A woman, a man, a beach at twilight, and at least one orgasm: but what exactly happens? Is Gerty MacDowell brainwashed or liberated by the women's magazines she reads? Is the episode misogynist or empathetic? We complicate these binaries with Anne Fogarty, professor at University College, Dublin, Cathal Mac Thréinfhir, retired teacher in Limerick, Nuala O'Connor, Irish novelist, James Turner, professor at UC Berkeley, and Vicki Mahaffey, professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.