Last year, this quickly became one of my new favourite TV shows. I tuned into the first episode of Masters of Sex for the cast, I stayed for the SCIENCE.In episode one of the second season, entitled Parallax, we see what happens to Virginia and Bill after that cliffhanger ending from season one.
Virginia Johnson is such a wonderful female character. In this episode we see her dealing with the repercussions of the study and having to combat sexual objectification in the workplace. She is doing her best to advance her career whilst also supporting a family and entertaining her romance with Bill Masters. Lizzy Caplan, usually known for comedic roles, is really showing herself to be a great dramatic actress.
Beau Bridges does a great job as Barton Scully in some very disturbing scenes detailing what happened to people during electro shock therapy. His character is trying to 'cure' himself from homosexual urges rather than comfortably admitting to his sexuality. These scenes are deeply disturbing whilst serving as a candid reminder of how we've treated the queer community and what they've been through, even though this was only decades ago.
Libby is still kicking ass, sticking up for her husband and his work after widespread criticism.She has blossomed lovingly into her new role as a mother. Bill Masters, however, is struggling to live up the the role of being a father. In one scene he puts a record on so that he cannot hear his newborn son crying and then continues his work.
Allison Janney broke our hearts last season with her tragic character of Margaret Scully, a woman trapped in a loveless, sexless relationship. Here we see her now, worse than ever, emotionally broken because her husband cannot even attempt to have sex with her without flipping her over and thinking of a man.Jane is trying to urge Virginia to follow their respective dreams of singing and acting in Hollywood. Virginia has taken to pushing diet pills to earn more money since her career has been damaged by the sex study. Julianne Nicholson is wonderful as Dr Lillian DePaul, another heart-wrenching character.
The episode ultimately ends with Masters and Johnson both having different definitions of what is happening between them. Virginia appears to openly place more emotional significance upon what they have despite having resisted to do so for so long. It sets up a really interesting framework for this second season as Bill and Virginia will probably struggle to really define the meaning of the relationship they share. I'm really excited to see what happens in the rest of season two and the first episode was a really strong instalment that gives me hope for future episodes.
