With a cold war backdrop, and fears of Russian bombs dropping, we are presented a tone which affects all characters. There is Bill Masters, with a renewed indifference; some characters worried about the end of their lives as they know it; and other character who may not frail and scream, but hold a sort of knowledge in which seemingly there is quite a bit of regret. To explain this idea, let's start with Margaret.
The idea of divorce is in Margaret's head, but with all her girlfriends making it seem like her life will be over if she went through with it, due to Vivian maybe blaming her for the end of the relationship, much less losing friends because of the divorce, she decides perhaps fixing her marriage might be a better idea. So, she goes back to the bar where she caught Scully almost meet his favorite boy. There, she speaks with a lady of the night and seems like she wants to learn some tricks of the trade, but as she talks more and more about Scully, the nice lady discovers something seemingly Margaret never fathomed: Scully is gay. With this idea in her head, she realizes that so many years of her life, with a man who can't even look at her while having sex, was with a man who didn't touch her because he lacked the libido, but because he wasn't interested in her period. Such, naturally, gives her a strong feeling of regret for wasting her youth, but with Dr. Austin visiting with his own woes, maybe a friendship could bloom there?
Of course though Dr. Austin, as noted, is a rather dramatic character when he wants to be, and though no nuclear bomb drops, a bomb is dropped on his person. You see, during the studies, while he was having numerous affairs, he got someone pregnant. Now, at first he would have never known, but with Virginia having empathy for the poor woman, being a single mother of two herself, she wanted to give Dr. Austin the chance to do something, of which freaks him out and leads him to talking to Dr. Masters.
Leading us to speak on the man who has regressed so quickly with just the simple notion of him becoming like his father. We have always known Dr. Masters wasn't socially adept, but at the very least capable of compassion. The best example would be the woman who had an abusive husband and didn't want to have anymore kids. He helped that woman, because he had empathy for her and her children especially. However, that man seemingly is gone. A woman named Flora walks in, the girl who got pregnant by Dr. Austin during the experiments, and he writes off her pregnancy as if it is like a margin of error. "Her diaphragm didn't work, oh well it happens" is basically his attitude. Naturally, this doesn't sit well with Virginia, and leads her to reevaluate her current life situation.
You see, what is slowly being set in motion is what Dr. DePaul mentioned earlier, Virginia not needing Dr. Masters. And mind you, we have seen Virginia deal with Dr. Masters tantrums and attitude throughout the season, but she has always been able to see herself as something of worth to Dr. Masters, maybe not as an equal, but someone he needed. However, with his kindness gone and nothing left but his abuse and apathy toward almost everyone, enough has become enough. So, she goes further than Estabrooks, Bill's mother, did and calls him out saying the sex they had, part of the reason he is acting the way he is, is due to guilt. He readily had an affair and when his guilt came, he paid off Virginia like a participant and tried to shun her and his developing emotions for her. With that said, and with her giving $2000 to Flora so that someone will help the girl, she quits and joins Dr. DePaul.
Making for an overall episode which lives up to its title, and definitely shakes things up a bit. With Dr. DePaul's days numbered, can Virginia use her charm so Dr. DePaul gets what she needs to maybe not save herself, but at least give a fighting chance to other women? What will happen with Dr. Masters' study now that the kind assistant is gone and all you have left is the cold calculator? Much less, with Scully's sexuality now known by his wife, though without absolute proof, what will happen there? Also, what will happen to Ethan now that his fellowship isn't turning into a job? Where will he go, what will he do, and where will his relationship with Virginia go? So many questions, all of which exciting, and only a few episodes left. How can you not love this show?
The idea of divorce is in Margaret's head, but with all her girlfriends making it seem like her life will be over if she went through with it, due to Vivian maybe blaming her for the end of the relationship, much less losing friends because of the divorce, she decides perhaps fixing her marriage might be a better idea. So, she goes back to the bar where she caught Scully almost meet his favorite boy. There, she speaks with a lady of the night and seems like she wants to learn some tricks of the trade, but as she talks more and more about Scully, the nice lady discovers something seemingly Margaret never fathomed: Scully is gay. With this idea in her head, she realizes that so many years of her life, with a man who can't even look at her while having sex, was with a man who didn't touch her because he lacked the libido, but because he wasn't interested in her period. Such, naturally, gives her a strong feeling of regret for wasting her youth, but with Dr. Austin visiting with his own woes, maybe a friendship could bloom there?
Of course though Dr. Austin, as noted, is a rather dramatic character when he wants to be, and though no nuclear bomb drops, a bomb is dropped on his person. You see, during the studies, while he was having numerous affairs, he got someone pregnant. Now, at first he would have never known, but with Virginia having empathy for the poor woman, being a single mother of two herself, she wanted to give Dr. Austin the chance to do something, of which freaks him out and leads him to talking to Dr. Masters.
Leading us to speak on the man who has regressed so quickly with just the simple notion of him becoming like his father. We have always known Dr. Masters wasn't socially adept, but at the very least capable of compassion. The best example would be the woman who had an abusive husband and didn't want to have anymore kids. He helped that woman, because he had empathy for her and her children especially. However, that man seemingly is gone. A woman named Flora walks in, the girl who got pregnant by Dr. Austin during the experiments, and he writes off her pregnancy as if it is like a margin of error. "Her diaphragm didn't work, oh well it happens" is basically his attitude. Naturally, this doesn't sit well with Virginia, and leads her to reevaluate her current life situation.
You see, what is slowly being set in motion is what Dr. DePaul mentioned earlier, Virginia not needing Dr. Masters. And mind you, we have seen Virginia deal with Dr. Masters tantrums and attitude throughout the season, but she has always been able to see herself as something of worth to Dr. Masters, maybe not as an equal, but someone he needed. However, with his kindness gone and nothing left but his abuse and apathy toward almost everyone, enough has become enough. So, she goes further than Estabrooks, Bill's mother, did and calls him out saying the sex they had, part of the reason he is acting the way he is, is due to guilt. He readily had an affair and when his guilt came, he paid off Virginia like a participant and tried to shun her and his developing emotions for her. With that said, and with her giving $2000 to Flora so that someone will help the girl, she quits and joins Dr. DePaul.
Making for an overall episode which lives up to its title, and definitely shakes things up a bit. With Dr. DePaul's days numbered, can Virginia use her charm so Dr. DePaul gets what she needs to maybe not save herself, but at least give a fighting chance to other women? What will happen with Dr. Masters' study now that the kind assistant is gone and all you have left is the cold calculator? Much less, with Scully's sexuality now known by his wife, though without absolute proof, what will happen there? Also, what will happen to Ethan now that his fellowship isn't turning into a job? Where will he go, what will he do, and where will his relationship with Virginia go? So many questions, all of which exciting, and only a few episodes left. How can you not love this show?
