Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Masters of Sex: Season 2

 

+++Warning, this contains minor spoilers from season one, but no major season two giveaways+++

The second season of Masters of Sex, the fictionalized biographical drama of William Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan), is set (mostly) between the years 1958 and 1961. Masters, having been fired from Maternity Hospital and tries to find a place where he and Virginia can continue their work on the sex study. Of course, being in 1950s Missouri, that is not an easy feat, and they end up opening their own clinic. They continue to engage in their very ill-advised affair that was teased at the end of season one, under the guise of being participants in the study. That storyline actually opens up a much larger story arc for Libby (Caitlin FitzGerald) who is being ignored by Bill more and more. We also get some insight into Bill's childhood when his mother, played by Ann Dowd, appears partway through the season.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the series looks and sounds great in HD. There are some special effects to make the show a period piece, but they certainly do not dominate the show. For extras, there are three different featurettes that range from 18 to 26 minutes, one focused on the women in the show, one focused on the men, and one that is focused on the time period that the show is set in and the social issues occurring at the time. Then there are a handful of deleted scenes. Of course, this is the last season of the show that would be released individually on blu-ray. Seasons three and four were not released in the US at all until a complete series blu-ray set was released after the series ended. So, that is a better pickup than this one and if you did get this when it was originally released, you have to decide whether to double dip.

Overall, the season is very good. Maybe even better than he first. It is a show about sex, but it is not equivalent to the late-night soft-core movies on Showtime or Cinemax. It does not have sex for sex's sake, and it shows how sex can be dark and dysfunctional and not just titillating. The show also deals with issues that are still prevalent in our society today, including race relations, interracial relationships, homosexuality, and more, and how all of those things have been stigmatized, especially when sex is involved. The second season did have some cast turnover with Nicholas D'Agosto having a much-reduced role but Annaleigh Ashford being promoted to a series regular. The season also had a strong recurring and guest cast including Beu Bridges, Allison Janney, Betsy Brandt, Keke Palmer, Sarah Silverman, René Auberjonois, Christian Borle, and Courtney B. Vance.

If you liked the first season, then you will probably like this one. If you have not seen the show yet, it is based on true events, but definitely fictionalized. So, you are not getting a historically accurate documentary. It is well written and very well acted, and definitely worth the time to watch.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Masters of Sex: Season 1

 

Masters of Sex is a fictionalized telling of the famous Masters and Johnson sex study. It stars Michael Sheen as William Masters who is a physician and researcher at Washington University in Missouri. He proposes to launch a study on human sexuality. Of course, this being the 1950s in an extremely conservative state, his proposal is shot down, but he starts the study in secret, hiring Virginia Johnson (played wonderfully by Lizzy Caplan), as his assistant. They recruit a variety of people including prostitutes, hospital staff, and intrigued couples. Despite the title, the show is definitely not tawdry. There is a lot of sex and nudity, of course, but much of the focus of the show is on the interrelationships between various characters and shows the toll that the research takes on the personal lives of both Masters and Johnson, especially Masters' relationship with his wife Libby (played by Caitlin Fitzgerald) who is unable to conceive a child, and Virginia's kids missing their mother. The show has a strong supporting cast that has a mix of recognizable, but not necessarily well-known actors such as Teddy Sears, Nicholas D'Agosto, Annaleigh Ashford, and Rose McIver, and established actors such as Beau Bridges and Allison Janney.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the 12 episodes are spread over four discs. The extras include a commentary track on the pilot episode with Sheen, Caplan, Fitzgerald, Sears, series creator Michelle Ashford, and executive producer Sarah Timberman, about thirteen minutes of deleted scenes, and a series of making-of featurettes that total over twenty-five minutes between them all that include interviews with the cast and showrunners. So, not a ton of extras, but what was included was good.

Overall, the show is very well-written and acted. The show not only tackles the subject of sex and the stigma that it had not only in the 1950s but really exists to this day, but it also touched on the topics of racism, homosexuality, misogyny, and more. There is a lot of nudity, sexual content, and swearing, but chances are people who would not want to see that kind of stuff are not likely to be considering purchasing this anyway. But, needless to say, it is not something that is a family-friendly show. While it does fall into the category of a docu-drama, the show does embellish some things about the actual events, so if you are looking for something that is more documentary than drama, this is not it. But, if you are looking for a good, well-acted adult drama, this is definitely worth checking out.

Just as a note, the series had a total of four seasons. The first two were released on Blu-Ray individually in the US, the third and fourth were not. The entire series was released as a Blu-Ray box set that has the same extras and bonus material as the first and second season individual releases. So, if you get this and then want the entire series, you would have to double dip.