Masters of Sex s04e10 Episode Script
The Eyes of God
1 JOHNSON: Previously on Masters of Sex Can I tell you a secret, Allison? This person that I've always been that person seems to be fading away.
I'm gonna stay.
Allison and her friends are walking to the festival.
We can make a fresh start, the two of us, together.
At our own clinic.
Bill and Virginia might object to the number of follow-up appointments.
Nancy and I have an idea for a book.
I'm confident we can work something out.
I'm pregnant.
Nance, this is I don't know who the father is.
It's Art.
Well, I'm very careful about these things.
I use condoms with everyone else.
You came for treatment? I'm so surprised that you got Mom to go along with this.
She has no idea.
We've always just leapt into the unknown the work or sex.
The only thing we haven't tried is just being.
Having a life together means being all in.
Till death do us part.
Sultry music MASTERS: There's a bright, golden haze On the meadow There's a bright, golden haze On the meadow The corn is as high As an elephant's eye And it looks like It's climbin' right up To the sky Oh, I'm sorry.
Did I wake you? I was dreaming that we were at our wedding and Mr.
Sammy Davis Jr.
was singing.
Hmm.
- Hmm.
- Hmm.
- Oops.
- Mm-hmm.
I was thinking.
We could do this at Hef's mansion.
Oh, in the grotto.
Underwater.
Yes, our vows could be in bubbles.
With all our guests naked and in inner tubes.
I did read about a bride once that appeared in a puff of smoke.
Luckily, we have plenty of time to sort out the details.
But for now, I'm going to slip out before your kids wake up.
Don't want them to see me like this.
Yes.
Yeah, it would be a bad idea for you to surprise them.
JOHNSON: Yes, and like a wedding, telling our kids takes planning.
Not unlike telling my parents.
You do remember you have an intake with them this morning, right? Oh, gosh.
Mm-hmm.
Counseling my future in-laws.
- That is a recipe for - Helping me? Putting my mind at ease? Thank you so much for doing it.
What? Nothing.
I'm happy.
- Is that your car? - No.
My van! Got it from a guy named Patches who I met at the Jewish Community Center where the nuns were giving out sandwiches.
Of course.
I know we tried to look for you on the news, but with all the mud and rain There is a reason people my age aren't hippies.
Not that I regret a single moment.
Have you been, uh, staying here all week while Bill's been watching the kids? No.
No, I just I stayed last night for dinner.
Um, all the kids were together, and then George came to pick up Lisa.
I meant to-to go home.
It's okay, Gin, if you and Bill are together now.
(STAMMERING) Actually, Libby, we're getting married.
You're the first person to know.
I'm glad.
I really am.
My only concern is the children, that they'll be confused.
Well, they don't know yet, obviously.
I was actually hoping that you and I could figure that out together how to tell them.
The world is a curious place.
(DOOR OPENS) - (GASPS) - Hi! Hi, you! Hi! Oh, I missed you.
I missed you.
I missed you.
Hi, Aunt Gini! Gini's back! LIBBY: Hi, you.
Aw.
(DOG BARKS) (LAUGHING) After all these years.
Well, congratulations.
- Thank you.
- The both of you.
It's like a fairy tale come true.
Who's your wedding planner? Wedding pl no, I think that Bill and I are at a point where we don't really need Oh, no, a wedding planner is an absolute must.
You cannot be pulling your hair out with a million niggly details on the day.
Then maybe you would like the job.
And, Barton, we were hoping that you would stand as our witness.
I'd be nothing short of honored.
I'm gonna start pulling out all my Brides magazines today.
You subscribe? Well, the happiest occasion on Earth is a wedding.
It's the one thing that gives us all hope.
Mr.
and Mrs.
Eshelman.
GUY: Yes, of course.
Would you mind signing in? So the first thing we do is an intake.
What are we taking in exactly? I think he means a questionnaire.
Let's have Bill explain what he means, rather than us guessing.
Harry's right, essentially.
It is a questionnaire.
An extensive one.
Asking about? A range of things uh, childhood history, a sense of self, what sensual stimuli can elicit a response.
So we start with your current sexual difficulties.
Well, my current sexual difficulties are called marriage.
HARRY: Well, Edna's humoring me by coming here.
I'm in the middle of a session, Lester.
EDNA: And I'm humoring my daughter.
May I see that? Look, Bill, I know that the treatment only works if both people want to be here.
"Other than intercourse, how have you sought to pleasure your partner?" You cannot be asking me what I think you're asking.
Well, Edna, we do separate you and Harry to answer these questions, so if you are feeling self-conscious about EDNA: "With what frequency do you use masturbatory release?" - Honestly, Mother - HARRY: Honey.
Bill is here to help us.
But how does this help? All this spilling your guts about private things things that belong in the bedroom or in a confessional when none of it does any good anyway.
Well, I beg to differ, Edna.
We have seen hundreds of cases where it does make EDNA: By yanking everything out into the open and picking it apart like scavengers.
With all due respect, what you and Virginia are doing here do you realize you cannot put the genie back into the bottle? The secret things? The ugly things? Once you say them out loud, there they are for good.
"Masturbatory release.
" I'd sooner fly to the moon.
I've done my best for 40 years to be a good wife.
Why isn't that enough? You know me, Harry.
And you know that what you're asking here is too much.
I can't do this.
Soft dramatic music HARRY: Well, if Edna's done, then so am I.
Look, she might wake up tomorrow and feel differently about this.
I am done being made to feel that wanting sex in my life is a crime.
That wanting to be touched makes me a burden.
I'm done with the marriage.
Edna and I are over.
Daddy.
Daddy, I know this has been tough, but you can't leave Mom, as difficult as she's being.
What makes you so sure that I'm leaving? Just the way that you both stormed out.
You were listening to us? Oh, Gini, that is just wrong.
No, we record all of the sessions.
It's a common practice.
The point is, Mom loves you.
Loves me? We would be in Bill's office right now trying to work this out if Our therapy is tough medicine for a lot of people.
It's prying, often embarrassing.
Oh, you're gonna denigrate your own life's work just to defend her? She's 61 years old.
She'll be devastated if you leave.
Honey, please.
Why are you fighting so hard? Because you can't break up.
So you drive each other crazy.
So what? There are worse things, like eating dinner alone every night or waking up in an empty bed.
Growing old all by yourself that is a terrifying prospect, Daddy, one that you clearly have not thought through.
With two failed marriages of your own, haven't you made peace with that possibility? (ELEVATOR DINGS) My mind is made up, Gini.
I want you to respect that.
Dad, wait.
Dad, please.
Virginia, I need to talk to you and Bill.
Now is absolutely not the time, Art.
I'm afraid it is.
I'm not sure we understand.
What I'm saying is, Nancy is planning to open her own clinic in New York.
She intends to use the Masters and Johnson techniques.
She's gone through your files and taken patient names, especially the influential and wealthy ones.
She has also made a deal with Bob Drag to write a book about homosexuality based on the work we've been doing here.
Where is Nancy now? She's been in New York all week, signing papers for office space.
Not your space too? I find it hard to believe you're not beside her in all this.
I was, but I'm not anymore.
I've had to face some hard truths about myself and my marriage and who Nancy and I are were to each other.
So your marriage is also ending.
Well, this has been quite a morning.
I'm sorry, Art.
Of course.
I'm-I'm sorry too.
(SIGHS) You didn't deserve this.
To have your work stolen and your trust betrayed.
So I just want to say I'm sorry.
I'm hoping it's not too late.
In a breach this serious, there are a series of steps that must be enacted.
And the first step should be change all the locks, or I'm gonna go out there and stand guard by myself.
KELLER: Change the locks.
Yes.
Lester, you see to that.
In the meantime, one of us needs to search every inch of Nancy's office maybe she kept files or lists.
KELLER: We'll also do the same for her house, which will likely require a search warrant, unless the husband will let us in.
I'm sure Art would, but he's already moved out.
I cannot believe Nancy would do this.
This is not the woman I know.
Unfortunately, it's often a trusted employee that's in the position to do the most damage.
Art mentioned that she's already reached out to certain patients.
So we'll call them back, make it clear if they've heard from Dr.
Leveau that she's under investigation.
I'm happy to make those calls.
- Expose the little traitor.
- KELLER: As for this book Yes.
Bill, we'll need to get to Drag quickly and make it clear that if there's going to be a book based on our work, it'll come from us and us only.
Or Little, Brown could be facing legal action as well.
GUY: Well, in any event, let's not lose sight of the important thing.
The wedding.
I, for one, can juggle wedding plans and a criminal investigation at the same time.
The wedding? What wedding? Uh, well, this is hardly the time to tell you, Lester, but Virginia and I are getting married.
Am I the only one that doesn't know about this? I certainly didn't know, but hats off, you two.
JOHNSON: Everyone will be invited.
We want it to be a celebration.
Despite all the unpleasantness now.
Yes, indeed.
Life's rich pageant.
Okay, then.
Let's get to work.
I do wish you the very best, and I hope that you won't find marriage as the soul-crushing, testicle-shrinking, never-ending abyss of misery that I have.
LIBBY: No, I was inquiring about the three-bedroom.
And where is Telegraph Avenue? Close to campus and the local elementary.
Yes, I'll hold.
I understand late registration, but not too late, I hope.
Oh, thank you.
That would be perfect.
And what about a student ID? All right, then.
I will stop by the registrars first thing.
KELLER: As I live and breathe.
Last time I saw you, you were walking up a road with a bunch of stoned hippies to listen to music "for a little while.
" Well, you said "a little while.
" I didn't.
You were gone a week, Libby.
- I was worried.
- You were? Well, you didn't have to be, see? Here I am, and I'm fine.
Okay, then.
I missed you.
A lot.
Did you? And when you say "a lot," Counselor, what exactly do you mean? If I didn't love you so much, I'd have you declared non compos mentis.
Oh, come, now.
On what grounds? This ridiculous van.
It smells like patchouli.
It's lined with hemp.
Beg your pardon? I got a very good deal on it.
You own this revolting jalopy? Oh, I traded my diamond and pearl earrings for it.
Is this what a midlife crisis looks like? I prefer to think of it as an awakening.
(GROANS) This is an urgent message for Mrs.
Landsman.
If Dr.
Leveau attempts to contact you, you should know she will be violating the law.
Please call us back.
And we want six keys.
Six only.
All stamped "Do Not Duplicate.
" Nancy, it's Barton.
Hoping to speak to you.
This is Well, it's all very confused here right now.
I suppose I'm hoping that what Art said to Bill and Virginia about your plans about I trust it's not true and that you can straighten this out.
So please.
Please call me.
This is very (POUNDING ON DOOR) Dr.
Nancy Leveau? We have a warrant here to search the premises.
Look, you're not expecting me to invite you in, are you? I don't need an invitation.
I have a warrant.
You do know that the second you step foot in your new clinic and use one word of our protocol or attempt to treat any of our patients or publish a book using any of our research, we will come after you, Nancy, so fast, your doors will close before they even open.
On what grounds? I mean, you closing our doors.
Not only can we open our own clinic.
We can also say we trained at the Masters and Johnson Institute, because we did.
You might want to check with Art before you get too cozy as a "we.
" Legally, you have nothing.
I never signed that nondisclosure agreement.
Hmm, so your conscience is clear.
Like a shark doesn't think twice about the thing it chews up in its path because that's just what sharks do.
And who would understand that better than you, Virginia? You know, we are very similar, you and I, except that I know where this winds up for me.
I will end up alone, and I have made my peace with that.
What you don't see is, you will end up alone too.
Oh, well, that's another miscalculation on your part because Bill and I we're getting married, so while you'll end up on your own, newly divorced and mired in lawsuits, we will be the poster couple for sex therapy.
Excuse me, Mrs.
Johnson? I'll need you to verify any property that might belong to you or the clinic as I proceed.
Excuse me.
You won't find anything, Virginia.
Not your property, not even your happy ending.
So he was just sitting there, cooking on a little hibachi, but it wasn't until one of his students told me who we was that we actually spoke.
You're still thinking about work? I'm sorry.
It's just been a day, but it's your turn.
So, uh, there he is - BOTH: Dr.
Phillips.
- LIBBY: The law guru.
Squatting in a field, listening to Joan - "Bay-ez"? - Baez.
Grilling hot dogs.
Grilling mushrooms from the woods nearby.
Oh, that sounds potentially fatal.
(LAUGHS) My point is, Dr.
Phillips, Professor Emeritus of Public Law at Berkeley he sat me down on that tarp and he encouraged me well, actually, he inspired me to come out and enroll.
He even pulled some strings on my behalf.
- Enroll? In - Uh, law school.
Dr.
Phillips says there is no greater calling than the law.
I mean, forget the local college where it'll take me six years to get my JD.
No, I have to take up the law with an undiminished passion.
- Dr.
Phillips says that I - I'm sorry.
Just forget Dr.
Phillips for one second.
What what are you saying? Law school in-in Berkeley? - Mm-hmm.
- California? Libby, how would you look after the kids? They would come with me, of course.
What? No.
You You can't take my children.
I'm not taking our children.
We would make time for you to come out and visit.
We would come back here regularly.
You can't be serious.
It has taken me years decades to finally discover some path forward, a way to find happiness.
And I am very glad for you.
And now it is time for my life to fall into place too.
Which is something you can do here! Jesus, you can't just drop this piece of news into polite chitchat.
- What are you thinking? - Oh, my God.
Here we go.
Are you honestly gonna make me fight you for our kids? I'm sorry.
Fight? I have no intention of fighting you.
And what will the kids think if I don't fight for them? That I don't care about them? That I don't love them? No, I will not have them think that.
So you're concerned about how it looks.
I'm concerned about them.
I have been trying so hard to win them back, to not have them hate me anymore.
Well, it is hardly my fault that you spent years as an absent father.
- Don't throw that in my face! - And why shouldn't I? Why should I pay again for your selfishness? (DOOR SLAMS) What was that? I'll check the children.
(ENGINE REVVING) (TIRES SQUEALING) John? Stop! (GEARS GRINDING) John, what are you doing? I don't want to hear it! I'm sick of your arguing! Okay, okay.
Just come here.
(JOHNNY SOBBING) Look, I am so sorry, John, that you had to hear that.
All we were doing is trying to sort out I know what you were sorting out.
But I'm not moving.
I'm staying in St.
Louis with you.
With with me? It's the right thing to do.
The right thing? For whom? JOHNNY: You don't have friends.
You won't have Mom, and if I leave, you'll have no one.
You'll be all alone.
So that's why you want to stay? No one, not even you, deserves to be alone like that.
Well, you should know that I'm not gonna be alone.
I do have someone.
Virginia.
Aunt Gini? What do you mean? I mean we're-we're together.
In love.
We're, uh we're gonna get married.
Look, I know that must seem strange to you, given all the years that Aunt Virginia has been a part of our family and how close you've been to Tessa.
This whole time, you've-you've loved her? I did.
How could you do that? Look, what you have to understand is that the last thing I wanted was to hurt your mother.
But you did.
Why? Because grown-up lives are just impossibly complicated.
Because I loved Virginia, and as much as I tried, I just couldn't change that feeling.
Well, then you-you weren't trying hard enough.
I was, John.
Look, I'm look, I'm not saying I'm blameless.
It's far from it.
I have made many mistakes, but that doesn't mean there isn't love in it.
I love you and Jenny and Howie.
And I did love your mother.
I still do.
But not in that way.
No.
No, that way that's how I love Virginia.
So the good news is, you don't have to stay here because you're worried about me.
I won't, then.
Mom will really need my help if we're moving so far away.
You know, John you don't have to feel so responsible for adults.
Let them figure out their problems for themselves.
You can just be a boy.
No.
I really can't.
(GROANS) I've been looking everywhere for you.
A mai tai is made from pineapple, limes, and cherries maraschino, but still.
It's practically a health drink.
Is Daddy upstairs in the room? No, he's off somewhere, planning his new life as an old bachelor.
Mom, I'm-I'm so sorry.
- I can't imagine - What a relief it is? You don't mean that.
No one understands their parents.
Doesn't matter what age they are.
They always look at them from the point of view of a child.
Look, I understand that you're upset, and I am here to support you, and yes, you and Daddy, you had a bad day, but that doesn't necessarily mean the end.
The one thing that your father and I do agree on at the moment is our bafflement over why you are so determined to keep us together.
Fine.
You want to know one reason? Bill and I are getting married.
We want to have the ceremony next month.
Now, obviously, we'd like you and Daddy to be there.
Maybe both of you can walk me down the aisle.
Apparently, that's in fashion lately, according to Guy, my wedding planner.
That's a mistake, honey.
He says everybody has a wedding planner now.
I meant getting married.
For decades, I have tended to your father's needs, and the truth is, I am done with sex.
I have been for years.
The thought that I can now crawl into bed without being poked and pawed just me, alone, with a book, in peace This from the woman that told me to "nail Bill down," I believe were your words.
I was speaking from fear, which I no longer have.
- Oh.
- And really, Virginia.
Given your age and all you've been through, do you really need another failed marriage on your ledger? Forty years tossed on the trash heap.
And she was happy.
Or drunk.
I wouldn't take anything she said tonight as gospel.
Oh, you didn't hear her.
You know, between imagining my parents at the wedding and cleaning up the mess that Nancy left behind, maybe we should push the wedding down the road a bit six months when planning it doesn't feel so overwhelming.
Then let's not plan.
Let's do it tomorrow.
I'm serious.
Just us.
Not tell a soul.
- No, we can't do it that way.
- Why not? Because it's as if we have walked across broken glass, barefoot, for years, to get to this point.
We-we have to celebrate after all that We only have to do what we want.
Look around us, Virginia.
My-my kids are moving halfway across the country.
Your parents' marriage is falling apart.
People we trusted have betrayed us.
What do we really have but for each other? Of course we have each other, but So why shouldn't our marriage reflect that? Because our marriage is something bigger than that.
Everything that we've dedicated ourselves to, everything that we've believed in, has all come true for the couple that started it all.
That'll be so inspiring to people.
I don't I don't care about people.
We are getting married.
Bill and Virginia.
Not Masters and Johnson, the famous sex therapists.
If we don't learn to separate ourselves from that No, of course.
I want that too.
I-I want to keep that sacred.
Doesn't it say everything about who we are now, who we want to be in the future, if we just push aside all the distractions and stand before a clerk, in the eyes of God, and make this about us? Just you and me.
Nobody else.
Well, not even Barton? We still need a witness.
All right, Barton can still witness, but he's the only one.
Soft piano music Just us.
Against the world.
I can't tell if you're an apparition or if it's really you.
Well, you've been living with a ghost for so long.
How could you know? I forgot my high school wrestling trophies.
For some reason, they suddenly mattered to me.
I'll be honest.
I didn't think you had this in you.
Betraying me to Bill and Virginia, cleaning me out of house and home You're impressed.
And sad.
That was my child too, Nancy.
I know you can't love me you don't have it in you but, God damn it, I could've finally found love with a child, and you took that from me.
It's not like Barton to tattle.
He didn't.
I heard you on the tape.
So you eavesdropped.
You really are turning over a new leaf.
I will never again swallow everything I am everything I feel, everything I want for the sake of someone else.
You are wrong about one thing.
I, um I do love you.
What I just couldn't imagine was me with a child.
What kind of mother would I be? Like Virginia? God forbid, maybe worse? I could've loved a child for the both of us.
New York can still be a fresh start for us.
Maybe you can convince me I wouldn't be such a bad mother after all.
Oh, God.
I don't want this, Art.
I'm a shrink, Nance.
You confessed the one thing you knew would end our marriage in a room you knew was being taped.
Sometimes what we want can surprise even us.
I assumed you called me in because of my last session with Cherlyn, which was very successful.
This isn't about your last session.
Or your time here as a patient.
This is about your work with us as our publisher.
Our relationship to Little, Brown.
Which we assumed was an exclusive relationship, in that we've given you the rights to all our work.
And in entrusting our work to you, we assumed it would engender a loyalty between us, one that went both ways.
Of course it does.
Both ways.
Then there's something you have to explain to us, Bob.
Why is it that you've agreed to do a book on homosexuality with Art and Nancy? Did they say that? How perfectly indiscreet.
We are both your clients and your doctors, Bob, and since we're the ones that agreed to treat you Essentially cured you so you could have a future with Cherlyn.
Although Art did put in the work.
I mean, day-to-day.
Art is not a known entity in the publishing world.
Nor is Nancy.
Not that they'll be doing a book or doing anything together now.
What? No.
MASTERS: The point is Masters and Johnson are the household name.
We're the ones with a track record in sex therapy, the ones that can, with authority, publish a book that chronicles the successful transitioning of homosexuals.
So your book on homosexuals would include conversion? Yes.
Conversion.
With the anonymous patient zero as our first success story.
So do we have your word? You're the ones the world wants to hear from, so yes, of course.
The book is yours.
I'm not sure how this little mix-up happened in the first place.
You know we can't begin to deliver on conversion therapy.
I said what was needed to get the book back.
So we'll give him a few days, and then I'll check in with Ketterman at Little, Brown, make sure Bob kept his promise.
I should get home.
Get changed.
Marriage license? Safe and sound.
We should probably just meet there instead of you picking me up.
Oh, you don't want me to see you before the ceremony? It's bad luck.
I saw my other husbands before those weddings, and this one is going to be different.
Mm-hmm.
(DOOR OPENS) Oh.
So sorry, lovebirds.
But I just got off the phone with Hef's office, and good news.
He has generously offered up his mansion for your wedding.
Apparently, Soupy Sales got married there, and they released a dozen white doves into the air when he kissed his bride.
Why don't we just put a pin in this for a moment, Guy? Yeah, Virginia and I are discussing a smaller affair.
Well, not too small for doves, I hope.
We can still consider doves.
Let's just talk about it tomorrow.
I'll be here.
With bells on.
- He's going to be crushed.
- Mm-hmm.
Maybe I can give him my bouquet.
Dr.
Dreessen, you're here.
I wasn't sure you'd get my message.
Well, you made it sound important, so Yes, it is.
So can I buy you a drink? I don't think so, no, but thank you.
Okay.
You mind if I keep drinking? All right.
Well.
(CLEARS THROAT) As is always the way with these things, nothing is ever easy in life, in love, in business You're going to do the homosexuality book with Bill and Virginia.
Boy, can you ever read me.
Look, I know I promised the book to you, and You should do the book with them.
I'm moving on.
I'm leaving this work and the clinic behind.
I'm very sad to hear that.
You're such a gifted doctor.
Dedicated I would say the credit is all yours.
Yours and Cherlyn's.
Cherlyn is happy, of course.
Not that she's ever entirely pleased with anything.
But you know how that goes with women.
I understand you and Nancy are having difficulties.
Well, it's it's not so difficult once it's finally over.
Ah.
Well, that wife of yours tough stuff, huh? I noticed it in the office.
A beauty, surely, but also a certain way of the executioner about her I'd rather not talk about Nancy.
The wounds are still fresh.
Ugh, I know those wounds.
What I'm saying is, we understand each other, Art.
And I am so very sorry.
Um excuse me for a moment.
Jesus, Bob.
You startled me.
I'm afraid I am tipsy.
I'm afraid it's more than that.
LIBBY: Of course I was gonna tell you, Bram.
There's just been a million details to attend to.
I don't even rank as a last-minute detail? No, it's just been such a whirlwind is all.
One minute, I'm sitting there in the mud, talking to Dr.
Phillips, and then God, why did I let you go to this concert? All that came from that debacle was VD, a field full of cows that won't milk, and you moving 2,000 miles away.
To go to law school.
I thought you would be proud of me.
I am proud of you.
I also love you, so I'm just wondering how we're gonna continue seeing each other.
I don't know.
What do you mean, you don't know? So what are you saying? That's it? We're done? I'm not really saying anything.
Why do we have to define it? Why do you have to sound like a damn hippie all of a sudden? I'm just trying to be realistic.
If we find our way to each other, great.
If we don't, it wasn't meant to be.
We have had a wonderful time together.
No.
I can't let you go like this.
Oh.
Here is the beauty of the situation, Bram.
It's not up to you whether I stay or go.
The days of me organizing my life around a man are over.
Then I'll organize my life around yours.
Unless you can stand there and honestly tell me you don't love me.
I would say the evidence points to my loving you.
Then the defense rests.
For the time being only.
You go and do what you need to do.
But one day, you will look up from your disgusting tempeh burger, and I will be there.
The man who upended his whole life for you.
Soft music Ms.
Virginia, you have a phone call.
I really need to get home, Guy.
- Take a message.
- It sounds important.
VIRGINIA: I'm surprised to hear from you so soon.
Well, I'm surprised to be calling, but I wanted to tell you one last thing before I go.
Oh, no.
Is the damage from Nancy worse than we thought? Bob Drag just kissed me in a men's room.
He what? Kissed me in a men's room.
He kissed you, kissed you? Like Rhett kissed Scarlett.
And so it is my opinion as a doctor and psychiatrist that Bob is an active homosexual, which means if you're looking for a success story of retraining sexual impulses from homosexual to heterosexual, Bob Drag is not it.
My fear is that it now negates the book entirely.
Please know the work I did with Bob I really did try.
Please convey that to Bill.
Of course.
I will tell him.
Bye.
- Excuse me.
- I'm so sorry.
Oh.
Mrs.
Johnson.
You're Billy's partner.
I recognized you from your book.
Ah.
Anyway, have a good day.
I will.
Thank you.
How do I look? Sharp as a tack.
Are you going someplace special? Nope.
Just home.
You know.
Eventually.
Good, because Dody's here to see you.
I'm pretty sure she said her name was Dody.
I'm definitely sure she said she's someone from way back.
DODY: I don't know if you remember my cousin Delia.
Oh, I don't know.
Uh, dark hair? Had a very high-pitched - Laugh? Yes.
- Yeah.
But a heart of gold.
Anyway, so she just recently moved to Chesterville, so I'm staying with her now.
In Chesterville.
- Just right outside - St.
Louis.
- Yes.
About ten - Ten minutes.
Oh, Bill, you don't have to look so worried.
I'm here because well, I'm embarrassed about the last time we met.
Oh.
Dody, no.
You don't have to No, no, I do.
There's nothing worse than a weepy woman, and yet seeing you really did upend things.
- My marriage, for starters.
- Oh, no.
- No, I would never - And you can't blame yourself.
It had to happen.
I've been living like a visitor in my own life for so long.
But seeing each other also clarified for me another truth that it was really always the two of us that were meant to be together.
I'm, uh I'm-I'm getting married.
Oh.
- Today.
- Oh, my goodness.
- To - To Virginia.
Virginia? Oh, Johnson.
- Mm.
- Mrs.
Johnson.
Oh, I just saw her at the elevator.
You did? You introduced yourself? Oh, no.
No, no.
But I would love to meet her.
I mean, if I'm staying in the area.
Well, perhaps, uh, you know, someday in the future.
That would be nice.
It would settle things, once and for all, to see you happy with someone else.
No one actually knows that I'm getting married today except for my old friend Barton.
And now you.
The person I've known even longer than that.
Wouldn't it be something if we ended up as friends? Dody, we already are.
I haven't returned your calls because I wanted to speak to you in person.
Lurking in the parking lot doesn't bode well.
I'm hoping you can say something to make sense of all this.
Well, you have to know you're the last person I wanted to hurt.
Just me you're worried about? What about Art? What about the people who trusted you enough to hire you? You know as well as I do the world of sexual therapy is exploding.
It's changing by the minute.
Bill and Virginia are trying to hold on to something that is already slipping from their grasp.
That's absurd.
And it won't work, what you're trying to do.
Of course it will.
I will simply build on what they started.
Copernicus discovered the Sun was the center of the universe.
Then Galileo pushed it further.
So did Hubble.
Now Neil Armstrong is walking on the moon.
I will take their work places they can only imagine.
They're the top sex experts in the country, with years of cutting-edge work ahead.
I'm not saying they won't continue.
You know Virginia better than I.
Her unbridled ambition, her craving for acclaim She is pushing the work, pushing Bill, even, into an area now that may very well be their undoing.
No.
Gay conversion therapy.
And why would I believe anything you say? You don't have to believe me.
Investigate for yourself.
I, uh I strongly suspect you won't want anything to do with it.
Hello.
I'm checking in for Masters and Johnson.
Both parties here? Not yet, but I'm sure he'll be here Take a seat.
(MASTERS SIGHS) Oh, leave it to the two men to be late.
Maybe we should take my car and, uh, head down to City Hall together.
I'm not going anywhere until you tell me it's not true.
What's that? That you and Virginia are publishing a book advocating gay conversion.
Uh, Virginia and I took back from Art and Nancy what is rightfully ours.
I mean, we will eventually publish a book documenting our work on homosexuality, but we discussed all this.
You promised me, Bill.
And I'm not advocating conversion therapy, Barton.
(STAMMERING) Is this about Bob Drag? Because yes.
It turns out he was able to, uh, redirect his homosexual impulses towards his heterosexual relationship, but My goodness.
After everything I suffered.
The years of self-doubt and self-loathing and what it did to Margaret and Vivian.
I damn near killed myself trying to extinguish the very essence of who I am! You saw it! I did, I did, and I hope to never see it again.
What we are exploring is nothing like the torture that you were subjected to.
We simply took what was working so successfully with heterosexual couples and just directed it towards Drag, to see if it could help.
He begged me, Barton, and I felt it was my duty as his doctor to help him if-if he wanted that change.
We shouldn't have to change.
You're right.
And-and we can discuss all this on the drive.
I-I'm pretty sure it's bad luck to keep a bride waiting on her wedding day.
And I understand it's your bride that's pushing you toward this conversion work.
- What? - Because I'm fond of her, Bill.
I always have been.
But I've also seen over the years how Virginia has the most to prove, how hard she fights to advance her place in the work.
Maybe because she's uncredentialed.
Wait a minute.
You and I can sort out our differences on conversion, but if you're gonna malign Virginia You stepped too far with this, Bill.
I can't abide it.
Oh, you can't abide it.
Well, I can't have you speak like this about Virginia.
Then you better head to City Hall alone, because I will say what's needed to be said.
I've loved you like a son.
We have a relationship of nearly 30 years.
But if you pursue this path use your bully pulpit to advocate for the conversion of homosexuals I will make it my life's work to see you discredited.
William Masters.
Virginia Johnson.
Hello again.
So, as I said, Dr.
Masters will be here any minute.
The appointment was at 4 p.
m.
It's 4:13 now.
Yes, I'm-I'm aware of that, but if you could just signal to me instead of No, I don't need any tissues.
Not yet.
Remember, we close at 5 p.
m.
Sharp.
Dominik DiAngelo.
Alison Burke.
Hi.
CLERK: Hello.
Can I see your form? ALISON: Oh, yes.
Right here.
CLERK: You have any questions? Bright guitar music Think that's it.
Are we ready? - Whoo! - Yes! - Yeah! Let's go! Let's go! - (LIBBY LAUGHS) The future is happy and bright, my sweet boy.
We'll see.
Mm.
(SIGHS) MASTERS: Oh.
I was about to leave.
I am so sorry I've kept you waiting.
Where's Barton? I-I just couldn't deny Guy this moment.
I just want you to know I am so honored to be your and Dr.
Bill's witness.
And while I love a wedding with scale, I can also embrace the simple elegance of this.
Guy, could you let the clerk know that we're here and we're ready? Right.
(COLLECTIVE SIGH) We are gathered here in the sight of God and in the presence of this witness to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony, which is an honorable estate and not to be entered into lightly or unadvisedly but reverently and discreetly.
William Masters, will you have this woman, Virginia Johnson, to be thy wedded wife? Will you love her, honor her, keep her in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live? I will.
CLERK: Virginia Johnson, will you have this man, William Masters, to be thy wedded husband? Will you love him, honor him, keep him in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live? I will.
CLERK: Do you pledge to remember that love, trust, and loyalty alone will prevail as the foundation for a happy and enduring home, which will be full of joy and will abide in peace? We do.
We do.
CLERK: By the power vested in me by the state of Missouri, I now pronounce you man and wife.
Uplifting music Congratulations.
- Thank you.
- CHUCK: Dr.
and Mrs.
Masters! MASTERS: I'm sorry.
No, this is a private affair.
Hey, you! Skedaddle! How did he know we'd be here? I have no idea.
Well, don't look at me.
I found out about this 30 minutes ago.
But it was a beautiful ceremony.
And I wish you every happiness.
Maybe there's a back door.
Just in case.
Bill, it's fine.
Come on.
Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" playing Oh, there they are.
- I don't understand this.
- I know.
- Hey, there they are.
- Let's go! Dr.
and Mrs.
Masters.
Come on! (PHOTOGRAPHERS CLAMORING) Couple of shots! Right here, right here.
- Turn around! - Don't be shy! I suppose we could give them just one photo.
Don't you think, Bill? MAN: We're all trying to make a living here.
MAN: Yeah, we're just trying to make a buck, huh? Quick shot.
That's it, Virginia.
- Nice, two more.
- Come on.
Dr.
and Mrs.
Masters.
Gentlemen, it's Masters and Johnson.
That's who we are.
My very life today If I don't get some shelter Oh, yeah, I'm gonna fade away War, children It's just a shot away, it's just a shot away War, children It's just a shot away, it's just a shot away, hey Ooh, see, the fire is sweepin' Our very street today Burns like a red coal carpet Mad bull lost its way War, children, yeah It's just a shot away, it's just a shot away
I'm gonna stay.
Allison and her friends are walking to the festival.
We can make a fresh start, the two of us, together.
At our own clinic.
Bill and Virginia might object to the number of follow-up appointments.
Nancy and I have an idea for a book.
I'm confident we can work something out.
I'm pregnant.
Nance, this is I don't know who the father is.
It's Art.
Well, I'm very careful about these things.
I use condoms with everyone else.
You came for treatment? I'm so surprised that you got Mom to go along with this.
She has no idea.
We've always just leapt into the unknown the work or sex.
The only thing we haven't tried is just being.
Having a life together means being all in.
Till death do us part.
Sultry music MASTERS: There's a bright, golden haze On the meadow There's a bright, golden haze On the meadow The corn is as high As an elephant's eye And it looks like It's climbin' right up To the sky Oh, I'm sorry.
Did I wake you? I was dreaming that we were at our wedding and Mr.
Sammy Davis Jr.
was singing.
Hmm.
- Hmm.
- Hmm.
- Oops.
- Mm-hmm.
I was thinking.
We could do this at Hef's mansion.
Oh, in the grotto.
Underwater.
Yes, our vows could be in bubbles.
With all our guests naked and in inner tubes.
I did read about a bride once that appeared in a puff of smoke.
Luckily, we have plenty of time to sort out the details.
But for now, I'm going to slip out before your kids wake up.
Don't want them to see me like this.
Yes.
Yeah, it would be a bad idea for you to surprise them.
JOHNSON: Yes, and like a wedding, telling our kids takes planning.
Not unlike telling my parents.
You do remember you have an intake with them this morning, right? Oh, gosh.
Mm-hmm.
Counseling my future in-laws.
- That is a recipe for - Helping me? Putting my mind at ease? Thank you so much for doing it.
What? Nothing.
I'm happy.
- Is that your car? - No.
My van! Got it from a guy named Patches who I met at the Jewish Community Center where the nuns were giving out sandwiches.
Of course.
I know we tried to look for you on the news, but with all the mud and rain There is a reason people my age aren't hippies.
Not that I regret a single moment.
Have you been, uh, staying here all week while Bill's been watching the kids? No.
No, I just I stayed last night for dinner.
Um, all the kids were together, and then George came to pick up Lisa.
I meant to-to go home.
It's okay, Gin, if you and Bill are together now.
(STAMMERING) Actually, Libby, we're getting married.
You're the first person to know.
I'm glad.
I really am.
My only concern is the children, that they'll be confused.
Well, they don't know yet, obviously.
I was actually hoping that you and I could figure that out together how to tell them.
The world is a curious place.
(DOOR OPENS) - (GASPS) - Hi! Hi, you! Hi! Oh, I missed you.
I missed you.
I missed you.
Hi, Aunt Gini! Gini's back! LIBBY: Hi, you.
Aw.
(DOG BARKS) (LAUGHING) After all these years.
Well, congratulations.
- Thank you.
- The both of you.
It's like a fairy tale come true.
Who's your wedding planner? Wedding pl no, I think that Bill and I are at a point where we don't really need Oh, no, a wedding planner is an absolute must.
You cannot be pulling your hair out with a million niggly details on the day.
Then maybe you would like the job.
And, Barton, we were hoping that you would stand as our witness.
I'd be nothing short of honored.
I'm gonna start pulling out all my Brides magazines today.
You subscribe? Well, the happiest occasion on Earth is a wedding.
It's the one thing that gives us all hope.
Mr.
and Mrs.
Eshelman.
GUY: Yes, of course.
Would you mind signing in? So the first thing we do is an intake.
What are we taking in exactly? I think he means a questionnaire.
Let's have Bill explain what he means, rather than us guessing.
Harry's right, essentially.
It is a questionnaire.
An extensive one.
Asking about? A range of things uh, childhood history, a sense of self, what sensual stimuli can elicit a response.
So we start with your current sexual difficulties.
Well, my current sexual difficulties are called marriage.
HARRY: Well, Edna's humoring me by coming here.
I'm in the middle of a session, Lester.
EDNA: And I'm humoring my daughter.
May I see that? Look, Bill, I know that the treatment only works if both people want to be here.
"Other than intercourse, how have you sought to pleasure your partner?" You cannot be asking me what I think you're asking.
Well, Edna, we do separate you and Harry to answer these questions, so if you are feeling self-conscious about EDNA: "With what frequency do you use masturbatory release?" - Honestly, Mother - HARRY: Honey.
Bill is here to help us.
But how does this help? All this spilling your guts about private things things that belong in the bedroom or in a confessional when none of it does any good anyway.
Well, I beg to differ, Edna.
We have seen hundreds of cases where it does make EDNA: By yanking everything out into the open and picking it apart like scavengers.
With all due respect, what you and Virginia are doing here do you realize you cannot put the genie back into the bottle? The secret things? The ugly things? Once you say them out loud, there they are for good.
"Masturbatory release.
" I'd sooner fly to the moon.
I've done my best for 40 years to be a good wife.
Why isn't that enough? You know me, Harry.
And you know that what you're asking here is too much.
I can't do this.
Soft dramatic music HARRY: Well, if Edna's done, then so am I.
Look, she might wake up tomorrow and feel differently about this.
I am done being made to feel that wanting sex in my life is a crime.
That wanting to be touched makes me a burden.
I'm done with the marriage.
Edna and I are over.
Daddy.
Daddy, I know this has been tough, but you can't leave Mom, as difficult as she's being.
What makes you so sure that I'm leaving? Just the way that you both stormed out.
You were listening to us? Oh, Gini, that is just wrong.
No, we record all of the sessions.
It's a common practice.
The point is, Mom loves you.
Loves me? We would be in Bill's office right now trying to work this out if Our therapy is tough medicine for a lot of people.
It's prying, often embarrassing.
Oh, you're gonna denigrate your own life's work just to defend her? She's 61 years old.
She'll be devastated if you leave.
Honey, please.
Why are you fighting so hard? Because you can't break up.
So you drive each other crazy.
So what? There are worse things, like eating dinner alone every night or waking up in an empty bed.
Growing old all by yourself that is a terrifying prospect, Daddy, one that you clearly have not thought through.
With two failed marriages of your own, haven't you made peace with that possibility? (ELEVATOR DINGS) My mind is made up, Gini.
I want you to respect that.
Dad, wait.
Dad, please.
Virginia, I need to talk to you and Bill.
Now is absolutely not the time, Art.
I'm afraid it is.
I'm not sure we understand.
What I'm saying is, Nancy is planning to open her own clinic in New York.
She intends to use the Masters and Johnson techniques.
She's gone through your files and taken patient names, especially the influential and wealthy ones.
She has also made a deal with Bob Drag to write a book about homosexuality based on the work we've been doing here.
Where is Nancy now? She's been in New York all week, signing papers for office space.
Not your space too? I find it hard to believe you're not beside her in all this.
I was, but I'm not anymore.
I've had to face some hard truths about myself and my marriage and who Nancy and I are were to each other.
So your marriage is also ending.
Well, this has been quite a morning.
I'm sorry, Art.
Of course.
I'm-I'm sorry too.
(SIGHS) You didn't deserve this.
To have your work stolen and your trust betrayed.
So I just want to say I'm sorry.
I'm hoping it's not too late.
In a breach this serious, there are a series of steps that must be enacted.
And the first step should be change all the locks, or I'm gonna go out there and stand guard by myself.
KELLER: Change the locks.
Yes.
Lester, you see to that.
In the meantime, one of us needs to search every inch of Nancy's office maybe she kept files or lists.
KELLER: We'll also do the same for her house, which will likely require a search warrant, unless the husband will let us in.
I'm sure Art would, but he's already moved out.
I cannot believe Nancy would do this.
This is not the woman I know.
Unfortunately, it's often a trusted employee that's in the position to do the most damage.
Art mentioned that she's already reached out to certain patients.
So we'll call them back, make it clear if they've heard from Dr.
Leveau that she's under investigation.
I'm happy to make those calls.
- Expose the little traitor.
- KELLER: As for this book Yes.
Bill, we'll need to get to Drag quickly and make it clear that if there's going to be a book based on our work, it'll come from us and us only.
Or Little, Brown could be facing legal action as well.
GUY: Well, in any event, let's not lose sight of the important thing.
The wedding.
I, for one, can juggle wedding plans and a criminal investigation at the same time.
The wedding? What wedding? Uh, well, this is hardly the time to tell you, Lester, but Virginia and I are getting married.
Am I the only one that doesn't know about this? I certainly didn't know, but hats off, you two.
JOHNSON: Everyone will be invited.
We want it to be a celebration.
Despite all the unpleasantness now.
Yes, indeed.
Life's rich pageant.
Okay, then.
Let's get to work.
I do wish you the very best, and I hope that you won't find marriage as the soul-crushing, testicle-shrinking, never-ending abyss of misery that I have.
LIBBY: No, I was inquiring about the three-bedroom.
And where is Telegraph Avenue? Close to campus and the local elementary.
Yes, I'll hold.
I understand late registration, but not too late, I hope.
Oh, thank you.
That would be perfect.
And what about a student ID? All right, then.
I will stop by the registrars first thing.
KELLER: As I live and breathe.
Last time I saw you, you were walking up a road with a bunch of stoned hippies to listen to music "for a little while.
" Well, you said "a little while.
" I didn't.
You were gone a week, Libby.
- I was worried.
- You were? Well, you didn't have to be, see? Here I am, and I'm fine.
Okay, then.
I missed you.
A lot.
Did you? And when you say "a lot," Counselor, what exactly do you mean? If I didn't love you so much, I'd have you declared non compos mentis.
Oh, come, now.
On what grounds? This ridiculous van.
It smells like patchouli.
It's lined with hemp.
Beg your pardon? I got a very good deal on it.
You own this revolting jalopy? Oh, I traded my diamond and pearl earrings for it.
Is this what a midlife crisis looks like? I prefer to think of it as an awakening.
(GROANS) This is an urgent message for Mrs.
Landsman.
If Dr.
Leveau attempts to contact you, you should know she will be violating the law.
Please call us back.
And we want six keys.
Six only.
All stamped "Do Not Duplicate.
" Nancy, it's Barton.
Hoping to speak to you.
This is Well, it's all very confused here right now.
I suppose I'm hoping that what Art said to Bill and Virginia about your plans about I trust it's not true and that you can straighten this out.
So please.
Please call me.
This is very (POUNDING ON DOOR) Dr.
Nancy Leveau? We have a warrant here to search the premises.
Look, you're not expecting me to invite you in, are you? I don't need an invitation.
I have a warrant.
You do know that the second you step foot in your new clinic and use one word of our protocol or attempt to treat any of our patients or publish a book using any of our research, we will come after you, Nancy, so fast, your doors will close before they even open.
On what grounds? I mean, you closing our doors.
Not only can we open our own clinic.
We can also say we trained at the Masters and Johnson Institute, because we did.
You might want to check with Art before you get too cozy as a "we.
" Legally, you have nothing.
I never signed that nondisclosure agreement.
Hmm, so your conscience is clear.
Like a shark doesn't think twice about the thing it chews up in its path because that's just what sharks do.
And who would understand that better than you, Virginia? You know, we are very similar, you and I, except that I know where this winds up for me.
I will end up alone, and I have made my peace with that.
What you don't see is, you will end up alone too.
Oh, well, that's another miscalculation on your part because Bill and I we're getting married, so while you'll end up on your own, newly divorced and mired in lawsuits, we will be the poster couple for sex therapy.
Excuse me, Mrs.
Johnson? I'll need you to verify any property that might belong to you or the clinic as I proceed.
Excuse me.
You won't find anything, Virginia.
Not your property, not even your happy ending.
So he was just sitting there, cooking on a little hibachi, but it wasn't until one of his students told me who we was that we actually spoke.
You're still thinking about work? I'm sorry.
It's just been a day, but it's your turn.
So, uh, there he is - BOTH: Dr.
Phillips.
- LIBBY: The law guru.
Squatting in a field, listening to Joan - "Bay-ez"? - Baez.
Grilling hot dogs.
Grilling mushrooms from the woods nearby.
Oh, that sounds potentially fatal.
(LAUGHS) My point is, Dr.
Phillips, Professor Emeritus of Public Law at Berkeley he sat me down on that tarp and he encouraged me well, actually, he inspired me to come out and enroll.
He even pulled some strings on my behalf.
- Enroll? In - Uh, law school.
Dr.
Phillips says there is no greater calling than the law.
I mean, forget the local college where it'll take me six years to get my JD.
No, I have to take up the law with an undiminished passion.
- Dr.
Phillips says that I - I'm sorry.
Just forget Dr.
Phillips for one second.
What what are you saying? Law school in-in Berkeley? - Mm-hmm.
- California? Libby, how would you look after the kids? They would come with me, of course.
What? No.
You You can't take my children.
I'm not taking our children.
We would make time for you to come out and visit.
We would come back here regularly.
You can't be serious.
It has taken me years decades to finally discover some path forward, a way to find happiness.
And I am very glad for you.
And now it is time for my life to fall into place too.
Which is something you can do here! Jesus, you can't just drop this piece of news into polite chitchat.
- What are you thinking? - Oh, my God.
Here we go.
Are you honestly gonna make me fight you for our kids? I'm sorry.
Fight? I have no intention of fighting you.
And what will the kids think if I don't fight for them? That I don't care about them? That I don't love them? No, I will not have them think that.
So you're concerned about how it looks.
I'm concerned about them.
I have been trying so hard to win them back, to not have them hate me anymore.
Well, it is hardly my fault that you spent years as an absent father.
- Don't throw that in my face! - And why shouldn't I? Why should I pay again for your selfishness? (DOOR SLAMS) What was that? I'll check the children.
(ENGINE REVVING) (TIRES SQUEALING) John? Stop! (GEARS GRINDING) John, what are you doing? I don't want to hear it! I'm sick of your arguing! Okay, okay.
Just come here.
(JOHNNY SOBBING) Look, I am so sorry, John, that you had to hear that.
All we were doing is trying to sort out I know what you were sorting out.
But I'm not moving.
I'm staying in St.
Louis with you.
With with me? It's the right thing to do.
The right thing? For whom? JOHNNY: You don't have friends.
You won't have Mom, and if I leave, you'll have no one.
You'll be all alone.
So that's why you want to stay? No one, not even you, deserves to be alone like that.
Well, you should know that I'm not gonna be alone.
I do have someone.
Virginia.
Aunt Gini? What do you mean? I mean we're-we're together.
In love.
We're, uh we're gonna get married.
Look, I know that must seem strange to you, given all the years that Aunt Virginia has been a part of our family and how close you've been to Tessa.
This whole time, you've-you've loved her? I did.
How could you do that? Look, what you have to understand is that the last thing I wanted was to hurt your mother.
But you did.
Why? Because grown-up lives are just impossibly complicated.
Because I loved Virginia, and as much as I tried, I just couldn't change that feeling.
Well, then you-you weren't trying hard enough.
I was, John.
Look, I'm look, I'm not saying I'm blameless.
It's far from it.
I have made many mistakes, but that doesn't mean there isn't love in it.
I love you and Jenny and Howie.
And I did love your mother.
I still do.
But not in that way.
No.
No, that way that's how I love Virginia.
So the good news is, you don't have to stay here because you're worried about me.
I won't, then.
Mom will really need my help if we're moving so far away.
You know, John you don't have to feel so responsible for adults.
Let them figure out their problems for themselves.
You can just be a boy.
No.
I really can't.
(GROANS) I've been looking everywhere for you.
A mai tai is made from pineapple, limes, and cherries maraschino, but still.
It's practically a health drink.
Is Daddy upstairs in the room? No, he's off somewhere, planning his new life as an old bachelor.
Mom, I'm-I'm so sorry.
- I can't imagine - What a relief it is? You don't mean that.
No one understands their parents.
Doesn't matter what age they are.
They always look at them from the point of view of a child.
Look, I understand that you're upset, and I am here to support you, and yes, you and Daddy, you had a bad day, but that doesn't necessarily mean the end.
The one thing that your father and I do agree on at the moment is our bafflement over why you are so determined to keep us together.
Fine.
You want to know one reason? Bill and I are getting married.
We want to have the ceremony next month.
Now, obviously, we'd like you and Daddy to be there.
Maybe both of you can walk me down the aisle.
Apparently, that's in fashion lately, according to Guy, my wedding planner.
That's a mistake, honey.
He says everybody has a wedding planner now.
I meant getting married.
For decades, I have tended to your father's needs, and the truth is, I am done with sex.
I have been for years.
The thought that I can now crawl into bed without being poked and pawed just me, alone, with a book, in peace This from the woman that told me to "nail Bill down," I believe were your words.
I was speaking from fear, which I no longer have.
- Oh.
- And really, Virginia.
Given your age and all you've been through, do you really need another failed marriage on your ledger? Forty years tossed on the trash heap.
And she was happy.
Or drunk.
I wouldn't take anything she said tonight as gospel.
Oh, you didn't hear her.
You know, between imagining my parents at the wedding and cleaning up the mess that Nancy left behind, maybe we should push the wedding down the road a bit six months when planning it doesn't feel so overwhelming.
Then let's not plan.
Let's do it tomorrow.
I'm serious.
Just us.
Not tell a soul.
- No, we can't do it that way.
- Why not? Because it's as if we have walked across broken glass, barefoot, for years, to get to this point.
We-we have to celebrate after all that We only have to do what we want.
Look around us, Virginia.
My-my kids are moving halfway across the country.
Your parents' marriage is falling apart.
People we trusted have betrayed us.
What do we really have but for each other? Of course we have each other, but So why shouldn't our marriage reflect that? Because our marriage is something bigger than that.
Everything that we've dedicated ourselves to, everything that we've believed in, has all come true for the couple that started it all.
That'll be so inspiring to people.
I don't I don't care about people.
We are getting married.
Bill and Virginia.
Not Masters and Johnson, the famous sex therapists.
If we don't learn to separate ourselves from that No, of course.
I want that too.
I-I want to keep that sacred.
Doesn't it say everything about who we are now, who we want to be in the future, if we just push aside all the distractions and stand before a clerk, in the eyes of God, and make this about us? Just you and me.
Nobody else.
Well, not even Barton? We still need a witness.
All right, Barton can still witness, but he's the only one.
Soft piano music Just us.
Against the world.
I can't tell if you're an apparition or if it's really you.
Well, you've been living with a ghost for so long.
How could you know? I forgot my high school wrestling trophies.
For some reason, they suddenly mattered to me.
I'll be honest.
I didn't think you had this in you.
Betraying me to Bill and Virginia, cleaning me out of house and home You're impressed.
And sad.
That was my child too, Nancy.
I know you can't love me you don't have it in you but, God damn it, I could've finally found love with a child, and you took that from me.
It's not like Barton to tattle.
He didn't.
I heard you on the tape.
So you eavesdropped.
You really are turning over a new leaf.
I will never again swallow everything I am everything I feel, everything I want for the sake of someone else.
You are wrong about one thing.
I, um I do love you.
What I just couldn't imagine was me with a child.
What kind of mother would I be? Like Virginia? God forbid, maybe worse? I could've loved a child for the both of us.
New York can still be a fresh start for us.
Maybe you can convince me I wouldn't be such a bad mother after all.
Oh, God.
I don't want this, Art.
I'm a shrink, Nance.
You confessed the one thing you knew would end our marriage in a room you knew was being taped.
Sometimes what we want can surprise even us.
I assumed you called me in because of my last session with Cherlyn, which was very successful.
This isn't about your last session.
Or your time here as a patient.
This is about your work with us as our publisher.
Our relationship to Little, Brown.
Which we assumed was an exclusive relationship, in that we've given you the rights to all our work.
And in entrusting our work to you, we assumed it would engender a loyalty between us, one that went both ways.
Of course it does.
Both ways.
Then there's something you have to explain to us, Bob.
Why is it that you've agreed to do a book on homosexuality with Art and Nancy? Did they say that? How perfectly indiscreet.
We are both your clients and your doctors, Bob, and since we're the ones that agreed to treat you Essentially cured you so you could have a future with Cherlyn.
Although Art did put in the work.
I mean, day-to-day.
Art is not a known entity in the publishing world.
Nor is Nancy.
Not that they'll be doing a book or doing anything together now.
What? No.
MASTERS: The point is Masters and Johnson are the household name.
We're the ones with a track record in sex therapy, the ones that can, with authority, publish a book that chronicles the successful transitioning of homosexuals.
So your book on homosexuals would include conversion? Yes.
Conversion.
With the anonymous patient zero as our first success story.
So do we have your word? You're the ones the world wants to hear from, so yes, of course.
The book is yours.
I'm not sure how this little mix-up happened in the first place.
You know we can't begin to deliver on conversion therapy.
I said what was needed to get the book back.
So we'll give him a few days, and then I'll check in with Ketterman at Little, Brown, make sure Bob kept his promise.
I should get home.
Get changed.
Marriage license? Safe and sound.
We should probably just meet there instead of you picking me up.
Oh, you don't want me to see you before the ceremony? It's bad luck.
I saw my other husbands before those weddings, and this one is going to be different.
Mm-hmm.
(DOOR OPENS) Oh.
So sorry, lovebirds.
But I just got off the phone with Hef's office, and good news.
He has generously offered up his mansion for your wedding.
Apparently, Soupy Sales got married there, and they released a dozen white doves into the air when he kissed his bride.
Why don't we just put a pin in this for a moment, Guy? Yeah, Virginia and I are discussing a smaller affair.
Well, not too small for doves, I hope.
We can still consider doves.
Let's just talk about it tomorrow.
I'll be here.
With bells on.
- He's going to be crushed.
- Mm-hmm.
Maybe I can give him my bouquet.
Dr.
Dreessen, you're here.
I wasn't sure you'd get my message.
Well, you made it sound important, so Yes, it is.
So can I buy you a drink? I don't think so, no, but thank you.
Okay.
You mind if I keep drinking? All right.
Well.
(CLEARS THROAT) As is always the way with these things, nothing is ever easy in life, in love, in business You're going to do the homosexuality book with Bill and Virginia.
Boy, can you ever read me.
Look, I know I promised the book to you, and You should do the book with them.
I'm moving on.
I'm leaving this work and the clinic behind.
I'm very sad to hear that.
You're such a gifted doctor.
Dedicated I would say the credit is all yours.
Yours and Cherlyn's.
Cherlyn is happy, of course.
Not that she's ever entirely pleased with anything.
But you know how that goes with women.
I understand you and Nancy are having difficulties.
Well, it's it's not so difficult once it's finally over.
Ah.
Well, that wife of yours tough stuff, huh? I noticed it in the office.
A beauty, surely, but also a certain way of the executioner about her I'd rather not talk about Nancy.
The wounds are still fresh.
Ugh, I know those wounds.
What I'm saying is, we understand each other, Art.
And I am so very sorry.
Um excuse me for a moment.
Jesus, Bob.
You startled me.
I'm afraid I am tipsy.
I'm afraid it's more than that.
LIBBY: Of course I was gonna tell you, Bram.
There's just been a million details to attend to.
I don't even rank as a last-minute detail? No, it's just been such a whirlwind is all.
One minute, I'm sitting there in the mud, talking to Dr.
Phillips, and then God, why did I let you go to this concert? All that came from that debacle was VD, a field full of cows that won't milk, and you moving 2,000 miles away.
To go to law school.
I thought you would be proud of me.
I am proud of you.
I also love you, so I'm just wondering how we're gonna continue seeing each other.
I don't know.
What do you mean, you don't know? So what are you saying? That's it? We're done? I'm not really saying anything.
Why do we have to define it? Why do you have to sound like a damn hippie all of a sudden? I'm just trying to be realistic.
If we find our way to each other, great.
If we don't, it wasn't meant to be.
We have had a wonderful time together.
No.
I can't let you go like this.
Oh.
Here is the beauty of the situation, Bram.
It's not up to you whether I stay or go.
The days of me organizing my life around a man are over.
Then I'll organize my life around yours.
Unless you can stand there and honestly tell me you don't love me.
I would say the evidence points to my loving you.
Then the defense rests.
For the time being only.
You go and do what you need to do.
But one day, you will look up from your disgusting tempeh burger, and I will be there.
The man who upended his whole life for you.
Soft music Ms.
Virginia, you have a phone call.
I really need to get home, Guy.
- Take a message.
- It sounds important.
VIRGINIA: I'm surprised to hear from you so soon.
Well, I'm surprised to be calling, but I wanted to tell you one last thing before I go.
Oh, no.
Is the damage from Nancy worse than we thought? Bob Drag just kissed me in a men's room.
He what? Kissed me in a men's room.
He kissed you, kissed you? Like Rhett kissed Scarlett.
And so it is my opinion as a doctor and psychiatrist that Bob is an active homosexual, which means if you're looking for a success story of retraining sexual impulses from homosexual to heterosexual, Bob Drag is not it.
My fear is that it now negates the book entirely.
Please know the work I did with Bob I really did try.
Please convey that to Bill.
Of course.
I will tell him.
Bye.
- Excuse me.
- I'm so sorry.
Oh.
Mrs.
Johnson.
You're Billy's partner.
I recognized you from your book.
Ah.
Anyway, have a good day.
I will.
Thank you.
How do I look? Sharp as a tack.
Are you going someplace special? Nope.
Just home.
You know.
Eventually.
Good, because Dody's here to see you.
I'm pretty sure she said her name was Dody.
I'm definitely sure she said she's someone from way back.
DODY: I don't know if you remember my cousin Delia.
Oh, I don't know.
Uh, dark hair? Had a very high-pitched - Laugh? Yes.
- Yeah.
But a heart of gold.
Anyway, so she just recently moved to Chesterville, so I'm staying with her now.
In Chesterville.
- Just right outside - St.
Louis.
- Yes.
About ten - Ten minutes.
Oh, Bill, you don't have to look so worried.
I'm here because well, I'm embarrassed about the last time we met.
Oh.
Dody, no.
You don't have to No, no, I do.
There's nothing worse than a weepy woman, and yet seeing you really did upend things.
- My marriage, for starters.
- Oh, no.
- No, I would never - And you can't blame yourself.
It had to happen.
I've been living like a visitor in my own life for so long.
But seeing each other also clarified for me another truth that it was really always the two of us that were meant to be together.
I'm, uh I'm-I'm getting married.
Oh.
- Today.
- Oh, my goodness.
- To - To Virginia.
Virginia? Oh, Johnson.
- Mm.
- Mrs.
Johnson.
Oh, I just saw her at the elevator.
You did? You introduced yourself? Oh, no.
No, no.
But I would love to meet her.
I mean, if I'm staying in the area.
Well, perhaps, uh, you know, someday in the future.
That would be nice.
It would settle things, once and for all, to see you happy with someone else.
No one actually knows that I'm getting married today except for my old friend Barton.
And now you.
The person I've known even longer than that.
Wouldn't it be something if we ended up as friends? Dody, we already are.
I haven't returned your calls because I wanted to speak to you in person.
Lurking in the parking lot doesn't bode well.
I'm hoping you can say something to make sense of all this.
Well, you have to know you're the last person I wanted to hurt.
Just me you're worried about? What about Art? What about the people who trusted you enough to hire you? You know as well as I do the world of sexual therapy is exploding.
It's changing by the minute.
Bill and Virginia are trying to hold on to something that is already slipping from their grasp.
That's absurd.
And it won't work, what you're trying to do.
Of course it will.
I will simply build on what they started.
Copernicus discovered the Sun was the center of the universe.
Then Galileo pushed it further.
So did Hubble.
Now Neil Armstrong is walking on the moon.
I will take their work places they can only imagine.
They're the top sex experts in the country, with years of cutting-edge work ahead.
I'm not saying they won't continue.
You know Virginia better than I.
Her unbridled ambition, her craving for acclaim She is pushing the work, pushing Bill, even, into an area now that may very well be their undoing.
No.
Gay conversion therapy.
And why would I believe anything you say? You don't have to believe me.
Investigate for yourself.
I, uh I strongly suspect you won't want anything to do with it.
Hello.
I'm checking in for Masters and Johnson.
Both parties here? Not yet, but I'm sure he'll be here Take a seat.
(MASTERS SIGHS) Oh, leave it to the two men to be late.
Maybe we should take my car and, uh, head down to City Hall together.
I'm not going anywhere until you tell me it's not true.
What's that? That you and Virginia are publishing a book advocating gay conversion.
Uh, Virginia and I took back from Art and Nancy what is rightfully ours.
I mean, we will eventually publish a book documenting our work on homosexuality, but we discussed all this.
You promised me, Bill.
And I'm not advocating conversion therapy, Barton.
(STAMMERING) Is this about Bob Drag? Because yes.
It turns out he was able to, uh, redirect his homosexual impulses towards his heterosexual relationship, but My goodness.
After everything I suffered.
The years of self-doubt and self-loathing and what it did to Margaret and Vivian.
I damn near killed myself trying to extinguish the very essence of who I am! You saw it! I did, I did, and I hope to never see it again.
What we are exploring is nothing like the torture that you were subjected to.
We simply took what was working so successfully with heterosexual couples and just directed it towards Drag, to see if it could help.
He begged me, Barton, and I felt it was my duty as his doctor to help him if-if he wanted that change.
We shouldn't have to change.
You're right.
And-and we can discuss all this on the drive.
I-I'm pretty sure it's bad luck to keep a bride waiting on her wedding day.
And I understand it's your bride that's pushing you toward this conversion work.
- What? - Because I'm fond of her, Bill.
I always have been.
But I've also seen over the years how Virginia has the most to prove, how hard she fights to advance her place in the work.
Maybe because she's uncredentialed.
Wait a minute.
You and I can sort out our differences on conversion, but if you're gonna malign Virginia You stepped too far with this, Bill.
I can't abide it.
Oh, you can't abide it.
Well, I can't have you speak like this about Virginia.
Then you better head to City Hall alone, because I will say what's needed to be said.
I've loved you like a son.
We have a relationship of nearly 30 years.
But if you pursue this path use your bully pulpit to advocate for the conversion of homosexuals I will make it my life's work to see you discredited.
William Masters.
Virginia Johnson.
Hello again.
So, as I said, Dr.
Masters will be here any minute.
The appointment was at 4 p.
m.
It's 4:13 now.
Yes, I'm-I'm aware of that, but if you could just signal to me instead of No, I don't need any tissues.
Not yet.
Remember, we close at 5 p.
m.
Sharp.
Dominik DiAngelo.
Alison Burke.
Hi.
CLERK: Hello.
Can I see your form? ALISON: Oh, yes.
Right here.
CLERK: You have any questions? Bright guitar music Think that's it.
Are we ready? - Whoo! - Yes! - Yeah! Let's go! Let's go! - (LIBBY LAUGHS) The future is happy and bright, my sweet boy.
We'll see.
Mm.
(SIGHS) MASTERS: Oh.
I was about to leave.
I am so sorry I've kept you waiting.
Where's Barton? I-I just couldn't deny Guy this moment.
I just want you to know I am so honored to be your and Dr.
Bill's witness.
And while I love a wedding with scale, I can also embrace the simple elegance of this.
Guy, could you let the clerk know that we're here and we're ready? Right.
(COLLECTIVE SIGH) We are gathered here in the sight of God and in the presence of this witness to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony, which is an honorable estate and not to be entered into lightly or unadvisedly but reverently and discreetly.
William Masters, will you have this woman, Virginia Johnson, to be thy wedded wife? Will you love her, honor her, keep her in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live? I will.
CLERK: Virginia Johnson, will you have this man, William Masters, to be thy wedded husband? Will you love him, honor him, keep him in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live? I will.
CLERK: Do you pledge to remember that love, trust, and loyalty alone will prevail as the foundation for a happy and enduring home, which will be full of joy and will abide in peace? We do.
We do.
CLERK: By the power vested in me by the state of Missouri, I now pronounce you man and wife.
Uplifting music Congratulations.
- Thank you.
- CHUCK: Dr.
and Mrs.
Masters! MASTERS: I'm sorry.
No, this is a private affair.
Hey, you! Skedaddle! How did he know we'd be here? I have no idea.
Well, don't look at me.
I found out about this 30 minutes ago.
But it was a beautiful ceremony.
And I wish you every happiness.
Maybe there's a back door.
Just in case.
Bill, it's fine.
Come on.
Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" playing Oh, there they are.
- I don't understand this.
- I know.
- Hey, there they are.
- Let's go! Dr.
and Mrs.
Masters.
Come on! (PHOTOGRAPHERS CLAMORING) Couple of shots! Right here, right here.
- Turn around! - Don't be shy! I suppose we could give them just one photo.
Don't you think, Bill? MAN: We're all trying to make a living here.
MAN: Yeah, we're just trying to make a buck, huh? Quick shot.
That's it, Virginia.
- Nice, two more.
- Come on.
Dr.
and Mrs.
Masters.
Gentlemen, it's Masters and Johnson.
That's who we are.
My very life today If I don't get some shelter Oh, yeah, I'm gonna fade away War, children It's just a shot away, it's just a shot away War, children It's just a shot away, it's just a shot away, hey Ooh, see, the fire is sweepin' Our very street today Burns like a red coal carpet Mad bull lost its way War, children, yeah It's just a shot away, it's just a shot away