A very complicated episode that gradually moved us two years forward in time (all the way to 1960), while doing its best to keep us informed so that we don't miss anything in the lives of the characters. Almost everything tonight sticks with Bill's perspective, so we'll just start with him. It's five months from the night that Bill found Ginny's new boyfriend Shelly answering her door, and now he's finally opened his own practice, the Masters and Johnson clinic. He welcomes Lester back (yay!) from his failed career as a film director in California, and he and Ginny are just getting the clinic off the ground and are behind in everything from rent to patients. They're also sharing a building space with various other businesses that keep changing names throughout the episode as a way to tell us that time is passing. Bill's also hired a newly divorced Betty to be the secretary and bookkeeper (she kept the records at the brothel) and tells her it's a way to repay her for helping him out with the study in the past.
Things between Bill and Ginny are fairly icy though, and when Bill goes to their hotel for a drink in the bar alone, we find out that he's ended their "work" ever since he found out that she sees other men, and bitches to poor Eliott about his unfaithful "wife." Ginny is apparently still friends with Austin, and goes on a double date with him and his new girlfriend Holly, where she attempts to deny that there was ever anything between her and BIll, since he's married anyway, which of course Austin doesn't buy for a second. But she claims to be very into her new guy, whose name is Shelly and works as a girdle salesman. The whole thing is bullshit though, because the next day she tries to make up with Bill, asking him how long he's going to punish her for this, and asking why she can't see other men since he's married to Libby. Bill isn't having it, telling her he doesn't want to be another passing stranger in her kid's lives and basically calls her a slut and a bad mother. Ginny actually takes that fairly well, shrugging it off and saying Bill can't keep this up forever, so I guess she knows that he's just trying to hurt her.
Meanwhile, things are tough for BIll everywhere, as he has to get a loan to secure the clinic and Libby says that she wants him to give her another baby since he's got what he wanted in his new business, and she deserves to have what she wants too. With that, we jump forward a year to the fall of 1959, as Libby comes to visit the clinic with, you've got it, two babies in hand, and Betty lets it slip that she's taking real estate classes. Libby confronts BIll about a man who came to their house to reassess the property and finds out that BIll put the house up as collateral in a loan he never told her about. Bill says he's taking care of everything, but Libby isn't convinced. Later, BIll comes into the lobby to find his mother there waiting for him, after a long time apart. Essie tells him she's secretly been meeting with Libby and the kids for a year in Indiana, and that she has forgiven him for their fight and will keep secret his affair with Virginia. She also wants to help him with his money problems, which sets BIll off big time as he gets into a screaming match with Libby about going behind his back to enlist Essie's help. Libby won't apologize for it though, insisting that whatever his personal pain he's the only one who forces others to suffer along with him (I guess she's got you there, pal).
The two then go to a birthday party for Austin, where Holly has graduated from model to stripper, and Bill looks on jealously as Ginny has shown up with her latest boyfriend, Kenny. When Ginny introduces Kenny to Bill, he embarrasses her by going into detail about Ginny's "participation" in the study, which sends Ginny fleeing to the bathroom for a cigarette. While there she's met by Libby, who's in an equally foul mood, and who confides in her that she and Bill haven't had sex in a year and that he refuses to apologize for anything, thinking it makes him weak. Ginny seems to respond to that lack of intimacy confession by going straight to BIll and attempting to patch things up again, and Bill seems to bite this time, caressing her from behind as they look on at the party from the balcony. But then as he starts to apologize, she realizes he's mocking her as he pretends to say the things he thinks she should apologize for (again, all the other men) and she shoves him and runs out. BIll then goes to find a back-alley prostitute (apparently he's been doing this for a while) but discovers he's become impotent, as none have been able to do anything for him.
Another year passes, and Ginny sees her old boyfriend Shelly in the lobby of the building, and as they attempt an awkward conversation she realizes she can't remember anything about the guy, including his occupation or whether he has kids or not. Ouch. She then sees some of Lester's footage (he's been filming most of this episode, black and white documentary style) and sees herself straightening Bill's bowtie back during their days at maternity. This plus the run-in with the ex prompts her to try once more to reconcile with BIll, as she hands him a hotel key and says she'll wait for him there like in the old days. She also once more tells him he can't deny her some comfort outside their relationship because of Libby, and especially because none of the other men mean anything to her and what they have will always come first. BIll finally seems to relent this time, as he tells her that just because he goes to home to Libby, it doesn't mean he's not alone, and Ginny thinks that makes them fellow sufferers.
Meanwhile, Austin has Lester come to film a bachelor party for one of his pals, and sees on the dirty movie they show that his girlfriend Holly has now graduated to porn star. Burn. This bums him out and he tries to go back to his wife, telling her he'll be faithful this time, but she says it doesn't matter because she's moved on. I wonder how they're even going to integrate Austin into the cast anymore now that Masters and Johnson have gone off on their own. Bill and Ginny meet up at the hotel now, where BIll covers up his new impotence problem by saying he's going to make Ginny come with his mouth and hands only, which she seems into. Afterwards, she's happy that they've officially resumed their "work," but says they need to figure out a new place to meet, because they still aren't making enough money for regular hotel expenses. Bill asks new night manager Eliot if he can offer his services as hotel doctor in exchange for him waiving their fee, and though Eliot's happy Dr. and Mrs. Holden have patched things up (lol), he can't see that they'd need a radiologist at the hotel. He name drops Bill Masters as being the kind of doctor they could use. Ok, that was a little too cute, unless Eliot somehow knows he's really Dr. Masters (which he might, the scene was a little ambiguous about that, actually).
At the clinic, Barbara, Greathouse's secretary, comes in and wants to be a participant in the study, mostly so they could help her with a dysfunction because her vaginal opening is apparently closed. Virginia tells her that it disqualifies her from the study and Barbara is disappointed, but Ginny seems to have a new idea later on at Bill's during a birthday party for one of the kids. She asks him why they can't help the people who come to them with sexual dysfunctions and he appears to consider it. Libby then interrupts, asking Ginny if she'd bring her kids and join them on a vacation at the lake house. Ginny is unsure, but Libby thinks Bill's always nicer to be around when Ginny's there. Ok, with a comment like that I can't help but wonder if Libby probably knows all along about Virginia and BIll, and simply tolerates it. Essie shows up at the party at Bill's invitation, because he's finally decided to accept his mother as a presence in his life, because when he asked her to stay away the year before, this time she actually did it. Essie's happy to be there, and BIll lets it slip that he knows she and Libby managed to get the money to him somehow (Betty had told him profits were up 20% due to fertility patients) but he's going to let it slide because he's tired of fighting. Essie says that's the first step in moving on and tells him she's proud of everything he's become.
Whew. There was a lot of information to process in this one, but it was kinda cool how they managed to movie it all forward without making it feel like we skipped over anything too crucial. Frankly, I'm just happy that there was no more Libby the racist storyline, but it looks like next week Robert is reappearing, so I guess we'll see where that goes. If it leads to an affair, I can handle that, but please, no more Libby the racist. The actress is too sweet and she is so much better when not saddled with awful material like that. See you next week!
