This post will not have a spoiler warning because you’re probably way ahead of me. I’ve stopped at “Fight,” the third episode in Masters of Sex second season because lately “I can’t get no satisfaction” from watching this show.
In “Fight,” Masters (Michael Sheen) and Johnson (Lizzy Caplan) engage in a role-playing fantasy in which they have been married for a long time. Johnson recounts the story of her first love(r), Masters intermittently speaks to her as he watches a boxing match on television.
Now, even though I do most of my TV series-watching on the gym’s glider (not only to get the required 45-min aerobic workout, but to assuage my guilt over watching so much television), I usually don’t mind watching slower, psychologically intricate fare while I exercise. But, I have to tell you that watching “Fight,” I thought that I was going to fall asleep on the glider.
I suddenly realized that, lately, watching this show feels like taking a cold shower. Well, not even. I’d be having a really strong reaction if I had to stand under cold water for any period of time. But you get my drift. I really loved season 1 and I actually learned a couple of things about sex. Ok, maybe not a couple, just one. But that’s not important. What’s important is why I’m not enjoying the show as much this season.
It has to do with Masters. He’s such a sourpuss. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen Masters laughing out loud. Actually, I think that I can count the number of times that he has smiled with the fingers of one hand and I’d still have some fingers left uncounted. Now, I could accept this during season 1 when he was having boring sex with his wife. But now that he’s seriously getting it on with Johnson? Come on!
Speaking of coming: We must all suspend disbelief when we watch television. But I’m finding it harder and harder to accept that someone who is so uptight can let go, or should I say, let himself come. Of course then there’s the other alternative. He’s so uptight and so much in need of letting go that it’s hard to believe that, overwhelmed by Johnson’s sexuality, he doesn’t come prematurely every time.
But enough talk about coming. What I’d like to know is when the show is going to develop the Masters character to a point that I will actually care about what happens to him.
Should I continue watching? It’s true that I find all the other characters too interesting to abandon, especially Johnson. Then there’s Betty, the hooker turned magnate’s wife, deliciously played by Annaleigh Ashford who won me over in one of her very first scenes when she corroborated that most men suck in bed. Answering Masters’ question on whether faking an orgasm was a common practice amongst prostitutes, she replied, “It’s a common practice amongst anyone with a twat.”
Ok, so maybe I’m not ready to let it go yet. I guess I’ll keep coming…back. But they better hurry. Although I’m all for “slow,” I strive for resolution, especially with my TV shows.