Masters of Sex S02E08 "Mirror, Mirror"

I like that everyone's fashion has evolved with the times except for Bill's.

I love this consultancy position Betty has taken on.

Masters of Sex S02E07 "Asterion"

Lester sure got hardened in Hollywood.

Betty's yellow dress is amaaaazing.

Lots of time elapsing quickly in this episode. A new baby already?

Bill continues the proud male tradition of refusing to take money offered to help him and his family.

"I provide the roof!" Whoa. Libby is great in this scene, too.

Nice to see Libby and Ginny bonding in the ladies' room.

Wow. That was even worse than not apologizing, Bill.

It's a little contrived that Ginny left Bill impotent.

I love Betty the CPA!

And now we're in the 60s.

"You have more of me than you even realize."

More male hypocrisy - Austin decides he actually *doesn't* want his girlfriend naked on film.

Yay! Betsy Brandt is back! Well, just for the one scene. It's a little convenient that she has a rare sexual abnormality, but whatevs.

Lovely ending scene, though I couldn't quite tell whose birthday it was.

Masters of Sex S02E06 "Blackbird"

Another especially fine episode.

I love the culmination of Virginia and Lilian's relationship. It was special and beautiful. (Even if Ginny did kind of pull a Walter White letting Jane die. (JK. Totally different.)). It's one of the best female friendships I've seen on TV outside of the Golden Girls. I hope Julianne Nicholson gets some award nominations for this season.

I like the storyline with Betty and her husband. My heart breaks for both Betty and for Gene.

But I miss Beau Bridges and Allison Janney, too.

I don't like where they've taken Libby. Hopefully now that she's fired Coral her obsession will end and she can go back to being a sympathetic character. It seems like the writers intentionally made her less sympathetic for the course of Bill's affair with Ginny (which looks to be over?) so that we could still root for Ginny. Why can't they both be sympathetic characters?

Courtney B. Vance is great.

I like that the show didn't let on that Virginia had a boyfriend so that the audience finds out at the same time as Bill.

Masters of Sex S02E04 "Dirty Jobs"

Why would Ginny treat DePaul different for knowing about her and Bill if she was under the impression that Ginny has known all along?

I think Ginny is being unreasonable.

Is...is that Sarah Silverman?

Ohhhh is this Betty's ex??

Don't be dense Bill.

"Once I"m done making Mr. Masters' bed, should I make yours too?" BURRRRRNNNN

It's interesting to see even Virginia be racist.

It looks like my original assessment was right - Libby has become a TV wife to either be hated or pitied.

Oh Betty, just tell him about Helen. You saw what happened last time you lied to him.

Betty and Helen laughing at the dinner table is a beautiful scene.

You know who I don't miss? Ethan.

Bill turning the wooing of patients over to Virginia is a nice turn.

HA! I had a feeling it was him taking down the fliers.

Masters of Sex S02E04

Courtney B. Vance will be in this episode? Neat, I guess.

Also, Allison Janney just won the Emmy for Best Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama and I am so very happy about it.

Is Courtney B. Vance going to get to interact with Detective Wheeler?

Lillian is going to die this season, isn't she.

It's nice that Ginny's dream-Bill does not have the same attitude about bringing her back on as real-Bill.

I would love to write a paper about this show and its concept of "The Work"

Did Ginny think of that excuse for meeting at the hotel off the cuff or had she been working on it in advance in case of an event like this?

I wish Libby wasn't so mean to the nanny, whose name I wish I knew...

I like the diet pill lady's attitude toward Ginny's condescension: "Maybe you're special."

Poor Betty. I bet if she told he husband that she's infertile he'd be understanding. He seems to generally care for and about her.

The lice stigma is a stubborn one, even nowadays. But here it's a race thing, too.

Are tubal ligations really irreversible? Or were they just thought to be at the time?

Lying to him, however, the pretzel man might not forgive.

Is Dr. Blonde going to get with Dr. DePaul? Is he going to "transform" her?

Oh. No. He's telling her about Ginny and Bill.

Coral. That's her name.

"Your hair is the same as yesterday" means that she didn't wash her hair?

Hmm, what's behind Lillian wanting Ginny to tell her about the affair? Is it a desire for trust and friendship?

Oh no. Libby is going to do Coral's hair. The nice thing to do, Libby, if you insist on having her wash her hair with the lice shampoo, would be to offer to pay to have her hair done again.

Is the show trying to make us dislike Libby so that we condone Bill's affair?

Oh, so Libby is paying for the hairdo. Still. That was pretty demeaning.

I don't know who this European guy is. Why is Lillian giving up her project? Because Ginny wouldn't tell her about her affair?

Bill is using the threat of turning gay to scare the Saxman away from observing his study.

Ginny's like "I did this for YOU. But it belongs to me too"?

I'm not a big fan of this diet pills subplot thing. Is that the point? Well, we'll see where it goes.

"I guess you would be the expert on phony Bettys" Oooooh, burnnnnn/

Well I guess pretzel man was kind of being a phony, too, by letting Betty think he didn't know about her past as a hooker.

Wow. I'd never seen Bill let himself look as vulnerable as that to Libby as when he was promising that he would take care of her.

Oooh, he went to a colored hospital!

Masters of Sex S02E03

"Erections aren't the totality of manhood." I feel like a thesis could be written on the first 10 minutes of this episode.

I like getting to see what Bill and Virginia's interpersonal relationship is like beyond the sex.

This is a really nice bottle episode.

I love how they go between talking about their fantasy marriage to weaving in their own pasts.

(Bill Masters being left at boarding school for Christmas is a lot less funny than Sterling Archer being left at boarding school for Christmas.)

I bet Bill just told Virginia more about his father than he ever told his wife.

The sound of Virginia touching herself over the image of the boxing match on TV. Whoa.

"Role playing throughout" ie, this is isn't *real*

"I'm begging you" That is so fraught given how Bill said he never ever begged his father to stop beating him.

"Better a tomboy than a sissy." Ayup.

"I want to see how it ends" Brings it full circle to Virginia telling her daughter that she likes to know how things will end.

Masters of Sex S02E02

I'm glad Betty is back.

Yaaaay!!!!1 It's Betsy Brandt!!!

Oh, is this the Rose girl?

Did Masters & Johnson invent laproscopy?

Oh no, is Libby going to be horrible to the nanny?

Masters of Sex S02E01

Did Ginny change her hair?

Oh Beau Bridges :( This electroshock therapy makes me so sad.

I feel like I should be uncomfortable with this sex between Ginny and Bill, but since there's been a season break I don't really remember.

Is Ginny saying no to Ethan BECAUSE of Bill?

Ginny is trying to sell the diet pills AT the hospital?

I like Ginny and Libby's friendship so much. I hope Bill doesn't spoil it.

Is that the Sax Man???

Oooh, is Betty's peanut guy going to fund a new study?

Oh no, is blonde whatserface going to move to LA and not be on the show anymore?

I would think that Libby will go back to the negro hospital.

Bill is just awful sometimes.

Oh no. Did he kill himself??

"I don't want you to feel led on" Isn't Bill the one leading himself on?

Masters of Sex S01E12

Sure, Haas is great now, but remember that time he hit Ginny in the second episode?

"None of them ever changed how I felt about you."
"Really? You never loved any of them?"
Does that mean if he loved someone else it would necessarily change how he felt about her?

That was a long time to have a dialogue between two characters without a reverse-shot. I was half expecting Margaret's interlocutor to be someone shocking.

I hope Ginny doesn't walk into the presentation and cause Bill to pause in his talk.

Ok, here she is. Has he seen her yet?

Oh snap, Dr. DePaul!

Would Masters have given Johnson any credit even if she hadn't quit? Would she have had to demand it?

Ooooh I hope he edited her face out.

It's a good thing Haas didn't see the presentation. He might have recognized Virginia's body.

OMG. Masters is doing such a good thing for Scully :)

"Dear God. What a thing." I like that. What a thing.

Aww, Lester.

What if the therapy worked and Barton was cured of being gay but just not attracted to his wife?

Awwwww, her name is on the study. But since they were only going to be handed out at the end, nobody knows - for better and worse.

Aww, I like that Libby is just taking time to be with her baby before even calling Bill.

Bill shows up on her doorstep in the rain? What is this, The Notebook?

How did Bill even know where she lives?

I don't know how I feel about this ending. The whole episode is about "the work" (whether Masters' or DePaul's) and now the thing he can't live without is the woman.

Masters of Sex S01E11

It's fun to see Libby get to hear about Bill's work. Must be fun for her, too.

I think a show about Virginia and DePaul trying to popularize pap smears would be awesome, too.

In this show, only people who are unmarried have anything other than two double beds.

Masters of Sex S01E10

How much time is supposed to have passed since last episode?

"What does being pleasant have to do with women's health?"

I don't think I'd be able to take an air raid simulatin seriously either.

Allison Janney is so, so beautiful.

Doc Haas. Has a very familiar voice. Has he done voice acting, I wonder?

I kind of agree with Masters that Virginia should not have told Dr. Blonde about the pregnancy.

"The man who's responsible" - is she referring to Dr. Blonde or to Masters? Probably Masters, as earlier in this episode they established that Ginny can write checks...

This is a pretty scene - Allison Janney and Dr. Blonde in the pool talking about sattelites.

Masters of Sex S01E09

I love Jane.

Poor Vivian.

Do those old films capture sound?

Money makes things tricky. Especially sex.

Masters of Sex S01E08

Is this going to be a Far From Heaven situation?

"I bought her a vaccum. She didn't care that it hovered."

"Vaginas don't bite" - unless they do

They cut into bodies for undergrad anatomy??

It's so cute how awkward Dr. Masters is when he's being nice

It's nice they're finally exploring Dr. Blonde's marriage and his cheating without minimizing it as "Oh, that Dr. Blonde. What a rogue!"

Masters of Sex S01E07

This episode is all deception all the time. Libby deceiving Bill and vice versa, Barton deceiving his wife and vice versa, Ethan deceiving the Vivian, Ethan deceiving Bill, Dr. Blonde deceiving his wife, Dr. Blonde and Mrs. Scully deceiving themselves...

Ginny is portrayed as the only one who is honest with herself and with others.

Why doesn't Masters like having sex with his wife?

Questions of setting: Hotel vs. bedroom, hotel vs. backseat, brothel vs. hospital, bedroom vs. hospital

I am not comfortable with this conflation of secretarial needs and sexual needs.

Masters of Sex S01E06

Before I begin I'm going to play Where Do I Know That Actor From?
- Barton Scully is played by Beau Bridges. I know the name well, mostly from crossword puzzles. I actually haven't seen him anything else, and he is NOT Stephen Root, who played Jimmy James on Newsradio
- Dr. DePaul is played by Julianne Nicholson, aka Detective Wheeler on Law & Order: CI
- Vivian Scully is played by Rose McIver, who I recognize as Tinkerbell on Once Upon a Time.
- Essie Masters is Ann Dowd, who has appeared as several characters in the L&O franchise. Her most memorable role, in my mind, was as a pediatric oncologist in the L&O episode "Compassion."
- Bill Masters is played by Michael Sheen, who I did not think I recognized, but surprisingly played Castor in TRON: Legacy. (This guy)
Now let's begin!

It's interesting how the show can be so suggestive without being too graphic.

Now back to this "Men focus on the future, women reflect on the past" motif.

If Bill has given up on his quest to get Libby preggers, will he have good sex with her?

"Going up?" Heheh

I like seeing Ginny overestimate herself around Dr. DePaul. It increases her esteem of Dr. DePaul which is neat to see, and makes Ginny push herself.

"My clitoris beat my vagina??" I like when the show is funny. This episode is funny, which is good because last episode was sad.

"God helps them who helps themselves" - this episode is all about that, and how men are unnecessary to women's pleasure.

(I didn't include Allison Janney in my actor round-up at the top because she's Allison Janney, duh.)

Oh wait, this isn't funny anymore. Poor Allison Janney :(

Wait, Ginny gets a promotion so she takes her shirt off?? Booo

Masters of Sex S01E05

They do a good job of making Ethan a really layered character. Sometimes (when he's with Libby) he's a really  nice doctor. When he's with the good ol' boy doctors he's a pompous ass. When he's drunk, he's cruel. He isn't painted as just one thing all the time.

This episode seems to be about how a man's penis (Dr. Blonde, Ethan w/Vivian) is useless if the woman doesn't have a magic vagina (like Ginny's, as per last episode)

Bill Masters is the least layered character in the show. His father abused him so he's terrified of having a child. He resents his mother.

I love that Dr. Blonde's marriage is a total non-issue

Oh! It's Allison Janney!!

Oh God, I may be the worst Jewish girl ever, but I would never want to marry a doctor.

I liked Vivian, but she did kinda trick Hoss. Too bad.

It's nice that we're 5 episodes in before the show really starts to go into Ginny's work/life balance.

"If God wasn't invented for a time like this, then why invent him at all?" Haha, that's good :)

This episode is all kinds of sad. :(

It is nice to see Bill get confrontational at last. Cathartic.

"Those days are over, son. They are dead and buried." This scene is the opposite of what Essie was saying last episode about women looking back and men chugging forward.

Wait, this episode didn't have the title sequence. Maybe the files I'm watching have cut it out?

Wow. That's really powerful that he closed her eyes before he began sobbing.

Masters of Sex S01E04

Those are some knockers on that one lady.

Who plays Bill's mother? I've definitely seen her in things before.

This show really places a lot of emphasis on how important it is for a woman to be good in bed.

Masters of Sex S01E03

What? Did this show suddenly get an opening credits sequence? I guess so...

Woohoo! U of R!!

This actress looks really familiar. Where do I know her from?

Why are so many male TV doctors assholes?

Masters of Sex S01E02

• I keep wanting the prostitute to be Brittany Murphy but she's not. I'm getting used to who she is, though.
• "It's like razor blades when I pee" UTIs are terrible indeed.
• This reminds me of that time the Golden Girls accidentally got mistaken for prostitutes.
• Bernadette is eating a pickle.
• Oh look, Johnson has to choose between her children and her career.
• The young doctor's visions of Ginny in other women are creepy
• Ginny wants to earn Masters' respect. Not his love or his affection. Hm.
• "When you do watch, it must be sexy."
• Masters' wife (what's her name??) threw the "I love you too much for that" back in his face. To what end?
• "Following the science" is an Orphan Black thing!
• I would like more from Masters' character beyond the ice cold scientist.

Masters of Sex S01E01

• Adding a new series to the mix!
• Oh, MASTERS of Sex! Because his name is Masters!
• I know this show is based on real history, but I'm gonna take it at face value on this blog. I am curious about its authenticity but meh.
• In the grand tradition of TV wives, I will expect to either pity this wife or hate her. Wouldn't it be neat if she were different?
• I hope Masters never cheats on his wife and that he doesn't have sex with Johnson. It would be cheesy if Masters gets his wife pregnant only after giving her an orgasm or something like that, but it would be okay.
• I love Lizzy Caplan
• Hmm. They are going to have sex with each other. Maybe.