Thursday, December 5, 2013

What I’m Watching: Masters of Sex


Masters of Sex: Season 1, Episode 10 “Fallout” (B-)

The backdrop of this episode, the Cold War chaos and disaster simulations, was relatively effective, but there was something about this hour that felt off to me. Perhaps it’s because all of our characters seem to be in such bad places at the moment, so angry with one another and unable to treat each other humanely and kindly. Even Jane threw Lester under the bus when he revealed too much about their extracurricular activities, though that was rectified by a confession of affection which proved unexpectedly smooth on Lester’s part. Virginia suddenly being in a serious relationship with Ethan is somewhat jarring, although it doesn’t feel as awkward or strained as it did before since he seems to have learned how to be a decent human being. Bill, on the other hand, is an absolute monster, and his disregard for anyone else’s feelings is going to be a serious detriment to his ability to continue his research with anyone’s support. Ethan has unsurprisingly lost the support of Scully, who delivered a scathing takedown of his character almost as hurtful as Bill’s. Margaret didn’t have to look far to find someone who was able to immediately peg her husband as gay, and she bounced right back from that news by reuniting with the similarly devastated Austin, whose reaction to the news of his impending fatherhood was only slightly better than Bill’s response. Virginia coaching Dr. DePaul on sucking up was decent, but her attempt felt very forced, and not in the way that it was supposed to. Virginia quitting and coming to work for her should prove interesting, though I’m sure it won’t last long. Let’s hope that the final two episodes of this season return things to a more peaceful and manageable place.

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