Showtime's Masters of Sex - Episode 2.07 "Asterion"
Upon learning that Johnson has continued to have romantic relationships with other men, Masters cuts off their sexual work together. He tries to keep his new clinic solvent over the course of three years by borrowing against his house, offering medical services to the hotel and finally accepting money from his mother.
"Asterion" is very much the transitional set piece of the season as the narrative moves ahead three years - with stops in October 1958, September 1959 and ending in October 1960. Masters and Johnson's partnership and their sexual research spanned decades. So far, Masters of Sex has only covered a small part of the beginning. So, it was to be expected that the series would move ahead in time at this accelerated rate sometime during the course of its life.The second season has continued to hit the emotional beats of this story well. And yet, the actual direction of the narrative has been wonky at best - with Masters working at Memorial Hospital for three episodes and then Buell Green Hospital for two episodes. And now, he's branching out on his own - starting a clinic with Virginia as his research assistant, Betty as their secretary/bookkeeper and the returning Lester as the one to film it all. At last it seems like all the parts of the show this season are finally coming together. Now, does it justify the two pit stops before this to get to this point? Not exactly. That material definitely could have been truncated down and the show could have taken this journey through time a bit earlier. The previous story beats occurred solely for the emotional ones to take their time. Bill and Virginia started having an affair at the hotel at the start of the year and that journey to eventual breakup needed the first half of the season to be naturally told.
So Bill runs into Shelly and Virginia's daughter on her doorstep and then subsequently cuts off their romantic work with each other. They still operate as work colleagues. They continue to refer to the study as theirs. And yet, this hour makes it a point to showcase the back-and-forth between these two as lovers and professionals on a very accelerated time table. Their relationship is very much an up-and-down journey. And yet, the TV show can only break them up only to get back together so many times. Are they the best people for each other to be with? No. But they are both separately the most constant thing in each other's lives. All Virginia really has is the work. She's got her children but she's much more open to just letting multiple men in and out of her bed without any care of consequence. She never gets attached to them. But Bill is different. She has a desire for the work and he is a major part of that.
But Bill also has Libby who he can come home to every night after work - even though the first half of the season has made her one of the most despicable characters on the show. Her stuff with Coral the nanny and her brother Robert was just weird. It just painted Libby in an unflattering light that only made us appreciate Virginia even more. The time jump stabilizes her more and she becomes much more a part of the core emotional beats of the show. Bill is solely devoted to his work but Libby has dreams too. She wants a family so even when Bill is absent she'll have children she can care for. She miraculously gets a second child. And yet, she gets even more frustrated with Bill because he's risking their entirely livelihood and he's just so nonchalant about it all. He's risking the house and all of their assets. And then, he's too prideful to take money from his mother. She has kept his secrets and she's trying to be there to help him now. But he's still resentful of all the pain from his past. He wants his mother out of his life so he can focus on what he wants/needs to focus on. And that largely means that over the three years he's resentful at the world. Focused on the work but unhappy in almost every other aspect of his life. That is until he and Virginia return to the hotel to their work together. He quickly reacquaints himself with everything intimate he once felt with Virginia. Now, I still don't quite know where the second season is headed. But this direction is promising.
Some more thoughts:
- "Asterion" was written by David Flebotte & Michelle Ashford and directed by Michael Dinner.
- It seems like there's a part of Libby that just knows how happy Virginia makes Bill. She invites her to tag along on their vacation!
- I'm happy to see Lester again. I just wish it wasn't at the expense of Jane.
- But Austin bringing up that he and Lester were both with Jane was pretty great.
- Yeah, Michael Sheen's natural accent slipped out a bit when Masters was yelling at Libby about providing the roof.
- Betsy Brandt popped up again. This time as an applicant for the sex study who was then rejected. That's opening up ideas in Virginia's mind that I'm looking forward to seeing develop.
- Austin also goes on quite the emotional journey over these years. He settles down with a new girl, Holly, who then is just as big a philanderer as he was. He tries to make things right with his ex-wife but she's moved on. So now, he's all alone. I have absolutely no idea how he factors into the rest of the season (he doesn't work for Masters and Johnson right?) but I'm somewhat intrigued to find out.
- After all this time away, you just know it's going to be amazing once we run into Barton and Margaret Scully again.
