Younger airs on Wednesdays at 10/9 C on TV Land
Previously on Younger - Liza's college aged daughter came back from an extended sojourn in India and was conveniently shipped off to her father's so that Liza won't have to deal with her double life at home too. Josh struggled with lying to their friends about Liza's age and encouraged her to tell Kelsey the truth because he's suddenly the much needed moral center of the show. Liza agrees to talk to Kelsey but before she can spill about her true age, Kelsey gets a promotion to run her own imprint for millennials. She asks Liza to join her team and is so excited about them being 26 year olds running things together that Liza chickens out.
For the most part, this episode is laid out in 3 parts. The "A" story is about Kelsey getting ready to prepare for the biggest night of her professional life, the launch party for Millennial Imprints. That entails sending out a press release, getting a high fashion makeover, hosting all the top social media gurus in NYC, and preparing the perfect speech - none of which go off without a hitch. When the press release is picked up on Gawker, Kelsey's confidence takes a tumble. The comment session quickly becomes a flame war, which basically plays on all of Kelsey's insecurities. She goes from being proud of making it so young to doubting her ability to take on so much responsibility. Liza's got a big workload too as Diana makes it clear that Liza is first and foremost her assistant and everything she does for Kelsey is secondary. Being no stranger to juggling two identities, Liza manages both sides of her job like a pro and in the best scene of the night, pep talks Kelsey into giving it her all. I love the dynamics between Kelsey and Liza even more this year and I'm glad they are getting extended screen time together. They are the best thing about this episode.
The "B" story consists of Josh getting cold feet in their relationship again. This storyline is stale for me because it feels like we've already been there. Josh is terribly disappointed that Liza is still lying to Kelsey and wants to take a break to try to sort through the complications of their dating. Liza agrees to give him some space but Maggie is not as tolerant, which brings in the "C" story of Maggie being broke. When a client reneges on a commissioned piece, Maggie has to turn to alternative means in order to make that month's rent. This is the least interesting part to me but her solution is in character and I have a feeling others will like it more than I do. Other segments of the episode include the return of Lauren's parents, Thad as his usual douchey self, more Charles love triangle, and a major Fit Bit product placement.
Grade: A- for the main story, C for the rest
Best Reason to Watch / Best Character Interaction - Liza and Kelsey
Best Scene / Best Speech - Liza encourages Kelsey
Best Surprise - Josh
Best Reaction - Josh to the guy asking for directions
Best Reference - Bechdel test
MVP (actor) - Hilary Duff
MVP (character) - Liza
Most Realistic Melt Down - Kelsey
Most Uncomfortable - talking about three ways and anal sex in front of someone's parents
Most Reasonable - Josh doesn't want to spend hi s time lying to his friends
Biggest What The Heck - Kelsey actually wears…
Biggest Creeper - Lauren's dad / Maggie's….
Biggest Hmm - Maggie's speech to Josh
Biggest Eye Roll - Lauren
The "Learn Something New Each Day" Award - ghosting
The "Welcome Back" Award - Lauren's parents
Quotes -
"Babe, you're not a millennial." "Yeah well Dr. Dre's not a doctor."
"Josh doesn't lie. That's one of the beautiful things about him I'd really like to change."
"People think I'm on house arrest. It ups my cool factor." "Very Martha Stewart. Point me towards the alcohol."
"Liza, I feel like such an imposter." "So do I every single day."
"They hate me too!"
"We all used to lie and eat gluten and smoke cigarettes and hang up on each other. Remember that?" "Yeah, now people just eat kale and tell the truth." "A-holes."
"Well it seems like you've got this all covered. If anyone needs me, I'll be in my crypt."
Younger airs Wednesdays at 10/9 C on TV Land
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About the Author - Dahne
One part teacher librarian - one part avid TV fan, Dahne is a contributing writer for
SpoilerTV, where she recaps, reviews, and/or creates polls for Teen Wolf, The 100, Grimm, How to Get Away with Murder, The Librarians, and others. She also runs the annual Character Cup. She's addicted to
Twitter, live tweets a multitude of shows each week, and co-hosts
The 100 "Red-Shirted" and
Teen Wolf "Welcome to Beacon Hills" podcasts for Southgate Media Group. Currently she writes a
Last Week in TV column for
her blog and SpoilerTV.
~ "I speak TV."
