The more I watch
“Masters of Sex,” the more it feels like a bad “Mad Men” rip-off trying to cash
in on the ever-popular topic of sex. Though aspects of the narrative are based
on real scientific discoveries and advances, these often take back-seat to the
exploitable elements of the show. Most often this includes endless scenes of
star Lizzy Caplan undressed, just in case you didn’t get enough of her breasts
on “True Blood,” while many of the other storylines feel derivative of the
worst parts of “Mad Men.” Melodrama concerning affairs, relationships and
flings take precedence over just about everything. Even when this season nearly
addresses racial issues significant during the period, it shies away in favor
of cheap melodrama instead. Season one felt mostly like a monotonous
noncommittal bore, whereas season two is a series of wasted opportunities and
endless dead-ends in the plot. It feels like they are dragging the story out as
long as they can, but my interest has long ago begun to wane.
The show is built upon the unconventional and
often unclear personality of the pioneering sexologist and gynecologist, Dr.
William Howell Masters (played by Michael Sheen), and the collaboration with
his twice-divorced secretary, Virginia Johnson (Caplan). The fact that the
storyline quickly becomes entangled in an inevitable sexual relationship
between the two is somewhat tiring, especially with the way the series drags it
out. This is not the only melodramatic sexual relationship to overpower the
storyline, but the show recovers when the scientific research remains in focus.
Unfortunately, that seems to be happening a lot less in season two, with far
more focus on the soap opera aspects of the story.
While I might
normally just dismiss this series as contrived and derivative, there are
moments within season two which nearly elevate the show. It feels as though
there are a couple of writers taking the dialogue in intriguing directions
before backpedaling or switching to safer and duller territory. Dr. Masters is
forced to take his study to several different hospitals over the course of this
season, before going into the private sector to work for himself. Among these
hospitals is one primarily used by the African American community, led by a man
hoping to make it a racially integrated facility. This could have been an
interesting new direction for the show, but they quickly turn away from it in
favor of other directions.
The racial
aspects of this season’s narrative are somewhat schizophrenic the whole way
through, with the wife of Dr. Masters being the season’s single-most
contradictory character. The ideology of Libby Masters (Caitlin FitzGerald)
appears to change dramatically from one moment to the next. First she is
inviting temptation by dancing with a black handyman in her living room,
followed by the awful and bigoted treatment of her African American nanny, whose
brother she eventually begins to follow around like a lost puppy dog. Although
it feels like there is nearly something to be said about racial equality within
the narrative, each of these various plot developments feel written by
different people.
If the
individual episodes don’t always work together fluidly or rewardingly, there
are moments within this season which gave me hope for something better. The
third episode in the season, “Fight,” is a remarkable standalone episode. It
gave me hope for the remainder of the season because of how thoughtfully it was
written, alluding to deeper character development than the first season was
permitted. Instead, the show continued to run in the same circles following
that episode. Even when the plot advances, it never felt like the show came
close to the peak in the third episode. This is mostly because the characters
become no more interesting the more time we spend with them. They either become
duller, insignificant enough to be dismissed, or remain ambiguous to provide a
false sense of mystery. At a certain point the way that Masters treats his wife
in favor of an affair with Virginia is no longer mysterious, its just plain
cruel.
The Blu-ray
release of season two includes all twelve episodes on four discs, finishing
with a season finale that is blatantly open-ended for the soon premiering third
season. The only special feature for the DVD release is also included here. It
is called “The History of Sex,” though the sex in the title is referring to the
show. All of the featurettes exclusive to the Blu-ray use this cheap technique
as well, including “The Women of Sex” and “The Men of Sex,” which is actually
just a roundtable with the actors. There are also a handful of unnecessary
deleted scenes for die-hard fans, of which I am clearly not included.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6.5/10
Historical
Significance: 5/10
Special Features: 6/10
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