Masters of Sex S2E4 - "Dirty Jobs" Recap

Virginia's guilt over her affair with Bill manifests in a nightmare in which Bill chides her for not following through with her education. She thinks herself a mistress. Virginia wakes in the hotel room and ignored Bill's cutesy description of her sleeping. As they leave their hotel room and go into the elevator, they are spotted by Dr. Langham, who has been staying there following the dissolution of his marriage. Outside, Bill learns about Virginia's selling diet pills just to try to get by. Bill tries again to get Greathouse to let Virginia come over to work at the hospital and be part of the study.

Langham meets Virginia in the hospital lunchroom and tells her that he saw them at the hotel and assume they're having an affair. Without batting an eyelash, she covers by saying that they have resumed the study and work out of the hotel. She goes on to say that they had a fight over his presenting the study prematurely but he apologised and they've made up for it.

Libby is still being an insufferable, condescending racist against Coral, who continues to outshine her with her baby know-how. Libby has some ladies over for a luncheon and they want to know all the dirty details over the study. She avoids it by saying it's little more than boring paperwork. Coral comes in with the baby and one woman asks her how she learned to be so good with children. Libby cuts her off for talking too long and then one of the ladies notices that the baby has something crawling in its hair.

Bill warns Virginia that their affair cannot get out, as he is a married man. He returns home to find a frazzled Libby washing everything in the house since baby Johnny has lice. She's blaming Coral for the lice, assuming she was the one to bring it in. He calms her by saying the insects are harmless and that all she needs to do is wash the baby's belongings and scrub his hair with a medicated shampoo.

Betty's husband come along for one of her fertility treatments, as she has told him he needs to give a sperm donation. Bill refuses to lie to him by saying he's sterile, so Betty tells Bill to tell him that she is infertile. He's greatly saddened, asking if there's anything that can be done, but Bill says there is nothing.

Libby gives Coral some lice shampoo and says she needs to use it. Coral says she doesn't have lice and Libby snidely replies that she never said that she did. Libby is angry when Coral admits the next day that she didn't use the shampoo, despite saying that she had her brother check her hair (and found nothing) and that she can't afford the four dollars it would cost to have her hair done again. Coral then turns to Bill and promises she doesn't have lice and that her brother said that "negroes" couldn't even get lice. He agrees with her, citing a medical journal he had read about it in, saying that is indeed unlikely. Libby is even more irritated to have Bill not siding with her. She later calls Coral in, demanding to wash her hair or she will be fired. She washes Coral's hair and spouts more nonsense about how they need to stick together and that Coral should not get Bill involved. She also gives Coral money to get her hair re-done. "My treat," she chirps in a saccharine tone.

Greathouse insists on sitting in on Bill's research. Bill tries to scare him off by having his secretary lie by claiming that he'll be observing men with enlarged prostates masturbate. He shows up anyway, and makes a rude comment about the slightly larger-sized woman masturbating. Bill is put off by his clearly dishonourable reasons for wanting to sit in on a session. Greathouse claims to have just talked to the board about hiring Virginia but that it's a process.

Langham tells Lillian about Virginia and Bill's affair, thinking that she already knew. She then tells Virginia about a time she cheated in calculus, to give her an opportunity to come clean and confide in her. Virginia does no such thing and Lillian is clearly hurt by what she now sees to be a one-sided friendship. She's not one to trust easily and anyone can see that she had started to trust Virginia.

Lillian and Virginia are presenting their pap smear campaign to Dr. Papanikolaou, the former professor of Dr. DePaul. Following Virginia's betrayal, Lillian is also prepared to hand over the research entirely to Papanikolaou and not receive credit for it if and when it gets published. Lillian later coldly tells Virginia to forward all of the research to Dr. Papanikolaou. Virginia is offended that she wasn't informed sooner and Lillian replies that she doesn't need to consult her secretary on matters regarding her research. Virginia insists that it's "their" research but Lillian stays her course.

Bill tries to ward off Greathouse from observing again but is unable to do so. That night, as another woman is preparing to masturbate, Bill comes into the observation room and finds Greathouse there with many other creepy doctors, eating Chinese food, ready to watch this woman get off. Bill is furious and pulls Greathouse into the hall and insists that he and the others clear out and never come back. Greathouse is unmoved and reveals that he never talked to the board about Virginia. Bill goes back into the exam room after Greathouse, shoves an egg roll into one doctor's face, before landing two phenomenal punches in Greathouse's face. He will be terminated effective immediately. It's then that the woman orgasms and the men all turn to watch, as Bill storms in, covers her with a gown, and pulls the shade down to obstruct their view.

Betty is home, having dinner with her husband. He is angry to have learned that she lied about the fertility treatments. She says he never would have married her if she had told him and that she was just a good Christian girl to him at church when they met. He then says that that wasn't when they first met. He says that he had always been shy with girls and that he went to a brothel to try to learn. He says that she was so nice to him and he was afraid he'd never see her again and was thrilled to see her again at church. He never thought she was a "good Christian girl," just the love of his life. She is incredibly moved but it's unclear where their relationship now stands.

Bill returns home and before he can share the bad news with Lillian, he finds that Langham is in their home. They head out back to smoke, where Langham gives him advice. He thought marriage would cure him of his overactive sexual appetite but it didn't work, hence his many extramarital affairs. He knows that Bill is having an affair, though Bill refuses to admit it. Langham enjoys being able to have sex freely as a bachelor, but he misses his children. He advises Bill to weigh what he has with Virginia "against all of this" and decide if it's worth it, which he means rhetorically.

The following morning, Libby is angry at Bill since Mrs. Greathouse called to inform her of Bill's assaulting Greathouse and being fired. She yells at him for never being satisfied and squandering opportunities, asking if his wife and child mean anything to him. He says that doing right by her and the baby is all he ever thinks about. He promises that he'll always take care of her and that he needs her to believe that. He looks as if he'll have a panic attack until she tells him he'll find the right job and that everything will be okay.

Virginia advises her children to not depend on others and to do things on their own. Bill accepts a position at Buell Green Hospital, which is a black hospital. He also says that he feels comfortable speaking for his partner that they are excited to bring their study to the facility. We can all but assume he is referring to Virginia.

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