RECAP: Masters of Sex 2x10 "Below the Belt"

Kind of a strange episode tonight actually- draggy and a bit sluggish in places, suffering I think from a lack of focus as subplots come up and then fade out just as quickly over the hour. We start off with Bill giving a physical exam to his sister-in-law Pauline, who wants him to make up with his brother Francis after their argument last week. Bill tries to dodge the subject and is let off the hook when the lights go out in the building. He argues with Betty over the electricity bill she's paid late, and she bites back that they need to sublet the rest of the floor to make rent on time, which Bill doesn't want to do.

Virginia goes back to see Dr. Madden one last time, to fess up that she's not Barbara and was only using her name to get advice on how to counsel her, which of course didn't work out. Madden basically gets her to talk about herself and Bill again, but Ginny thinks he's being judgmental towards her when she confesses that their affair continues. We then get a flashback to the hotel room when Bill told her about his impotence, and he gives her the details, saying it started when he saw Shelly at her house, but even now he can't get over whatever psychological block he's had because of it. He also says that it's only when he's with a partner that it occurs and tells Ginny that she's the only one who can fix his "brokenness" (a line few women can ever resist). They eventually try a few different methods, and Ginny goes all in with it, but it fails for the most part, even when Bill almost gets something going after Ginny ties his hands behind him and teases his helplessness as she sits on top of him (yes, this was one of those episodes- there are actually fewer sex scenes than you'd think on this very cerebral show, but when they do come up, they deliver the goods). Ginny eventually has second thoughts about this when Betty relays her experience with a client who had chronic impotence that she couldn't fix, ending up in her dreading seeing him every week.

Back at the office, Bill is upset about an article published in a recent medical journal that sees another doctor taking credit for his and Ginny's work, so he hires a PR man (played by Adam Arkin) to come in and advise them on how to stay ahead of the curve as far as the public goes. Ginny is unsure about this but is quickly won over by the man when he suggests they start appearing on television, taking advantage of their image as a faux "married couple" to teach the public about sex. Bill balks at this however, and tells Ginny he's worried about not being taken seriously by the scientific community if they go on TV, but I think we all know how this is going to work out, considering Masters and Johnson became media fixtures as guests on talk shows for decades.

Meanwhile, the supporting characters got quite a lot of material tonight, as Lester takes it upon himself to befriend Barbara, thinking they can bond over their mutual dysfunctional "conditions." He turns out to be right, when Barbara warms up to him in their second scene, after first being offended by his blatant atheism in the first. Austin is also back tonight, ever the comedic relief, as he now works as the spokesman for Cal-O-Metric and seems to be enjoying his new job, until Flo demands he come to her house later that night and have sex with her or he's fired. Austin shows up and tries to protest, but Flo manages to seduce him anyway, and afterwards when Austin expresses his hope that this is a one time thing they can put behind them, Flo refuses, saying he'll continue to sleep with her if he wants to keep his job. Ew.

Finally, Libby continues to volunteer at the CORE offices, although I'm a little skeptical of her genuine interest in the cause, as it it seems obvious she's mostly doing this because of her attraction to Robert, whom she continues to clash with. He think it's a bad idea for her to canvass in the projects for a rent strike with the volunteers, but she shows up anyway (convincing Ginny to cover for her with Bill, who hates her working there). Ginny also sees Libby talking with Robert from across the lobby and seems to pick up on the body language between them (you can't fool a sex expert). And Essie is also back this week, complaining to Bill about Frank's sanctimonious lectures about her drinking, which Bill agrees is annoying. Later on, when Essie gets in an accident behind the wheel and has Frank stitch up a cut, he keeps going on about her being an alcoholic and accuses Bill of being one too. This leads to a long drawn out scene where the two brothers again reminisce about the abuse of their father, and eventually Bill insults Frank, calling him weak and cowardly for taking it. Frank decks him in the face and the two get in a fight before Frank takes off in anger. Bill goes to meet Virginia at the hotel covered in blood and admits to her that he knows he abandoned his brother and feels guilty about it, as he then smears his own blood on her face (gross) and the two seem to finally engage in sex. Geez, don't even bother to clean up first? We'll see where this all goes next week guys. See you then!

Michael Che to replace Cecily Strong on Weekend Update & Other SNL Season 40 News

Well, there's some big changes afoot for the 40th season premiere of Saturday Night Live in two weeks. But the Update news is the most surprising, although welcome (really any changes would be at this point). Lorne Michaels has apparently agreed with the criticism that Weekend Update wasn't solidified with Colin Jost and Cecily Strong as anchors, but he's responded to that by getting rid of Cecily and hiring comedian Michael Che (currently a correspondent on The Daily Show) to co-anchor the desk instead. Frankly, even though neither of them were great, Colin Jost in that position made Cecily look fantastic, so I can't believe they'd jettison her before him, unless that's what she wanted, since she's still a full time cast member and perhaps it's too hard to do both the news and sketches (although Jimmy Fallon did it). I'm totally unfamiliar with Che, since I stopped watching The Daily Show regularly some time ago, but hopefully he's good enough that all he has to do is show that he can do the news himself and then they'll get rid of the guy next to him (because Update is still going to suck as long as Jost remains in that position). On the bright side, Michael Che will be the first black news anchor in the show's history, so yay for progress!

In other news, Michaels has hired three more new writers (thank god) and also seems to agree that they had WAY too many cast members last year, so they've fired Brooks Whelan, Noel Wells, John Milhiser, and possibly Mike O'Brien, with Nasim Pedrad leaving as well. Totally saw that coming for all of them, but strangely, aside from Nasim those were all newbies last year anyway. And of course, with the stalwart announcer Don Pardo's recent death, a new person will be taking over that role as well. Will all this make the show better, finally? No idea, but Che anchoring Update might actually make it different, if he brings his own style, and that can only be a good thing. I'm dreading my yearly recap of this show after the dreadful last season they had, but I'll still be tuning in. Chris Pratt hosts the season premiere on the 27th (a rather obvious choice) with Ariana Grande as the musical guest, so fingers crossed that things improve this year.

PROMO: "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Season 2

Yes, I'm still watching this show. It's probably the least essential of all the shows I stick with, but sometimes you do kind of want something a little less highbrow. Plus, at the end of the last season it had picked up a bit, maybe finally getting to that point where it was coming into its own (I find that if you're going to take on a network show you have to at least give it a full season to find its groove). Hopefully this year they keep the momentum going. Season 2 premieres Sept 23rd.

James Corden to take over The Late Late Show

Who? You might ask when you see the picture of this guy on the right, but yes, apparently he's the one taking over after Craig Ferguson leaves CBS at the end of the year. I guess the answer for who should take over Craig's position was just- well, another guy from the U.K. Yeah, because that was always the key to Craig's success, right? Maybe I'm being a little unfair- apparently Corden is very well known in Britain, having been the star and creator of the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey (2007-10) for which he won a BAFTA, and he's hosted various comedy shows, but I just saw him in a bit part in Begin Again this summer (he played Keira Knightley's best friend) and that was the first I'd ever seen or heard of him in my life. So I have no real opinion about this, but for those who are familiar with him, what do you guys think? Is he funny? Will he be a good late night host?

Here's an ET segment showing off a little more of what Corden's known for in the UK:

TRAILER: "American Horror Story: Freak Show"

American Horror Story is returning October 8th, as usual a perfect release date for Halloween month, and with many of its recurring cast members, including as always, Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulsen (check out her two heads!). This time, newly-minted Emmy winner Kathy Bates also returns, and the show welcomes Michael Chiklis into the fold. The Emmys may have loved the third season more than ever, but most fans thought it was a step down from the entertaining lunacy that was Season 2, so hopefully this installment brings the crazy back.

TRAILER #3: "Homeland" Season 4

Quite a lot of promotion for Homeland this year, as another trailer gives us way more clips from the various upcoming episodes of the fourth season. Looks like Carrie's going to abandon her baby as she takes off for her new job, and even from this trailer you can see how different the show is going to feel without Damien Lewis. It really is a series reboot, but maybe that will help to revitalize it. Claire Danes looks as good as ever in what's become her signature role. Homeland's set to come back with a two episode season premiere on October 5th, and I'll be recapping again this year too, so tune in for that.

RECAP: Masters of Sex 2x09 "Story of My Life"

Again this week, Bill and Virginia are dealing with separate but related issues concerning a new area- the psychology of sexual dysfunction. Bill is still battling with his own impotence and trying to deal with it through Lester as a proxy, while Ginny continues to dive into Barbara's problems concerning brother, and neither of them find much success.

Ginny starts off with Dr. Madden, the psychiatrist she met last week, continuing to pass herself off as Barbara so she can counsel her through Madden's advice (really, obviously a bad idea). So Dr. Madden immediately catches on that something's fishy about Ginny's telling of her own story, but gives her the idea to go back in her head and say to her brother what she should have said when they were kids. Barbara then comes in to the office to be treated for her physical dysfunction by Bill and Virginia, but cannot go through with the procedure and breaks down in tears. Ginny wants to help her, but Bill insists they stick to treating the physical symptoms only, so Ginny gives her the advice she obtained from Madden. This backfires when Barbara comes in for her next appointment to tell Ginny she met with her brother (whom she's still close to) only to be reminded that the games they used to play were her idea in the first place. Ginny is rendered speechless at this. When she goes back to Madden for more advice she ends up drifting into explaining her own affair with Bill and how Lillian once disapproved. When Madden questions her about why her friend would object, she starts to wonder if she should be feeling more guilty about seeing Bill behind Libby's back, which is made worse when Libby comes up to her in the diner at the Masters and Johnson complex and expresses admiration for what a courageous person she is.

Bill this week is still dealing with his own problems, and tries to get poor Lester set up with a prostitute friend of Betty's who specializes in fixing male impotence. Lester really doesn't want to do it, but ends up meeting her in a hotel anyway, hilariously nervous and stammering the whole time, as the girl gets to work on him. But it doesn't take at all, and Lester won't give Bill the details on what happened, preferring instead to try to be with someone who's familiar with similar problems, as he seems to relate when he sees Barbara struggling in the exam room. Bill's also spending more time with his brother Francis, who has dinner with his wife at their house and wants to take Bill to meet some "friends" of his. The friends turn out to be an AA meeting, where Francis gets up on his one year anniversary of being sober, and relates his stories of abuse at the hands of his father. Bill walks out on this speech and later confronts Francis about stealing his own story, but Francis insists that their dad did the same things to him when Bill left, as Bill had abandoned him to his fate when he left home. He says that he forgives him though, which makes Bill feel guilty when he goes to meet Ginny at the hotel. They had met once earlier this episode but nothing happened, as Bill still doesn't want to admit that he's become impotent, and instead tells Ginny he'd just been with Libby instead. This of course makes Ginny feel uncomfortable, and when they meet later on, she's now feeling wracked with guilt over her meetings with Dr. Madden, and suggests they talk about what's really going between them.

Bill doesn't want to deal with this, but Ginny insists, saying it's clear by now that their meetings haven't been about the work or the study in years. Bill doesn't deny it, but ends up sidestepping the issue, saying that they can treat dysfunction there, because that's exactly what he's suffering from. The episode ends on that note, as Ginny looks surprised, but she always manages to get him to admit what's going on with him eventually, so none of the audience really should be. Meanwhile, Libby in this episode wants to testify about what she saw on the street the other day, but at the CORE office, it's made clear to her that her testimony would only be useful if she could relay the license plate, which she didn't see. They do have the number though, and want her to go to the police with it, but Robert doesn't think she'll be able to go through with a lie. He ends up telling her they need a different kind of witness, someone who would have actually gotten out of the car to help the people she saw attacked on the street. Libby is offended by this, and later on when Francis's wife confides in her that she drew the line on her husband's drinking and demanded that he stop or she would leave him, Libby decides she wants to become the kind of strong person who's able to do courageous things. She says as much to Ginny (who's preoccupied), but then goes directly to the CORE office and says she wants to volunteer her services. Robert and his colleagues are skeptical and he tries to test her by saying they need someone to do a sandwich run, but Libby doesn't flinch and asks what kind they want.

That's pretty much it this week, as a lot of talking and discussion is mostly had, but with just three more episodes left this season, I am wondering if this is eventually leading to a Libby-Robert affair. If it does, then I'll be able to forgive all the "Libby is racist" nonsense that came earlier this year, because at least it was headed somewhere, even if written a bit awkwardly. See you guys next week!

Joan Rivers 1933-2014

In what's turning into a quite a morbid year for famous deaths indeed, Joan Rivers has now passed away at 81, after spending the last few days on life support after surgery on her vocal chords went awry. The legendary comedian was a ferocious force to behold, hardworking well into the present day on E!'s Fashion Police (a channel that she practically placed on the map single-handedly), as well as continuing stand-up, reality shows, etc. An entertainer for more than fifty years, she first became famous as a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in the 1960's, and was one of the pioneering female comedians of the era, and as a regular guest host of the show, was the first woman talk show host on late night television. Controversy followed her regularly, through her rifts with Carson, her canceled talk show of her own in the 80's, but she always reinvented herself, most influentially as a red carpet host of awards shows in the late 90's, a gig she basically turned into the monster industry that it is today (credit her with popularizing the "who are you wearing" question). Love her or hate her, she was uncompromising, pulled no punches, and always one to make fun of herself as well as the hordes of celebrities she targeted, and because of that she never lost any of the spark that made her so fierce up until the day she died.

On The Tonight Show in 1986 with Johnny Carson:

RECAP: Masters of Sex 2x08 "Mirror, Mirror"

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!

TRAILER: "Downton Abbey" Season 5

Here we go with a look at the new season of Downton Abbey, coming back Sept 21st in the UK and in January in the U.S., as usual. A bunch of teases here where you can't really tell too much, except that Mary and Tom have new romances brewing: