Ladies and dicks, we are back! It was a rocky journey, but now Minx is in its new home at Starz and we finally get our season two. I’m excited to be back with the Bottom Dollar crew and recapping the show again each week.
Where we left off, Joyce (Ophelia Lovibond) and Doug (Jake Johnson) decide to part ways, while Doug gives Joyce the rights to Minx. Richie (Oscar Montoya) and Bambi (Jessica Lowe) also leave Bottom Dollar with Joyce in an attempt to make it on their own. This poses the big question for the season opener: now that Doug and Joyce are no longer partners, who will publish Minx, and who will allow Joyce to keep the vision for her magazine?
Joyce has a lot of options when it comes to picking a new publisher. They all want to house Minx after it’s taken the world by storm, but she is overwhelmed and frankly unimpressed by the fancy white men in suits who claim to be so excited to work with her. Richie and Bambi urge her to pick an option, considering they’re currently running the magazine out of Richie’s family’s bakery and they need money. Joyce knows it’s just a matter of making a decision, but she’s worried about making the right one for the magazine she worked so hard to get off the ground. None of the people offering money seem like the right fit.
In an attempt to get some money on the side, Richie agrees to do a boudoir photoshoot for Constance Papadopoulos (Elizabeth Perkins), a wealthy woman who is a former CEO of a large company that she took over from her husband before she was driven out. She is a personal hero of Joyce’s and Joyce would love for nothing more than to interview her for the magazine, but Constance just wants to have her photos taken. Joyce is also thrown at the photoshoot because she realizes that Richie is using a concept that she hoped to use for the next Minx centerfold, but Richie reminds her that if she’d settled on a new publisher she could have used the idea for that. This seems to be the kick in the pants that Joyce needs to stop being hesitant and make a choice about her publisher.
Meanwhile, Doug is flatbroken. At Tina’s (Idara Victor) urging, he continues to take meetings to try and get more business for Bottom Dollar, but everyone knows he doesn’t have any money. A few of his old colleagues are hesitant to work with him again because he spent so much effort on Minx that he “got fancy”, in their words. Even with all the debt hanging over his head, maintains that he’s not worried because he has Tina, like in the old days before they’d become established. Of course, this concerns Tina, since it seems like she hasn’t made a decision about whether or not she’ll be going to business school. She seems torn, not wanting to leave Doug when she knows how much he seems to rely on her, but also wanting to potentially forge a new path for herself.
Eventually after a series of misses, Doug finally goes to make amends with Joyce right as she’s about to sign a contract with Conde Nast. He mentions that he went to see Constance and she’s interested in publishing Minx. Doug brings Joyce with him to stage a chance meeting with Constance at a dog show (complete with a dog that his friend inexplicably brings him).
When Joyce finally gets a moment alone with Constance, she explains that the people who run Minx are outsiders and she knows that Constance can relate to that feeling given her career. She’s been hesitant to sign with any of the publishers because they couldn’t possibly understand what Joyce and the others have been through. In the end, Constance is won over by Joyce’s pitch and she decides to invest so Minx finally has a new publisher. For a moment, it seems as though Joyce might throw Doug under the bus when Constance asks if they really need him, but Joyce vouches for him. She understands their partnership is important and as much as Joyce worked hard for Minx, she knows Doug is also one of its biggest champions.
Now the gang’s back together, thanks to their new investor! It’ll be interesting to see how this new partnership plays out over the season. Of course, we’re also still on the edge of our seats waiting to see what will happen between Shelly (Lennon Parham) and Bambi, seeing as it seems they can’t stay away from each other even though Shelly seems to be trying to make things work with Lenny (Rich Sommer). It looks like things are off to a great start, and I’m excited to see where everyone ends up.
Rating: 9/10
