So tonight Bill and Virginia separately deal with problems of sexual dysfunction- Bill for more personal reasons regarding his recent impotence, and Ginny as it relates to Barbara, who came asking for help last week and returns tonight with more traumatic revelations. We start with Bill, who's meeting with a friend, his old schoolmate Francis Mason, who he'd named himself after for his hotel rendezvous with Ginny. Francis is a plastic surgeon, and has come to BIll for help because he and his wife are having trouble conceiving. There's a weird, strange tension between them throughout the episode that's explained in the last scene, but we'll get to that point later.
As Bill reluctantly agrees to initially run some tests for Francis and his wife, he and Ginny have started to try to help some of the patients with various sexual dysfunctions, with Bill most interested in figuring out what causes and how to cure male impotence. He even finds himself being nicer to Lester, after Lester confides in him that was the reason he split up with Jane. They interview Betty about the topic, who relays the experiences she had as a prostitute, saying that it's more often than not a psychological problem, which Ginny agrees with as she remembers an incident with her first boyfriend as a teenager. Bill's annoyed by this, and continues to have Francis in the office without telling Virginia what's going on, while she and Betty wonder what his deal his. Ginny tries to get it out of him later at the hotel but he still won't budge, only saying he and this guy drifted apart over time.
Meanwhile, Ginny tracks down Barbara and tries to help her with her condition, which provokes Barbara to confess her religious upbringing and her first sexual experience with her brother's friend, which was oral. She can't remember his name though, which Ginny says is unusual, so Barbara comes to Ginny's house in the middle of the night with memories that have been repressed since she was a kid. It turns out that the boy wasn't her brother's friend but her actual brother instead, whom she now remembers continuing to have this kind of relationship with for some time when they were young. She confesses that her mother even caught them once and she knows now that her physical condition is God's punishment for her behavior. Ginny feels so guilty that she convinces Bill to take Barbara as a patient, and also says she still wants to go back to school to become a psychologist herself so that she can help people like this. But in the meantime, she tries to set Barbara an appointment with a real psychiatrist, but Barbara can't bear to confess these secrets to a man and runs out on her. So Ginny decides to meet with the doctor herself and pass Barbara's memories off as her own- I guess so that she can take his advice and counsel Barbara herself? I don't know, I don't quite understand the logic of that particular action.
In other news, Flo the Calo-Metric lady (who I can't believe is actually still on the show) goes to see Austin on Ginny's recommendation for her foot pain, and tries to hit on him, knowing his reputation. Austin doesn't bite this time, though. She thinks it's because she's too heavy, but he insists he's trying to change his ways and become a better person, since his career has suffered because of his philandering as well. Flo then prepares for a presentation to her clients about Calo-Metric's new spokesperson, supposed to be a radio personality that Libby's familiar with, but the man turns out to be 300 pounds and coincidentally dies in the hotel Bill and Ginny are staying in, on his way to the meeting. Elliot calls Bill in to examine the body, but the man's stomach has apparently burst, which causes Flo to hire Austin of all people to be the new spokesman. You know, I did wonder how they were going to integrate Austin into the cast with everyone having moved to another building, but seriously? I think they've got to get him into the study somehow, not hook up with Flo to keep selling those diet pills- seems kinda ridiculous.
Finally, Libby this week is feeling unsure of her place in Bill's life, since his work really has nothing to do with her, and when she, Bill and Ginny go to a dinner with the police chief and his wife, Ginny's the one mistaken for Mrs. Masters. Bill's trying to persuade the chief to become a member of his board of directors for the practice (so that they can get a tax exemption), and Libby suggests they all go to the Veiled Prophet ball, a charity event that's one of the oldest traditions in St. Louis. Later that week, as she's on her way home from the clinic, a truck almost knocks her over in the street and she witnesses what looks like an attack on a member of the Congress for Racial Equality (another organization in Bill's building). Robert is one of the members, and he happens to see her driving by. The newspaper casts the event as a drug deal gone bad, which Libby questions, and then Robert comes to the house to ask her to testify about the men she saw in the truck, since the only other witnesses are black, and the cops won't start an investigation based on just them. Libby denies that she saw anything, but later at the ball, she obviously recognizes the Veiled Prophet as being one of the men in the truck. She tells Bill she wants to testify and Bill tries to say they shouldn't get involved, but Libby protests that she has no role in his work and essentially says she wants to do something important with her own life. At the end of the episode she goes over to Robert's apartment and tells him she wants to talk about being a witness. I have to assume all of this is leading to Libby and Robert having some kind of an affair, given her attraction to him, but what do you guys think?
At the end of the episode, BIll refers Francis (who has a low sperm count like him) to a fertility doctor back in Kansas City, but Francis refuses to leave, saying he wants to be treated by Bill. They meet up again in a bookend restaurant scene, where Francis grabs his hand and tells him he wants his brother back. Gasp. Ok, not really- I actually saw that coming, after all the hinting around about familiarity and everything, but the episode ends on that revelation, with presumably more to come, although Bill holding decades long grudges against every member of his family is starting to get a little old, let's face it. See you guys next week!
