Minx Season 2 Review: A Cheeky Window Into 1970s Feminist Porn
- Charming ensemble cast
- Interesting exploration of 1970s sex culture
- Cast is separated too often
- Loses its underdog spirit
Joyce Prigger's about to learn what happens when a sexually liberated feminist pornographer gets everything she ever wanted. "Minx," the winkingly raunchy period comedy that launched on HBO Max, then was renewed, canceled, and resurrected on Starz, is a tongue-in-cheek exploration of 1970s porn and the changing cultural tapestry of mainstream America that allowed it to flourish. Although the second season sheds some of its underdog charm, it largely compensates by taking the characters who had been hustling to achieve their dreams and forcing them to confront what happens when they're still not emotionally satisfied. Still, it's hard to ignore the fact that the further it moves away from the actual day-to-day production of a scrappy feminist porn mag, "Minx" becomes a little less fun.
At the end of the first season, "Minx" was poised to take the nation by storm, but on the eve of its third issue's release, creative differences led to Joyce (Ophelia Lovibond) quitting the magazine and Doug (Jake Johnson) struggling to keep it going without her vision. Frustrated and maybe even a little bit chagrined, Doug gives control of Minx back to Joyce as a peace offering, leaving Joyce fully in charge — at last — of one of the country's leading magazines. But the power and fame associated with being the woman editor of a loud-and-proud porn magazine featuring full-frontal male nudity — very much pushing the envelope for its time — might just be more than Joyce had bargained for. With each new step in the evolution of Minx, she finds herself in situations that force her to make little sacrifices, either in regard to her personal relationships with friends and family, or her own morals.
Joyce in power
Although Joyce has come a long way from where she was at the beginning of the show (an uptight intellectual furious at the thought of cheapening her academic output with a cheeky centerfold), success hasn't changed her complicated relationship with the magazine. How does a self-described trailblazer adjust to being suddenly in a position of power? The growing footprint of Minx requires her to navigate competing interests without sacrificing the spirit of the magazine. On a personal level, she has to adjust to being a celebrity rather than just an anonymous feminist. When she impetuously has sex with a stranger in a plane bathroom and he asks her to autograph a magazine for him, you can feel how much it deflates her. By becoming the face of Minx, she has sacrificed a part of herself to the public and ceded some of her power to them. Anything she does, both public and private, is a reflection of the magazine and her increasingly high-profile persona. Joyce is, as ever, often self-obsessed and convinced of her own importance, putting the character in a role frequently at odds with everyone who surrounds her, sometimes to the detriment of the show's good vibes.
It is the ensemble cast of "Minx" that gives it so much of its heart. Joyce's sister Shelly (Lennon Parham) in particular steals the show as she transforms from a sexually dissatisfied housewife into the domineering madam of her suburban neighborhood's swinger's club. She's a testament to the fact that however good Joyce may be at her job, she's in that position because she's been surrounded by people who help her to shine, a relationship dynamic that is fascinatingly explored in Season 2. Bambi (Jessica Lowe) and Richie (Oscar Montoya) remain a delightful twosome, both looking for greater purpose now that they've had a taste of creative fulfillment. Tina (Idara Victor) pushes up against the limitations of her position at Minx, showing she's so much more competent than she's ever gotten credit for. And Doug, who operates as the confident, business-savvy center of the first season, finds himself adrift.
Getting the gang back together again
It's clear that each of these characters is on their own path, and that might be part of why the second season of "Minx" feels just a touch less satisfying. The cast had great chemistry with one another in Season 1, and every scene where they were working together to overcome some problem with the fledgling magazine felt so alive. But here, they've been compartmentalized into their own separate storylines, leaving far less time for the group atmosphere that made the show so engaging in the first place. An episode like "I Thought the Bed Was Gonna Fly," where the staff of Minx teams up to host the West Coast premiere of the now-legendary 1970s porno "Deep Throat," is a reminder of the magic that can come from having them all united in a common purpose. It's still fun to watch Joyce come into her own as a leader and owner of her own sexuality, just as we can't help but root for Shelly to get a taste of what it feels like to be appreciated as a woman, a writer, and a lover. But it's hard not to miss the gang being together.
Although the second season of "Minx" might feel like a step down from its dingy, iconoclastic origins, it's only a minor one. Season 2 still offers a strong vision of this unique period in history, filled with likable characters whom we can't help but root for. Jake Johnson gets put through the wringer in this one, and his optimistic energy coupled with a near-constant string of defeats gives the actor a lot to work with. If "Minx" struggles a little bit in transitioning its underdog porn mag to the big time, it still offers up plenty of heart, classic 1970s showdowns (like the one we see when Shelly gets way too into the tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs), and yes, more prosthetic penises than you can shake a stick at.
"Minx" premieres on Starz on July 21.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn't exist.