‘Masters of Sex’ Season 3 Teaser: Masters and Johnson Get Technical on the Sexual Revolution

The first sneak peek at Showtime’s Masters of Sex Season 3 has arrived, ushering in the sexual revolution, or, as Lizzy Caplan’s Virginia Johnson comments, “We are the sexual revolution.” The third season leaps forward from 1961 to 1965, as Masters and Johnson present their new book to a suspicious medical community — and one doctor in particular takes umbrage with their overly-technical jargon.

1965 was just the beginning of the sexual revolution, and while people were exploring concepts of free love and new sexual avenues, Masters and Johnson were firmly committed to enhancing the knowledge of the staunchly conservative medical community, expanding their abilities to diagnose, address and treat sexually-related medical issues and dysfunctions — issues that, as we’ve seen in prior seasons, have largely gone ignored due to notions of propriety and social embarrassment.

There are some changes in Season 3 — Virginia and Bill are now firmly a couple, as seen in the opening moments of the new teaser above, with the pair lying in bed together as Virginia frets over their presentation. That presentation is the centerpiece of the sneak peek, as the pair are confronted by a skeptical medical community, accusing them of using their research — and their new book — as a “trojan horse” to encourage the growing sexual revolution.

Virginia makes that profound statement (“We are the sexual revolution”), a statement that has more impact than she realizes in the moment.

At the end of Season 2, Virginia’s ex-husband proposed a strange new custody arrangement (yeah, get those kids out of the way), while Libby continued her relationship with Robert (a real highlight of the season), and Langham made a discovery about Flo’s family and their wealth, causing him to re-evaluate his unlikely relationship with her. Masters and Johnson made significant headway in diagnosing and addressing impotence, a personal problem for Masters, and felt they were ready to confront and treat the issue head-on.

Obviously, with the time jump in Season 3, the duo have made even further progress, as highlighted in our first sneak peek. We’ll be interested to see how far they’ve come and catch up on all that we’ve apparently missed in the four years that have lapsed in the narrative when Masters of Sex Season 3 premieres on July 12.