To watch these three very different responses is to be impressed with two factors of the show. Primarily, the first-rate acting by Caplan, Nicholson and Sheen continues to keep some of the manic pacing complaints at bay with some rich, realized portrayals. Secondly, strong screenwriting knows how to use these reveals to build on the characters as we know them: Virginia resigns back to Cal-U-Metric, DePaul holds up her assistant under a microscope, while Bill is stunned into submission and tries to formulate an answer, just as clinically as he usually does.
While Masters of Sex gets the expected response from those three characters, the finest on the show, it struggles to figure out what to do with the rest of the ensemble, especially some of the new characters. Betsy Brandt is still a waste as inept secretary Barbara, while Danny Huston’s hospital boss is a study in contrasts (between buffoonish and bureaucratic) that does not entirely work.
If there is anything that ties these various strands of the episode together, it is the emphasis on what it means to feel confident. It all ties in near the end of the episode when Gene (Greg Grunberg) admits to Betty that he knew of her past as a prostitute, since he went to the brothel she worked at to try and get more experience talking to girls. Masters of Sex is very keen on letting us know who has confidence and who lacks it.
For instance, Langham’s over-confidence was the hubris that led to his marriage’s dismantlement, and so he tries to give Bill some advice not to overstep. Bill is confident enough to be a voyeur, watching Virginia sleep and dress herself at the start, but too tightly wound to share his study room with other curious voyeurs in exchange for what could have been more approval for his study. Libby is too confident, hoping that she can impress Bill’s colleagues with aplomb; unfortunately, that falls short when one of the other wives suspects Coral transferred lice to Johnny and Libby has to deal with this. DePaul meanders between stoically offering her support and help, and stumbling her words in front of Papanikolaou.
In the episode’s best scene, a showdown (finally) between Libby and Bill becomes one centered around who has the most confidence in their relationship. Akin to his impotence from the beginning of last season, Bill crumbles under her overbearing pressure as he says, “I’m going to take care of you, whatever happens.” She is trying her best to keep the home in tiptop shape – her floating in the background as Langham talks with Bill just outside the kitchen is a nice stylistic choice that keeps her omnipresent in the scene – and this means pushing her husband further than Virginia ever would. Bill is still a master over Virginia, but Libby still knows what buttons to push.
Most of, if not all of, the characters on Masters of Sex are lonely and incompetent, trying to deal with keeping their confidence up and failing miserably. (When Virginia discusses Cal-U-Metric with a neighbor, she is actually trying to sell a cure to herself.) While this ties in several of the storylines, one cannot help that feel how the series is also trying to cover too much ground as it ushered in many new characters earlier this season. After a more laid-back, character-driven hour last week, “Dirty Jobs” cannot help but feel overstuffed, with so many characters vying for the audience’s attention and so many stories yearning to move to the next plot point.
