Masters of Sex
2013
Original language: English
- drama
The story
William Masters and Virginia Johnson are real-life pioneers of the science of human sexuality. Their research touched off the sexual revolution and took them from a midwestern teaching hospital to the cover of Time magazine and multiple appearances on Johnny Carson's couch. He is a brilliant scientist out of touch with his own feelings, and she is a single working mother ahead of her time. The series chronicles their unusual lives, romance, and unlikely pop culture trajectory.
What it’s like
Warm, period-accurate interiors in muted mid-century tones: avocado and mustard kitchens, cigarette haze drifting through hospital corridors, pale clinical whites that give way to lamplit bedrooms and smoky lounges. The camera tends to hold on faces in medium close-up, often through doorways or across tables, so that the awkwardness between people feels visible. The score is restrained, mostly soft strings and piano under the era's jazz standards, and the scenes of laboratory observation are played with a deadpan, almost clinical quiet. Pacing is unhurried and conversational, with the wit of the dialogue doing much of the work. The register is adult and frank, with sexuality handled openly and often comically as well as seriously; expect explicit nudity and sex scenes presented in a matter-of-fact, non-titillating way, plus recurring infidelity, emotional cruelty, and some tense marital conflict. Violence is rare and mild. Its people are guarded professionals slowly learning to be vulnerable, and the tone is wry melancholy rather than heavy drama. Suited to viewers who enjoy period dramas about ambition, intimacy, and the messy edges of relationships, watched across a few evenings with a glass of wine.
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