Minx Finale Recap: Joyce Goes to War, Doug Goes to Bed With [Spoiler] — Plus, Grade It!

At the start of Season 2, a Minx magazine without Joyce Prigger at the top of the masthead would’ve been less likely than Bambi getting a PhD in applied physics. But my, how things have changed by the time we reach Friday’s finale.

Constance goes to Doug, cutting Joyce out of Minx’s future — and he is fine with that. Joyce realizes that the woman she thought was her role model and champion is a narrow-minded backstabber. It’s the erotic-publishing world turned upside down, I tell you, and in a moment, I want to hear what you thought of the episode. But first, read on for the highlights of “Woman of the Hour.”

DOUG GETS A PROMOTION | As Minx’s international gala approaches, Joyce learns that Constance stopped the print run when she became aware that Richie’s bathhouse shoot was not only included in the next issue, it was on the cover. “Just say it already,” Richie demands when Joyce confronts him, and she does: “Minxisn’t supposed to be for gay men.” She wants him to run a photo retrospective celebrating their first year in print, instead, but he refuses. “You figure it out,” he says, walking out.

While Joyce is carrying out Constance’s dirty work, the mogul meets with Doug. She acknowledges that they still need Joyce “and all the other little Joycettes we’ve found,” but she wants him to be president of a new company: PRG, which stands for Papadopolous Renetti Global. He’d report to Constance, Joyce and Tina would report to him. Never one to spend much time worrying about how his actions will affect others, Doug easily accepts. “You have made the right call,” he says.

WOMEN LIKE WHOM? | Later, when Joyce is called into a pre-gala meeting with Constance, she’s irked to learn that Constance hired the British journalist Joyce didn’t like. Also? Constance wants to kill Shelly’s latest Bella LaRouche story, the one in which she identifies as a lesbian. Joyce fights back: Minx, after all, is a publication for women. “Women like us,” Constance coolly counters.

Tina, who’s been watching from the sidelines, is sent to the printer to pull the issue and runs into Doug just before she heads out. He happily announces that he’s going to be president. “Wow, you always land on your feet, don’t you?” she says wryly, and they part on not-great terms. But their interaction is nothing compared to when Joyce finds her business partner and is shocked to find that he’s fully on board with Constance’s new plan and vision. “Nobody gets this big without giving something up. No one!” he shouts. Ew, Doug. I liked you better when you were extolling the virtues of Feet, Feet, Feet. A stricken Joyce says she liked things better when Minx was just the two of them. Doug replies that it still is. (Side note: It’s not.)

The gala begins. Constance gives Joyce a glowing introduction… and then is surprised when the editor-in-chief is nowhere to be found when it’s time to deliver her remarks. And that’s because Joyce and Shelly are driving away in Doug’s Rolls-Royce, heading for the printer.

Elsewhere, Richie is redoing his bathhouse layout in the backseat of Bambi’s car, which picks that inopportune moment to run out of gas. But thank goodness for Lenny, who loads his kids into the car and picks up the pair from the side of the road. He’s clearly overwhelmed, now that he and Shelly have separated and she’s planning an extended trip to Italy with Joyce’s professor, Doreen. But as he drives toward the printshop, Bambi offers to lend a hand while Shelly is away. “I’m happiest when helping people,” she reasons, “and it seems like you need a lot of help.” There’s a little charge in the air between them, no? And honestly, anything to keep her from joining up with Pastor Jim at The People’s Temple, right?

THIS MEANS WAR | Joyce rushes into the printer’s and begs Tina to see her side of things, but no need. “You don’t have to convince me,” Tina says. “I already bought us another 30 minutes. The second Constance trotted out ‘women like us,’ I was done.” God, I love this woman. So they print the issue of Minx that should’ve gone through in the first place, consequences be damned. “I think I’m about to go to war against my own magazine,” Joyce says. And when Shelly voices her hope that the incident is a chapter in Joyce’s book, Joyce says, “This is the book.”

Back in turncoat land, Doug assures Constance that Joyce eventually will be fine; she seems unconcerned. And then, in the episode’s final moments, we see that Doug and Constance are sleeping together.

Now it’s your turn. What did you think of the finale? Grade it, as well as the season overall, via the polls below. Then hit the comments with your thoughts!