Masters of Sex s03e05 Episode Script

Previously on Masters Of Sex This kind of smut does not belong in this hospital.
We'll reconvene in my office.
You should be done toadying up to the likes of Fitzhugh.
It's where the study started.
It's also where you were fired.
Sorry about the locks.
I have been ejaculating prematurely.
You can help with that, can't you? We can.
Now, I understand why you can't be honest with our daughter, and I pay the price every time I call Vivian and she hangs up on me.
Let me tell Graham.
You're asking too much, Margaret.
No! No! Say you're sorry, you little shit! I'll never say sorry to you ever! I found out something bad about my mother.
She bring her boyfriends around here? What boyfriends? Come on.
You've met him.
I'm not so sure he's a keeper.
The phone has been ringing off the hook.
I've got this big-shot perfume guy from New York who wants in.
Oh! Do I have the wrong night? I'm sorry, Jo.
I thought it was Friday.
God, you are so like her A girl I used to know.
Here it comes again.
The old Dan Logan charm.
The baby didn't cry.
You didn't get up to see why the baby wasn't crying.
The phone didn't ring.
Mm.
Your neighbor didn't stop by and borrow some sugar-- Oh, an egg.
She was short an egg.
You didn't have to move your convertible to get it out of the rain.
We could try again Just to make sure that it really happened.
Mm-hmm.
What is it? That's my mother's laugh.
It can't be.
Your mother's in The living room, apparently.
Get dressed.
And then what? Hide.
Mom? Daddy? Oh! Look at you! Oh-ho-ho! No person would ever think you had a baby.
Only a mother.
You look like a million bucks, honey.
Couple of more pounds and you'll be back to normal.
What are you doing here? We thought if we told you we were coming, you'd put us off again.
I told her, Gin, I did.
I said no one likes uninvited guests.
And I told him, there's no new mother who doesn't need her own mother.
- Am I right? - Right.
Is this the robe that I bought you in high school? Aren't you happy to see them? Yes! Of course I am.
I'm-- I'm just surprised is all.
Tessie told us that Tuesdays were best.
Because usually I'm at dad's, so it's just you and Lisa, alone.
I told grammy and gramps that Lisa's just started smiling.
Oh, we cannot wait to see her! Why don't I go get her? No! If you wake her up now, then she'll be up the rest of the night.
And you must be so tired from that long train ride, so why don't I make up a bed for you in the back room? But it's early still.
Aren't you gonna offer them a cup of tea? He is obsessed.
Oh, I am not, Edna.
Your grandmother exaggerates.
First it was bridges and skyscrapers.
I read you one article about the Seagram building.
And then the Space Needle.
Oh, my goodness.
Is it 9:00? Already? When did it get so late? which I am.
I love babies.
Well, if you go to sleep now, then you'll be all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when Lisa wakes up in the morning.
So why don't you take this tea to bed? How high is the Arch, gramps? I'm telling you, Tessie, it is truly an engineering marvel-- Aah! What was that? Possums.
Again.
We have possums.
Didn't sound like a possum.
It sounded like Santa jumping off the chimney.
Well, it's more than likely you got yourself a raccoon, Gin.
Why don't me and you check it out? "You and I.
" Grammar.
I'll get a flashlight.
No! You are not running around in the middle of the night with your grandfather, looking for a raccoon.
That's ridiculous, Tessa.
Why don't I take a look in the morning, see if there's a hole in the eaves that need repairing? See, now, if you had a real husband, that would be his job.
No more nightmares, I hope? Nightmares? Believe me, that is the last time I try reading that awful Truman Capote book before bed.
Last night was my night.
I know, and I felt terrible intruding, but I just couldn't fall back asleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I would see that farmhouse.
- That poor family.
- Oh.
I'd better get dressed.
We should be leaving soon, Graham.
I've decided I'd like to go, too.
I already called in sick.
I told them I had food poisoning.
No, we've been through this, Jo.
We are not in bed at the same time, so why would we go to counseling together? We're in bed together right now.
Not in the sense I'm talking about.
Glasser says we should deal with what's real.
This is what's real between us.
Well what's also real is the fact that most of the world is not nearly as open-minded as we are.
I'm not ashamed of what we have.
Neither am I.
But Dr.
Masters and Mrs.
Johnson work with couples-- one man and one woman.
They wouldn't know what to do with three people.
They're the world leading experts on sex, Margaret.
They, more than anybody, know historically monogamy is the exception, not the rule.
Take a look at Sub-Saharan Africa, the Islamic world It's only our retrograde Western society that teaches us to believe the logic of love as scarcity, as a commodity that's to be stored up and hoarded.
These people are my friends, Graham.
I've known Bill Masters for 20 years.
What the three of us have I'm just not ready to share it with him.
I'm sorry.
Well, we're on this path together.
We all go at our own pace.
Oh, she is so beautiful.
I think she looks just like me.
Don't you think she looks just like me? Just dry toast, mother? I can't fix you something else? Oh, I'm watching my weight.
Too many calories in margarine.
I'm back in my old clothes, mother.
Marjorie Dupont is still walking around with that baby weight, and Lance just graduated high school, which, frankly, is a miracle.
He's not a very bright boy, that Lance.
He broke our porch light twice tossing the morning paper onto the stoop.
Maybe he just has bad aim.
The first time was bad aim.
The second time was stupidity.
And Marjorie wants me to introduce him to Tessa the next time she comes to visit.
As if.
She's a million times too good for that boy.
Well, Tessa does have a little juvenile delinquent in her.
She's been giving me a hard time lately.
Well, what do you expect? She's been bouncing between two households.
She's not bouncing.
Did Tessa tell you that she's bouncing? I can see for myself.
It's no way to raise a teenager, Mary Virginia.
Who's keeping tabs on her, hmm? And who knows what secrets she's keeping from you? Yeah, secrets such as having her grandparents show up unannounced.
I really don't appreciate you telling her not to tell me, mother.
You used to do that all the time when she was little.
Buying her candy and saying, "Don't tell mommy.
" Well, it's a grandmother's prerogative to spoil her grandchildren.
Of course.
The rules never apply to you.
Oh, and look at you.
What about your rules? Hitched to a man in name only.
Pawning off his poor baby to some babysitter when you're going off to do your sex work.
It's not "sex work," mother.
"Sex work" is what prostitutes do.
Well, try and explain the difference to my friends.
Well, why don't you tell your friends that your daughter has co-authored a seminal work on human sexuality and she's supporting herself, handsomely, from the proceeds? You know what this needs? It needs a little marmalade.
Hi.
You're very unpopular this morning.
They're all from Ronald Sturgis and pals, those religious weirdos who've been hanging out in the lobby this whole week.
What happened to you? Tripped up on my own front step.
Let me fix it.
No, I don't want anyone touching my-- - Aah! God.
- Oh.
Betty, don't-- The vertebral column is very sensitive.
You can't-- Do you want the pain to go away? Trust me, I know what I'm doing.
Helen's got sciatica, and she's too vain to give up high heels.
Now just lean back.
I most certainly will n-- Aaaaah! Aah! Ah! Betty! Stop! All right, let your spine stretch out.
Stop it, Betty! I mean it! Sometimes you can actually feel - the vertebra pop back in-- - I mean it! Ohh! Oh.
Ooh.
Oh.
Attaboy.
- Oh, you did it.
- Yeah.
Oh.
Oh, Betty.
Oh.
That is absolutely Doug.
I was hoping to have a word with you, Bill.
I'd appreciate a few moments of your time.
Of course.
Thank you, Betty.
That'll be all.
Look, I feel awful about what happened the other week.
Seeing you at that cocktail party, it brought back some-- well, some strong emotions.
For you, too, I'm sure.
The truth of the matter is, it's been 10 years since the unpleasantness between us.
And clearly, you've gone on to some impressive accomplishments.
You've got your own practice, you've got a best-selling book on your hands.
I think it's high time that you and I bury the hatchet.
Don't you think? Well that's quite a change of heart you've had, Doug, haven't you? I've given it a lot of thought.
In the space of two weeks, to go from publicly insulting a man, calling his integrity into question, demeaning his work, to this display.
There wouldn't be any ulterior motives here, would there, Doug? Hmm.
You have a son, don't you, Bill? I'm sure you would do anything in the world for him, wouldn't you? Ronnie is an architect.
Two years ago, he married a sweet girl, Leelah.
They've been trying to have a baby.
No luck.
But it didn't matter.
They had plenty of time.
Yesterday, a letter came from the draft board.
My son's been called up.
He won't last five minutes in a war.
Everyone feels the same way about their child.
Not true.
I wouldn't be worried if it were either of my two older boys, Sam or Dale.
But Ronnie's different.
I've got to get him a deferral.
Ah.
If his wife were pregnant, he'd be III-A.
You are the best fertility man in the Midwest, Bill.
I have never denied that.
You certainly didn't take it into account when you threw me out of Wash U after 15 years.
I can't undo what's been done, Bill.
The only thing I can do is try to make it right.
Well, what exactly did you have in mind? Barton, how are you? I'm fine, thank you.
I'm here to see Margaret.
Is she here? Yeah, she'll be out in a minute.
Come on in.
We're going to see your colleagues, actually.
Oh, I won't keep her long.
You know, I didn't realize that you were a student of Rich Huffman's.
Dr.
Huffman? He was my mentor in medical school.
Well, he tells me that there's no one in the world that knows more about bacteria than you do.
He said you're teaching over at St.
John's.
There's an office with my name plate on the door, but the focus of my research is cholera, so I spend a good part of the year abroad.
- Follow the germs.
- Precisely.
Jo, I thought you were taking the day off.
No reason to now, is there? Oh.
Hello.
Have you seen my turquoise earrings? Did you check the bathroom drawer? Yes, I checked the bathroom - I didn't realize you were here.
- No, no.
There was just a small matter I was hoping to discuss with you.
Although it seems like maybe now is not a good time.
Well, we-- we are on our way out the door, so Well, we've got 10 minutes before we have to leave.
In the meantime, I'll look for those earrings.
I-I met Jo, is it? - Did you? - Yeah.
Is that-- is that Graham's daughter or? I don't have a lot of time, Barton.
Well, I-- you know, I've thought a lot about what you said the other night, and I-I-I know how difficult it's been.
I'm sorry.
They kissed on the lips-- Graham and that young woman.
Jo and Graham are in a relationship.
As in a romantic relationship? Yes, in fact.
And you know about this? Jo works at a travel agency.
She's the one who used to book all of Graham's trips for work, his trips to India, Kenya.
They started up a sort of friendship.
He started calling her when he'd come home to tell her about his trips.
Eventually, they decided to take it beyond the telephone and meet in person.
Graham likes to call it "love at first dial.
" Yep, they, uh She moved in with us six months ago.
And that's all right with you? This arrangement? Graham and I decided together.
For heaven's sake, Margaret, you're living in some sort of commune, like those crazy people you hear about in Berkeley.
Historically speaking, in most cultures in the world, monogamy happens to be the exception.
Historically speaking? I came here to give you permission to tell Graham about my About us because I wanted you to be honest with the man you love.
And you can't even be honest with yourself.
What are you doing, Margaret? - What am I doing? - Yes.
I'm living in the truth-- at least I'm trying to, which is far more than I can say for you.
Hate to say it-- in the bathroom drawer.
Well, I am sorry.
I had no idea they were coming.
How long are they staying? Unclear.
No one is more unhappy about this than I am.
My mother has a true talent for insinuating herself into everybody else's business, especially mine.
Oh, and she wants to come into the office for a visit, so I need you to help me put on a good face.
I can do that.
I think.
Here's something that'll cheer you up.
We've been invited back to Washington University.
Invited back as? There's a faculty consortium tomorrow night.
The keynote speaker has dropped out, and they need someone of note.
Fitzhugh is begging for us to fill the spot.
Fitzhugh? The chancellor who led the charge against you-- - against us? - Mm-hmm.
Bill, they put dildos on my desk.
I was mauled in the bathroom.
We can't go back there.
That's exactly why we should go back.
I won't.
No, nothing could induce me to stand in front of those people and speak.
Well, I'll speak for both of us, then.
Tell them the battle is over, and they have lost.
It begins with the woman's knees astride the male, facing forward, her pubis perched above his erection.
And then, with a minimal amount of touching, the tip of the man's penis is inserted into the vaginal opening.
Just the tip.
I insert it or Graham does? You do.
Graham, your job is to do as little as possible.
Just remain totally passive.
Passive.
Graham-- He's-- he prefers to be in charge.
And I have to say, I prefer that, too.
I-- I've had partners who've left it up to me to make things happen, and it hasn't worked out so well for either of us.
Well, in order to treat the problem, you both need to be open to exploring different sexual dynamics.
Oh, Margaret is far more open-minded than she's giving herself credit.
- Aren't you? - And you? I just don't know how I'll be able to maintain an erection if I don't stay active.
Perhaps your prematurity is linked to this drive to be in charge.
You're anticipating what it feels like to cross the finish line before the race has even begun.
What you need to do is take your foot off the accelerator.
Yes.
You be the car, and let Margaret drive.
And I just do nothing? You focus on what it feels like to be inside her.
Resist the temptation to move.
Let the urge to orgasm subside, and you will become desensitized.
And once that happens, Margaret, you can allow Graham's penis to penetrate more deeply, stopping at each point to establish that new baseline.
Mm.
And if I feel as though I may orgasm? You immediately withdraw.
And, Margaret, you apply the squeeze technique.
Now, you place two fingers on the side of the penis, facing Graham.
I'm so sorry.
Uh, did we-- did we establish whether or not you're circumcised? - We did.
He is.
- I am.
All right.
So you place two fingers here, on the coronal ridge-- one above, one below.
Here.
Why don't you give it a try? The cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile - Just one moment.
- the murderers, the sexually immoral.
Those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars-- they will beonsigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
Betty, call the police.
This is the second death, Dr.
Masters.
I called your office an hour ago.
It's been a long afternoon, Lib.
I got here as soon as I could.
I told Betty that it was an emergency.
Well, we had an emergency of our own.
Oh.
Someone present with a case of ejaculatory incompetence? No.
In fact, a group of Bible-waving lunatics descended upon our waiting room and wouldn't leave until the police cleared them out, one by one.
Now, what was so important that I had to rush home? Your son was beaten up at school.
And he came home with a bloody gash over his eye and his shirt torn.
Well, what happened? He refuses to tell me.
All I can guess is that some bully decided to pick on him.
- Where is he now? - He's in the bathroom.
I cleaned him up and told him to sit in there - until I could find the iodine.
- I'll take a look.
Please be gentle with him, Bill.
He's shaken up enough as it is, okay? I'll talk to him myself.
I'd like to know what happened.
I told you.
I got into a fight.
What precipitated it? Was someone picking on you? Were they teasing you? It doesn't matter.
Well, it matters to me.
I started it.
My friends and I We were playing football at recess.
And another boy, he-- he was trying to take the ball away.
Mm-hmm.
And we asked him to stop, but he wouldn't.
So I made him.
And trust me, I don't look half as bad as he does.
You shouldn't be getting into fights, John.
You need to focus on your studies.
Smells like my grandma.
Can you elaborate? Mm.
She used to keep a tin of licorice in her purse, and when I did something naughty, she wouldn't spank me.
She would bribe me with it.
Her heart rate didn't go up.
Not significantly, no.
So it wasn't a sexual response? To my grandmother? Let Lester try.
Wanda Petrowski.
She wore something very similar to this one.
We used to sit in her parked car, and she would list for me, one by one, the reasons she wouldn't let me kiss her.
Is failure an emotion? That would be my emotional response to this.
Let's not get worried yet.
It's just a demonstration.
Let's try another scent.
No, these stories don't get at what I'm looking for.
What is it that you're looking for? Not just what people think they feel.
Something more unspoken.
Let me give you an example.
There was this gal I used to see.
She was pretty enough and very friendly.
But she really only cared about two things-- her gin and her orchids.
She used to breed show orchids as a hobby, and the more gin she drank, the more she talked about them.
Now, I'm not much for flowers that don't smell, and I hate gin.
But still, I was drawn to this woman.
What does your wife think of this story? This was a long time ago.
And all I know is that every time I had to do business in Pittsburgh, I thought how much I didn't want to hear about those orchids, and I still called her anyway.
Now tell me-- what's the test you could do to help me understand why I picked up the phone? Tightening of the scrotum.
Blood flow to the penis? And when she opened the door, half the time I wasn't even sure she remembered my name, but she still let me in.
What's the test that tells us why she did that? Lubrication of the vaginal walls.
Maybe hardening of the areolae.
I want them to smell my perfumes while we test those things.
- Okay, I'm out.
- Me too.
I'm paying you for the Cadillac of sex research.
That's what I expect to get.
Grandma? Grandma.
Grandma! Oh.
What are you doing? Have you seen what's under here? No one's vacuumed under here for months.
Do you want me to do that for you? Oh, would you mind an awful lot? It's just mom hasn't done any in a while, hers or mine.
Of course she hasn't.
Just leave it here.
Thanks.
Mom, do you want to join us? We're having a little dessert.
Oh, you all enjoy.
I'm cleaning.
There's nothing more satisfying than cleaning for somebody who doesn't have time.
I know you feel your mother's hard on you, but it's because she worries.
She doesn't worry about me.
She worries about how things look, how I look.
She wants to polish everything until it shines, including me.
She does it every time she visits.
It's just like she used to do with those beauty pageants.
Do you remember the one in Topeka? Had to drive in the car with her for eight hours.
The whole way there, she made me press on my front teeth with a popsicle stick, as if I could somehow fix my overbite before we got there.
She knew how happy you'd be to wear that winning sash.
No, she wanted to see me in the sash.
What kind of mother puts an But, honey, she didn't put you in the pageant.
You entered yourself.
You saw it in a magazine, filled out the form, and sent it in.
Then you begged your mother to drive you to Topeka.
If she pushed you too hard, it's 'cause you didn't-- She didn't want you to be disappointed.
"Once the female has mounted the male, she takes the penis and slides the tip" Okay.
I'm gonna take it and put it inside just a little bit.
- How's that? - That's good.
Mm-hmm.
Don't move.
Mnh-mnh.
I want to.
I feel like I'm suppressing a sneeze.
Just sit still.
Try to think of it as if you're-- you're lowering yourself into a warm bath, letting yourself adjust to the temperature.
Mm.
Mm, that's good.
A little deeper? It's working.
It's-- it's working.
Shh, shh, shh, shh.
Just-- just feel it.
Just let yourself dissolve into me.
Okay.
Could you not-- not do that? Not-- don't close your eyes? Don't close your eyes.
Does it say that in the instructions? No, that-- that's just for me.
Oh.
- I'm looking at you.
- Really? I see you.
Well, I've decided to take the high road.
Right off the top, I'm going to acknowledge the university as the birthplace of the study.
Have you seen your son? Oh, he looks fine.
Boys that age heal quickly.
There won't be a scar.
Um, I went through his book bag this afternoon, looking for his lunchbox, and I found this folded up at the bottom.
"Dear Johnny, I am sorry that I punched you.
I promise that I will not do it again.
From Dennis Daughtry.
" Johnny made the whole thing up, about starting a fight.
I called the school.
Apparently, this Dennis has been picking on him for weeks, taunting him and calling him names.
Then, this morning, he and four other boys held Johnny down on the football field, punching and kicking him.
They said they wouldn't let him go until Johnny gave in and admitted that he was a sissy.
Eventually, the teacher saw what was happening and broke it up.
She made Dennis write an apology note.
I was gonna suggest that we both call the parents tomorrow.
No.
No, leave it-- leave it to me.
Dennis? Dennis Daughtry? Apparently, you can spell your own name.
Well, that's-- that's impressive.
Although you do seem to have a little trouble with some of the bigger words.
Leave me alone.
Don't you walk away from me.
Now, you swung these knuckles into my son's face.
You did.
Yes, you did.
I know you did.
I know.
Don't deny it.
I'm a doctor.
I know things.
For instance, I know that you're, what-- 13? But you're in Johnny's grade.
So how many times have you been held back now, Dennis? Two? Three? That make you feel bad about yourself? You know why that is? Because it means you're stupid.
Yeah, that's why you lash out at other boys, boys like my son, boys who are smart, boys-- boys who are smarter than you, better than you.
But you know what? I know you're smart enough to know that if a doctor-- if a doctor threatens you, no one can protect you.
Can they? Certainly not your father with his sad little plumbing business.
No, you're alone, Dennis.
And you know what? One of these days, you're going to end up just like your old man.
You're gonna unclog other people's shit out of their toilet.
You're looking at a future where you work with your hands, Dennis, so you'd better take care of them.
All right.
Just go home, clean yourself up.
I thought maybe lemon chicken for dinner? With those scalloped potatoes you make? Those are so good.
You have to teach me.
Potatoes.
Heavy cream.
So, how did it go with those new exercises? Well, it's too soon to say.
We're only just at the beginning.
Don't be modest, Magpie.
They went well.
It certainly sounded like they went well.
You were listening? I was passing by in the hall.
Jo You promised that whatever you learned from those doctors, you would tell me so that it could work for us, too, Graham.
- You promised.
- I also told you that we needed time alone, together, to get it right before any lessons could be passed on.
Well, it seemed like you were getting it right.
You cannot listen at the door.
It's unfair to us.
We each have our private time, and this was ours.
Margaret's right, Jojo.
Well, I'm sorry, but I was scared, okay? I mean, if he can fix the problem with you, he's not gonna want to work on it with me.
And if you can cure him, he's gonna love you more.
That's not going to happen.
But she hopes it does.
Don't you? Hope it does? All right, let's just sit down and take a breath.
Don't you? Don't you want him to love you more? The truth.
I do, yes.
Yes, I do.
So, where does that leave me? Well, I guess that leaves you with your ear pinned against the door, terrified of what's going on inside.
What has gotten into you? You can't know, Margaret.
You can't know what it's like-- what it feels like, standing on the other side of that door I know exactly what it feels like, far more than either of you.
I spent years and years and years worried that I was going to lose the man that I loved to something going on behind some door.
My life imploded into a million messy pieces, and I tried to scrape it back together as best I could until I found Graham.
I fell in love with Graham on my own.
You were not part of that, Jo.
We didn't have any problems in bed or anywhere else until you came along.
Margaret, I won't have it.
Why did you bring her into this? I didn't do anything.
We agreed.
We did not invite your travel agent over for fondue and two bottles of rosé because we wanted to fuck her! Jo is young and pretty.
There are a million men in the world for Jo.
That's not the point.
It couldn't be more the point.
We were happy-- weren't we?-- Before jo? Yes.
Then why, Graham? Why is she here? I have feelings for her.
I wasn't going to lie to you about them.
I knew I was going to act on them.
Are you going to show us inside the exam room? They're all currently in use, mom.
Wait a sec.
There are people having relations in there? Only if we've been successful in helping them.
Your daughter's been very helpful to so many people who, without her and the doc, would've had no place else to turn.
Yes.
But in the middle of the day? I can finish showing them around if you want to take a break.
And go where? You've always wanted to see Canada.
Mr.
and Mrs.
Johnson.
Virginia said you might stop by.
Great to see you, Bill.
We were just about to impose and take a look at the Arch from your office.
Oh, it's not an imposition at all.
I understand from Virginia you know a great deal about its construction.
Bill, how is your lovely wife? Libby is well, thank you.
Mm-hmm.
And the little ones? Virginia tells me that you have three now.
Not so little anymore.
Uh, if you're free tonight, Virginia and I have been invited to Washington University to give a talk.
I'm sure I speak on behalf of both of us when I say we'd be honored to have you as our guests.
Oh.
I-- I think I have a tie.
I would've mentioned it myself.
I just didn't think it was something you'd be interested in.
Wonderful.
Virginia can put your names down on the guest list.
You ready for the nickel tour? Right over here we have Dr.
Masters' office Why is your mother staring at me like that? You know, Bill, this looks a lot like the petition list of people at Wash U who had you fired.
There's a reason for that.
It is the petition list.
That was Dennis Daughtry's mother on the phone.
Libby, please.
Can we talk about this later? I-I really need to focus right now.
I need to understand how you could have possibly thought that that was a good idea.
I-I have been wracking my brain.
I didn't handle it well but I-I handled it.
You physically attacked a 13-year-old boy.
I did not-- I did not attack him.
I had a conversation with him.
And that "boy" is the size of a linebacker.
You don't really think that makes it okay.
Somebody needed to teach him a lesson! What lesson are you teaching our son? You cannot let a bully get away with it! He has to be made to see that there are consequences! Whether it's a 13-year-old boy or the chancellor of a university.
Did you know after Fitzhugh fired me, they changed the locks? All my research, every single piece of data I collected over three years-- all of it taken away from me.
They had some security guard pick me up by the shirt collar like I was some street vagrant.
You know the only thing I regret? I regret walking out that door, giving them the satisfaction.
I should've made them drag me.
This is not about you, Bill.
This is about our son.
And our son needs help.
I am about to go back to that place and face those same men, so, Libby, we will talk about this tomorrow.
Bill Masters and Virginia Johnson need no introduction, especially here at Washington University, where their groundbreaking study on human sexual response was conceived.
That's not a word I use lightly, because Bill Masters is a master of conception.
He is a world-renowned expert in fertility and a skilled obstetrician, having brought thousands of healthy babies into the wards of our own hospital.
Now, with his colleague, Virginia Johnson, a renowned psychologist in her own right, he has published a work of great scientific import.
We are lucky to have them on such short notice to share their findings with us.
The new St.
Louis Arch is a grand monument to those brave pioneers of Western expansion, those men and women who forsook safety and headed into the wilderness.
Despite the naysayers, they dreamed of making the unknown known.
I think it's not a stretch to say that, in our laboratories in Wash U and now in our own private clinic, Mrs.
Johnson and I have taken up the mantle of that pioneering spirit.
- Margaret? - Barton.
Uh, I'm here to see Bill.
I don't have an appointment.
I just thought I might catch him.
He and Virginia are at Wash U, giving a speech.
Oh.
And yet you're here.
I'm happy to be done with that place.
There's nothing there for me anymore.
I didn't expect it to feel so good, walking away, making a fresh start.
Oh, God.
Are those even possible? Fresh starts? Haven't you made one? I came here to thank Bill and Virginia for their help, but to tell them Graham and I won't be returning to therapy.
Oh.
Yeah, it turns out sex isn't really the problem with us.
It's me.
I-I picked a situation as far away as possible from what I had with you-- a man who wanted me so much he physically couldn't wait to have me-- who loved women so much he had to have two of them-- who led a life without secrets, so there were no devastating truths to discover, because I already knew the worst A man who was ready and able to fix what was broken between us.
Only what's really broken, Barton is me.
I left Graham tonight.
Just walked out with my coat and my car keys.
You'd think that'd be the beginning of a fresh start, wouldn't you? No possessions, no personal attachments, not even a wallet.
And yet, um I'm gonna make the same mistakes all over again.
How could I not? I'm the same person I've always been.
I'm looking for the same thing.
I have no idea how to find it.
Oh.
You don't think you've changed? No.
No.
I do.
Oh.
Why? Because you left him.
You didn't wait for him to leave you, like you-- like you did with me.
That's the difference.
That's how you've changed.
You know that there's-- there's something more, something-- something better.
And you know that-- that you deserve it.
Or you would have stayed.
But-- but I'm alone.
I am all alone.
I don't know what to do now.
I don't Who do I have? Where is home? I-- I think maybe I can help.
I think I think maybe I can give that back to you.
Vivian, honey? It's your father.
Am I calling too late? No.
No, nothing's wrong.
I just, uh I have something to tell you, about your mother and me and why our marriage ended.
I think it's important that you know the truth-- the truth about me.
In the future, when people talk about our work, I hope that they will say to each other, "What was all the fuss about?" I hope they'll find it hard to believe there was ever a time that this kind of study was necessary.
What a triumph that would be.
Thank you.
We have time for a few questions.
- Leslie Farber.
- Go ahead.
No one knows how your work will be received in the future, but I find myself concerned about the hidden risks it poses.
Your science takes the relationship between man and woman-- husband and wife-- and renders it in numbers, graphs.
Sex is reduced to a mechanical process without any reference to the human psyche.
Qualities like modesty, chastity, fidelity, shame-- and most glaring of all, nowhere in your book does the word "love" appear.
Sorry.
What was your question, sir? My question, Dr.
Masters, is where is the love? Uh In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton discovered what was then known as the law of universal gravitation-- gravity.
Take two objects.
The larger object exerts an attractive force on the smaller object, pulling it towards itself, as it were.
An apple falls from a tree.
The Earth, by far the more massive object, pulls the apple to the ground.
Simple enough.
Only Newton's theory left scientists a rather puzzling problem.
To paraphrase you, Dr.
Farber, where is the gravity? It's not something you can see or touch.
It's not something you can put under microscopes or examine from a telescope.
Well, 230 years after Newton, a German patent clerk in Switzerland finally realized that scientists have been asking the wrong question all along.
They would never find an object in all the immensity of space called gravity, because, in point of fact, gravity is nothing but the shape of space itself.
That clerk-- Einstein-- posited that the apple does not fall to the ground because the Earth exerts some mysterious kind of force upon it.
The apple falls to the ground because it is following the lines and grooves that gravity has carved into space.
And when we talk about sex, we do not talk about love, Dr.
Farber, because love cannot be rendered into columns and graphs, as if it were the same as blood pressure or heart rate.
Love is not a force exerted by one body onto another.
It is the very fabric of those bodies.
Love is that which carves the lines and grooves The curvature of our desire.
Great night, honey.
Thank you, daddy.
I really regret these shoes.
Oh.
I'll, uh-- I'll bring the car around.
Oh, good.
Thank you, honey.
Did you enjoy yourself? It was very illuminating.
I'm so glad that it worked out.
You were able to get a sense of the work, what kind of contribution to science we're making-- I'm making.
I underestimated you.
You did? Here I thought that you'd made a mess of your life.
But now I see that you are this close to being able to fix things.
Really? I'm so proud of you.
You are? All you've got to do is get him to leave his wife and marry you.
You're so close.
Strike while the iron is hot.
And don't give him a chance to get tired of you, hmm? I'll meet you at the car.
Quite an evening.
Bill sure can work a crowd.
I didn't know that you were here.
I snuck in the back at the last minute.
I figured a smart investor tries to learn everything he can about his investment.
I'm glad I did.
I had no idea you were so far into the research on sexual inadequacy.
I can see the real potential there for overlap with our products.
Are you all right? Fine.
Are you sure? You look upset.
How would you like to take me to dinner sometime? You're awfully quiet.
Am I? For a man who just very publicly vanquished his enemies, yes, I would say you're rather subdued.
You won, Bill.
That's what you wanted.
Aren't you even a little bit pleased? I didn't respect their opinions when they called me a pervert.
I don't know why the hell I thought their approbation would matter now.
Then what was the point of this whole exercise? I don't know.
As I was walking down from the podium, I, uh listened to that applause.
All I could think about was my father.
The time I bought him a bottle of aftershave for his birthday.
As I was counting out the change in the drugstore, the sales lady asked me if I needed a bandage for my split lip.
It was his, uh-- his gift to me that morning.
Making that man happy was like trying to walk to the horizon.
I was never gonna get there.
I'll go check in on the others.
How was your day? Fine.
Your face is healing well.
That boy hasn't bothered you again? Ah.
I remember reading that book.
Yeah, I was just your age when I read it.
I remember climbing up the-- up the ladder to the attic and pulling the trap door shut behind me.
Why? I didn't want my father to know where I was.
Why? He-- he'd have given me chores.
I'd have had to stop reading.
Have you gotten to the part where Henry faces the charge and fires his gun? I used to love that description of the gun getting hotter and hotter.
He pulls the trigger over and over again until it gets so hot it's blistering his hands, but he just won't stop firing-- Where are you going? John? To bed.
But it's still early.
How about we watch some TV? I'm just gonna read in my room.