William Masters

William H. Masters Doctor, OB/GYN
Actor: Michael Sheen — First Appearance: Pilot — Last Appearance: Phallic Victories

Biography

Already a leader in his field of obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. William Masters is intent on exploring the nature of human sexuality and how the body responds during sexual stimulation. Dr. Masters is himself quite sexually repressed despite his unabashed pursuit of his study of sex -- a subject that many, especially his mentor and the head of the hospital, regard as lewd and inappropriate.

Although Masters helps women conceive for a living, his own wife is struggling to get pregnant, and he struggles with guilt and shame that he is the source of the problem. He may be a brilliant scientist, but his bedside manner leaves much to be desired, both in and out of the office.

Season 1

Pilot

Dr. Masters is celebrated in Washington University in St. Louis. He is a gynocologist who has made huge contributions to the field specially in treating infertility. He leaves the celebration to "go back to work". He then watches a prostitute have sex with an unknown male whilst hiding in the closet, and later dines with the prostitute to document the experience. He is interested in how long it takes the male subjects to be aroused. He then goes on to comment on how long her orgasm lasted and she corrects him by revealing that she'd faked the orgasm. She advises him to find a female partner if he wants "his project" to work out in answer to his question "why would women fake an orgasm?"

At work, Masters reveals to his subordinate Dr. Ethan Haas that he has been planning to study sex. Dr. Haas thinks the project is doomed and he continues to inform Masters about the "new girl" he is interested in. Masters plans to conduct the project in perfect secrecy. He offers his proposal to the board director who rejects to take it to a board meeting and believes Masters will be labeled a pervert and no-one will fund his project.

At home, Masters holds his wife's hand while she prays for them to have a baby. They sleep on seperate beds and when she tries seducing him, he has sex with her briefly by turning her to the side. While he is having sex with her, holding her from behind, she is visibly sad and after he is done, he asks what he sees when he looks at her to which he replies: "love".

At work, Masters takes interest in Virginia after hearing from Ethan how she gave him a blowjob. He hires her as his assistant after she is impressed with her views on sex, love and marriage during an unplanned interview. She answers his question about women faking orgasms by saying they want to help men climax to get back to what they'd rather be doing. Meanwhile Masters saves a woman during a C-section surgery gone wrong as Virginia watches.

Virginia then administers a test for Masters' wife. Masters does not want to perform the test himself so Dr. Haas takes his place. His wife asks him to stay to which he says that he has to go back to another patient. He then goes back to the same prostitute, this time on one of his patient beds and he monitors her response to sexual stimulation as she masterbates. He also finds out that the prostitute prefers women. He goes to get her some magazines to masterbate to when he runs into Virginia and tells her everything about his project to correct her accusing him of cheating on his wife. She offers to help.

Virginia finds the first female volunteer for him and together they design a device to record and watch the inside of a vagina during an orgasm. They organize the demonstration for the board director and despite his doubts, they get the project approved. They go to a benefit with Masters' wife after Virginia has to tell Ethan to go alone because they still have work to do. Masters then tells Virginia that their work is "the scandal" and he can't have another hint of impropriety around them, suggesting that she break up with Ethan.

At the benefit, they convince another doctor, who is known for his infatuation with nurses, to be their next volunteer and to have sex with the first volunteer. After watching the two have sex, Masters suggests that, in order to "avoid interference with their subjects", they keep the sexual tension between the two of them and not transfer it to the subjects. He implies that the two of them should have sex.