The show concept is intriguing, the characters are interesting - some of them anyway and the backdrop of helping to spur the sexual revolution certainly has potential... Butt - oops, But, this show seems conflicted on several levels:
- Dr. Masters comes across as supremely odd (and maybe he was?) but more to the point Michael Sheen seems to be having a hard time reigning him in. We could just imagine what Bryan Cranston might do with the role (he loves being conflicted). Sheen spends much of the show merely looking uncomfortable.
- Lizzy Caplan started strong as the free-wheeling Johnson, but it seems as though the show is trying to unliberate her as season one progresses - no idea what's going on there.
- The story arc is still murky as well.
- The one part of the show that seems to be taking hold is the deteriorating marriage of Dr. Masters and his wife played by Caitlin FitzGerald. It is a powerful subplot but can't make up for what's missing in the main one (which isn't clear yet - is it the struggle to do the study or Masters and Johnson getting together or Masters ticking everyone off - its just not clear).
Good trailer for season 1, yet it seems to be teasing us a bit...
Sometimes as the show drops little hints at what the historic sex study is going to conclude the revelations seem overwhelmingly obvious - although that's from our perspective in the 2013 (we have flying cars now you know). Were people in the 1950's as backwards as the in Victorian era - were they backwards then? Who knows... There was a very funny movie about the invention of the vibrator (Hysteria) that came out two years ago. It was informative but more than that - Hysteria was funny. Master's of Sex has a deep rooted identity crisis - it doesn't know what it wants to be.
If you watch the opening intro, you'll note all sorts of cutesy innuendo image montages rolling by - reminiscent of Dexter (but less grisly). If you just watched the opening you'd think you had tuned into a comedy - and there has been some comedy injected in it. Yet, most of the show seems deadly serious - perhaps too serious for its own good. Showtime has an all-star cast and probably will be given the luxury of second season; it might be worthwhile rethinking the show to make it more one thing or the other (sex, funny or serious).
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| The real Masters and Johnson circa the 1960's - note the Star Trek original series sweater (bow ties are always in fashion) |
postscript - We have decided to continue watching the series for now and it has gotten better. There has been more humor, a little more sex and several new plotlines introduced which are together making the show more interesting and entertaining. Michael Sheen isn't growing much in the role, but Beau Bridges has made an unexpected impact and Allison Janney (you may remember her from the from West Wing) was thrown into the mix (the Dayton native is always excellent).
Copyright 2013, Raving Reviews
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