Masters of Sex S1E2 - "Race to Space" Recap

Virginia gets to work with the intention of declining Bill's offer to have sex with each other for research. Instead, she learns from him that Scully has put an end to the study because it had progressed to couples. Bill blames her for sleeping with Ethan Haas, believing him to the be the one that told Scully. He fires her as a result. She then gets a call that her son has been suspended. Bill visits his wife in the hospital and says he will be treating her from now on, without telling her why he is no longer keen on Ethan.

Ethan confronts Bill for his being taken off of Libby's case. Bill warns him to remember that his career is in his hands. Ethan asks if this is about his sperm count and says he has not told Libby about that but Bill does not answer. He heads to a brothel to meet Betty, who agrees to help him continue the study there. He agrees to pay the womyn double their normal salary for solo work. Betty wants a job at the hospital and he reluctantly agrees to let her be his receptionist.

Virginia brings her son, who was suspended for spitting on his teacher, to the hospital. Ethan apologises to Virginia is not interested. She learns that he was not the one who went to Scully but still tells him to stay away from her. Virginia apologises to Bill and tells him Ethan didn't go to Scully. She begs for her job back but he remains unresponsive.

Dr. Langham and Jane head to the room to have another session but learn that the study has been cancelled. Jane is disappointed because she felt she was a part of something bigger, and important for science. Langham is more so disappointed to not be having sex with Jane anymore.

Bill begins instructing the prostitutes on what they will be doing and how the study will be conducted. They are interrupted by police officers who come and arrest all the womyn and Bill. Ethan is hooking up with a nurse and tries to convince her to give him a blow job. She is highly reluctant and offers to perform cunnilingus on her first but she is not up for it. She tries to give him a blow job but then becomes upset and says she doesn't understand why "going all the way" isn't enough. Ethan tells her it's fine and offers to drive her home.

Bill is picked up from the station by Libby. As she drives him home, he attempts to explain the research on human sexuality he was doing at the brothel and it was only because Scully threw it out. She is shocked by his candour and is concerned that this study is not good for his career. He says that this work is his career.

Virginia is forced to bring her son to the university since the babysitter cannot fit him into her schedule. She chats with Betty, who tells her she had better get back to work for Bill soon since he needs her help. Langham visits Jane and suggests that they "continue the study." Ethan interrupts to try to ask them who is the most sexually adventurous woman in the hospital.

Scully confronts Bill about talk of his moving to the study to the brothel. Bill tells him he is the one to blame for this but Scully tells him he'll allow the study to resume if he removes couples from the equation. Bill counters by insisting he allow the study to resume with no restrictions and additional funding. Virginia heads to the brothel after putting her son to bed. Bill hasn't arrived yet. She convinces the girls, including the reluctant ones that what they are doing is important. People are largely clueless about sex but they know more about sex than anyone. Bill arrives and tells them that he has struck a deal with the police that as long as he is working with them, they will not raid the house.

Ethan has sex with a nurse from the hospital but fantasises that she is Virginia. Betty tells Bill she wants him to reverse her tubal ligation but Bill objects to the morality of it, as she is both a lesbian and a prostitute. She attempts to push his equipment out of the home, essentially blackmailing him to get what she wants. Libby asks how his work went and he tells her tonight was just medical examinations and preparation. She asks him if he finds watching sexual acts erotic and offers to masturbate in front of him. She begins to do so but after a bit, he becomes uncomfortable and asks her to stop, saying, "I love you too much."

Libby tells Bill she wants Ethan back as her doctor, saying she wants their home and their problem to be kept separate. He reluctantly agrees to give her what she wants, likely due to his guilt over lying about her being the reason they haven't been able to conceive. Bill imagines Virginia accepting his proposition to have sex in his office. She then actually comes in and he asks her to speak to Betty to try to change her mind about her tubal reversal.

Bill helps one of the prostitutes, who was scared that she had a brain tumour, by giving her a pair of glasses. She becomes emotional and tells him he saved her life. She offers him a blow job to thank him and he politely declines. Virginia speaks to Betty about the tubal reversal and Betty tells her she has been proposed to by a wealthy man. Betty admits that she loves a woman named Helen but believes that she can have a good, comfortable life with this man.

Virginia later asks Bill to reconsider performing the surgery. She asks for official confirmation that she is rehired, pointing out that he needs her for the study. He tells her she has a job tomorrow but doesn't know beyond that. Ethan is shown to be watching the interaction outside Virginia's home, indulging in his infatuation with her. Virginia returns home and finds that her babysitter has read her son the Race to Space comic she had promised to read him but was unable to before heading to the brothel to tend to the study. She is saddened by this and reads the comic alone in the final scene.

Masters of Sex airs on Sundays on Showtime at 10PM.