Younger Roundtable: The End of the Tour Couldn’t Be More Shocking

Fans discuss Episode 5x03, “The End of The Tour”
by Ashlee Dell on June 22, 2018
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Younger

It’s the last stop of Pauline’s tour and Charles is as sassy as ever and dropping hints that he knows about Liza–to Liza, until the very end

The fifth season of Younger is only three episodes in and so much has already happened, including the thing you’ve been waiting to happen for five seasons. Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? The episode begins with Kelsey (Hilary Duff) trying to land another deal for Millennial and prove herself to Empirical and we’re also guessing everyone who has ever trash-talked a millennial. She’s watching interviews with Jake Devereux, who is a former speechwriter for President Obama’s campaign and has the looks along with the smarts, so naturally, he’s a perfect fit. She also finds out she got on Yara, a dating app for famous people and professionals that you have to be invited into, thanks to Lauren (Molly Bernard), which by the way is a real thing called Raya and no we’re not on it. Meanwhile, Josh (Nico Tortorella) is trying to pretend he’s cool with the whole casual non-dating thing and has a random girl over.

Back at Empirical, Diana (Miriam Shor) tells Liza (Sutton Foster) that People Magazine wants to do a feature on Pauline about getting back together with the guy her book is about, and Charles (Peter Hermann) comes over to say that they are no longer together. Yay for Liza, or so she thinks. Pauline goes to a string of events for her book, even including a radio show. She can’t admit that she and Charles are no longer together so she lies, but can’t stop sobbing when he’s brought up during the tour. What a mess.

RELATED: Younger Roundtable: What Liza Doesn’t Know Will Soon Surely Hurt Her

Back to Kelsey, Charles, it turns out Zane (Charles Michael Davis)also wants to land the cute Obama speechwriter and they both go off to Washington, D.C. Kelsey starts using Yara and finds not only Jake but Zane, and they “get drinks” in her hotel room and then some. They try to play each other to sign Jake and both have a meeting with him, but it turns out Jake made the meeting at the same time to ask to work with BOTH of them.

Before the last spot on the tour, Charles and Diana meet in her office and he apologizes for making her job harder with his marriage drama. Diana suggests that for the last tour stop that Charles goes in her place, not to support the lie, but to support her, his author. And somehow Pauline pulls herself together and admits that they may no longer be together, but she’s still looking for her happy ending and cue claps from Charles. Once the room is cleared, Pauline, Liza, and Charles meet and In the calmest fashion ever, Charles spews out to Liza “and I thought lying was your idea.” Pauline stands up to herself and says “it was your career and your ambition that ruined our marriage, not mine.” Charles apologizes and says that sometimes he’s blind to what’s right in front of him–while looking RIGHT AT LIZA!

Liza was starting to realize before that he knew but now she knows for sure and runs out after him. In what looks like a scene from the climax of a romantic comedy, Charles says to Liza “Who are you?” Liza tries to explain but he isn’t having any of it. He says that Empirical cant’ survive another scandal and that from now on they will only have a professional working relationship. She offers to just quit and he reminds her that she did all this to get a job.

In case your jaw is still on the floor, let’s meet our roundtable!

Stephanie (@ASparkleFactor)  – Fashion and Lifestyle Blogger at A Sparkle Factor

Denise (@aunt_liv) – Entertainment enthusiast and marketing mogul.

Judith (@svufanblog4015) – Film and TV enthusiast who loves to write

Janina (@JaninaRS) – I’m a Binge watcher of TV shows, I love TV and Movies, and am also willing to do all-nighters to check out new TV shows

Avery (@HilaryNews) – Future Public Relations Guru/ Hilary Duff and Younger TV fanatic

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1. Kelsey scouts out Obama’s former speechwriter, Jake Devereux, and went to Washington, D.C. to meet with him, along with Zane, to for a pitch for Millennial. As it turns out, Zane also had a meeting with Jake of his own. What did you think of Kelsey’s power move for her career?

Stephanie (@ASparkleFactor): I say, you go girl! She has a business to run and she doesn’t owe Zane anything in terms of work.

Denise (@aunt_liv): It was a very Kelsey-like move. As a key player for Millennial, I think she has to make those moves. She has something to prove, in a way. While it is sure to impact her interactions with Zane, I think Kelsey’s power move was expected. It’s going to be interesting to see how well those two work and play together.

Judith (@svufanblog4015): I think it awesome for her. And it shows that she can hold herself up against someone like Zane.

Janina (@JaninaRS): Hopefully Kelsey gets this one because as I’ve said before, Zane seems kind of shady. He’s trying to compete with Kelsey when it comes to work.

Avery (@HilaryNews): Kelsey Peters is just a motivated person. That’s the BEST quality about her, besides being a good friend to Liza, she will really do whatever it takes to get ahead. I think that important representation is important for young people, especially young girls, to see in this day and age. I worry about her getting involved with Jake romantically, just because she has a hard time balancing relationships and work. She needs to set a fine line for herself, but follow through with it.

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2. Speaking of Zane and Kelsey, nothing other than a dating app brought them together this week, except they were secretly working against each other. Give us all your thoughts! Do you think this will last long?

Stephanie: Eek, I don’t know. I think their relationship thrives on the competition, but eventually, someone will do something that’ll go too far. Still can’t figure out if they’re trying to set up Zane as Kelsey’s “One”.

Denise: I think it will run its course in the next few episodes. The power struggle just may be enough to break them.

Judith: That’s hard to say with this two. They are never honest with each other! What is one of their biggest problems! And there’s no trust between them. Only the upcoming episodes can show us if they have a future as a couple.

Janina: Well as I’m seeing Zane and Kelsey date I think it will last he’s not that bad but we’ll see.  Zane is good looking but again my heart belongs to Charles.

Avery: It’s hard to see whether this will last long or not. Ever since Zane has joined the show, him and Kelsey have had this very competitive nature of working against each other in every aspect and then coming together in the bedroom, it’s that passion that makes their chemistry so good to watch on the show. With that being said, it would be nice for them to work together in helping Jake, but, of course there is no conflict there, so this one is a toss-up.

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3. Pauline kept her mouth closed about her and Charles’ breakup, and began to sob during the book tour, and it just doesn’t end well at first. Do you think Charles ruined Empirical’s success with Marriage Vacation after re-breaking up with Pauline?

Stephanie: No, that’s ridiculous! It’s a fictional book. The marketing campaign could be whatever they made it to be. If they had been honest from the beginning, no one would even have batted an eye, let’s get real. And there’s a way to spin everything! If anything, it just shows that marketing the book honestly from the beginning would’ve just made the readers feel more connected to Pauline and her story, because they feel the same way about their ex-husbands as she does about Charles!

Denise: I don’t think so—he may have thrown it off course a little bit but I think the book is going to do well. Given Pauline’s admission at the end of the episode that the marriage was already over, I think she’s going to draw in a new group of fans who feel a similar heartache.

Judith: No, it didn’t ruin the success of the Book. He was just honest with her. Like Charles said: He is not good at pretending! It wouldn’t be fair to let Pauline believe that there’s still hope left that the two can be a couple again.

Janina: Not at all. Why would he stay with someone he doesn’t love then live a miserable life with her?!

Avery: I wouldn’t think so. While people were interested in how she and Charles ended up, the book like many others of the same nature was fiction. And that’s how they’d need to go about continuing to promote it. I also hope they don’t give Charles the benefit of holding that over Kelsey’s head because I’m over the way he treats her badly, especially compared to Liza prior to his finding out her secret.

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4. A heartbroken Josh is kicking it with Lauren back in Brooklyn. After Lauren’s comedic dating advice, he finally goes back and questions that maybe Liza is his soulmate and if he lost her. Do you think Josh and Liza are finally going to address what happened on wedding-eve?

Stephanie: I don’t know. I’m sure they will because this is a TV show lol! If the show is going to move ahead full force with Liza-Charles, they have to close the door on Liza-Josh, so maybe there will be one big last talk for closure. I think Josh and Lauren’s friendship is surprisingly sweet! Lauren is always encouraging the “adventurous” side of Kelsey, and I think it’s interesting that instead of doing that with Josh, she’s encouraging what he really needs. I think Lauren has grown up a lot!

Denise: For me, the Josh-Liza thing has played out. It happened, it’s over, let’s move on. The city is full of girls Josh’s age & he needs to focus on that. I mean, can you really see him being “stepdad” to a college kid near his own age. That seems a little out there. Maybe he will hit it off with Lauren…who knows. Their friendship is nice & I think Josh really just needs a friend now.

Judith: I don’t think that they will talk about it yet. It’s not the right moment for it now. I think Josh and Lauren have a great friendship.

Janina: They might address it, yet Josh was drunk but Liza wasn’t. I like Josh and Lauren’s friendship and I need a friend like Lauren! I do love my BFF though.

Avery:  I do think Josh and Liza are finally going to address what happened on wedding-eve, they HAVE to. So far, this season, it’s been all about Charles and Liza, so it’s essentially left Josh in the dark and now we, as the viewers, are finally coming around to see how he feels about everything that is happening and that is a wonderful thing to see. Lauren is a great friend to everyone, she is a very loving character and it’s a wonderful thing to see her there supporting Josh and giving him the best advice a friend could give him.

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5. Charles apologized for making Diana’s life harder and Diana suggested that he go to the next reading, not to keep up Pauline’s lie that they’re together, but to support his Empirical author. What did you think of this new friendship and how that reading turned out?

Stephanie: I think all of it was very necessary! A lot of brewing tension and underlying secrets came out and I think it’s going to be very, very interesting what happens next.

Denise: I really like the Diana and Charles working relationship now that she isn’t trying to seduce him at every turn. I think they really connect on a work level and that allows them to share visions. When you’ve got the big office and responsibility it’s nice to have someone to share the stress with. Charles really needs that, I think, and it just works. I think Pauline finally realized her life would never be the same and the realization hit her that there was something going on with Liza and Charles. I think she has an emotional rollercoaster ride coming up and it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. She finally has her book out and I think she’s realizing that though that is amazing for her.

Judith: It had a very emotional turnout! It was good that he showed up, it gives Pauline the courage to finally tell everyone the truth about her and Charles relationship status.

Janina: I think it turned it great. Pauline started to lie but once she saw Charles she told the truth.  Pauline having a meltdown was hilarious it reminded me of myself on Monday and Wednesday at work!

Avery: I loved Diana in this episode, I liked the little heart to heart conversation she had with Charles. I think it was a good thing that Diana convinced him to go to the reading. It finally forced Pauline in a way, to tell her truth. You could tell a huge weight was lifted off her shoulder when she told the audience she wasn’t with him.

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6. After Pauline gives Charles a piece of her mind about their marriage the tour Charles says, “sometimes I am blind to what’s right in front of me” while staring right at Liza! And you know what happened after. What were your reactions? And, do you think Pauline’s business relationship with Empirical can stay afloat again?

Stephanie: I was shocked that they “went there” with Pauline sort of seeing the light in terms of the Liza-Charles dynamic!! I think it’ll definitely impact her relationship with Liza going forward. But it really shouldn’t affect her relationship with Empirical. COME ON!! She and Charles were NEVER back together… SHE is the one who left, it’s not like Liza and Charles had an affair while they were married. If she was mad, that would be pretty rich considering the circumstances and the fact that she was the one who walked out on her family. (I’ve never thought her real “Marriage Vacation” was acceptable)

Denise: Younger fans have been waiting on Charles to find out about Liza’s lie for the longest! I think the writers really delivered here. It was like, FINALLY! I wanted more immediately. I wanted to see how it would play out. What they would say. It’s going to be a long wait till next week!

Judith: It was a big turning point for Pauline and Charles. And he apologized for his behavior. What I think it’s really important. My jaw was on the floor. The moment he looks at Liza, my poor heart broke into two pieces! We will see what happens, but one thing is for sure, it puts an awkward spin on Pauline’s business relationship with Empirical.

Janina: It was between anger, feeling heartbroken, overwhelmed all sorts of emotions. I think the Pauline relationship will stay afloat.

Avery: Oh my! This is the part when my mouth dropped and I actually begin to feel sorry for Pauline. The way Pauline, as a character, is written, it makes it VERY hard for the viewers to root for her. But, in the moment when she was letting Charles have it, I begin to really see how she felt and I think Jennifer Westfeldt really drove the point home and gave such a powerful performance in that scene. I also think Charles was shocked too and didn’t take it well. I think this will be Pauline’s only publication with Empirical, there’s way too much damage done and personal drama.

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7. Oh but that wasn’t all, Liza realizes he knows and runs out to talk to Charles, and he is livid-and probably heartbroken too! What did you think of one of the most heated conversations between them and do you think they’ll ever come back from this?

Stephanie: They definitely will… Charles just needs time. Everyone who has found out Liza’s secret has been livid at first… but they all get over it eventually. I think once the shock wears off for Charles, he’ll come around.

Denise: I think the way Liza realizes Charles knows speaks volumes about their relationship and how close they were prior to this. All he had to do was look at her and speak to her in a strong, harsh manner & she knew that he knew. I think Charles was heartbroken, felt betrayed, and was really unsettled by this lie. It will be interesting to see where they go from here and the trajectory of their relationship. I hope Liza and Charles do overcome this because they are so great together.

Judith:  I think they can survive that. But it will takes some work from both of them, to make it happen.

Janina: The conversation was indeed heated and tense– was literally having a panic attack so bad my mom came to check on me. I do think they’ll come back though, I think Charles just needs time to get his head together and time to himself to think. Other than that, if he needs comfort I’m here and he can slide into my DMs anytime. 😉

Avery: This scene BROKE me completely! I loved every moment of it, I really have to give credit to the writers for NOT dragging this out. There was so much emotion, passion and angrier, and sadness between the two of them in that scene, where does one begin to unpack it all?! Sutton and Peter gave awards-worthy performances in that scene and like Charles said, the company CANNOT survive another scandal, they will have to find a way to come back from this, but it will take some much needed time.

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Will Liza and Charles ever be the same again?

After only three episodes into season 5, Charles knows the truth, and Liza finally knows that he knows. The writers on Younger wanted to wait out the reveal, but when it came–wow was it good. The series continues to impress and stand on its own for being such a relevant show in a multitude of fashions, especially with ageism on both sides of the spectrum. We all know why Liza lied and women everywhere can understand that.

RELATED: Binge-Worthy: ‘Younger’ Continues to Grab the Hearts of New Yorkers and Wannabe

And there it is, the episode we’ve been waiting for but also fearing. Where does Younger go from here? When Liza ran out to chase after Charles, she didn’t even get to explain to Pauline, who most certainly knows that something was going on between Liza and her sort-of-ex-husband. Given that priceless look of broken girl code that Pauline gave to Liza, it’s bad. Pauline’s book Marriage Vacation seems like it has the power to do sequels, maybe even a feature film, so hopefully Liza didn’t hurt Millennial in the process.

Younger returns next Thursday, June 26 at 10/9c on TV Land

Season 5 isn’t even halfway over yet, so after tonight we can only imagine what happens next!

Want more of Younger? Stay tuned to TV After Dark weekly throughout all of season 5 for more roundtables with fans, plus much more all about Younger! Follow us on Twitter to continue the conversation about Younger and other shows all summer long!
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Cable, Feature, Roundtables, TV, TV Land, Younger
Charles Michael DavisDebi MazarHilary DuffMiriam ShorMolly BernardNico TortorellaPeter HermannSutton FosterTV LandYoungerYounger 5x03
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About the Author
Ashlee Dell
Ashlee is a student at Fordham University in New York City from Boston, MA. She is passionate about television and the entertainment industry and hopes to one day produce television. She often attends events like New York Comic Con to gain insight and knowledge into the world of television the stars at the various panels are a part of. Ashlee is also an intern at NBC. Update: She has just graduated.
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