Younger airs on Wednesdays at 10/9 C on TV Land
Younger often plays in 2 different humor pools. One takes sarcastic potshots at our youth-obsessed culture and the generational divide. The other relies on crass sexual jokes and innuendo. Both are readily on display in this episode. So much so that it sidelines the heart I've come to rely on to temper the absurdity of it all. It also makes many of the character interactions feel more like they are serving a one-note joke than growing the characters. Surprisingly it is the normally flighty Lauren who is the most emotionally invested in this episode. In the one scene she has with Maggie, it is clear that she wants to deepen the relationship but Maggie pulls away, presumably due to a bad breakup many years ago. Later Liza also shares a good scene with Maggie as they cyberstalk her ex. Fans of Maggie will be happy to get some extra back story on her character. To be honest, I would probably have liked this episode more if they had devoted more time to Maggie's history.
Instead the "A" storyline focuses on Kelsey's attempt to land a trending fashion blogger as the first author for the Millennial imprint. Jade has that cool, disaffected, screw you attitude that now stereotypes her generation and Kelsey is positive that her tell-all, in your face memoir will put the imprint on the map. So much so that she's ready to invest most of her resources into the book. Just one little problem - Jade has another agenda entirely. Still, for all that Jade is certifiable, she does deliver quite the tirade on the fashion industry and their attempt to limit beauty to youth and body size. It's the PSA and scene of the night for me, tempering the facepalm storyline of Charles' penis. While playing baseball, someone inadvertently took a crotch shoot that revealed a lot more than Charles is comfortable with. As the picture starts gaining momentum on websites and comments pages, Diana tasks Liza with the job of scrubbing the internet of it. What proceeds is 20 minutes of double entendre to the point that it gets very old, very fast. There's only so much wink-wink innuendo I can take. Plus Diana comes off as a clueless ancient again. She deserves a much better plotline. With its emphasis on crass sexual humor, this is not the episode for me. However I am sure that many of Younger's loyal fans will disagree and find it very funny.
Check it out yourself, Wednesday at 10/9 C on TV Land.
Grade: C+
Best Reason to Watch - more double entendre and innuendo than a bad Cinemax film, if you're into that kind of thing
Best Scene - Jade lambasts the fashion industry
Bets Reference - Oprah
Best Use of Flattery - Kelsey gets Diana to agree to let Liza help by including Diana in the meeting
Worst Way to End a Relationship - Josh
Most Shocking - Lauren wants to get serious with Maggie but Maggie's not so sure
Most Embarrassing - Charles' crotch shot goes online
Most Insane - Jade
Most Farfetched - anyone has enough clout to get a photo down from so many different websites
Celebrity Cameo - author Jennifer Weiner, who also becomes a double entendre
Best Quotes -
"I've got to give you one thing. I mean you b** are pretty desperate." Liza: "Exactly. Would HarperCollins ever…….?"
"Last week I watched a cover girl's waist get Photoshopped down to the size of my pinkie, her chest inflated to alien Barbie-sized proportions, and her wrinkles virtually expunged. All this business does is perpetuate the wanked out notion that youth and beauty are the only things that define a woman's worth. I would rather slit my carotid artery than spend one more day in an industry that faults me simply for growing older."
"The New Yorker? Is there no class left in this world?"
"Remember the good old days when you could take an embarrassing photo without fear that it would be posted on a worldwide platform for millions of eyes to see where it feasibly could exist until the end of days." Maggie: "Why do you think I still own a Polaroid?"
"They are in Pumpkin Spice hell."
Screencaps by
TV Land and
Starry Magazine.
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."
