Sumith Prasad
Set in Los Angeles in the 1970s, HBO Max’s comedy series ‘Minx’ centers around Joyce, who aspires to launch a feminist magazine. Joyce’s efforts to find a publisher lead her to Doug Renetti, a publisher who solely focuses on pornographic magazines. Doug gives Joyce a chance to work together to create an erotic magazine for women.
The first two episodes of the show follow Joyce and Doug’s attempts to issue the first edition of the magazine. The second episode ends with a significant realization of Joyce, as she starts to embrace the vision of Doug. If you are interested in a closer look at the second episode’s ending, let’s dive into it after a quick recap! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Minx Episode 1 and 2 Recap
The first episode of the show begins with Joyce attending a local magazine pitch festival to pitch her magazine concept The Matriarchy Awakens, a radical feminist magazine. Joyce fails to find a reputed publisher interested in her idea other than Doug Renetti, who runs a porn publishing house named Bottom Dollar Publications. Joyce rejects Doug’s interest in her idea and storms out of the venue, accidentally leaving a copy of her sample magazine issue on the floor. She goes to her home and encounters her boyfriend Glenn, who tries to invalidate her magazine idea. When Glenn gives Joyce a choice between their relationship and her magazine, Joyce chooses the latter and breaks up with him.
Upon realizing Joyce’s potential, Doug offers her financial backing to launch her magazine. However, he asks her to bring changes to the magazine by including pornography for women readers. Joyce fails to accept Doug’s terms but she understands that Doug’s idea is valid when she comes across women readers celebrating a semi-naked photograph in Cosmopolitan. She goes to see Doug and they strike a deal. With the help of Bambi and Tina, Joyce and Doug audition several nude models and select Shane. Doug also asks Joyce to change the name of the magazine, leading her to rename it as Minx.
The second episode follows Doug’s efforts to find advertisers for Minx. He pitches the magazine to several companies that sell women’s products like sex toys and underwear for their advertisement. Joyce, who thinks less of these companies, tells Doug that she is going to find respectable companies for advisements rather than promoting sex toys. She talks with Mr. Ross, a member of Joyce’s tennis club, who expresses his interest in advertising in Minx. Joyce meets Doug ecstatically with the news. Doug agrees to do the pitching for Ross but asks her to accept Pleasure Garden’s advertisement if Ross doesn’t end up doing business with them.
Minx Episode 2 Ending: Does Mr. Ross Agree to Advertise in Minx?
When Joyce approaches Mr. Ross to pitch her upcoming magazine for advertising his cosmetics brand, he expresses his interest and agrees to talk with Doug. In between a gathering at the tennis club, Doug accompanies Joyce to talk with Ross. However, Ross prefers to talk with Doug alone. After a lengthy discussion with Ross, Doug tells Joyce that Ross will advertise in Minx if they send Bambi to have sex with him. Enraged, Joyce confronts Ross in front of other members of the club and exposes him. She even reveals that he groped her when she was 12, inflicting a painful trauma on her.
The encounter with Ross teaches Joyce that the people who run “the respectable companies” around her do not hesitate to objectify women and see them as means of sexual gratification. She realizes that people who objectify women without a veil for the success of their products are better than sexual predators like Ross. Thus, she rejects any association with him and even decides to not step into the tennis club again. Through Ross, Joyce learns to see the ugly side of “the civilized society” she is part of.
Why Does Joyce Accept to Advertise Pleasure Garden?
When Joyce’s opportunity with Mr. Ross comes to a dead end, she gets forced to advertise Pleasure Garden’s sex toys. Since she is even appalled to just look at the toys, Joyce struggles to come up with a caption and advertise the products in Minx. As someone who doesn’t even masturbate, Joyce finds sex toys objectionable and unnecessary. She misunderstands that women around her don’t need artificial penises and ponders over how women can feel liberated with the same. Joyce’s misconception hits a wall when her sister Shelly reveals that she uses one for her sexual satisfaction even after getting married.
Shelly also tells Joyce that the toys might have saved her early married years if she had bought them earlier. Her sister’s revelation astounds Joyce, who realizes that the women around her deal with sexuality very differently from her. When Shelly suggests a vibrator to Joyce, she decides to find its use herself. Upon using the vibrator, Joyce becomes convinced that sex toys do help women to satisfy themselves without the need of a man. The realization inspires her to create an advertisement for Pleasure Garden’s sex toys to advertise in Minx.
Read More: Is Minx’s Joyce Based on a Real Person?
