new hospital. He seems like an intriguing character even though Huston has kind of been in a rut of playing period characters as of late - on both Starz's Magic City and FX's American Horror Story: Coven. I'm hoping this role is not as sociopathic as those other two series.
- The aforementioned moment between Bill and his mother also forces her to move out of town. She calls him out on being just like his father and he completely owns up to it. She just can't deal with that and does what she always does - leaves and acts like it's not happening. Now, the Masters need a nanny.
- I also wanna point out the show's opening title sequence also got nominated for an Emmy! So ha! All you people who hate it!
