Netflix’s Mrs Playmen tells the story of Adelina Tattilo, a woman who dared to challenge Italy’s moral order in the 1970s. Inspired by the real-life publisher who founded one of Europe’s most controversial magazines, the seven-episode series traces her journey from betrayal and humiliation to control over her name, her work, and her own story.
It’s a drama about survival and reinvention, and a reminder of how the fight for women’s autonomy was often waged in private, between fear and defiance.
Before revisiting each episode, it’s worth remembering the world in which this story takes place.
Setting the Scene: Italy Between Tradition and Change
In 1970, Italy was a nation split between modernity and repression. Divorce had not yet been legalized, though Parliament was preparing to vote on the Fortuna–Baslini bill that would finally pass in December. The Christian Democrats, long supported by the Vatican, still dominated politics but were facing growing pressure from the left. After the 1968 protests, socialist and communist movements demanded workers’ rights, secular reforms, and a clear separation between Church and State.
Despite these winds of change, religion continued to dictate much of daily life. Marriage was sacred, confession was routine, and women’s honor often determined their family’s respectability. Laws such as the matrimonio riparatore, which allowed a rapist to “restore” his victim’s dignity by marrying her, remained part of the penal code.
Censorship still shaped public media, even as erotic magazines began to appear on newsstands, circulated discreetly among readers hungry for something different. Mrs Playmen takes that fragile moment of contradiction, between repression and awakening, and builds an entire story around it.
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Spoiler Warning
The following recap covers all seven episodes of Mrs Playmen and discusses key plot points, including the ending.
Episode-by-Episode Recap
Episode 1
The series opens in 1975, when Adelina Tattilo is recognized by the United Nations as one of the most important women in the world, honored for her influence on Italian society and the debate over sexual freedom. The story then moves back to October 1970, where Adelina Tattilo Balsamo (Carolina Crescentini), married to publisher Saro Balsamo, prepares for a lavish party at Rome’s legendary Piper Club celebrating Brigitte Bardot’s appearance on the cover of Playmen, her husband’s erotic men’s magazine.
At the event, as Saro discusses business with creative director Chartroux (Filippo Nigro), it becomes clear the magazine is in financial trouble. On the dance floor, Adelina confronts Saro’s former mistress; he insists the affair is over and she is the only woman in his life, words she chooses to believe.
Among the guests are Elsa (Francesca Colucci) and photographer Luigi Poggi (Giuseppe Maggio). Luigi takes nude photos of Elsa, promising they are private, then spends the night with her.
The next morning, Adelina goes to Playmen’s headquarters looking for her husband, only to find the police waiting. She is arrested for obscenity over the publication of pornographic material. During questioning, she learns that Saro had recently named her editor-in-chief, a strategic move that made her legally responsible for any charges against the magazine. Under Article 528 of the Italian penal code, distributing “indecent material” could mean three months to three years in prison. Adelina spends the night in jail and is released on Friday morning; another inmate tells her she’s lucky, since no one processes releases over the weekend.
At home, Adelina tells her teenage son the truth but shields her young daughter. She confronts Chartroux, who admits Saro promoted her to protect himself. With prior legal troubles for fraud and embezzlement, Saro would have gone straight to prison. Now in hiding, he’s left her to take the blame, and unless the next issue is printed soon, Playmen will collapse.
Seeking advice, Adelina visits her childhood friend and former boyfriend, now a priest, Don Rocco. Their bond is easy and genuine; he becomes her confidant.
Saro briefly reappears, insisting Playmen should move from sensual to explicit, convinced pornography will save the magazine. Adelina disagrees. She prefers an editorial approach and is drawn to Luigi Poggi’s photographs of Elsa. She decides the next issue will focus on the women of Il Mandrione, one of Rome’s roughest quarters, a community built beneath the city’s ancient aqueducts.
Luigi convinces Elsa to sign a contract, claiming only clothed photos will be published. She signs without reading it, later realizing he lied when she sees the magazine already in print. Desperate, she rushes to stop publication, but it’s too late. Knowing the police plan to confiscate every copy, Adelina remembers what a woman told her in prison, that no one works Saturdays, and decides to release the issue that day, hoping to avoid seizure.
Meanwhile, Vice Squad officer Andrea De Cesari is ordered to find evidence that will justify shutting down Playmen, with the promise of a promotion if he succeeds. That night, Chartroux meets Poggi at a nightclub; they kiss.
Back in Rome, Elsa is assaulted by a co-worker who assumes she’s “easy” because of the photos. When she resists and slaps him, he rapes her.
Adelina later receives a call from Saro, who says he won’t return. With an arrest warrant issued against him, he plans to flee to France with his mistress, the singer from the Piper party. Heartbroken but resolute, Adelina steps into the role he forced on her. As both editor-in-chief and shareholder, she asserts her authority over a staff still loyal to her husband. For the first time, she begins to make the role and the magazine her own.
Episode 2
Adelina discovers that Playmen’s finances are worse than she feared: her husband has even put a lien on their home. Her friend and banker advises her to sell the magazine, calling it the only way out.
At the same time, news breaks of a sensational murder-suicide. A marquis has killed his wife and her lover before turning the gun on himself. The scandal deepens when Playmen learns that the marquis used to photograph his wife in compromising poses and forced her into affairs. Adelina decides to purchase the photos and his diary, but later refuses to publish them, defying her entire editorial team.
Meanwhile, Elsa reports her rape to the police. The interrogation is brutal and laced with misogyny: officers ask what she was wearing, why she was alone, and even demand anatomical details, since by law, penetration below a certain depth is not considered rape. Officer Andrea De Cesari quietly encourages her to move forward with the complaint.
At home, Elsa faces further humiliation. The rapist’s family offers a matrimonio riparatore, a “reparatory marriage” that would protect her reputation by marrying her attacker. Her father supports the idea. Desperate, Elsa goes to Playmen for help.
To keep the magazine alive, Adelina sells everything she owns. Guilt over Elsa’s ordeal and her decision not to return the photos weighs heavily. Seeking guidance, she turns to Don Rocco, her old friend and priest. He comforts her, then asks for help with a newlywed struggling in her marriage. When Adelina tells the young woman that sex should involve mutual desire, not duty, the message spreads. Days later, Rocco calls again: more women want to speak with her.
Meanwhile, Adelina’s teenage son Lorenzo becomes increasingly influenced by his classmate Anna, on whom he has a crush. After being arrested during a student protest, he argues with his mother, accusing her of being trapped in her love for Saro instead of feeling free. Seeking refuge, he goes to Anna’s home; they sleep together that night. Anna is later revealed to be the daughter of Maria Masi, a well-known feminist who publicly denounces Playmen.
Adelina visits Elsa again, apologizing and urging her not to accept the forced marriage. She offers her a real job so she can leave home and regain control of her life. Elsa hesitates, but after arguing with her mother, she accepts. By the end of the episode, however, it’s revealed that Elsa has also agreed to secretly work with De Cesari, feeding him information that could help shut Playmen down.
Chartroux tells Luigi that their kiss meant nothing and insists they stay apart. Later, unable to deny his feelings, he changes his mind and decides to give their relationship a chance.
Inspired by her conversations with women at church, Adelina shapes a new editorial direction for Playmen, a magazine that speaks to women about sex, desire, and freedom, stripped of hypocrisy, politics, and male control. The next issue, The Erotic Bride, tackles the subject of virginity.
Reading the marquis’s diary, Adelina learns that the woman was coerced into sleeping with others to protect her family’s finances. She decides to publish both the photos and the diary as evidence of captivity disguised as luxury, and writes the lead essay herself.
The new issue becomes a sensation. Women across Italy begin reading Playmen, often taking copies from their husbands. Letters pour in from readers thanking Adelina for giving voice to female experience and agency.
Episode 3
Playboy officially arrives in Italy, backed by publishing powerhouse Rizzoli Editore. Its polished layout and sleek columns mirror Playmen’s formula so closely that, at first, Adelina and her team dismiss it as a passing trend.
At Playmen, Adelina plans to feature Emma Bellini, one of the famous Signorine Buonasera, the elegant announcers who appeared on Italian television after Carosello, to wish viewers goodnight. For the public, Emma represents the ideal of female decorum: beautiful, modest, untouchable. But Adelina wants to show a different side, what happens when the cameras stop rolling and women like Emma no longer have to perform perfection.
Elsa, having left her family home for good, begins working at Playmen managing invoices. While reviewing the books, she discovers the company’s debts are even greater than expected and secretly passes the information to Andrea De Cesari, who continues his mission to bring down the magazine. Outside her new apartment, she faces another ordeal: Ettore, the man who raped her, is still stalking her. One night, after he attacks again, she is rescued by De Cesari.
Meanwhile, Lorenzo learns that Anna, the girl he loves, rejects traditional relationships. She’s also seeing Gianluca, an older college student. When Saro unexpectedly returns home for his wedding anniversary, Adelina’s hope briefly reignites, only for him to leave again. Still in love, she falls for his lies once more, prompting Lorenzo to call her a fool. After she slaps him in anger, he leaves home to live with Anna.
Adelina’s next challenge comes from Emma herself. The television host refuses the Playmen offer, accusing Adelina of trying to ruin her image. For Adelina, the goal was to show that even women in traditional roles, mothers, wives, public figures, carry an inherent erotic power they shouldn’t have to hide. But Emma insists that her reputation depends on restraint, warning that appearing in Playmen would destroy her career.
Inside the offices, tension grows. Several staff members defect to Playboy, and Adelina begins to suspect betrayal from within. Overhearing a tense phone call, she asks Elsa to follow Chartroux. Elsa discovers he’s secretly meeting with Saro, who plans to launch a new pornographic magazine with him. Confronted, Chartroux admits the truth: Saro needs a key hidden in Adelina’s office to access a safe deposit box containing the money he embezzled from Playmen.
At the same time, Adelina receives an offer to sell the magazine from her banker friend. With Elsa’s help, she discovers the buyer is actually Playboy, and shuts down the deal just in time.
Facing possible new charges, Saro marries his mistress Consuelo at the Mexican embassy, committing bigamy in a desperate attempt to secure citizenship and avoid extradition.
During a live broadcast, Emma Bellini’s blouse slips off her shoulder, briefly revealing her bra. The incident unexpectedly humanizes her. Viewers flood her with letters, saying they finally see her as a real woman rather than a perfect statue. Newly emboldened, Emma agrees to appear on Playmen’s cover after all.
Adelina reclaims full control of her company. Using the 90 million lire Saro had stolen, she reinvests it into Playmen, rehires Chartroux as editor-in-chief, and rebrands the company from Saro Balsamo Editore to Tattilo Editore. This marks a new chapter for her vision, not pornography, but eroticism defined by women’s pleasure, desire, and autonomy. She also clears out the staff who remained loyal to her husband and leaked internal information.
Playmen is finally hers, in name and in spirit.
Episode 4
At the Piper Club, photographer Luigi Poggi shows Alice, one of the waitresses, the photos he took of her at the Playmen studio. When he tells her she doesn’t have what it takes to appear in the magazine, she reacts with anger and goes to the police, accusing him of coercing her into prostitution and sex.
Both Luigi and Adelina are arrested, since the photos were taken inside Playmen’s studio. The official charge is inducement to engage in prostitution. Luigi insists to Adelina and Chartroux that Alice asked for professional model shots, that he never accepted money or sex from her, and that he never arranged anything beyond the session. Still, the case looks grim given his past with Elsa.
The next issue of Playmen is meant to focus on male prostitution: gigolos. Adelina decides to overhaul how the team operates: from now on, everyone, including non-creatives, will participate in editorial meetings.
Meanwhile, Adelina and Elsa face another challenge: how to advertise a female vibrator without risking another obscenity charge. Since marketing such objects is still considered pornography, they find a coded solution, presenting it as a “body massager,” thanks to a suggestion from one of Elsa’s friends.
During a photoshoot, Adelina meets Steve Magenta, a male escort and acquaintance of Luigi’s. They cross paths again at the opera and form an easy, genuine friendship.
Chartroux, still torn about his relationship with Luigi, starts to doubt his lover’s innocence. Luigi swears he never slept with Alice and that he’s changed since they met. Chartroux eventually believes him and tells Adelina they should look more closely into Alice’s story, suspecting revenge after her rejection as a model.
While the police seal Playmen’s offices, Elsa tries to defend Adelina in front of Officer Andrea De Cesari, urging him to look deeper. Chartroux asks a friend on the force for help, and soon new evidence surfaces: a month earlier, Alice had been caught offering sexual services. When De Cesari presents the information, the judge still refuses to drop the case, but De Cesari argues that making it public would force a legal dismissal.
Chartroux apologizes to Luigi for doubting him. They decide to give their relationship a real chance, with Chartroux finally confronting who he is. Meanwhile, a quiet connection begins to grow between De Cesari and Elsa, one that extends beyond exchanging information about Playmen.
As the episode closes, another storm brews: Playboy files a lawsuit against Playmen for plagiarism and unfair competition.
Episode 5
The episode opens with a major blow to Adelina: the judge rules that she can no longer use the name Playmen. She has sixty days to appeal. Determined to find a loophole, Adelina asks Elsa to comb through the court documents for anything that might help.
Meanwhile, Elsa goes out with Officer Andrea De Cesari, and their connection deepens beyond the boundaries of the investigation.
The theme of the upcoming issue focuses on modern relationships: looking beyond the traditional idea of marriage to explore trust, freedom, and the new definitions of love emerging in the 1970s.
De Cesari’s superior warns him that the American embassy has requested assistance. An Italian photographer is trying to sell stolen nude photos of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, taken on one of her husband’s private islands. Playboy has already refused to buy them, and authorities suspect Playmen could be the next target. De Cesari quietly begins to investigate.
Through Steve Magenta, Adelina meets the photographer herself. Knowing no one else will take the risk, she buys the photos for a modest price. Chartroux is furious, Jackie Kennedy is admired worldwide, and Onassis remains one of the most powerful men alive. Publishing the photos, he warns, could destroy them.
Adelina’s private life continues to unravel. Divorce papers arrive, and though she’s been expecting them, the reality leaves her shaken. Lorenzo refuses to visit, and with Playmen sinking, she turns once again to Don Rocco for comfort. She admits she wants to be a better Catholic but no longer knows where to begin.
Chartroux confides in Elsa about the Kennedy photos, hoping she can persuade Adelina to reconsider. Later, during a date with De Cesari, Elsa mentions the story. The next day, the police arrive at Playmen to conduct a search. Realizing what’s happening, Adelina hands Elsa the photos and sends her to Switzerland to secure them in a safe deposit box. Only Adelina, Elsa, and Chartroux knew about the purchase, so when the raid happens, Chartroux begins to question how the police found out, and how much they can really trust Elsa.
Meanwhile, Lorenzo’s birthday turns bitter. After seeing Anna kissing an older student, Gianluca, he storms off and returns home, seeking comfort from his mother. His ideals about “free love” collapse under jealousy and confusion.
Soon after, Hugh Hefner contacts Adelina with an offer: Playboy will buy Playmen and retain its staff. Chartroux encourages her to consider it, but Adelina refuses. During a conversation with Steve, she realizes the truth behind the Kennedy photos, according to Jackie’s prenuptial agreement, she would lose everything if she initiated a divorce, while Onassis would owe her $25 million if he did. Adelina concludes that Onassis himself may have tipped off the photographer to justify ending the marriage.
She decides to publish. The issue becomes an explosive success, selling 500,000 copies in two days and drawing new advertisers overnight.
Grateful for Elsa’s loyalty, Adelina warns her about De Cesari, who has been suspended after a protest turned violent. He’s accused of pointing a gun at a woman, a photo that quickly spread through the press. From the way Elsa speaks of him, Adelina senses that their connection runs deeper than she admits.
As the episode closes, Adelina attends an art exhibition with Steve. The evening turns intimate, and for the first time in a long while, she allows herself to be wanted.
Episode 6
The week’s issue focuses on divorce, the topic dominating Italy’s headlines. But Playmen faces a crisis of its own: the printer has run out of paper and refuses to supply them. Adelina suspects Aristotle Onassis is pulling strings behind the scenes, eager to distance himself from the controversy over the Kennedy photos. Chartroux urges her to contact Saro, who once had foreign suppliers.
Elsa suggests another way to fight Playboy’s plagiarism lawsuit, by proving that “Playboy” is a generic term, not an original brand name.
With no other option, Adelina travels to Cannes to seek Saro’s help. He refuses to sign their divorce papers but agrees to assist with the printing problem. Meanwhile, Chartroux and Luigi’s relationship hits a quiet strain. During lunch, Chartroux runs into an old friend and introduces Luigi only as a colleague, avoiding any mention of their relationship. Later, Luigi points out that they never go out in public together, only seeing each other in private. He urges Chartroux to stop hiding.
Saro arranges a meeting with Bob Guccione, founder of Penthouse, who sees Playmen as a potential ally against Playboy. Adelina leads the negotiation herself, making it clear that if Playmen falls, Hugh Hefner wins, a loss Guccione can’t afford. Impressed, he helps her secure a new paper supplier in Canada.
Soon after, Chartroux receives a warning from his police contact: the White House is preparing legal action over the Kennedy photos. Saro tells Adelina to sell the magazine and start over, even proposing a new publication in Milan, but she refuses to abandon what she built.
Through Guccione, Adelina arranges a meeting with Onassis. At a restaurant, she approaches him and Jackie Kennedy, apologizing for having been a pawn in his game. She assures Jackie they had never met before and explains that Onassis himself is trying to destroy her magazine in retaliation. Later, in the bathroom, the two women meet again privately. Jackie realizes Adelina never received the photos directly from Onassis and is struck by her courage to come alone, without Saro. Their conversation turns intimate, two women bound to men who still cast long shadows over their ambitions. “It’s not about learning,” Adelina says quietly. “It’s about believing the next time will be different.”
Jackie promises to make the White House investigation disappear. That night, Adelina and Saro celebrate together, dancing for the press and spending one last night together. The next morning, Saro’s mistress, Consuelo, arrives early from Nice, visibly pregnant. Realizing the truth, Adelina flees the house in tears.
Elsewhere, Elsa tells De Cesari she won’t be his informant anymore. She has come to respect Adelina and refuses to betray her. When De Cesari shows her a photo of Adelina and Saro dancing, Elsa insists it doesn’t tell the full story.
Adelina confides in Elsa, admitting she fell for Saro’s lies again but swearing it’s the last time. “Men don’t change,” she says. “So I have to.” Listening to a song that recalls her time in Cannes, she remembers Saro once saying he loved her blonde hair. She dyes it brown, reclaiming her identity, and visits Steve Magenta, telling him she’s finally herself again.
Meanwhile, Luigi and Chartroux spend the evening at a gay club where drag performers light up the stage. Their night turns violent when right-wing extremists set fire to the building and attack those fleeing. The two manage to escape, but Luigi recognizes one of the attackers, Chartroux’s friend from lunch. When Luigi confronts him, furious, Chartroux urges him to leave. Instead, Luigi rushes back to help the others, disgusted by Chartroux’s silence.
Episode 7 — Finale and Ending Explained
The final episode of Mrs. Playmen brings Adelina Tattilo’s story to a close, weaving personal reckoning and cultural change into one last act of defiance.
Anna turns to Lorenzo for help after her boyfriend, Gianluca, asks her to hide a gun ahead of a student protest. Lorenzo refuses and tells her to take it away. At the same time, Luigi’s anger toward Chartroux boils over, he realizes Chartroux wasn’t afraid of being attacked during the nightclub fire, but of being recognized by his old fascist friends.
At Playmen, the next issue takes on the theme of revolution through the lens of the birth control pill. Parliament has legalized its use but kept production and sale illegal, forcing women to travel to Switzerland to buy it secretly. For Adelina, the pill represents a quiet revolution, women finally controlling their own choices, their bodies, their futures. She wants the magazine to explore multiple perspectives and invites Don Rocco to contribute a column.
Meanwhile, Playboy scores a legal victory in the United States: a New York court bans Playmen from using its name there. Though Italy hasn’t ruled yet, the case could set a precedent. Elsa and Steve Magenta dig into archives at an American research center and uncover a forgotten story: Playboy itself once faced a plagiarism suit. Before adopting its famous name, Hugh Hefner had copied another magazine’s title and was forced to change it, later taking the name from an existing car company in Buffalo, New York. The discovery gives Playmen its strongest defense yet.
Elsewhere, De Cesari clears his name after being suspended, he explains to Elsa that the photo from the protest was misleading, and Luigi confirms his version of events. Meanwhile, Chartroux’s police contact tempts him with a promotion at Corriere della Sera in exchange for locating a set of compromising photos of a government minister with another man.
Anna’s mother discovers the gun in her daughter’s room and, terrified, seeks Adelina’s help. With Elsa’s support, they trace Gianluca’s address. When De Cesari confronts the boy, he’s shot in the chaos. Adelina and Anna’s mother rush to his side.
In court, Playmen triumphs: Hefner’s plagiarism history surfaces, proving there was nothing original for them to have copied. Playmen wins the case, securing its name and legacy.
Elsa tries to visit De Cesari in the hospital but is turned away. Meanwhile, Saro Balsamo suddenly reappears, his legal troubles cleared, and barges into Playmen’s victory party. As majority shareholder, he reasserts control, firing Elsa and canceling the open editorial meetings. He plans to buy a Milan magazine and turn it into something more explicit. Adelina promises Elsa she’ll rehire her after her rape trial.
That night, Adelina has dinner with Saro. Alone, she offers to buy Playmen herself with bank support. Enraged, he beats her. Lorenzo intervenes, throwing him out. Word of the assault spreads. Chartroux resigns after Saro cancels Don Rocco’s article on the birth control pill and demands pornographic content. He agrees to leave Italy with Luigi, planning to sell the minister photos before they go.
Elsa’s trial becomes another form of humiliation. The courtroom treats her as guilty, dissecting her morality and reputation. Her mother begs her to come home, but Elsa refuses to return to a place that blames her for her assault.
Saro later begs Adelina for forgiveness, then threatens to sue for custody, claiming she lives with a “male prostitute” and neglects her children. Meanwhile, Anna urges Lorenzo to flee to Paris with Gianluca to avoid prosecution. When Gianluca arrives, Lorenzo punches him and drives him off. Their relationship ends, leaving Anna disillusioned.
Chartroux betrays Luigi, tipping off his police contact about the photo deal. Don Rocco encourages Adelina to write her own piece about the pill, turning her pain into something lasting. Around the same time, Playmen’s secretary, Lella, confesses that Saro secretly married Consuelo at the Mexican embassy, committing bigamy to avoid extradition. Armed with proof, Adelina forces him to sell her the magazine.
At the hospital, De Cesari wakes to find Elsa at his bedside. They kiss, closing the circle that began in mistrust. Chartroux watches helplessly as Luigi is taken away, realizing the cost of his betrayal.
Mrs Playmen Ending Explained
In the final scene, Adelina walks into Playmen, now officially hers. The magazine that began as her husband’s trap has become the foundation of her freedom. Surrounded by her staff, and with Elsa by her side, she faces her reflection and says she no longer avoids her own gaze. She finally knows who she is and what she wants to be: a free woman.
The ending closes the loop on Mrs Playmen’s central theme, how female independence often begins where humiliation ends. Adelina’s rise isn’t framed as victory over men but over the silence that once defined her. The magazine’s battles mirror her own: survival through reinvention, truth told at personal cost, and courage in a world that still fears women who take control.
The Poster
