It’s all in the title. Masters of Sex, a new series from Showtime that premiered in late September, is practically an invitation in itself. The ‘s’ sounds blend perfectly, rolling off your tongue as you say such an attention-grabbing phrase aloud. If you’re in a public place, heads might turn. Conscious of its obvious allure, however, the show does not rely on superficial appeal alone.
There’s an obvious element of voyeurism to any series that deigns to be about sex research, but there are so many subtle layers to Masters that saying it is a show about sex is as simplistic as saying Mad Men is a show about advertising. That may be the external situation, but the politics undergirding every scene are so intricate and the dialogue is so loaded with subliminal messaging that you can’t help but be turned on for reasons other than the obvious ones. Both Mad Men and Masters are combinations of workplace dramas and period pieces, though they tackle the evolving nature of their eras in ways that avoid the clichés of the genre.
Based on a book that follows the story of William Masters, a pioneer in the field of sex research, Masters is set in 1950s St. Louis and revolves around the doctor and his magnetic assistant, Virginia Johnson. The show both effectively encapsulates the spirit of the era and demonstrates a keen eye for character, though it takes a few episodes for that skill to shine through.
While an ironically impotent Michael Sheen plays the eponymous Masters, the real star of the show is Lizzy Caplan’s Johnson, who is the true master of sex. She is the Peggy to his Don Draper, though in many ways, they change roles.
Though Draper is a pinnacle of masculinity and mystery, his sexual exploits and persistent problems with fidelity are a common thread throughout all the seasons of Mad Men. In contrast, Masters is the limp noodle, his sexual innocence as much a cause of his curiosity about the subject as his medical maverick status.
When we’re first introduced to him, he’s looking through a peephole at a prostitute doing her business, meticulously taking notes about the various positions and stages of the, ahem, journey. In a following scene, he questions the same lady of the night about why women would feel compelled to fake an orgasm, wondering if it is a “common practice among prostitutes.” She responds tartly, “It’s a common practice amongst anyone with a twat.” Needless to say, I wanted to freeze his facial reaction and make it my desktop background.
That’s when Johnson comes in, the sexual dynamo that she is. Originally working as a secretary in the hospital where Masters is a renowned obstetrician, she finds a way to sneak into a job interview to be his assistant. From then on, she steadily grows more and more involved in the work behind the scenes, taking notes while watching Masters’ delivery procedures and increasingly offering a female perspective on sexuality.
Unlike the rest of the women on the show, Johnson stands out as a sexually liberated, empowered woman who knows exactly what she wants from men and isn’t afraid to ask for it. You can hardly turn away for a few minutes without noticing how she takes control of her surroundings, and the show is perhaps a little too eager to glorify that. As one infatuated man that sleeps with her puts it, “That woman is magic.” That quality becomes her superpower on a show that is inevitably replete with disturbing gender politics, but it’s also her weakness in the face of difficult ethical decisions.
Though in many ways her connection to Masters can be construed as a mentor-protégé relationship similar to that of Peggy and Don, the two pairs of characters handle very different manifestations of power, and there are many hints that their partnership will eventually become more than professional.
Therein lies the rub, as Johnson is forced to choose between losing her job and sleeping with the boss. This is never a dynamic between Peggy and Don, who remain platonic even as their relationship deepens. Though Peggy starts out as a flustered and neutered secretary, she moves up the ranks to become a forceful presence on par with Don.
It’s these kinds of duos, like Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock, that interest me because they are so rare. Still, Masters is based on history and so must follow its trajectory. It’s just natural for me to root for the underdog and hope that she comes out on top, in more ways than one.
