Masters of Sex S1E4 - "Thank You for Coming" Recap

The study has resumed in the hospital and Bill and Virginia begin interviewing and recruiting new participants for it. Virginia's ex-husband George is back in town and she ends up having a one-night hook-up with him. Libby wakes up in the middle of the night to loud noises and finds Bill sleepwalking. She asks if it is because of anxiety from the new baby but he assures her he is fine. Bill's mother comes to visit and Bill is visibly uncomfortable with her presence.

Ethan has to face the consequences of hooking up with so many nurses, and not calling them when he said he would. He is then approached by Scully's daughter, Vivian, who has had a crush on him since Ethan attended her 16th birthday party. She is know attending the university, and will be turning 19 soon (her mention of this is a thinly veiled sexual proposition).

Bill has a pregnant patient who asks her to tie her tubes after this second child. He tells her the hospital won't perform it without the husband's consent and she tells him her husband has refused to take the steps to prevent another pregnancy. When Bill meets the woman's other child, an 8-year old boy, he is able to deduce that the boy, and likely the wife too, are being abused.

Bill's mother visits the hospital with Libby during her check-up and meets Virginia. Bill is terse at seeing her at his place of work. Bill approaches his patient and subtly asks her if she is being abused. She tells him she has nowhere to go (she is also an immigrant). She tells him that finding a way to get out with two babies may be doable but with three or four, she will indubitably be trapped.

During Libby's check-up, Ethan tells her about his relationship with Virginia without actually saying it is Virginia. He compares it to Dorothy going to Oz and seeing techni-colour and now being stuck back in dull Kansas. Virginia is uncomfortable at George arriving at the hospital to take part in the study but maintains her professionalism.

Bill's mother tells Libby she is considering moving to St. Louis. She is hoping to get an apartment close to them so she may spend more time with both them and the baby. Bill learns that Libby is trying to set up Virginia and Ethan, without knowing they have already been involved. At the dinner party, Virginia has also brought along her children. Virginia is shocked to see him and Ethan tells her Libby must be trying to fix them up. Virginia and Libby ask Bill's mother to share stories about Bill when he was younger.

Virginia's son accidentally clogs the toilet and Bill loses his temper. Libby witnesses this and appears uncomfortable. Ethan and Virginia argue before he heads home where Vivian is waiting for him to return something he had left at the university. He asks her if she wants to come inside and she accepts. He serves drinks and starts to fool around with her but they are interrupted by a call about a patient. He has her give him a ride to the hospital where he preps for surgery, despite still being intoxicated. He is about to head into the OR but then turns and throws up into a waste bin.

Bill's mother tells them she is going to make an offer on a nearby place. Bill becomes angry with her and Libby doesn't understand his attitude. We then see him experiencing flashbacks of being abused by his father while his mother merely turned up the radio to drown out his cries. In his patient's surgery, Bill claims there is a bleed, when there actually isn't, in order to perform a tubal ligation.

Vivian approaches Ethan and offers him some aspirin. She asks about his patient and he apologises to her, saying he was punishing someone but she was the one that ended up receiving it. He says he used to be a good guy and she said he still is. She tells him she was unattractive and ugly as a teenager and had asked him to dance at her sixteenth birthday party, expecting to receive a "no" and confirm what she thought of herself. But then he said yes and that it would be a pleasure.

Bill meets his patient's husband and can blatantly see he is a controlling, abusive man. When his back is turned, he shakes his head at her, to communicate that he has tied her tubes and she thanks him. He gives her first son a toy as he walks out. Virginia comes clean to Bill about the fact that her ex-husband has participated in the study and she didn't disclose that she knew him. He used a different name, which is why Bill didn't know who it was. She doesn't disclose who it was and Bill claims to be fine with this. After she leaves, he pores over the files to determine which person it was. He calls him back in to interview him one-on-one. He asks questions about Virginia without making it clear that this is what he is doing. He records the session and asks questions about their sexual habits. Later, he listens back to the interview whilst looking out at Virginia.

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