Masters of Sex - Recap: Coral Grief

The story of "Giants" never really focuses on one predominant arc, but instead shifts around to explore the different power dynamics in evidence throughout the series. But I suppose if I had to pick the one that's most prominent in the episode, it's the issue between Bill (Michael Sheen) and Virginia (Lizzy Caplan), who are in a state of, once again, redefining the terms of their relationship. Virginia has doubts about her worth to Bill, beyond what she offers physically, since Lillian (Julianne Nicholson) goes to town on her for sleeping with Bill to get ahead in her profession. In Lillian's opinion, what Virginia has done has demeaned all women attempting to advance on merit, although Virginia takes offense at this assertion, since 1) she claims what she and Bill are doing is part of the study, 2) she has children she needs to support, so she doesn't have the luxury of "waiting for the right job" to come along, and 3) she didn't exactly have all the advantages that Lillian had (i.e., parents to pay her way through medical school). Yet, while Virginia isn't exactly wrong in her defense, it's clear that, at some level, she's deluded herself into accepting the warped power dynamics of her relationship with Bill. She truly has convinced herself that this isn't an affair, and that's...kind of worrying, actually. Virginia isn't a stupid person, but if she's willfully turning a blind eye to what Bill obviously feels for her, and is pretending they're just having sex for the study, then Lillian wasn't exactly wrong to hand off her study to Dr. Papanikolaou, since Virginia clearly lacks a certain clarity of mind, where her work is concerned. After all, as Lillian says, it's kind of silly for Virginia to think sleeping with Bill doesn't constitute an affair simply because they're "taking notes" afterwards.

Credit: Showtime

Shaken by the argument with Lillian, Virginia asks Bill if her sleeping with him is a condition of her employment. Bill takes a while to answer, but inevitably responds that it isn't...before changing his answer and saying that, technically, it is. So Virginia decides to invert the power dynamic of that relationship by withholding sex, and forcing Bill to strip for her at the hotel room. In this instance, Bill is the one who's objectified, made to feel like a test subject as she commands him to pleasure himself in front of her. Virginia remains impersonal, and downright clinical, in her assessment, asking Bill about his decision to close his eyes during the act, and going as far as to ask him what he's thinking about during. Unsurprisingly, he admits that he's thinking of her, prompting Virginia to stir uncomfortably -- before rising form her seat so Bill can pleasure her. Before long, Bill is on his knees in front of her, as Virginia has reclaimed a sense of personal power that is lacking in her professional relationship. This is where her control is -- in the bedroom, in Bill's desire for her. And it's, arguably, as potent as Bill's power over her career trajectory.

Credit: Showtime

While Virginia is inevitably able to make up with Lillian, not everyone is able to make peace this week. Coral's boyfriend, Robert, comes by to give Libby (Caitlin FitzGerald) an earful about her treatment, subtly threatening her to treat Coral better. In response, Libby tries to lecture Coral (from her own perspective as a "woman of the world") about the need to get rid of Robert. However, Coral indirectly mocks Libby for her supposedly worldly knowledge by talking about her sexual relationship with Robert, subtly giving her grief over something she has that Libby currently lacks. In an attempt to regain what she's lacking in her home life, Libby asks Bill to make love to her. What follows is an awkward, silent, passionless affair that does nothing to ease Libby's concerns about the tattered state of her home life. The next morning, when Coral is making the beds, Libby just tells the girl to leave the bedroom alone altogether, a resentful declaration to stay out of her personal business. Defeated, Libby complains to Bill about what happened, recalling how Robert threatened her...only to discover that Bill sides with Robert and Coral. Once he learns that Libby forced Coral to wash her hair, Bill becomes furious with her, saying she got off lightly with just a talking-to. He tells her she needs to apologize -- yet, because she's Libby, she apologizes to the wrong person, saying her sorries to Robert. Confused, he tells her to apologize to Coral, but Libby refuses, leaving Robert to remark to Coral that Libby is just another white woman with an inflated sense of importance. Offended, Libby retorts by shouting -- at their car as they speed away -- that her husband works at the negro hospital, which shows the extent to which Libby has actually learned anything at all.

Credit: Showtime

That said, it's not as if Bill isn't actually trying to make his new appointment at Buell Green Hospital work. On the one hand, he and Virginia are having trouble getting their study off the ground in their new setting, since someone keeps taking down their fliers, and the regulars are scared about visiting the allegedly crime-infested neighborhood. To make matters worse, a fight breaks out between one of Bill's white patients and a black patient in the waiting room, all over the black man looking at the white man's wife. In the tussle, Bill ends up inadvertently getting punched in the face, leaving him with a black eye, and a lecture from the hospital's head, Dr. Hendricks (Courtney B. Vance). However, it's not a lecture of admonishment, but rather of hope. Hendricks wants to integrate the hospital, and feels Bill will be the key to making that happen. It's a wonderful scene from Vance, who sort of just explodes onto the show with all the force and verve of an actor who's been in this world far longer than we've seen. Right away, Hendricks feels like a three-dimensional, lived-in character, which is why it's equal parts stunning and not at all surprising that we find out he's the one who's been taking down the fliers. And it's easy to imagine why: if Bill is already working at the hospital, why threaten integration by actually letting his study happen? The negative press would make it tough for Hendricks to get what he wants -- but this way, Bill never has to know why his study is failing here. With any luck, Bill will just give it up when he sees it can't work, not even in the one hospital willing to allow the study at all. Granted, these are all massive assumptions on my part, so I'll be interested to see if any of them are right in the coming weeks, as we get to learn more about Hendricks and his goals.

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Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention one of the show's most compelling -- if most ancillary -- plots. Betty (Annaleigh Ashford) is shocked by the reemergence of the love of her life, Helen (Sarah Silverman), who was briefly mentioned last season, but never seen. Helen still isn't over their relationship, and it seems she intends on inserting herself into the life Betty has made with Gene (Greg Grunsberg). But things get awkward in a hurry when Gene decides to set Helen up on a blind date with a friend of his, creating an extremely uncomfortable double-date, as Helen keeps dropping hints about her past with Betty. Annaleigh Ashford is outstanding here, and Sarah Silverman is more than up to the challenge, particularly in a story about an old race horse that ends up breaking his leg. It's meant to be a joke story of sorts, but Betty's hysterical laughter quickly descends into spontaneous tears she can't control, prompting her to excuse herself. Helen finds her in the lounge of the ladies' room, where they kiss and reflect on the nature of a relationship that, quite simply, can't happen. Betty can't possibly fathom Gene would be okay with Betty being IN LOVE with someone else, much less learning that, while she does have a fondness for him, Betty is mostly with him for the lifestyle he provides, and for the hope of a future that isn't evident with Helen.

There's a lovely scene early in the episode where Betty suggests adoption to Gene, and he seems onboard with the idea after reflecting on how the child would be theirs after they love him/her. However, it's inconceivable to think Gene would bring a child into a broken marriage. Sure, Betty might care for Helen, but her conflict is in how there literally is NO future for that relationship beyond the clandestine life of fake backstories and secret trysts that Betty already said she was sick of when they were together before. Maybe if it were 20 or 30 years later, they could make it work. But Betty's conflict is between what she wants emotionally, and what she needs personally. She's in love with Helen, but she wants to actually have a future. She wants suburbia, and she's inexplicably found it with a man whom -- even MORE inexplicably -- knows about her past and loves her anyway. It's a vivid conflict that is well-portrayed, and quite compelling despite its tangential relation to everything else. Honestly, now that Betty has no interactions with Bill, it's hard to imagine why her story is even still being featured. Yet I'm thrilled she still is, because I love the character, and I love Ashford's work in the role.

Credit: Showtime

"Giants" is a solid episode that explores the complex nature of power dynamics, both in the workplace and professionally. Whether it's Hendricks exerting his power over Bill, Bill exerting his power over Virginia, over Virginia and Coral turning the tables to take their own kind of control, Masters of Sex thrives when it focuses on these character studies. This has been a fine season so far, and it stands to get better as the show delves deeper into what's driving each of these characters beyond the surface-level tensions in their professional and private lives. And I can't wait to see how those conflicts play out.