In Younger‘s latest episode, Liza learns all about DM’s while Charles learns he hates pretending…while pretending he has no idea that Liza isn’t 27
Season 5 of Younger is off to a great start. In case you somehow forgot, the number one person Liza (Sutton Foster) needed to hide her age from found out–hello Charles. So what happens now? Well for now, things seem normal for everyone but Charles (Peter Hermann). Episode 2 begins with Charles mindlessly staring at the evidence that L.L. Moore had on her, soccer coach photos and all! On to what’s going on in Liza’s life, the NYC sightseeing tour bus has moved to their apartment in Williamsburg, sorry gentrification. In the middle of Maggie (Debi Mazar) yelling at them, Liza sees Marriage Vacation on Reese Witherspoon’s book club list for her company, Hello Sunshine.
She runs over to Josh’s apartment where Kelsey (Hilary Duff) and Lauren (Molly Bernard) are staying to find that Josh (Nico Tortorella) has returned–alone! Liza apologizes for not saying goodbye and it turns out he DM’d her on Instagram. Liza learns what DM’s are and this becomes a theme–oh and a fun joke. Later on, it turns out that Clare isn’t coming after all and Liza finds Josh crying alone in the dark. Back at Empirical, Charles starts staring at Liza up and down from her hands to her eyesight and even meets with the lawyer he and Liza both know because he doesn’t know what to do. Charles spills the drama beans and admits that he was in love with her.
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First Reese Witherspoon announces Legally Blonde 3 and now she’s fictionally endorsing Pauline’s book Marriage Vacation. Back to the world of Millenial Print, long story short but Reese Witherspoon’s production company is moving forward with Marriage Vacation and Liza’s suggestion for a “content incubator” where Hello Sunshine would have access to all of Millenial Print’s projects. They even wants the movie rights to Pauline’s book! The while company has a fun vacation-themed party to celebrate. Lauren is promoting her new PR company with a tagline made up of using her last name, Heller, in pun form. Kelsey and Zane (Charles Michael Davis) are all flirty flirty.
While this is going on, Charles sort of breaks up with Pauline because he can’t keep pretending he says. He gave her that good ol’ horrible line from men “I love you, but I’m not in love with you.” That’s Heller horrible (get it?). Charles realizes he can’t let what’s going on with Liza hurt the company and announces that the content incubator with Hello Sunshine is a go! Finally, the episode comes to a close with Liza running into Charles before work the next day when he says the line: “You really pulled it off” – ouch!
With that, let’s meet this week’s Roundtable!
Judith (@svufanblog4015) – Film and TV enthusiast who loves to write
Stephanie (@ASparkleFactor) – Fashion and Lifestyle Blogger at A Sparkle Factor
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
Marily (@marily2500) – I listen to music, read books and watch a lot of TV shows
Joshua (@HilaryNews) – Ultimate source for news on singer, actress, author, fashion designer, mother & entrepreneur, Hilary Duff. Big Younger Fans.
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1. In a surprising turn of events, Josh finally arrives back in Ireland and Clare is supposed to return with him in a few days after a string of excuses including her dog and a green card. As it turns out, the post-wedding went sour and Clare is no longer coming. After all of that Clare is no longer coming. Did you expect that things would take such a turn?
Judith (@svufanblog4015): Not exactly like that. But I had something different in mind for the Josh/Clare situation.
Stephanie (@ASparkleFactor): I didn’t! I thought the Clare-Josh storyline would play out more over the rest of the season, or that they’re at least break up on screen. But I definitely suspected it wouldn’t last forever.
Janina (@JaninaRS): At first I didn’t think it would end that way, yet again they got married a month after meeting. Then, I figured she’s getting married for a green card.
Marily (@marily2500): Honestly I did. But I hoped I was wrong. Josh deserves to be happy and it sucks that Clare did that to him.
Joshua (@HilaryNews): I did expect it. Her character wasn’t received very well last season and that storyline was probably the least interesting of all in the back half of the season.
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2. Instead of telling Liza that he knows she’s a 41-year-old divorce and not a 26-year-old young thing in publishing, Charles gives her many looks and asks many questions. Were you surprised that Charles didn’t tell Liza that he knows?
Judith: I think he is still trying to process the whole thing. He is on the hunt for more information about Liza.
Stephanie: I have to admit, I held my breath the whole episode waiting for Charles to confront Liza and was so disappointed that he didn’t. But, I guess it makes sense with who he is as a character… remember how he blew up when he first thought Jay and Liza dating? He keeps things bottled up and then explodes.
Janina: I was surprised! I thought he was going to confront her which would’ve been the correct thing to do.
Marily: Yes. Personally, I wish Charles would address it. But Charles character is very shy so I kinda understand.
Joshua: Not surprised by Charles’ reaction at all. He is that type of person to bottle things up and then unleash. Much like last season when he went off on Kelsey because of how he felt about Liza dating outside of work.
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3. Charles is seen later on talking about his problems at a bar with his lawyer who just so happens to be Caitlyn’s roommate’s father and they bond over Liza’s now known secret. Charles spills and admits that he was in love with her and even considered firing her. What did you think of this conversation?
Judith: The conversation was needed, it gives Charles another perception to this situation.
Stephanie: It made me so sad! I was heartbroken to hear him say that he couldn’t see her the same way anymore. But I’m glad they showed him working through all those emotions.
Janina: I think firing her will not fix everything. I think the correct thing to do here is to talk to her about it and be honest and give her a chance to explain herself. Firing her because of her age is age discrimination.
Marily: I felt like it was important, Charles was trying to figure out what his next step is and he didn’t make the decision by himself and I think it was good that he talked to someone, specifically his lawyer. Even though we know Liza would never sue Charles.
Joshua: That’s the real Charles being seen right there, he said in last night’s episode that he is not great at pretending and that’s very true. Honestly wasn’t surprised at all. I like that Charles finally knows, it was time. His storyline just got that much more interesting, and also adds more depth to his character. He has all this anger built up inside, and you know it’s driving him crazy. It will be interesting to see how he continues to handle the news, in the upcoming episodes.
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4. After the party for Marriage Vacation, the novel edited by Liza and written by Charles’ wife Pauline, Charles tells Pauline that he can no longer pretend. Or in his words “I love you but I’m not in love with you.” What were your reactions?
Judith: Finally! It was time to let her know how he really feels.
Stephanie: I was glad that he was direct and let her down easy… it would’ve been wrong for him to string her along. On one hand, I felt bad for Pauline, but at the same time, I’ve always had a hard time reconciling what she did to her girls. She came back and expected things to go back to normal, but sometimes it isn’t that easy. I also cheered because we’re halfway there, fam! #TeamCharles!
Janina: I will be brutally honest I was like yaaaay *throws confetti* Although he was kind of tough on her, I LOVED IT!!
Marily: I was happy. Charles is finally stepping up for himself. He was being polite at first but telling her how he felt was so important for him to progress.
Joshua: You could just tell by his body language and his facial expressions, that he still didn’t feel the same way as Pauline did. I think it was good Charles was honest with himself while being true to her at the same time. Pauline was being way too forward about getting back together, it seemed very forced and one sided.
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5. With all the DM’s sliding this week, Kelsey spent the majority of the vacation party trying to deflect women away from Zane. What do you think is in the cards for them?
Judith: That’s hard to say yet. But one thing is for sure that Kelsey has a weak spot for him.
Stephanie: I’m not sure! I think they’ll rekindle their relationship, but we’ll see if it’s meant to last forever. They’ve always thrived when they’re at odds and competing, it’s what sparked the fire between them. But at the same time, they always had the distance of being at rival publishing houses. Being in close quarters at Millenial and Empirical and technically “on the same team” might be dangerous.
Janina: As much as I feel kind of iffy about Zane (except his abs). I think they might become a thing, but Kelsey scaring the girls away was funny.
Marily: I think they will end up together but it’s not gonna happen anytime soon.
Joshua: If Kelsey and Zane continue to stay together, I don’t see things ending well. I really don’t like the way Zane undermines Kelsey at work. Then outside the workplace, he continues to make inappropriate comments. This love/hate thing needs to stop. They need to either get on board and work together or just break it off altogether. The only good thing about the relationship is that it keeps Kelsey on her toes.
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6. Later on, Liza finds Josh crying alone in his apartment and she learns about Clare ditching him and consoles him. Josh tells Liza that something must be wrong with him after he keeps getting his heart broken. Do you think Liza still has feelings for him?
Judith: No I don’t think so. They are just friends.
Stephanie: I think Liza has a soft spot for him, but I felt majorly maternal vibes from this whole interaction. It didn’t feel romantic to me at all.
Janina: Not at all, to me she’s kind of a mother figure and friend. They did look kinda cute though! But no I think Liza belongs with Charles!
Marily: I think Liza will always care about Josh. I don’t think she’s in love with him though. There might be feelings but her feels for Charles are stronger now.
Joshua: Yes, but much like a review I read last night, it almost seemed like a motherly hug In last night’s episode. Not at all like former lovers which is an interesting predicament for shoppers of these two.
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7. Charles makes an announcement to the company to share the news that the content incubator with Hello Sunshine is happening which is Heller great. What do you think of this news and especially the way Charles said Liza’s name and that line that followed?
Judith: The news is awesome for the company. I think he is still mad at her, this is why he said her name like that. That line was a drop the microphone moment.
Stephanie: I think it’s major for Millenial and for Liza! She really went out on a limb and made something happen and it just proves how good she is at her job, age be damned. I think this is all a really tough pill for him to swallow and I think most of all he feels tricked and lied to. You can really just see how hurt he is by it all!
Janina: Hello Sunshine is alright I guess, but the way he said Liza’s name hurt my heart. Poor Liza she should come clean with him.
Marily: I think Charles is a little worried if more people find out that Liza isn’t a millennial and that it would ruin the deal. I personally feel like Charles doesn’t like to lie but doesn’t know how to express his feelings well. And in this episode, you clearly saw him fighting and looking for the truth and expressing his feelings towards Pauline.
Joshua: I’m glad he finally gave the impression that he’s not bitter about Kelsey’s imprint continuing to grow. He’s given her some unnecessary flack in the past season and a half as if he’s somewhat jealous of her success. He definitely seemed bitter having to say Liza’s name with knowing the truth about her age.
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The one time that sliding into DM’s actually works out on a professional level
Overall, this week’s Younger was a stand-episode nonetheless. The writing on Younger never seems to fail and continues to remain relevant in today’s political and social climate. How is it that one 23 minute episode can touch on ageism on both spectrums, workplace drama, and gentrification all in one!? Younger continues to be a gem for cable television and we hope to see it last many more seasons. Episodes may be short, but each packs a punch and uses every minute efficiently, although we wish TV Land would extend the series to 1-hour long episodes.
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For someone who hates pretending, Charles sure is keeping the fact that he knows Liza’s real age a secret from her for a while. We don’t know when Charles will come forward that he knows but whenever that time is it’s sure to be dramatic. We hear there’s going to be a long wait before she finds out, so be patient. Not only does ageism occur in Liza’s case and the base of the series, but in the other realm as well. Millenial Print needs to be taken seriously and it seems like they’re in a step in the right direction. Although it was gut-wrenching to hear how Charles said Liza’s name during his announcement for the imprint.