Original subtitles

Previously on Masters of Sex...

The grandparents made it clear. Family only.

You and me get married.

I then will adopt the baby, so she is legally mine.

And then the two of us will get divorced.

Nancy's struggled to find her footing here from the start.

Getting the Clavermores back would go a long way

in making her feel her work here is valued.

It wouldn't hurt you either, would it?

Being able to bring your wife a big case like that.

I wanted nothing more than for you to be my mentor.

But instead, you just don't like me.

I like your husband.

Your lifestyle

is hurtful and unfulfilling to him.

He doesn't dare say it for fear that you would leave him.

We should be observing homosexuals

exactly the same way as we did heterosexuals.

Art, how do you feel about laying the groundwork

to broaden this into a study?

I can start now.

Bill. It's Dody.

Maybe we should get together.

I can come to you.

William Masters?

I'm expecting someone.

My wife. She's not coming.

Has something happened to Dody?

Aside from you breaking her heart?

Therapists are stealing our work.

Put them out of business.

We go in as patients.

We go in there together?

We each pick a clinic.

I'll take Topeka.

You really need to work on your penmanship, Guy,

I can't tell, after Terre Haute, do I go north or south?

And I forgot to tell you,

you have to book Bill's room in Topeka,

and mine in Bloomington

under the same names that you booked the clinic appointments.

I didn't get that far.

What do you mean? We both leave in the morning.

I mean, I wasn't able to book those sessions.

For you or Dr. Bill.

I'm so sorry.

It didn't occur to me when I sent you the letter that...

But, the last thing I wanna do

is cause you any trouble...

Well, it just so happens, I'm gonna be in Topeka tomorrow.

It's a last-minute business trip,

and I was hoping we could meet.

And please bring your husband,

I wanna put his mind at ease about my intentions. Great.

See you then.

Do you have a minute?

It turns out that these clinics only treat married couples.

Guy tried to book individual sessions

at the Toplin Center and the Cleveland Sex Institute.

No go.

So either we keep looking

for places that do treat singles, or we send Art and Nancy,

which obviously is not my preference.

Or we should go to Topeka together. That makes the most sense.

Okay then.

If the Clavermores do prove to be

a case of ejaculatory incompetence,

it won't be sensate that you recommend.

Manual manipulation by the wife.

Don't worry. I've got the protocol memorized.

Good.

We're trusting you with them.

Gold star clients. Potential patrons.

I understand.

You need to make sure you have the Kinsey sixes

paired with other sixes,

the fives with the fives, and so on.

Yes. Don't worry. That's built in the experimental method.

And you have matched the heterosexual study

and all other essential points?

I have.

I highlighted the route.

Also a few sight-seeing stops.

Laura Ingalls Wilder's house is along the way.

Are we ready?

Yes. One more thing, Guy...

I know, I am typing up last week's intakes,

I'm bringing a casserole to Betty,

and I will get the copier fixed.

Did you manage to make a copy of the Clavermore file

before the machine broke?

Yes, it's in my office.

I'll go with you.

Women, they keep you waiting.

Or so I'm told.

Nancy, the other day, what I said about your marriage,

about Art's unhappiness with the arrangement.

I should not have said that.

I crossed a line.

It's fine. There's no need to apologize.

I'm glad to know how Art really feels.

Put on some music, let's dance.

We don't have a hi-fi.

Nance... Nance, what are you doing?

They've only been gone for a second.

They might come back.

A life lived in fear is no life at all.

Oh, it's a comfortable chair.

Let's see, what would Virginia do?

Oh, I know.

"Art, could you bring me

"every single one of Nancy's case files?"

She doesn't have time for that.

She's too busy plotting how to make Bill hers.

Oh, she tell you that?

She didn't have to.

If I know Virginia,

she'll take full advantage of this trip.

They're posing as a couple, after all.

They're going through treatment.

I think she's hoping the Masters and Johnson method

will work on Masters and Johnson.

It is unbelievable,

the contortions some women will go through

to bend a man to their will.

She's a world-class gymnast.

I could get used to this.

Mrs. Lavery just sat there as he took the Irish setter,

both cars, the house on Long Island, everything.

I was itching to dramatically bang on the table or something.

Why didn't you?

Who wants to hear from the peanut gallery?

You have good instincts.

If holding out is in the best interest of the client,

you talk them into it, you fight.

There's no such thing as an easy divorce.

Hell, I've been working through split number three since '66.

You're still married?

Only on paper. That remains unsigned.

For three years?

Well, I have an exceptional lawyer,

but he's exceptional enough to have a case load

that puts my divorce pretty far down on his list of priorities.

I see. You are representing yourself.

I figured I deserved the best.

The best probably would've settled two years ago.

I'll get around...

Oh, my God. Are you okay?

Open up, let me see.

Oh. You broke a crown.

You think it's possible my ex-wife planted this walnut shell?

Was that in your food? God. That is absurd.

Excuse me. Uh, can you send the manager over here, please?

I gotta get to Doc Sugarman

to either fix this or give me a fistful of Percodan.

You stay and gripe.

What? Okay.

You'll run someone off the road, I will drive you.

Easy. Easy.

I'm gonna take this, for evidence.

Do you think this will still pick up our conversation

if it's not right at the top of the bag?

Keller says we have to get these people on tape

if we wanna pursue a patent infringement.

What if we tell them we're hard of hearing,

and they have to speak up?

Maybe that's how we met,

at a mixer for the hearing impaired.

We do need a cover story. So, who do you want to be?

I've always wanted to be an Earl.

Yes, well, I've always wanted to be a duchess,

but I don't think it's a good idea

to pose as English nobility.

No, I mean, I've always liked the name Earl.

Earls are good guys.

Earls can tell you your tires need air,

just by listening to the engine.

Right. Maybe something more neutral.

Didn't you buy me a mustache and a suede jacket?

I think that makes me an Earl.

And you're... Uh...

What color is the wig you bought?

Blondish.

Ingrid. Ingrid Sorenson. Ingrid Sorenson MacAfee.

Fine. I will be Ingrid

if you don't talk like

you have a plug of chewin' tobacky in your cheek.

Hey. What's our issue?

I think you should be frigid.

Don't you think ejaculatory incompetence would be better?

For whom? Better for us.

After all, we have a very specific methodology to treat it,

so it's one way that we could see if these clinicians

are cribbing our protocol.

So, what's our backstory?

Hmm.

Mr. Clavermore suffers from ejaculatory incompetence.

I have his file.

Why don't we use their history?

A filched identity to expose a purloined therapy.

I guess two wrongs make a right in your book, darlin'.

You're not really gonna talk like that, are you?

Like what? Like a hillbilly.

I'm very good at accents.

Oh. No, you're not. You just think that you are.

It's like how everyone thinks

that they have good taste.

It can't be true.

How would that explain lava lamps?

Okay, Clavermores, what is your inciting incident?

Hi. Dr. Austin Langham. To see Bill or Virginia?

Langham? You're Betty's friend.

Betty's husband, actually.

So you two did. You tied the knot.

Yep.

How's Betty doing?

She'll be better when we get the baby.

And how soon till that happens?

Uh, I've filed for custody.

Hearing's in a few weeks.

Between now and then I need to prove

that I'm capable of supporting the baby financially.

Oh. So you came to pick up Betty's pay check?

Sure, yeah, every little bit helps,

but actually I'm here to see the docs

about an exciting new product.

It is the finest men's health appliance on the market...

The Virility Vacuum. Patent pending.

It's a penis pump.

Hello, Lester. And yes, in everyday usage that's correct. But...

May I? Sure, sure.

I see you've gone back to selling snake oil.

Hoping to repeat your success at Fat-O-Metric?

Cal-O-Metric, and this isn't snake oil.

This is a lifesaving medical product.

It's a cure for impotence that I've come to offer your patients.

That's not what we do around here, Austin.

What we do here is rooted in science.

This is science. This is hard science.

Guy, don't let him talk you into buying anything.

He's never liked me.

So, if I could speak to Bill or Virginia...

Neither of them is in today.

Oh, well. In that case, I better leave some pamphlets,

maybe even put up a display.

I've got a sandwich board in my car...

Is that a good idea?

I wouldn't want anyone in need to miss the chance, you know?

And every dollar I make

goes to helping me and Betty get the baby back.

So, I'll be right back.

Uh...

Well...

You're the manager here, correct?

Hair in the soup?

What? No.

I should probably stop guessing in these situations.

I have a dental bill to discuss with you.

A customer of yours was accosted by a stray walnut shell.

Accosted?

He broke a crown. I'm sure you heard.

I haven't.

But I have heard that the eggs are too runny,

the coffee's cold.

Listen, I run a diner.

If I handed out money every time

a customer wasn't satisfied...

He's not dissatisfied, he's disabled.

Oh yeah. That's rich. He had to miss

half a day in court in order to have his tooth fixed.

That's what we refer to as lost wages.

Who's "we"?

I saw you come in here twice yesterday

'cause you didn't get your boss' ham loaf on rye quite right.

You're a secretary, you're not a lawyer,

so you're as able to take this to court as I am.

Just leave the lawsuits to those with a degree.

Come on, I need two navy bean. Let's go. Step it up.

As you can see, all the treatment rooms are upstairs.

I see you've traveled quite a ways?

Albuquerque.

Have you ever sought out any treatment closer to home?

Well, Ingrid and I,

we wanna deal with our situation aggressively.

It's gone on long enough.

And so when we saw you offer a one-week program...

Is that really enough time?

It's the first question Harvey and I are usually asked.

Please sit.

Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it, Earl?

Go ahead.

May I call you Earl?

Yeah.

Ingrid? We don't like to be too formal.

We've found

a truly immersive approach yields the best results.

By taking time out from your daily lives,

you're making your sexual relationship a priority.

Mmm-hmm. Yeah.

We'd like you to see this as a kind of holiday,

an opportunity to relax and explore,

and fall in love all over again.

And you treat couples together, as a couple?

Well, there are parts of the process

we find more productive to divide up along gender lines.

People are often more comfortable

speaking to a therapist of the same sex.

Is that something that you discovered yourselves,

or is that standard among therapists?

It's not standard at all.

Years of work with couples have led us to develop

a very specific technique

that works more quickly and effectively than others.

What's also unique is our intake method.

Questionnaire that covers your sexual history

that functions as the foundation of our treatment.

Couples learn a lot about each other during our process.

Often they discover things they never knew.

Are you ready to begin?

Here you go. Yeah.

We wrote it down in our questionnaire.

Do we need to go through it again?

It's helpful to hear things described out loud,

it's part of the therapy.

Why don't you begin with the incident

that occurred around the time you found

you could no longer orgasm during intercourse?

It was two years ago.

We were in bed making love.

I felt myself getting closer, about to orgasm.

But then something happened.

I heard a noise, and the door opened.

And then I saw our daughter Juliet's youngest...

- Our son, Benjamin. - Benjamin.

Standing there in the doorway in his pajamas.

I knew I should stop.

But I couldn't stop. I was already coming.

And he looked scared.

He thought I was trying to hurt his mother.

That's how our problem started.

Is that something that can that be treated?

It is.

Do you masturbate successfully on your own?

I do. He does.

Good, then we can skip a few steps

and begin with teaching you how...

To manually stimulate your husband.

Once Earl is comfortable including you in his masturbation,

you can move towards the second step.

Which involves stimulating him until he reaches

what we call the first phase of

orgasmic return.

That's when it feels inevitable

to you that you're going to orgasm.

You then move over him,

into the female-superior position and capture his penis,

introducing it into the vaginal canal.

As he ejaculates, you begin a series of pelvic thrusts.

It's a process that moves the two of you towards orgasm

without being stopped by any memory of the triggering event.

Your story is consistent with a pattern

we find in many cases of ejaculatory incompetence...

The presence of a specific traumatic episode

which blocks a man's ability to ejaculate intravaginally.

He feels too much shame.

Shame's a powerful inhibitor.

Not just to sexual health, but to true intimacy.

Previously in your marriage, Earl,

when have you experienced that kind of shame?

Never.

Never? Really?

No.

Will you forgive me,

but "never" is the kind of word

intended to block further exploration in its tracks.

So let's stay on this for a moment.

You've never felt shame at failing to please her?

You've never come too fast?

Or, on occasion, not gotten hard?

Perhaps you've had fantasies that don't involve her,

or you wanted to engage her in behavior

that you worry she might consider perverse?

Actually, Marcia, from the beginning,

my husband and I, we've had a very satisfying sex life.

We've always been extremely open with our desires.

Unafraid to express ourselves.

There's nothing that either of us have wanted

we've hesitated to ask the other.

Really? So...

Role-playing, positions, toys, language,

none of it has been off-limits?

That is wonderful.

How lucky you are to have found each other.

We're very lucky.

Sometimes sexual dynamism of this sort

launches out of non-traditional circumstances.

Such as?

Affairs, for one.

The clandestine nature of a couple's beginnings

might serve as erotic tinder.

Were either of you involved with other people when you met?

That's a very loud silence.

I was married.

You want to say more about that?

No.

No, Harvey, I don't.

It might help, Earl.

I don't see how.

Perhaps, the shock and disapproval you fear from your son

is really what you feared from your former wife,

had she walked in on you and Ingrid making love.

Perhaps your ejaculatory issues

are a form of penance for having betrayed her.

No, I don't think it's that at all.

Maybe the judgment and condemnation you fear is your own, Earl.

Maybe on some subconscious level

you've decided that you are undeserving of pleasure,

of a satisfactory resolution of a happily ever after.

Literally undeserving of finishing what you started.

Maybe the boy standing at that door, watching,

is you.

Tomorrow when you come in you'll have the option

of doing the exercise at your hotel

or here in one of our treatment bedrooms

where we can personally instruct you.

We will prefer to do them alone in our hotel.

Nina's right, privacy is best for us.

But I would like to see the rest of the clinic.

Do you have time to give us a tour?

Charles... There's no harm in having a look.

I would be happy to show you. This way.

How many square feet is this place?

Four thousand, five?

God, somewhere in between, I think.

There's another hallway with a bedroom studio and exam room.

And it's zoned for the medical arts,

that is a not-for-profit business,

which means a tax deduction against the market price.

Is that right?

Shall we take a look?

We'll be doing the exercises at home.

Your husband seems to be interested.

Charles is not interested in the treatment.

He's falling in love.

Oh, don't worry, not with your wife.

My husband doesn't fall for other women,

he falls for other businesses.

I thought he was in asbestos.

It's his father's business.

For Charles, it's merely a fund for other businesses.

A couple weekends ago we took our grandson to Coney Island.

By the end of the afternoon, we owned an ice cream parlor.

Nina, they're seeing eight couples a day

and there's still a three-month waiting list.

Here in St. Louis, of all places.

Can you imagine the business you'd do

if this were New York or Philadelphia?

I've said the same thing to Art a dozen times, haven't I, Art?

She has.

Do you know that Dr. Masters and Mrs. Johnson

are on the road

investigating a pair of charlatan therapists

who claim to be using our method?

There're clinics popping up everywhere.

I keep saying to Art, "Shouldn't it be us opening one?"

After all, we've been trained and endorsed

by Masters and Johnson themselves.

It's a terrific scheme.

You two take the Masters and Johnson method to the masses.

Yeah. Why make them come to a town

where there's only one decent hotel?

We weren't even sure

where to make a reservation for dinner tonight.

I'm so sorry. We should've thought of that

and given you suggestions.

The Marmaduke or Le Dauphine, if you want French.

Alberto's for Italian.

Let's do one better, why don't you two pick a place

and we'll all have dinner tonight?

Lovely.

Did you like how they took credit for the questionnaire,

75% of which is ours?

Protocol's nearly identical, too.

Even the language in the hand-out.

"Once the man's interest in sensate focus has been aroused,

"the woman is encouraged to manipulate the penis with authority,

"specifically asking for direction in stimulative techniques."

"With authority" isn't ours.

No, we say "demandingly", but that hardly matters.

Keller says this is precisely what we need

to pursue a claim against them.

"With authority" is better than "demandingly".

I hardly think that anything of

theirs is worth appropriating, Bill.

Well, they may be thieves. But they're not quacks.

You have to admit,

they demonstrated a certain level of insight.

What exactly?

To fabricated circumstances?

Do you really think that the ejaculatory incompetence

that you don't suffer from

was caused by shame from your fictional childhood?

It's interesting though,

the suggestion that feeling undeserving of pleasure

can affect the way a man perceives himself,

choices he makes.

No. There's nothing to be learned

from people whose entire practice is founded in dishonesty.

Anyway, we should go over the specifics

of what to tell them tomorrow.

So how many times shall we say I manipulated you to orgasm?

What makes the most sense?

What sounds reasonable? Twice?

We should say twice. I think...

I'm sorry. I'm starving. I can't even think straight.

I saw a fried chicken place across the street,

should we get some?

I was thinking of calling it an early night.

Oh.

Are you sure?

Well, it's been a long day.

Let's go over this in the morning.

Okay?

Okay.

We're going to take this to court, right?

And we'll win?

We'll win big. Huge.

Will a judge preside over a $50 suit?

Suit?

I thought we were in some kind of role-play.

Which, by the way, is the only reality

where you could actually sue the diner.

It was gross negligence for them

to be so cavalier about their food.

It's not their negligence, it's product liability.

The negligence is contributory, meaning...

I know what contributory means.

You can't prove what happened was entirely the cook's fault.

So you've got nothing.

You only pursue legal action

when you know the tort in question is egregious.

But those cases don't exist.

That is not true.

And I'll give you a perfect example.

A woman who carries on an affair with husband's intern.

Mmm. The fault in the divorce is clearly hers.

And yet, the ex-wife has the gall to demand...

She's not your ex. Not yet.

So when you said you hadn't gotten around to the divorce,

what you meant is you're refusing to negotiate.

She doesn't want to negotiate, she knows what she wants.

The canoe I built,

the suit of armor I bought on our honeymoon,

the jade earrings passed down by my grandmother.

What are you gonna do with jade earrings? Hmm?

What does it matter?

You want a clear case, this is it.

This is when you take a stand.

Over trinkets?

You want to bring a diner financial ruin

over a $50 dental bill.

It's the principle.

The difference is, I have the law on my side.

I can't say the same about you.

Hello, Billy.

It's you.

Uh...

Just you? Your husband...

Oh. No. Nathan's not coming.

He thought it would be awkward. The three of us.

So, he's all right? Because last week...

I think you asking him to join us

made him feel comfortable declining.

Shall we?

I made a reservation at a very nice Italian restaurant.

At least, I think it's nice. I've never been.

All I know is it's dark.

I wanted someplace dark because,

well, 30 years is a long time.

Stop it. Come on, you look lovely.

Oh. You're going to need a tie.

It's that kind of place.

I'm not sure I brought a tie.

Maybe there's one stuffed away in my suitcase.

Come in, please, won't you?

Tie...

We could go someplace else.

Or we could just stay in.

Oh, there's a fried chicken place across the street.

It doesn't matter to me.

Why don't we have a conversation here?

Get some things out of the way.

Okay.

Your husband said that I broke your heart

all those years ago.

Honestly, I don't know what I did.

Unless, maybe you saw my note as some kind of joke?

Your note?

The note I sent you at the hospital.

With the roses. The two dozen long-stemmed roses?

There was no note. No roses.

No, the roses I left at the hospital,

it was after visiting hours, so I gave them to the nurse,

and told her to prop the note up where you'd be sure to see it.

Well, she didn't. I didn't get it.

And I didn't understand what I had done.

Why you pulled away.

Well, I was waiting for you to say something.

And when you didn't...

You should have said something. Why didn't you?

I thought you were telling me something with your silence.

But I loved you. Couldn't you see that?

I guess, I must have had a hard time believing that.

Believing that a girl like you

would ever see something worthwhile in me.

What did the note say?

What does it matter now?

Because I wanna know

if I might have had an entirely different life.

With a different man.

Did you ask me a question in that letter, Billy?

I did.

I would have said yes.

Need a hand? Oh.

Do you mind?

Not at all.

Glad for the distraction.

I'm just waiting for my wife.

Oh. Did you have a nice stay?

No, we didn't...

She doesn't know I'm here.

I taught her how to drive,

but she never got the hang of the rear-view mirror.

You followed her?

She told me she was going to Darla Barroli's house

to help organize the book drive.

And before she left the house tonight,

I saw her try on two dresses and three shades of lipstick.

Wonder if she did that for Darla,

or if the book drive is now headquartered

in the Jojim Arms, room 211?

211?

You sure? He's an old boyfriend of hers.

No, he's more than that.

If she were here she'd probably

tell you he's the love of her life.

Hell, I thought we were happy, you know?

I mean, should I have brought her flowers

more than just on her birthday? Sure.

Do I watch the TV out of the corner of my eye

while she's going on about her piano students?

Sometimes. Okay, fine.

But not all the time.

I try. I do.

He's, like, this big shot doctor.

Like a sex doctor, can you believe?

Jesus Christ. Guy's probably doing stuff...

And you're just sitting here? Letting it happen?

Why? What would you do?

Kick the door in?

Pull her out of there?

I'd teach that guy to keep his hands off my wife.

Maybe I will.

You should. I would if I were you.

I wish you would say something.

It would be better than all this silence.

Just tell me what you're thinking.

All right. you wanna know what I'm thinking?

Yeah. Here's what I'm thinking.

I think by agreeing to dinner with patients,

you overstepped every boundary

of your professional relationship with them.

As if that weren't bad enough,

you spent half the meal talking about

the ways the clinic, where you're a trusted worker,

could be managed better.

It's... I don't know what the word for it is. Uh...

Indecent, maybe? Shameful?

First of all, we had to say yes to dinner, Art.

It was clear they were nervous about the treatment,

and seeking a deeper therapeutic bond.

It would have been unprofessional and unkind not to go.

You were angling. Trying to impress on a very rich man

he should invest in our version of a clinic.

I... That's not what I...

Do you remember that ski vacation we took at Tremblant?

Second year of med school.

You were gonna be evicted from your apartment.

Remember, you got on the lift with that couple from Westmount,

you didn't know them?

Yeah, they needed a house sitter, and I needed a house.

Most people do not come away

From a five-minute chairlift ride

with a two-year lease on a Mount-Royal penthouse.

So I'm not most people. So what?

Come on, that was mutually beneficial, which this could be too.

So you admit you were angling?

Yeah. He took the lead and I followed.

Would've been a fool not to.

Come on. You have to admit that

we've been treated terribly at this clinic.

Our talents have been overlooked and undermined

by a lounge singer with a degree in typing.

That woman trusted us with these clients.

And we've been asked to take the lead on the homosexual study.

That's an exciting piece of research

which will yield a paper, or two or three.

A year from now, our names will be beside Masters and Johnson

in respected medical journals.

Shouldn't our names stand on their own,

especially if we're doing most of the work?

Come on, Art, you studied at Kinsey,

you know more about homosexuality than either of them do.

Why not do this study at our own clinic?

Because we aren't liars or thieves.

I'm not, anyway.

And I am not ready

to leave the clinic when we've barely begun our tenure.

And I'm not willing to put up with as much as you are.

I'm sorry.

How I must look.

Raccoon eyes?

And here, I wanted to take your breath away.

As if I still could.

I'm sure you take your husband's breath away.

He doesn't look at me.

Or he does. He just...

He doesn't see me, you know?

He goes somewhere, drifts away, when I'm talking to him.

So I've just stopped.

Hmm. All that silver in your hair.

What troubles brought that on?

Have you had a happy life?

I'm not sure I know how to be happy.

I'm trying.

I'm trying to learn.

One thing is clear.

I need to stop falling in love with women who don't love me.

But that isn't our story. You know that now.

Ah.

Is that the story of your marriage?

No.

There was someone else.

Another woman.

Well, I thought she didn't love me.

Maybe, the problem was I was thinking,

"How could she possibly love me?"

Oh, God.

Did that uncertainty come from me?

Maybe I could...

Would you let me make it up to you?

I'd like to try.

Dody, no...

No, I didn't come here for that.

I see.

Oh, God, I'm sorry.

You're sorry?

You're sorry.

Well, I'm embarrassed.

No, don't be. Rejected again.

No misunderstanding this time.

Don't talk like that. I should go.

No, Dody, please. It's okay.

It's okay.

I'm just a silly woman

who's read too many romance novels.

Good luck to you, Bill.

Maybe the next woman who wants to love you,

you'll be brave enough to let her.

It's open.

So I've made some notes.

Uh...

We'll say we had three encounters.

First one when we got back from the session,

unsuccessful.

A protracted plateau phase.

Although we can't say plateau, of course.

You stayed in all night?

Uh. Yes.

Then I thought I'd say there was a sensation of inevitability

that subsided after about two minutes...

I know this all sounds very technical,

but we can work on the language.

You weren't alone, though, were you?

You had a visitor.

Uh...

Yeah, an old friend dropped by last night.

Dody. She lives nearby.

I've never heard you speak of her before.

Well, we've only just recently renewed our acquaintance.

So should we say that we had another go around...

I don't know. What do you think, about three hours later?

Using the lotion this time...

Were you lovers?

Uh. We were. A long time ago.

Last night?

No.

I don't believe you.

Well, it's the truth.

Whether you choose to believe it or not.

Why would I?

The fact that you hid her very existence from me,

that it took me asking you for you

to even reveal that she stopped by.

I'm not an idiot.

But is she the reason why we came here?

To Topeka?

Because you wanted to see her?

Do you have feelings for her, Bill?

Because if you do, I think that I deserve...

God.

Look at me. I'm...

Is this what it's like?

Is this how it feels?

How what feels?

I'm not...

I've never been this person before, Bill. I don't...

I can't sleep, and I stay up all night wondering,

imagining what's going on on the other side of the wall.

It's fucking awful.

How many times did I make you feel this way?

Once or twice.

Or 1,000 times.

I'm so sorry.

Ms. Masters, attorney-at-law.

I never called myself that.

She may have made assumptions.

Going to my wife? Pretending to be my lawyer?

That wasn't my intention.

I went to see if her bottom line had changed

after a year of being stonewalled.

I built that stone wall very intentionally.

It was hard work.

You think there wasn't a long-term strategy?

No, Bram. I think your strategy is to punish her.

Trust me, I understand.

I spent 10 years with a husband who smelled of another woman.

I've had the moral high ground.

And the truth is, knowing you're right

is the worst weapon that you can have in an argument.

It makes it impossible to let go.

This is why we hire attorneys.

So that cooler heads will prevail.

And what assets has your cooler head secured for me?

Give up the Cadillac. You never drive it.

And the jade earrings.

You got her to give up the suit of armor?

I subtly suggested you couldn't part with the car,

so, naturally, it became the only thing that she cared about.

Huh.

Screw the cooler head, you've got actual negotiating skill.

It's a wonder you couldn't

settle amicably with the diner.

I don't want to be amicable.

I realize that bringing a $50 dentist bill to court

is ridiculous,

but I couldn't help but fantasize

seeing myself standing in a courtroom.

I mean, I sit at that desk all day,

and I sit in the back of rooms as

wives get taken in their divorces.

And the idea of standing up in front of a judge,

even in small claims court is...

Intoxicating.

Completely.

Have you ever heard of a woman my age

um,

taking classes, or going back to school?

It's not common.

But there's not much about you that is.

Anytime between noon and 4:00.

Yes, the homosexual study is completely anonymous.

Okay, happy to help.

You've been doing a brisk business, not a single pamphlet left.

Haven't seen anyone take one.

They must've done it when you weren't watching.

Yeah, sadly, there's still a stigma attached to impotence.

Not that I've suffered from it.

Don't even bother putting those out.

I threw the last batch out. I'll do those too.

Why would you do that?

Weren't you listening yesterday?

A penis pump is precisely the kind of nonsense gadget,

the kind of Band-Aid solution

the Foundation doesn't condone.

Well that makes no sense.

You got a broken arm,

you don't walk around with it hanging from your shoulder.

Broken pecker, why not fix it?

I'm sure Bill and Virginia would agree.

No. They wouldn't.

If you'd any idea what we're doing here,

you would know that.

I know exactly what you're doing.

I was a part of the work before you.

I was patient M0001. Remember...

I know what that is.

You were a volunteer? I was the first volunteer.

Volunteer isn't even the right word.

Pioneer, that's the word.

Neil Armstrong? He's got nothing on me.

You don't think you're being self-aggrandizing?

One small step for man.

I've thought about volunteering.

You won't regret it.

It's not just the contribution to science,

it's meeting someone anonymously,

connecting with them physically

to see how your parts fit together, no strings attached.

Well, okay, there are wires,

but, man, that just heightens the whole experience.

Honestly, it was the best sex of my life.

And the first blonde they paired me with?

Oh. What a bombshell. She was...

She was gorgeous and she was built and, like...

God damn it, was she ready to go, you know...

Oh!

You asshole. That blonde is my wife!

Going over the data?

It's very preliminary of course,

but the homosexual couples take a longer time

in the prelude to sexual connection and...

You're going somewhere?

I'm leaving early.

I'm going to meet Mr. Clavermore.

I turned it off.

Was that a good idea?

If they figure it out, they can fire me.

Or I'll quit.

Mr. Clavermore has found a building for us.

Since yesterday?

He's had his eye on it for some time.

Now he's brought his lawyer to town

so we can begin to talk about terms for a partnership.

Before you say anything, let me say,

I know that you don't want to leave this place.

That you feel valued and fulfilled here.

And I'm glad about that.

Because, Art, I want you to be happy.

I have always wanted you to be happy.

That sounds ominous.

I'm going to take this opportunity, Art,

and I know you don't want to,

but maybe that's okay.

Maybe it's time that we let each other go.

You're talking about splitting up?

I'm not happy.

I haven't been for a long time.

I'm sorry if this hurts,

but I need to be honest with you.

I'm tired of pretending.

Pretending what?

That I can continue to stomach our "arrangement",

that I still want to be with other men,

and that I don't mind you being with other women.

You don't want me to be with other women?

I know that before we got married,

I was the one who insisted on this setup.

But I didn't know that

when you wake up with someone every morning,

pour each other coffee,

split the newspaper,

that you want to go to bed with that person every night too.

You want to be monogamous.

But I know that that would be constricting,

I know how much you love the openness and variety

that swinging brings...

I love you more, Nancy.

You mean you'd give up being with other women?

Yes.

Then this offer from Mr. Clavermore is like kismet.

It could not be more perfectly timed, don't you see that?

We have the chance to go someplace

where nobody knows us,

where we don't have friends or colleagues

who think of us as swingers.

We can make a fresh start, the two of us together.

At our own clinic...

In New York.

I think the first time we tried was my fault...

We don't say "fault", Ingrid.

I was too tentative.

Did you give feedback, Earl?

Tell her what felt good to you?

Sometimes, if you put your hand over hers,

it allows you to direct the pace and intensity of her stroking.

Yes, I did that the second time. And the third.

So, three times.

And you were able to ejaculate...

Twice.

Well, good job, you two.

Outstanding. How do you feel?

We're very encouraged.

Looking forward to what's next.

So, orgasmic inevitability followed by intromission?

Earl's been reading up.

Yeah.

Just anxious to get this show on the road, so to speak.

Well, first things first.

It's not a show.

That's the wrong way to think about it.

You won't be performing for us.

In fact, most couples say after a few minutes,

they completely forget we're even there.

Even where?

In the room with us?

No, no. HARVEY: No.

Of course not. No, no, no.

Because it sounded as if...

Marcia and I

observe you and Ingrid from behind a two-way mirror.

You can derive the benefit of

our step-by-step instruction

without our being too intrusive.

I don't understand.

I thought that you were going to

send us back to the motel with exercises.

You've made great strides by your own account.

Let's use that momentum to take the next step.

I don't think we're... Well, I'm not ready for that.

I think you are, Earl. I know you are.

How about you just tell us what to do,

and we'll report back?

Yeah, but this is how we've

been able to yield the results we have in so short a time.

But other therapists... Frankly,

take twice as long and charge twice as much.

The process doesn't have to be so drawn out.

In fact, we've found,

if you hold up intercourse as this big event that requires

weeks of training, the psychological pressure

that causes can be destructive.

I'm sorry, but no.

Fine.

If it's not for you, it's not for you.

We certainly won't force you.

But if you aren't willing to trust us or our approach,

I think you have to ask yourselves,

why did you come here in the first place?

Honey, maybe we should discuss this.

Can we have a moment alone?

Certainly. Of course. Absolutely.

Take all the time you need.

It's out of the question. Bill...

I'm not going to... They...

They should not be having couples coupling this soon anyway.

Two days into the treatment...

We are not here

to critique their methodology.

We're here to see what they've stolen.

We've done that. So you just want to walk away now?

Yeah.

I guarantee you we will not be the first patients

to balk at being observed.

We've seen it ourselves.

We don't know if they've co-opted our entire protocol.

Our questionnaire, yes. A few exercises.

We have a very specific technique for intromission.

If they employ it... I...

Virginia, I can't, okay?

We've done this countless times before, Bill,

and for a higher purpose than our pleasure.

There's nothing different now. I...

Why did we come here,

if not to amass enough evidence to protect our legacy?

What are you afraid is going to happen?

It's just sex, Bill.

All by your lonesome.

Art's staying late at work.

What about Cissy?

She's in Cincinnati for a realtor's conference.

I could open a bottle of white, maybe order in some Chinese.

How's your hand?

How's his face?

I got him good, didn't I?

It really felt like I connected.

You did. You definitely did.

I'm sure there's gonna be some bruising.

Or worse.

I shouldn't have let him off so easy.

After what he said. About my wife.

'Course coming from someone like Langham's intellect,

that was practically poetry.

I hope you're not gonna listen to him

about volunteering for the study?

I just thought I'd just fill in the form, and see if they take me.

They'll take you.

I've watched 877 couples have sex

on the other side of the glass.

Most of them I never saw again,

so I can't say that I know what happened to them.

But some, like Langham,

I know exactly what came next.

It screwed him up.

His marriage crashed and burned, he lost his kids.

Langham has other kids, besides the baby with Helen?

Three.

Four, actually.

He knocked up one of the girls in the study.

That's what I'm saying.

But I'm not married,

and I'm not going to get anyone pregnant.

No, it's not just that.

Ever since Jane was in the study,

she treats sex like it's a performance.

The curtain goes up,

and she's on stage in a starring role.

Why else would she marry the man

on the other side of the glass?

Because she loves you?

No.

Because I'm her audience.

I have front row seats,

a lifetime booking to her drama.

Crushes, affairs, break-ups...

I'm sorry.

But you've been doing this work for years.

You're telling me you don't believe in the work?

I do.

I believe in the science.

Just like I'm glad there's a polio vaccine,

but I wouldn't want to be the rat that tried it first.

Listen to me, throw that away.

You don't know what's real and what's a performance

when there's someone watching.

Doing it behind the glass, it changes you.

Now, Ingrid, take hold of Earl,

and begin to manually stimulate him.

No. Look at each other.

Ingrid, connect with him.

Earl, show her what feels good to you.

Good. Tell her when you're close.

Now, Ingrid, move over him into female superior.

Now, keep hold of him, continuing to

stimulate him while you put him inside you.

I love you.