Done with a little less care, Joyce’s journey from closed-off killjoy to savvy dong-displayer could read as a tale of uppity feminists needing to calm down a bit and not take things so seriously. But “Minx,” like its titular publication, stuffs a healthy amount of medicine inside that chunky penis butter. Yes, it’s a gas to see Joyce wince at the cavalcade of nude models they bring in to populate their first issue (leading to a montage of wedding tackles spanning lengths, widths, and girths that would make “Zola” blush). But it also serves as an endearing reminder that yes, penises exist, and can be enjoyed in the right context.
It’s just one of many wake-up calls for Joyce in the series’ first few episodes, especially as she learns both that the porn industry has the potential for facilitating liberation in its own right, and that her rigid ideas of feminism may not be as liberatory as she thinks. Joyce’s journey gives Lovibond plenty of layers to play, and she gives a fun, capable leading turn that doesn’t shy away from the more selfish sides of the character’s persona. When she finds herself in an office fling with Issue 1’s cover model, the delightfully dim but hung-like-a-firehose jumbo Shane (Taylor Zakhar Perez), she justifies it as being the same kind of power dynamic men in power get to enjoy. An afternoon spent with a gaggle of Italian housewives—the very people she’d normally hector to get out of the kitchen—turns into an eye-opening look at an aspect of womanhood she wouldn’t typically experience. Bit by bit, Joyce learns there’s more to feminism than can be found in the works of Germaine Greer,
But “Minx” never gets bogged down in lectures, the whip-smart script and breezy direction keeping things light and bouncy (like a fair few of its models, regardless of gender). Surrounding Doug and Joyce are a game ensemble of supporting characters with their own things going on, from the ditzy but deceptively smart Bambi (Jessica Lowe) to ambitious gay photographer Richie (Oscar Montoya). Doug’s right-hand woman Tina (Idara Victor) is easily the most pragmatic of the group, holding the operation together while still dealing with the everyday racism of the office. “Oh, I’m not a secretary,” she says coldly when Joyce asks her for a coffee. “I’m just Black.”