Bottom Dollar sure is changing, but is it for the best?
In typical Doug fashion, he goes balls to the walls in acquiring the highly controversial film Deep Throat for its west coast premiere during Minx Season 2 Episode 2, but things spiraled pretty quickly, and it took everyone at Bottom Dollar to make sure the show went on.
They’re a team through and through, but with success comes change, and it’s unclear whether or not they’re ready for it.
Everything about the Deep Throat premiere was a mess, starting with the fact that Doug was hosting it at all.
At the time of its release in 1972, there was a tremendous amount of controversy surrounding it, with obscenity bans following it around the country. But while it may have courted a lot of negative attention, that attention pushed it to the forefront of conversations, making it one of the most talked about movies of its time.
Doug is a businessman first and foremost, and he found an opportunity to get the Bottom Dollar name out there as he looked to not only relaunch Minx but all his other titles as well.
And he certainly got the attention he was looking for.
The missing film reels could have gone so much worse, and everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong at one point.
It was kind of typical Doug Renetti to make this big splash but not exactly do all his homework when it came to making sure he had all his ducks in a row.
Whose job was it back then to ensure the correct film was in the canister? I can’t imagine they were waiting until the last possible second to make sure that the right reels were there.
But the unexpected snafu meant Doug had to think on his feet, and he’s pretty damn good at that, though he doesn’t quite see how it comes across when he’s delegating orders to people and nary saying a thank you while doing so.
Doug and Tina have a long history together, one that’s bonded them in a way many people do not understand. They have a lot of love and respect for one another, but Doug tends to be so singularly focused at times that he doesn’t understand the position he’s putting people in.
Tina is no longer his secretary but the managing editor of Minx. And she’s giving up business school to stay at Bottom Dollar and help build the magazine and the company, not be a glorified gopher.
Doug appreciates Tina, and he trusts her, but that kind of grunt work isn’t what she signed up for when she decided to forgo Chicago for a place at the Bottom Dollar table.
And when he forced her to go back out, running around to get the rest of the reels without even hearing her out? Yeah, that was not a good look for him, and he deserved every bit of her wraith when she returned to a bustling party she didn’t even know existed.
There seems to be a larger conversation looming between these two that they either haven’t had time to have or are avoiding. Because there’s a big disconnect between them currently, and it doesn’t seem like Doug even realized it was there.
I don’t think Tina ever feels unsupported by Doug, but she does need him to respect her new role and not take advantage of her kindness or their relationship.
I’m a huge fan of Doug and Tina together because I think they get one another, and there is truly a deep love there. But I don’t want Tina to lose sight of her greatness and capabilities.
Her professional decisions should be rooted in what’s best for her, not her allegiance to Doug. And hopefully, Doug would understand that, but you never know with him. This is a man who’s loathed to admit his office is a few inches smaller than a woman’s.
Speaking of Joyce, though, she reluctantly made her way to the Deep Throat premiere but ended up taking a whole lot more away from it than she thought she would.
The thing about Deep Throat was that it was opposed by various people, from conservatives to feminists, who at the time railed against both its offensiveness and dehumanization.
Joyce clearly headed into the theater with her own biases about what she was about to see (as does everyone), but she walked away finding more significant meaning in the movie and what it could do for the future.
Which just proves that you don’t have to like something or even agree with it, but you can recognize its importance.
And isn’t that what she’s been trying to get others to see in Minx?
With Bottom Dollar making a splash, you could see Bambi shrink a little as she saw things changing around her. And that’s to say nothing of how Shelly did her very best to keep Bambi and Lenny as far apart as possible.
The Shelly and Bambi affair seems to be on the back burner for now, as Shelly is going full steam ahead on reinvigorating her marriage, but she and Lenny still don’t seem to be entirely on the same page.
Poor, oblivious Lenny loves his wife and wanted to have some fun, but Shelly has a gut full of guilt at all times and a reluctance to let Lenny venture outside of himself. He wants to be enough for Shelly while breaking free from the boxes he’s placed in.
He was a hit at that party, and he was having a good time. And maybe it’s not something he needs to do every day, but I was glad that Shelly eventually relented and let him just be.
The key to their marriage making it through everything will be in each other’s ability to embrace the people they want to be. They aren’t the same people they were when they got married, and that’s okay. But can they grow together as the people they are now?
You could tell how conflicted Shelly was about the Bambi affair during Minx Season 2 Episode 1, and she’s doubled down on ending things with Bambi to the point she’s pushing her away.
Bambi is so kindhearted. I’m not sure she fully picked up on Shelly’s eagerness to get away from her. But their paths will continue to cross, and I’m not sure Shelly can resist her.
Everything Else You Need To Know
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Richie was getting some love, as he deserved! Also, he was right to challenge Tina about how Doug treated her, but he needs to look at himself in that, too! He’s a star, and I need him to remember that.
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Constance hates Doug, right? There is just something about the way all her words about him, even when they’re relatively nice, feel like they’re dipped in disdain. I wonder how long they will be able to play nice.
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The entire sequence of Richie running into the theater, colliding with Joyce, and then Doug falling down the stairs was single-handedly one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Bravo.
It’s full steam ahead at Bottom Dollar, and the sky is the limit right now. They’ve got big plans, a flagship magazine, and a backer flush with cash.
What could possibly go wrong?
Jump into the comment section with all your thoughts about this installment and where you think things are headed next for our minxy crew!
Whitney Evans is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.