Masters of Sex (2013–2016): Season 1, Episode 12 - Manhigh - full transcript
Dr. Masters' big day is at hand after 12 months of studies. Without Virginia as a voice of moderation will Bill's pitch hit the mark? Margaret Scully is confronted with her husbands ...
Previously on Masters of Sex...
I wanted to give you this.
And I came up with the amount
by, uh, adding up the times
we've... participated.
You son of a bitch.
I have cancer.
I'm not going to be around
to see the testing
become routine.
I'm going to have
to hand the work off
to someone
who can fight the fight.
I know
there have been other women.
No.
He's queer.
You can't give your husband
what he likes.
Your husband likes boys.
I've got to grab their
attention in the first two minutes...
and then hold it for another 38.
Once you present
the work, what'll be different?
A university's stamp of
approval makes the work... legitimate.
When do you stop feeling
like you've got something to prove?
There's always
something to prove.
Why don't you let me
worry about everything?
I want us to be a team.
Aren't we?
We're a couple.
No, a team.
Like Burns and Allen.
Haas and Johnson.
It's got a ring to it.
Well, I think
you have to say
you're entertaining
multiple offers.
Isn't that the point
of going to LA?
Are you going to Disneyland?
Close to Disneyland, I think.
It's in Anaheim, which--
Well, you know what?
I'm not really sure
where anything is out there.
Don't act like
you know Disneyland, Tessa.
I do know.
Pinocchio lives there.
And fairies
fly through the air.
A UCLA offer
could certainly help
with, say, Passavant Memorial
in Chicago...
Mercy Hospital
in Oklahoma City.
So, why do they
call it a right angle
instead of a left angle?
It's a Latin term--
- angulus rectus.
- Got it.
Literally angle upright...
All right.
...meaning the line
that sticks up from the base.
Are you the smartest
person in the world?
Second-smartest.
Your mom got first prize.
And since I won't be
seeing you kids for a few days,
how about I tuck you in tonight?
- Yay!
- Yay!
Then who tucks you in?
Oh.
It's a big day.
Dishes in the sink, Tessie.
And grab your red coat
from under the bed.
We need to hide
the red coat better.
...air force base
in New Mexico...
Henry, I really don't want
to have to run for the bus
this morning.
Mom, look.
...three years in the making,
many starts and stops,
but today Project Manhigh
finally takes to the skies.
Major David Simons
has seated himself
inside an aluminum capsule
and is ascending to a height
never before achieved by man.
We now go to the
Project Manhigh's Commander,
who is speaking directly
with Major Simons...
He's going into space
for real, mom.
Major Simons, you are about
to reach the high point
of your career.
It's quite a day, Colonel.
Quite a day.
Every seat is accounted for.
We'll have at least
two dozen standing.
My worry now
is the gin and vermouth.
My hands will be arthritic
claws by the time I'm finished.
"All male subjects
expressed concern
about a possible link
between excessive masturbation
and mental illness."
Ah. Coming.
I'm coming.
So... "Excessive"?
What is that, statistically?
Several times a day?
I mean, obviously that would be
overdoing it, but...
once a day...
Lester, you're fine.
Dr. Masters, do you want
70 or 80 bound copies
of the study available
to the attendees?
An even 100, to be
distributed after the presentation.
But how do you know I'm fine?
Because I'm a doctor.
I can spot a statistically
average masturbator
from a mile away.
Oh. Good.
I-I'll fix the feedback.
Bill, are you sure
about the Martinis?
'Cause I could whip up
a delicious Planter's Punch.
Punch is for bingo games.
The atmosphere here
needs to reflect
the significance of the study.
Well, then,
maybe no alcohol at all.
Well, the study deserves
a-- an open and receptive audience.
I think it can only help
if everyone's a little looped.
It's about setting the stage.
Martinis set the proper tone.
It's your day.
Although, given
it's a sold-out crowd,
we will need another
four dozen canapes.
"And all males
defined 'excessive masturbation'
to be a frequency more than
they, in fact, indulged,
it would seem, as a means of
justifying their current habit."
Last time you came in
with a headline,
the Japs had bombed
Pearl Harbor.
Charles Albert
Rutledge got a life sentence.
- Who?
- State Vs. Rutledge,
an office clerk from Vernon.
The Missouri Supreme Court
unanimously handed down
a sentence of life imprisonment
for his...
"Detestable
and abominable perversions
with a male teenager."
Normally, I would never notice
this story, but today
I thought, "My God.
That could be my husband."
The boy in the hotel
that night...
Margaret,
I'm not gonna talk about this.
You have to, Barton.
Because if you had just
discovered, after 30 years,
that I was a Martian...
the least I could do
is explain to you life on Mars.
You slept with that boy
that night.
Not that night.
But he was your...
your lover?
I paid him.
Did you have feelings for him?
Margaret...
I am so ashamed...
that all this time,
I could never stop.
How many have there been?
Oh.
I see.
And...
have they always been for hire,
these men?
Not all. Some.
But none of them ever changed
how I felt about you.
Really.
You never loved one of them?
James Davenport.
He was the only one that...
That was so very long ago.
The summer
before I went to college.
You loved a boy
when you were 18?
You knew you felt this way
when you were 18?
It wasn't so clear-cut then.
But you hadn't even met me yet
and you already knew
you could never want me.
I'm gonna make it up to you.
By waving a magic wand?
I was 10 when you were 18.
Everything was ahead.
You cannot
give me back the years.
I could've done something else.
I could've
been with someone else.
Why wasn't that my choice,
whether I wanted to spend
my life with-- with a queer?
Margaret...
Those were the only years I had.
You thief!
Margaret, please.
I'm gonna fix this.
I'm seeing a doctor,
a pioneer in the field--
Dr. Ellenberg.
And he and I are gonna
take care of this problem...
for good.
I promise you.
_
Wheelchair
to Maternity Check-In.
Wheelchair
to Maternity Check-In.
I believe I did credit you
with our success in Tennessee.
Yes, but we could
start a similar outreach here.
We could gather all the female
employees at the hospital,
and we could start a forum
on women's health.
Maternity has already
agreed to institute pap smears.
Well, yes, but it doesn't
always have to be about pap smears.
For example, I read about
this doctor in Houston,
and he's developed this film
that can detect breast cancers.
It's like an X-ray.
Robert Egan.
He's had great success
detecting cancers
in a breast after mastectomy--
no success at all with breasts
still attached to a woman.
Okay. But it's still a
radical, maybe lifesaving idea.
My point is, there's a lot
you want to accomplish, Lillian,
and I want to help you.
There are many other
health issues--
You know what I did see
on the department board
this morning?
Everybody saw it.
What is your point?
It made me realize you're right.
Stop complaining about Bill
and start emulating him.
In fact, I'm off to find
the Chancellor now
to show him just how much
of a Masters I can be.
Expecting fireworks
this afternoon, Bill.
Provost at Webster
called me directly,
asked if he could
attend the presentation.
I hope you said yes.
Outside interest
only helps our cause.
Your study's a cause now?
It's always been.
You know that.
It's all ahead for you, Bill.
You'll wake up tomorrow and
everything will be different.
We're having a dinner
tonight at the house to celebrate.
I want you and Margaret
to be part of it.
I appreciate that,
but there are...
some personal issues.
Look, Barton,
I know we hit a rough patch,
and I-I know you only came around
to this work reluctantly--
I was blackmailed.
Let's not mince words.
But we need
to push past that now.
We need to present
a united front.
Against what?
You're drawing bigger crowds
than "Pajama Game"
at the drive-in.
What do you need me for?
I...
I need you there.
Because...
today the work takes
center stage,
and that's where it should be.
And whatever comes from it...
it will be credited
to us both...
and that's how it should be.
God help me.
You always could bend
the universe to your will.
I imagine
this is difficult for you.
You cannot imagine.
My life
has been turned inside out.
You might as well tell me
the sun now sets in the east,
that babies grow on trees.
But if Barton
is embarking on a cure,
I want to know what it is
because...
Well, I cannot spend another
moment of my life in the dark.
Okay.
He's going to undergo
electroshock therapy.
It's a psychiatric treatment
in which seizures
are electrically induced--
I know what it is.
My friend Joan-- we play
mah-jongg every Wednesday--
her mother's had electroshock,
many times.
We've taken to calling it
"Head zapping."
Well, there are
misconceptions about ECT.
But electricity would be
pushed through Barton's brain, correct?
He's anesthetized,
so it's painless.
There must be consequences.
The hoped-for consequence
is your husband
no longer desires men.
And there are side effects.
The biggest one is memory loss.
It's usually temporary.
Sometimes it's permanent.
Can people... die?
4 deaths in every 100,000.
But those are very low odds.
Surely there are other ways.
Oh, there are.
In fact, there have been
tremendous advances in science
in terms of
curing homosexuality.
There's something called
shock-aversion therapy.
Sometimes we apply the shocks
directly to the genitals,
which can enhance
the treatment's efficacy.
There are psychotropic drugs.
There's chemical castration.
Chemical... castration?
The good news is,
your husband can beat this,
Mrs. Scully.
We just have to find
the treatment that works best.
_
Dr. Masters, I was wondering--
Jane,
I said no distractions.
Then I'll be quick.
I was wondering if you invited
Virginia this afternoon,
because I didn't.
Is that a question?
It's just...
She put so much time into
this study, so much of herself.
What Virginia does this
afternoon, or any afternoon,
is none of our concern.
She won't come
unless you ask her.
She quit.
And I resent you comin--
Just a thought.
God damn it.
I'll be down the hall
for a moment.
Bill.
I just wanted to say,
uh, good luck.
You were coming to see me?
I was heading
in this direction, so...
Actually, I, uh...
Well, if you want to--
Gini.
Goodness.
Look at you.
I just ran out
for some stuffed olives.
Bill had the inspired idea
to serve Martinis
at the presentation.
That is inspired.
Sets the right tone.
That's just what Bill said.
Uh, anyway,
I'm sure, uh, Virginia's busy.
We'll see you
at the presentation, though?
Libby.
Absolutely.
You must come.
After all your efforts...
Dr. DePaul and I
have a very full day.
I just wanted to wish you both
the best--
on the presentation
and the baby.
That very sweet of you, Gini.
Because I want
Bill Masters' deal.
He has no secret deal.
No secret to you,
or to me now,
that Masters' patients
pay him directly,
that the university
doesn't touch that money,
that it allows him
to pocket an extra 30%.
Can I interest you
in a sandwich? It's on me.
Coffee's fine.
You might consider
cutting back on caffeine.
I want your assurance
I can have the same arrangement.
Bill Masters has that deal
because of the enormous
amount of business
he generates
for maternity hospital.
Over the years, he's brought
literally thousands of patients
through our doors.
You have no patients.
That's a gross exaggeration.
How many?
My numbers grow every day.
Yes.
And I see those numbers on my
weekly report from Accounting.
The reason I have fewer patients
is because the hospital doesn't
forward new patients to me.
I'm last on the referral list
when women call
and ask for an OB/GYN.
12th.
You're 12th on the list.
And you know why?
We can't sell you.
- To whom?
- To women.
I brought you here because
of your impeccable credentials
and the hunch obstetrics
might be opening up
for female physicians.
But I was wrong.
Because when we do refer you,
women make it very clear
they don't want another woman
looking up their skirt,
except for the odd gal
who thinks that's just swell,
and those 16 women
are your patients.
And they receive the best
care this hospital has to offer.
16 patients is not rainmaking.
It's not even a drizzle.
I'm on my way
to Masters' presentation.
The entire hospital
is talking about it.
Why don't you come up with
something to grab our attention?
Maybe that will rearrange
the weather in your favor.
It's a big day, huh?
Strange to think
it started with us.
Masters' study will continue.
We can, too.
"Martinis
are the only American invention
as perfect as the sonnet."
Up with invention.
Down with sonnets.
Those are actually
HL Mencken's words, but, uh...
I have been engaged
in an invention of sorts--
a study that began in earnest
a year ago.
But in truth...
is a project more than 20 years
in the making.
As we went about our business,
we discovered, more than once,
a stethoscope pressed up against
the walls of Exam Room 5.
I took your curiosity
and speculation as a good sign.
But those days of secrecy
are over.
I am opening the door
of Exam Room 5,
and I'm eager to share with you
my groundbreaking discoveries.
What happens to the body
during sex?
The one thing you can't do
is take people's word for it.
Lies, half-truths, delusions,
significant omissions--
what people wish were true--
will always muddy the waters
of scientific objectivity.
So, I wired them up.
How many victims--
I mean subjects, Bill?
So far?
186 volunteers that participated
in 458 individual acts of sex.
So happy you came.
Now, if you're
interested in raw data,
I've collected it all together
for you to read in the back.
But if you want to know
what we learned--
Who's "We," Dr. Masters?
It's the royal "We," Dr. DePaul.
Sex, it turns out,
has a pattern.
When sexually stimulated...
both men and women pass through
what are essentially
four separate stages
of physiological response--
excitement, plateau,
orgasm, and resolution.
Furthermore, we were able
to disprove many myths.
For example, uncircumcised men
do not have more ejaculatory
control than circumcised men.
Circumcision doesn't affect
impotency one way or another.
The male orgasm does not
deplete physical strength.
So, if you have a big golf game
this coming Sunday,
please, have all the sex
you want Saturday night.
My weekend just improved.
And rest assured, in
terms of pleasing your partner,
"Bigger is better"
turns out to be another myth.
Our research revealed
that smaller penises
expand more when erect,
larger penises expand less,
meaning most erections land
in a small statistical middle.
Combined with the distensive
property of the vaginal barrel,
a canal being as snug
around a gloved finger
as it is around a baby's head,
it turns out a woman does
accommodate a small penis
as pleasurably as a large one.
And I can speak for myself
when I say you've done a great
service here today, Dr. Masters.
Let's hear it
for the little guys, huh?
Right, Bob?
And so,
let's move on to the girls.
This is the vaginal
canal during sexual stimulation.
Oh, God.
Note the uniform lubrication--
actually a "sweating" phenomena.
Nobody knows it's you.
Note the wall color,
the darker, purplish hue,
as we arrive at
the orgasmic phase,
when the entire vaginal barrel
undergoes contractions
during orgasm,
similar to an accelerated labor.
Until now, no one knew
these contractions existed.
And yet here they are.
And we can measure them.
But that's not the whole story
when it comes
to the female orgasm.
Note the muscle contractions
in the hands and feet--
myotonia.
The skin flush...
- Who is that?
- ...vasocongestion.
The erect nipples...
...perspiration,
hyperventilation.
Physiological reactions
are uniform and consistent.
Which brings us
to the heart of the study
and the most radical
discovery of all--
when it comes to sex,
women have capabilities
vastly superior to men.
They can achieve
multiple orgasms,
they're orgasmic
after menopause,
and the sexual satisfaction
they can achieve on their own
is equal to,
and sometimes even greater,
than the satisfaction
they achieve with men.
I think that's, uh, enough.
There are women
in the room, Bill.
There were women
in the study, Chuck.
We'll reconvene
in my office later.
Actually,
I-I have a Q&A planned.
This kind of smut does
not belong in this hospital.
Of course they'll settle down.
They'll have to.
You remember how you first
reacted when you saw our work.
I'd supported you for 20 years.
I was your friend.
You think I don't know
the resentment in this hospital
toward me because of my stature,
my position.
Then why put out a fire
with gunpowder today?
I was presenting my work!
Maybe it was a miscalculation
to think my colleagues
could be the first ones
exposed to this material,
given their petty jealousies,
their insecurities.
This goes
beyond jealousies, Bill.
Now is not the time
to give in to small minds.
You know what I'm gonna do?
I'm gonna publish this
as a paper
in the Obstetrics
and Gynecology Journal.
Makes more sense to go through
established channels anyway.
Those were the established
channels right there in that room.
So this is what,
you're turning on me now, too?
Jesus,
this is what you always do.
The first sign of trouble
and you're gone, out the door!
That's bullshit, Bill,
and you know it.
No one has gone further out
on a limb for you than I have.
I'm gonna back you on this
because the work is good.
And I resent
that small-mindedness,
that oppressive choke hold
of establishment thinking.
I've had a lifetime of it.
So, fuck them.
Yes, exactly.
Fuck them.
Thank you.
He's not in Barton's office.
Everyone hurried out
so quickly,
I couldn't distribute the study.
Although, Ethel from Accounting
took two copies,
she was so impressed.
Dr. Masters' office.
Right.
Yes.
Oh.
I'm-- I'm sorry to hear
that you can't make it.
By the time I get back
to my airless dungeon,
everyone's gonna know it was me
that shot that film.
You filmed that naked woman?
No. I don't know
who shot that,
but the film of your...
insides... has my signature style
all over it,
and it's gonna cost me my job.
Dr. Masters will defend you.
Hello, Dr. Rish.
I suspect he has his hands full.
Then I will defend you.
- I understand.
- Not only was it... pretty,
with camera angles or whatever,
the whole point of it
was for science.
And frankly, this hospital
should be supporting
more of that, and I will say
that to anyone who will listen,
even the Chancellor
of the university himself.
I need to make some calls.
If I could have
the wheeldex please.
Bill...
I'm fine.
Are you sure?
Dr. Rish just called
to cancel
for our dinner tonight.
Well, we're better off
without him.
I'd rather tonight's dinner
be only people
who appreciated the work.
Well, Ethel certainly
appreciated it.
I think it was just
the insecure men
that didn't want to hear
about how women are,
you know... sexually superior.
People didn't want to hear about
the Theory
of Natural Selection, either.
They wanted to believe that God
created the world in seven days,
not that man evolved from apes.
Darwin was attacked by
both scientists and the church,
and yet it's Darwin
that survived.
And Elvis Presley.
He was panned on "The Milton
Berle Show" last year.
Couldn't even show him
from the waist down.
And he was accused
of being obscene, by the way.
Now he's in "Jailhouse Rock"
and his swiveling hips
are 20-feet wide
on every big screen in America.
Exactly.
Forward my calls to reception.
You can take
the rest of the day off.
Dr. Masters, that's not necess--
And, Libby,
you can go, too.
We have guests tonight.
We should be ready for them.
And I need a quiet office.
I have a lot of work to do.
The sky this far above
the earth is purplish-black,
and against that is... well,
many heavenly wonders.
He's up there right now.
19 miles above the Earth.
Beyond the haze,
there are thin bands of blue
etched against the night sky.
They appear to be
thin shells of dust
that hover over the Earth
like a succession of halos.
Major Simons is such a hero.
He is.
But... there are lots of people
that helped get Major Simons
into space,
like those men
sitting right there.
- They're helpers?
- Mm-hmm.
Yes, it takes helpers
to do great things.
...atmospheric layers,
and the stars at 100,000 feet
do not twinkle,
but shine steadily.
Do you want anything else?
We have enough food
for 20 people.
I-I wish I had seen that film...
of the woman
before you showed it.
And that would've changed what?
I would've warned you
against it.
You're used to seeing bodies in
the throes of passion like that,
but it's... Well, it's--
it was a little shocking to me
and to the other doctors,
as well.
Doctors see
naked bodies every day.
They don't see them having sex.
Who was that woman--
in the film at the end?
What difference does that make?
The two doctors sitting next
to me thought it was Virginia.
Of course they did.
Since they were already
acting like...
naughty schoolboys, spying
on the naked neighbor lady.
You know, I've had 111 women
in my study,
I have hundreds of feet of film,
and yet I go and pick Virginia
as my subject?
Does that make any sense to you?
No.
No, I-I...
can't imagine why she'd
compromise herself like that.
You've answered
your own question.
But you haven't answered mine.
Who was that woman?
You know I can't say.
Barton...
I spoke to Dr. Ellenberg today.
I mean, some of those
supposed cures
sounded primitive, at best.
Some sounded... worse.
Well, castration
is off the table.
I suppose electrocuting
your genitals is also a pass?
Margaret,
I'm doing the right thing.
Electroshock has been around
for more than 20 years.
It's been tested.
It's now a perfectly acceptable
form of therapy.
But Joan's mother
doesn't remember
she has a granddaughter.
We don't have grandchildren.
What if you forget
you love to overtip everyone
everywhere we go?
What if you forget
how Vivian smiles
when you sing
"You Are My Sunshine"?
Wh-wh-what if you forget
you've never won a tennis match
against me,
not once, not ever?
I let you win.
Well, what if you forget that?
Margaret,
what would you have me do?
I need to fix this thing.
If you don't fix it, I...
I don't know what kind of future
we can possibly have.
But, I mean, listening
to that doctor, I thought...
for all of our problems...
this is still
30 years of a life--
not the life I thought I had,
but the life I got...
with a man...
that I do love.
Margaret, I don't want
to cause you any more distress
than I already have.
If you don't want me to do it,
I won't.
I don't-- I don't think I do.
We already have a hundred
signatures. He's finished.
I have half a mind
to just rip it from their hands.
I can't believe they think
a petition is going to stop Bill.
Mrs. Johnson,
that was more of you
than I needed to see yesterday.
What did you just say?
I'm sorry, but that is just
ridiculous and rude.
And true.
I can see that you wish it were.
There's got to be a better way.
Lillian,
I couldn't sleep last night,
and so I picked up the latest
journal of gynecology,
and there's this pill
that's been developed
for irregular menstrual cycles
that actually functions
as birth control.
Mm-hmm. That's Gregory Pincus'
work, funded by Margaret Sanger.
But the FDA has only approved it
for severe menstrual disorders.
Yes, but now large
numbers of women
are reporting
severe menstrual disorders
just so they can
get their hands on it.
It has serious side effects.
Yes, but...
a contraceptive pill.
Just imagine
what that could do for women.
I'm not following your point.
The women's forum.
Why isn't this
something we can explore?
It's a distraction.
We have work to do
right here in front of us.
Lillian, you're a doctor.
You are in the perfect position
to be on the ground floor
something thrilling,
a pioneer in a new field!
I don't have time
for thrilling or "new fields,"
as you know.
I know.
I-- I'm sorry. I mean--
My work is to--
To make pap smears available
to every woman in the country.
I know.
It's not glamorous.
It's painstaking and it's slow.
I know that.
But it is an honest goal.
The one thing I can do
that will hopefully
make a difference.
Why isn't that enough for you?
One small step at a time,
Virginia.
There's nothing wrong with that.
80 signatures
as of this morning--
doctors, administrators,
board members...
Now even people that
didn't see your presentation
want your study shut down.
I will not move my study
out of this hospital again, Barton.
I refuse.
No, it's more
complicated than that.
Chancellor Fitzhugh is waiting
for us in his office right now.
We're both being let go.
As in... fired?
That-- No, that's a bluff.
With the money
I bring into this hospital?
It's no bluff.
I got word this morning.
It's a done deal.
He felt utterly blindsided
by what he saw yesterday--
what everyone saw.
Made him look stupid.
He felt humiliated.
But more than that,
it scared him.
Naked bodies, having sex--
that's not something
the board can tolerate.
Heads must roll.
So Fitzhugh is firing us
to save his own ass.
The truth is, Bill...
as much as I've loved you
like a son,
championed you
as best I could...
I was always
a little envious of you.
You have gifts that I don't--
raw talent, a vision.
You are
an excellent doctor, Barton.
That was one of the reasons
I looked up to you.
Then I took the easy way out--
made a living,
supported a wife and daughter.
But now...
at my age...
You'll have a good chance
of landing on your feet.
That's what matters.
Guess what I'm looking at.
Mickey Mouse.
I-I couldn't find
Mickey Mouse's star
on Hollywood Boulevard
yesterday.
I did, however, see the new
Capitol Records building.
Was that that crazy
round building
where Nat King Cole records?
Did you know
that there is a light
on the top of that building
that blinks out the word
"Hollywood" in morse code?
No, I didn't know that.
And now I'm looking
at the Pacific Ocean.
Well, now I'm looking
at Stella transcribe dictation.
You win.
I also have some big news.
I did get an offer from UCLA.
See? I told you.
Now you have
the leverage you need.
It's a game-changing offer.
Oh?
And this is not how
I intended to do this.
But... I don't want to wait.
I love you, Virginia.
I have from day one.
And... I love your kids,
love them
as if they were my own.
And no matter what job I take,
I want you and them
there with me, for good.
So...
will you marry me?
Ethan, I'm--
I'm not sure Stella
should be
a part of this discussion.
You can answer when I get back.
But whatever kind of life
you want for yourself,
for your kids, it's yours.
That wasn't science.
Pornography, maybe.
Grossly inappropriate,
certainly.
But mostly that debacle of yours
was a violation
of everything this hospital
and university stand for,
undertaken,
without my knowledge,
by the two men I trusted most.
I've been trying to get my head
around it, but frankly, I can't.
This study
has been going on for a year?
In hospital exam rooms,
using hospital equipment?
You were happy enough
when those rooms and equipment
generated huge revenues,
monies that bolstered
your position with the board.
Didn't hurt you at bonus time,
either, I'm sure.
I gave you a special deal.
And I gave you a
world-class obstetrics department.
I've made a mistake
with you, Bill.
It's clear to me you've been
given far too much rope
to hang yourself by a man
far too weak to stop you.
Which brings to me
a very difficult decision.
The truth is, if you had
supported me from the beginning,
this wouldn't have
happened at all.
I-I'm sorry?
The reason I hid
my study from you, Barton,
is because
I knew you'd forbid it.
I came to you years ago
and told you of my plan
to, uh, crack the mysteries
of human sexuality,
but you flatly said no.
You couldn't see
this was the future.
You-- you couldn't envision
the accolades and acclaim
that such innovative work
would bring to this hospital.
Acclaim?
Are you drunk?
That so-called work is obscene.
You didn't have the strength.
That's the one thing
the Chancellor did get right.
And because you were weak,
I went around you.
I did use hospital exam rooms.
I did use hospital equipment.
And I used the money
you thought I was using
for infertility research
on sex instead.
In which case, Barton,
you've been bamboozled
by our lying, arrogant employee
worse than I've been.
I leave the honors to you.
You know what needs to be done.
I will continue
my study at this hospital...
no matter what you say today,
no matter what you do.
You won't, Bill.
You're fired.
The Urban League is so grateful
for all your generosity, ma'am.
I'm sorry I couldn't
drive them over myself.
I feel like I'm carrying
a sack of cement today.
Of course you do.
You know, we also take donations
for our nursery,
and we have a dental clinic.
Aah! Aah!
Oh, my God.
What is it, ma'am?
I need to call my husband.
We have to go back to Fitzhugh.
It won't change anything.
But I can't let this
stand. I can't. It was--
The only thing to do.
It made no sense
for us both to go.
Dear God.
What a thing.
It was Fitzhugh's
secretary who told Patsy
who told me
that Dr. Masters was fired.
Fired!
That's like firing God.
I feel so ashamed.
What? Why?
Because I showed myself...
my insides, my...
vaginal walls.
And those doctors thought
that it was dirty
or that something
went horribly wrong,
and now it's as if I brought
down the entire kingdom.
That's not what those
doctors thought, not about you.
How do you know?
Because I've seen more
of you, down there,
than anybody,
and I think
your vaginal walls...
are beautiful.
You're just saying that.
I think the up-top parts
are beautiful, too.
In fact,
I think everything about you...
is perfect.
I'm sorry.
I didn't-- Uh, I'll come back.
No, Gini, come in.
What a day.
Uh, you don't
have to leave, Lester.
I do.
Believe me. I do.
Can you believe it?
All of this just gone.
All these offices just gone.
Everything that he and you
and me and Lester
worked so hard on is just--
Gone. Where is he?
He called to say he'd
be out for the rest of the day.
I don't know.
Do I pack up or...?
Bill can live
without almost anything
but not without his work.
And such good work...
from such a brilliant man.
A souvenir, I guess.
Or a doorstop.
Ma'am, I don't think
we're gonna make it across town.
We have to. I need--
Mnh-mnh,
my hospital's two blocks over.
I'm taking you over there.
Now, what this is, ma'am,
is a precipitous labor,
so we'll get you in a room--
Precipitous labor?
Wh-what is that?
Quick.
Apparently, your baby
has a train to catch.
No, no, I can't be here.
I'm supposed to deliver
at Maternity.
Well, where you don't
want to be
is sitting in a car
on Charles Avenue.
You don't. I don't.
Listen to her.
I'm starting
electroshock treatments.
I told Margaret I wouldn't,
but I have to do something.
I've done two things right
in my life-- you and my family.
But maybe I can get something
else right, something ahead,
if I fix myself.
You know the risks
of electroshock as well as I do.
Well, what endeavor
doesn't have risks?
As we've seen.
But the reward...
The reward
can make me a new man.
Now, haven't we spent our whole
lives believing in science?
We have.
So, tomorrow I'll admit
myself, I'll have my treatment,
and then I'll go home cured
to a wife I love,
to a better future,
to a job, thanks to you.
But tonight...
I'm worried about you.
What are you gonna do, Bill?
The same.
I'm gonna go home.
Dr. Masters...
sorry about the locks.
I, uh...
Well, I certainly wouldn't want
to have to escort you out.
_
Mom.
Mom, come look!
The craft has now touched down.
The pod door is opening,
and he's emerging.
This is truly an historic
moment in American history.
Welcome home, Major!
Good to be home, Colonel.
How do you feel, Major?
Good. Grateful.
What did you learn
up there in space?
Man can go anywhere.
He just has to take his own
atmosphere with him.
I can't wait till Ethan
comes back so we can tell him.
You ready to call
your husband now, Mrs. Masters?
Soon.
In a little while.
You put my name on the study.
You earned it.
No one believes in the work.
Scully, maybe.
No one else.
I do.
So do you.
But it doesn't matter.
Because...
it's over.
So, uh...
I have nothing to offer you.
That's all right.
Except, maybe...
the truth.
I finally realized that, uh...
there is one thing
I-I can't live without.
It's you.
You.
I wanted to give you this.
And I came up with the amount
by, uh, adding up the times
we've... participated.
You son of a bitch.
I have cancer.
I'm not going to be around
to see the testing
become routine.
I'm going to have
to hand the work off
to someone
who can fight the fight.
I know
there have been other women.
No.
He's queer.
You can't give your husband
what he likes.
Your husband likes boys.
I've got to grab their
attention in the first two minutes...
and then hold it for another 38.
Once you present
the work, what'll be different?
A university's stamp of
approval makes the work... legitimate.
When do you stop feeling
like you've got something to prove?
There's always
something to prove.
Why don't you let me
worry about everything?
I want us to be a team.
Aren't we?
We're a couple.
No, a team.
Like Burns and Allen.
Haas and Johnson.
It's got a ring to it.
Well, I think
you have to say
you're entertaining
multiple offers.
Isn't that the point
of going to LA?
Are you going to Disneyland?
Close to Disneyland, I think.
It's in Anaheim, which--
Well, you know what?
I'm not really sure
where anything is out there.
Don't act like
you know Disneyland, Tessa.
I do know.
Pinocchio lives there.
And fairies
fly through the air.
A UCLA offer
could certainly help
with, say, Passavant Memorial
in Chicago...
Mercy Hospital
in Oklahoma City.
So, why do they
call it a right angle
instead of a left angle?
It's a Latin term--
- angulus rectus.
- Got it.
Literally angle upright...
All right.
...meaning the line
that sticks up from the base.
Are you the smartest
person in the world?
Second-smartest.
Your mom got first prize.
And since I won't be
seeing you kids for a few days,
how about I tuck you in tonight?
- Yay!
- Yay!
Then who tucks you in?
Oh.
It's a big day.
Dishes in the sink, Tessie.
And grab your red coat
from under the bed.
We need to hide
the red coat better.
...air force base
in New Mexico...
Henry, I really don't want
to have to run for the bus
this morning.
Mom, look.
...three years in the making,
many starts and stops,
but today Project Manhigh
finally takes to the skies.
Major David Simons
has seated himself
inside an aluminum capsule
and is ascending to a height
never before achieved by man.
We now go to the
Project Manhigh's Commander,
who is speaking directly
with Major Simons...
He's going into space
for real, mom.
Major Simons, you are about
to reach the high point
of your career.
It's quite a day, Colonel.
Quite a day.
Every seat is accounted for.
We'll have at least
two dozen standing.
My worry now
is the gin and vermouth.
My hands will be arthritic
claws by the time I'm finished.
"All male subjects
expressed concern
about a possible link
between excessive masturbation
and mental illness."
Ah. Coming.
I'm coming.
So... "Excessive"?
What is that, statistically?
Several times a day?
I mean, obviously that would be
overdoing it, but...
once a day...
Lester, you're fine.
Dr. Masters, do you want
70 or 80 bound copies
of the study available
to the attendees?
An even 100, to be
distributed after the presentation.
But how do you know I'm fine?
Because I'm a doctor.
I can spot a statistically
average masturbator
from a mile away.
Oh. Good.
I-I'll fix the feedback.
Bill, are you sure
about the Martinis?
'Cause I could whip up
a delicious Planter's Punch.
Punch is for bingo games.
The atmosphere here
needs to reflect
the significance of the study.
Well, then,
maybe no alcohol at all.
Well, the study deserves
a-- an open and receptive audience.
I think it can only help
if everyone's a little looped.
It's about setting the stage.
Martinis set the proper tone.
It's your day.
Although, given
it's a sold-out crowd,
we will need another
four dozen canapes.
"And all males
defined 'excessive masturbation'
to be a frequency more than
they, in fact, indulged,
it would seem, as a means of
justifying their current habit."
Last time you came in
with a headline,
the Japs had bombed
Pearl Harbor.
Charles Albert
Rutledge got a life sentence.
- Who?
- State Vs. Rutledge,
an office clerk from Vernon.
The Missouri Supreme Court
unanimously handed down
a sentence of life imprisonment
for his...
"Detestable
and abominable perversions
with a male teenager."
Normally, I would never notice
this story, but today
I thought, "My God.
That could be my husband."
The boy in the hotel
that night...
Margaret,
I'm not gonna talk about this.
You have to, Barton.
Because if you had just
discovered, after 30 years,
that I was a Martian...
the least I could do
is explain to you life on Mars.
You slept with that boy
that night.
Not that night.
But he was your...
your lover?
I paid him.
Did you have feelings for him?
Margaret...
I am so ashamed...
that all this time,
I could never stop.
How many have there been?
Oh.
I see.
And...
have they always been for hire,
these men?
Not all. Some.
But none of them ever changed
how I felt about you.
Really.
You never loved one of them?
James Davenport.
He was the only one that...
That was so very long ago.
The summer
before I went to college.
You loved a boy
when you were 18?
You knew you felt this way
when you were 18?
It wasn't so clear-cut then.
But you hadn't even met me yet
and you already knew
you could never want me.
I'm gonna make it up to you.
By waving a magic wand?
I was 10 when you were 18.
Everything was ahead.
You cannot
give me back the years.
I could've done something else.
I could've
been with someone else.
Why wasn't that my choice,
whether I wanted to spend
my life with-- with a queer?
Margaret...
Those were the only years I had.
You thief!
Margaret, please.
I'm gonna fix this.
I'm seeing a doctor,
a pioneer in the field--
Dr. Ellenberg.
And he and I are gonna
take care of this problem...
for good.
I promise you.
_
Wheelchair
to Maternity Check-In.
Wheelchair
to Maternity Check-In.
I believe I did credit you
with our success in Tennessee.
Yes, but we could
start a similar outreach here.
We could gather all the female
employees at the hospital,
and we could start a forum
on women's health.
Maternity has already
agreed to institute pap smears.
Well, yes, but it doesn't
always have to be about pap smears.
For example, I read about
this doctor in Houston,
and he's developed this film
that can detect breast cancers.
It's like an X-ray.
Robert Egan.
He's had great success
detecting cancers
in a breast after mastectomy--
no success at all with breasts
still attached to a woman.
Okay. But it's still a
radical, maybe lifesaving idea.
My point is, there's a lot
you want to accomplish, Lillian,
and I want to help you.
There are many other
health issues--
You know what I did see
on the department board
this morning?
Everybody saw it.
What is your point?
It made me realize you're right.
Stop complaining about Bill
and start emulating him.
In fact, I'm off to find
the Chancellor now
to show him just how much
of a Masters I can be.
Expecting fireworks
this afternoon, Bill.
Provost at Webster
called me directly,
asked if he could
attend the presentation.
I hope you said yes.
Outside interest
only helps our cause.
Your study's a cause now?
It's always been.
You know that.
It's all ahead for you, Bill.
You'll wake up tomorrow and
everything will be different.
We're having a dinner
tonight at the house to celebrate.
I want you and Margaret
to be part of it.
I appreciate that,
but there are...
some personal issues.
Look, Barton,
I know we hit a rough patch,
and I-I know you only came around
to this work reluctantly--
I was blackmailed.
Let's not mince words.
But we need
to push past that now.
We need to present
a united front.
Against what?
You're drawing bigger crowds
than "Pajama Game"
at the drive-in.
What do you need me for?
I...
I need you there.
Because...
today the work takes
center stage,
and that's where it should be.
And whatever comes from it...
it will be credited
to us both...
and that's how it should be.
God help me.
You always could bend
the universe to your will.
I imagine
this is difficult for you.
You cannot imagine.
My life
has been turned inside out.
You might as well tell me
the sun now sets in the east,
that babies grow on trees.
But if Barton
is embarking on a cure,
I want to know what it is
because...
Well, I cannot spend another
moment of my life in the dark.
Okay.
He's going to undergo
electroshock therapy.
It's a psychiatric treatment
in which seizures
are electrically induced--
I know what it is.
My friend Joan-- we play
mah-jongg every Wednesday--
her mother's had electroshock,
many times.
We've taken to calling it
"Head zapping."
Well, there are
misconceptions about ECT.
But electricity would be
pushed through Barton's brain, correct?
He's anesthetized,
so it's painless.
There must be consequences.
The hoped-for consequence
is your husband
no longer desires men.
And there are side effects.
The biggest one is memory loss.
It's usually temporary.
Sometimes it's permanent.
Can people... die?
4 deaths in every 100,000.
But those are very low odds.
Surely there are other ways.
Oh, there are.
In fact, there have been
tremendous advances in science
in terms of
curing homosexuality.
There's something called
shock-aversion therapy.
Sometimes we apply the shocks
directly to the genitals,
which can enhance
the treatment's efficacy.
There are psychotropic drugs.
There's chemical castration.
Chemical... castration?
The good news is,
your husband can beat this,
Mrs. Scully.
We just have to find
the treatment that works best.
_
Dr. Masters, I was wondering--
Jane,
I said no distractions.
Then I'll be quick.
I was wondering if you invited
Virginia this afternoon,
because I didn't.
Is that a question?
It's just...
She put so much time into
this study, so much of herself.
What Virginia does this
afternoon, or any afternoon,
is none of our concern.
She won't come
unless you ask her.
She quit.
And I resent you comin--
Just a thought.
God damn it.
I'll be down the hall
for a moment.
Bill.
I just wanted to say,
uh, good luck.
You were coming to see me?
I was heading
in this direction, so...
Actually, I, uh...
Well, if you want to--
Gini.
Goodness.
Look at you.
I just ran out
for some stuffed olives.
Bill had the inspired idea
to serve Martinis
at the presentation.
That is inspired.
Sets the right tone.
That's just what Bill said.
Uh, anyway,
I'm sure, uh, Virginia's busy.
We'll see you
at the presentation, though?
Libby.
Absolutely.
You must come.
After all your efforts...
Dr. DePaul and I
have a very full day.
I just wanted to wish you both
the best--
on the presentation
and the baby.
That very sweet of you, Gini.
Because I want
Bill Masters' deal.
He has no secret deal.
No secret to you,
or to me now,
that Masters' patients
pay him directly,
that the university
doesn't touch that money,
that it allows him
to pocket an extra 30%.
Can I interest you
in a sandwich? It's on me.
Coffee's fine.
You might consider
cutting back on caffeine.
I want your assurance
I can have the same arrangement.
Bill Masters has that deal
because of the enormous
amount of business
he generates
for maternity hospital.
Over the years, he's brought
literally thousands of patients
through our doors.
You have no patients.
That's a gross exaggeration.
How many?
My numbers grow every day.
Yes.
And I see those numbers on my
weekly report from Accounting.
The reason I have fewer patients
is because the hospital doesn't
forward new patients to me.
I'm last on the referral list
when women call
and ask for an OB/GYN.
12th.
You're 12th on the list.
And you know why?
We can't sell you.
- To whom?
- To women.
I brought you here because
of your impeccable credentials
and the hunch obstetrics
might be opening up
for female physicians.
But I was wrong.
Because when we do refer you,
women make it very clear
they don't want another woman
looking up their skirt,
except for the odd gal
who thinks that's just swell,
and those 16 women
are your patients.
And they receive the best
care this hospital has to offer.
16 patients is not rainmaking.
It's not even a drizzle.
I'm on my way
to Masters' presentation.
The entire hospital
is talking about it.
Why don't you come up with
something to grab our attention?
Maybe that will rearrange
the weather in your favor.
It's a big day, huh?
Strange to think
it started with us.
Masters' study will continue.
We can, too.
"Martinis
are the only American invention
as perfect as the sonnet."
Up with invention.
Down with sonnets.
Those are actually
HL Mencken's words, but, uh...
I have been engaged
in an invention of sorts--
a study that began in earnest
a year ago.
But in truth...
is a project more than 20 years
in the making.
As we went about our business,
we discovered, more than once,
a stethoscope pressed up against
the walls of Exam Room 5.
I took your curiosity
and speculation as a good sign.
But those days of secrecy
are over.
I am opening the door
of Exam Room 5,
and I'm eager to share with you
my groundbreaking discoveries.
What happens to the body
during sex?
The one thing you can't do
is take people's word for it.
Lies, half-truths, delusions,
significant omissions--
what people wish were true--
will always muddy the waters
of scientific objectivity.
So, I wired them up.
How many victims--
I mean subjects, Bill?
So far?
186 volunteers that participated
in 458 individual acts of sex.
So happy you came.
Now, if you're
interested in raw data,
I've collected it all together
for you to read in the back.
But if you want to know
what we learned--
Who's "We," Dr. Masters?
It's the royal "We," Dr. DePaul.
Sex, it turns out,
has a pattern.
When sexually stimulated...
both men and women pass through
what are essentially
four separate stages
of physiological response--
excitement, plateau,
orgasm, and resolution.
Furthermore, we were able
to disprove many myths.
For example, uncircumcised men
do not have more ejaculatory
control than circumcised men.
Circumcision doesn't affect
impotency one way or another.
The male orgasm does not
deplete physical strength.
So, if you have a big golf game
this coming Sunday,
please, have all the sex
you want Saturday night.
My weekend just improved.
And rest assured, in
terms of pleasing your partner,
"Bigger is better"
turns out to be another myth.
Our research revealed
that smaller penises
expand more when erect,
larger penises expand less,
meaning most erections land
in a small statistical middle.
Combined with the distensive
property of the vaginal barrel,
a canal being as snug
around a gloved finger
as it is around a baby's head,
it turns out a woman does
accommodate a small penis
as pleasurably as a large one.
And I can speak for myself
when I say you've done a great
service here today, Dr. Masters.
Let's hear it
for the little guys, huh?
Right, Bob?
And so,
let's move on to the girls.
This is the vaginal
canal during sexual stimulation.
Oh, God.
Note the uniform lubrication--
actually a "sweating" phenomena.
Nobody knows it's you.
Note the wall color,
the darker, purplish hue,
as we arrive at
the orgasmic phase,
when the entire vaginal barrel
undergoes contractions
during orgasm,
similar to an accelerated labor.
Until now, no one knew
these contractions existed.
And yet here they are.
And we can measure them.
But that's not the whole story
when it comes
to the female orgasm.
Note the muscle contractions
in the hands and feet--
myotonia.
The skin flush...
- Who is that?
- ...vasocongestion.
The erect nipples...
...perspiration,
hyperventilation.
Physiological reactions
are uniform and consistent.
Which brings us
to the heart of the study
and the most radical
discovery of all--
when it comes to sex,
women have capabilities
vastly superior to men.
They can achieve
multiple orgasms,
they're orgasmic
after menopause,
and the sexual satisfaction
they can achieve on their own
is equal to,
and sometimes even greater,
than the satisfaction
they achieve with men.
I think that's, uh, enough.
There are women
in the room, Bill.
There were women
in the study, Chuck.
We'll reconvene
in my office later.
Actually,
I-I have a Q&A planned.
This kind of smut does
not belong in this hospital.
Of course they'll settle down.
They'll have to.
You remember how you first
reacted when you saw our work.
I'd supported you for 20 years.
I was your friend.
You think I don't know
the resentment in this hospital
toward me because of my stature,
my position.
Then why put out a fire
with gunpowder today?
I was presenting my work!
Maybe it was a miscalculation
to think my colleagues
could be the first ones
exposed to this material,
given their petty jealousies,
their insecurities.
This goes
beyond jealousies, Bill.
Now is not the time
to give in to small minds.
You know what I'm gonna do?
I'm gonna publish this
as a paper
in the Obstetrics
and Gynecology Journal.
Makes more sense to go through
established channels anyway.
Those were the established
channels right there in that room.
So this is what,
you're turning on me now, too?
Jesus,
this is what you always do.
The first sign of trouble
and you're gone, out the door!
That's bullshit, Bill,
and you know it.
No one has gone further out
on a limb for you than I have.
I'm gonna back you on this
because the work is good.
And I resent
that small-mindedness,
that oppressive choke hold
of establishment thinking.
I've had a lifetime of it.
So, fuck them.
Yes, exactly.
Fuck them.
Thank you.
He's not in Barton's office.
Everyone hurried out
so quickly,
I couldn't distribute the study.
Although, Ethel from Accounting
took two copies,
she was so impressed.
Dr. Masters' office.
Right.
Yes.
Oh.
I'm-- I'm sorry to hear
that you can't make it.
By the time I get back
to my airless dungeon,
everyone's gonna know it was me
that shot that film.
You filmed that naked woman?
No. I don't know
who shot that,
but the film of your...
insides... has my signature style
all over it,
and it's gonna cost me my job.
Dr. Masters will defend you.
Hello, Dr. Rish.
I suspect he has his hands full.
Then I will defend you.
- I understand.
- Not only was it... pretty,
with camera angles or whatever,
the whole point of it
was for science.
And frankly, this hospital
should be supporting
more of that, and I will say
that to anyone who will listen,
even the Chancellor
of the university himself.
I need to make some calls.
If I could have
the wheeldex please.
Bill...
I'm fine.
Are you sure?
Dr. Rish just called
to cancel
for our dinner tonight.
Well, we're better off
without him.
I'd rather tonight's dinner
be only people
who appreciated the work.
Well, Ethel certainly
appreciated it.
I think it was just
the insecure men
that didn't want to hear
about how women are,
you know... sexually superior.
People didn't want to hear about
the Theory
of Natural Selection, either.
They wanted to believe that God
created the world in seven days,
not that man evolved from apes.
Darwin was attacked by
both scientists and the church,
and yet it's Darwin
that survived.
And Elvis Presley.
He was panned on "The Milton
Berle Show" last year.
Couldn't even show him
from the waist down.
And he was accused
of being obscene, by the way.
Now he's in "Jailhouse Rock"
and his swiveling hips
are 20-feet wide
on every big screen in America.
Exactly.
Forward my calls to reception.
You can take
the rest of the day off.
Dr. Masters, that's not necess--
And, Libby,
you can go, too.
We have guests tonight.
We should be ready for them.
And I need a quiet office.
I have a lot of work to do.
The sky this far above
the earth is purplish-black,
and against that is... well,
many heavenly wonders.
He's up there right now.
19 miles above the Earth.
Beyond the haze,
there are thin bands of blue
etched against the night sky.
They appear to be
thin shells of dust
that hover over the Earth
like a succession of halos.
Major Simons is such a hero.
He is.
But... there are lots of people
that helped get Major Simons
into space,
like those men
sitting right there.
- They're helpers?
- Mm-hmm.
Yes, it takes helpers
to do great things.
...atmospheric layers,
and the stars at 100,000 feet
do not twinkle,
but shine steadily.
Do you want anything else?
We have enough food
for 20 people.
I-I wish I had seen that film...
of the woman
before you showed it.
And that would've changed what?
I would've warned you
against it.
You're used to seeing bodies in
the throes of passion like that,
but it's... Well, it's--
it was a little shocking to me
and to the other doctors,
as well.
Doctors see
naked bodies every day.
They don't see them having sex.
Who was that woman--
in the film at the end?
What difference does that make?
The two doctors sitting next
to me thought it was Virginia.
Of course they did.
Since they were already
acting like...
naughty schoolboys, spying
on the naked neighbor lady.
You know, I've had 111 women
in my study,
I have hundreds of feet of film,
and yet I go and pick Virginia
as my subject?
Does that make any sense to you?
No.
No, I-I...
can't imagine why she'd
compromise herself like that.
You've answered
your own question.
But you haven't answered mine.
Who was that woman?
You know I can't say.
Barton...
I spoke to Dr. Ellenberg today.
I mean, some of those
supposed cures
sounded primitive, at best.
Some sounded... worse.
Well, castration
is off the table.
I suppose electrocuting
your genitals is also a pass?
Margaret,
I'm doing the right thing.
Electroshock has been around
for more than 20 years.
It's been tested.
It's now a perfectly acceptable
form of therapy.
But Joan's mother
doesn't remember
she has a granddaughter.
We don't have grandchildren.
What if you forget
you love to overtip everyone
everywhere we go?
What if you forget
how Vivian smiles
when you sing
"You Are My Sunshine"?
Wh-wh-what if you forget
you've never won a tennis match
against me,
not once, not ever?
I let you win.
Well, what if you forget that?
Margaret,
what would you have me do?
I need to fix this thing.
If you don't fix it, I...
I don't know what kind of future
we can possibly have.
But, I mean, listening
to that doctor, I thought...
for all of our problems...
this is still
30 years of a life--
not the life I thought I had,
but the life I got...
with a man...
that I do love.
Margaret, I don't want
to cause you any more distress
than I already have.
If you don't want me to do it,
I won't.
I don't-- I don't think I do.
We already have a hundred
signatures. He's finished.
I have half a mind
to just rip it from their hands.
I can't believe they think
a petition is going to stop Bill.
Mrs. Johnson,
that was more of you
than I needed to see yesterday.
What did you just say?
I'm sorry, but that is just
ridiculous and rude.
And true.
I can see that you wish it were.
There's got to be a better way.
Lillian,
I couldn't sleep last night,
and so I picked up the latest
journal of gynecology,
and there's this pill
that's been developed
for irregular menstrual cycles
that actually functions
as birth control.
Mm-hmm. That's Gregory Pincus'
work, funded by Margaret Sanger.
But the FDA has only approved it
for severe menstrual disorders.
Yes, but now large
numbers of women
are reporting
severe menstrual disorders
just so they can
get their hands on it.
It has serious side effects.
Yes, but...
a contraceptive pill.
Just imagine
what that could do for women.
I'm not following your point.
The women's forum.
Why isn't this
something we can explore?
It's a distraction.
We have work to do
right here in front of us.
Lillian, you're a doctor.
You are in the perfect position
to be on the ground floor
something thrilling,
a pioneer in a new field!
I don't have time
for thrilling or "new fields,"
as you know.
I know.
I-- I'm sorry. I mean--
My work is to--
To make pap smears available
to every woman in the country.
I know.
It's not glamorous.
It's painstaking and it's slow.
I know that.
But it is an honest goal.
The one thing I can do
that will hopefully
make a difference.
Why isn't that enough for you?
One small step at a time,
Virginia.
There's nothing wrong with that.
80 signatures
as of this morning--
doctors, administrators,
board members...
Now even people that
didn't see your presentation
want your study shut down.
I will not move my study
out of this hospital again, Barton.
I refuse.
No, it's more
complicated than that.
Chancellor Fitzhugh is waiting
for us in his office right now.
We're both being let go.
As in... fired?
That-- No, that's a bluff.
With the money
I bring into this hospital?
It's no bluff.
I got word this morning.
It's a done deal.
He felt utterly blindsided
by what he saw yesterday--
what everyone saw.
Made him look stupid.
He felt humiliated.
But more than that,
it scared him.
Naked bodies, having sex--
that's not something
the board can tolerate.
Heads must roll.
So Fitzhugh is firing us
to save his own ass.
The truth is, Bill...
as much as I've loved you
like a son,
championed you
as best I could...
I was always
a little envious of you.
You have gifts that I don't--
raw talent, a vision.
You are
an excellent doctor, Barton.
That was one of the reasons
I looked up to you.
Then I took the easy way out--
made a living,
supported a wife and daughter.
But now...
at my age...
You'll have a good chance
of landing on your feet.
That's what matters.
Guess what I'm looking at.
Mickey Mouse.
I-I couldn't find
Mickey Mouse's star
on Hollywood Boulevard
yesterday.
I did, however, see the new
Capitol Records building.
Was that that crazy
round building
where Nat King Cole records?
Did you know
that there is a light
on the top of that building
that blinks out the word
"Hollywood" in morse code?
No, I didn't know that.
And now I'm looking
at the Pacific Ocean.
Well, now I'm looking
at Stella transcribe dictation.
You win.
I also have some big news.
I did get an offer from UCLA.
See? I told you.
Now you have
the leverage you need.
It's a game-changing offer.
Oh?
And this is not how
I intended to do this.
But... I don't want to wait.
I love you, Virginia.
I have from day one.
And... I love your kids,
love them
as if they were my own.
And no matter what job I take,
I want you and them
there with me, for good.
So...
will you marry me?
Ethan, I'm--
I'm not sure Stella
should be
a part of this discussion.
You can answer when I get back.
But whatever kind of life
you want for yourself,
for your kids, it's yours.
That wasn't science.
Pornography, maybe.
Grossly inappropriate,
certainly.
But mostly that debacle of yours
was a violation
of everything this hospital
and university stand for,
undertaken,
without my knowledge,
by the two men I trusted most.
I've been trying to get my head
around it, but frankly, I can't.
This study
has been going on for a year?
In hospital exam rooms,
using hospital equipment?
You were happy enough
when those rooms and equipment
generated huge revenues,
monies that bolstered
your position with the board.
Didn't hurt you at bonus time,
either, I'm sure.
I gave you a special deal.
And I gave you a
world-class obstetrics department.
I've made a mistake
with you, Bill.
It's clear to me you've been
given far too much rope
to hang yourself by a man
far too weak to stop you.
Which brings to me
a very difficult decision.
The truth is, if you had
supported me from the beginning,
this wouldn't have
happened at all.
I-I'm sorry?
The reason I hid
my study from you, Barton,
is because
I knew you'd forbid it.
I came to you years ago
and told you of my plan
to, uh, crack the mysteries
of human sexuality,
but you flatly said no.
You couldn't see
this was the future.
You-- you couldn't envision
the accolades and acclaim
that such innovative work
would bring to this hospital.
Acclaim?
Are you drunk?
That so-called work is obscene.
You didn't have the strength.
That's the one thing
the Chancellor did get right.
And because you were weak,
I went around you.
I did use hospital exam rooms.
I did use hospital equipment.
And I used the money
you thought I was using
for infertility research
on sex instead.
In which case, Barton,
you've been bamboozled
by our lying, arrogant employee
worse than I've been.
I leave the honors to you.
You know what needs to be done.
I will continue
my study at this hospital...
no matter what you say today,
no matter what you do.
You won't, Bill.
You're fired.
The Urban League is so grateful
for all your generosity, ma'am.
I'm sorry I couldn't
drive them over myself.
I feel like I'm carrying
a sack of cement today.
Of course you do.
You know, we also take donations
for our nursery,
and we have a dental clinic.
Aah! Aah!
Oh, my God.
What is it, ma'am?
I need to call my husband.
We have to go back to Fitzhugh.
It won't change anything.
But I can't let this
stand. I can't. It was--
The only thing to do.
It made no sense
for us both to go.
Dear God.
What a thing.
It was Fitzhugh's
secretary who told Patsy
who told me
that Dr. Masters was fired.
Fired!
That's like firing God.
I feel so ashamed.
What? Why?
Because I showed myself...
my insides, my...
vaginal walls.
And those doctors thought
that it was dirty
or that something
went horribly wrong,
and now it's as if I brought
down the entire kingdom.
That's not what those
doctors thought, not about you.
How do you know?
Because I've seen more
of you, down there,
than anybody,
and I think
your vaginal walls...
are beautiful.
You're just saying that.
I think the up-top parts
are beautiful, too.
In fact,
I think everything about you...
is perfect.
I'm sorry.
I didn't-- Uh, I'll come back.
No, Gini, come in.
What a day.
Uh, you don't
have to leave, Lester.
I do.
Believe me. I do.
Can you believe it?
All of this just gone.
All these offices just gone.
Everything that he and you
and me and Lester
worked so hard on is just--
Gone. Where is he?
He called to say he'd
be out for the rest of the day.
I don't know.
Do I pack up or...?
Bill can live
without almost anything
but not without his work.
And such good work...
from such a brilliant man.
A souvenir, I guess.
Or a doorstop.
Ma'am, I don't think
we're gonna make it across town.
We have to. I need--
Mnh-mnh,
my hospital's two blocks over.
I'm taking you over there.
Now, what this is, ma'am,
is a precipitous labor,
so we'll get you in a room--
Precipitous labor?
Wh-what is that?
Quick.
Apparently, your baby
has a train to catch.
No, no, I can't be here.
I'm supposed to deliver
at Maternity.
Well, where you don't
want to be
is sitting in a car
on Charles Avenue.
You don't. I don't.
Listen to her.
I'm starting
electroshock treatments.
I told Margaret I wouldn't,
but I have to do something.
I've done two things right
in my life-- you and my family.
But maybe I can get something
else right, something ahead,
if I fix myself.
You know the risks
of electroshock as well as I do.
Well, what endeavor
doesn't have risks?
As we've seen.
But the reward...
The reward
can make me a new man.
Now, haven't we spent our whole
lives believing in science?
We have.
So, tomorrow I'll admit
myself, I'll have my treatment,
and then I'll go home cured
to a wife I love,
to a better future,
to a job, thanks to you.
But tonight...
I'm worried about you.
What are you gonna do, Bill?
The same.
I'm gonna go home.
Dr. Masters...
sorry about the locks.
I, uh...
Well, I certainly wouldn't want
to have to escort you out.
_
Mom.
Mom, come look!
The craft has now touched down.
The pod door is opening,
and he's emerging.
This is truly an historic
moment in American history.
Welcome home, Major!
Good to be home, Colonel.
How do you feel, Major?
Good. Grateful.
What did you learn
up there in space?
Man can go anywhere.
He just has to take his own
atmosphere with him.
I can't wait till Ethan
comes back so we can tell him.
You ready to call
your husband now, Mrs. Masters?
Soon.
In a little while.
You put my name on the study.
You earned it.
No one believes in the work.
Scully, maybe.
No one else.
I do.
So do you.
But it doesn't matter.
Because...
it's over.
So, uh...
I have nothing to offer you.
That's all right.
Except, maybe...
the truth.
I finally realized that, uh...
there is one thing
I-I can't live without.
It's you.
You.