This episode showed that the tides are turning on the cuteness of Charles and Liza and now the cracks are showing. Elsewhere, Kelsey took a stand and Diana learned a secret from Enzo's past thanks to Lauren. Let's discuss!
Uh ohhhhhhhhh Enzo
The Problem With Hiding
Last week I spoke of my reservations about Charles and Liza hiding their relationship and this week it had consequences to someone that it shouldn't have, Kelsey. As sexy and fun as it is to see them sneaking around while discovering the little quarks about each other, like Liza's reading glasses and Charles not being that great in the kitchen, it is also coming at a tremendous cost professionally. This reared its ugly head when a clandestine dinner date turned into a quick thinking Liza showing Charles a book that Kelsey had passed on earlier as a way to escape being discovered. The moment they sat down it became painfully obvious that they would be noticed by someone in their professional world. When Redmond sauntered up to their table, it was incredibly uncomfortable to see Charles freeze and act as though Liza was an inconveniencing his quiet dinner alone to keep up the ruse. He immediately apologized via text, but it is obvious that the relationship they want so badly, is not possible until every secret is out.
'I know what it is, and it's a big problem for me'
The pitch from Quinn Tyler for her book CLAW was a fantastic way to juxtapose what Kelsey dealt with when she found out about Charles and Liza. Women often do and are expected to build each other up and there is nothing wrong with women supporting women. The problem here is Kelsey being asked to straddle the line of friend and boss at the expense of her professional dignity. She said no the book from Calvin Kreeger for valid reasons and she was overruled in part because of her friend and subordinate getting out of a lie. That does not fall under women supporting women. Kelsey was also given autonomy when Charles gave her the Millennial imprint to pick what manuscripts she wants to wear her label and she does it well. It is hard to blame Kelsey for looking out for her, and playing her hand thanks to the new information she discovered. She was getting an award thanks in part to Lauren for being a Mavericks and Mavericks do not always make friends while legitimately furthering their careers. Yes it should be noted that Kelsey told Liza not to reveal her secret because of the implications to Millennial, but she never would have been in that position if Liza hadn't put her there. On the other side of the coin and not to totally bag on Liza, it is understandable for one to sympathize with why Liza did all of this, but now she is putting the imprint at risk once again, only this time it is to pursue a personal relationship with Charles. She says she would choose Kelsey, and that was a good moment to repair some of the damage, but she then kissed Charles right outside the benefit. So it is prudent to question how genuine that moment truly was. One can hope that she truly meant it, but it's enough to give some pause on what this will do to Liza and Kelsey's professional and personal dynamic going forward. The only thing Kelsey did that was a bit cringeworthy was threatening Charles in his office, that was not a smart move given the situation. This relationship is set up like a delicate house of cards, and one wrong move is going to topple the whole structure.
Some other odds and ends:
*Where is Josh's storyline? They have flirted with him putting down roots, but now he just shows up in group settings. Let's hope they bring him the forefront a bit more before the season is over. Anyone else having this issue?
*Despite the uncomfortable moments with Charles and Liza's new relationship this week, how nice was it to see them at his place being on the same level and not having to pretend? Makes me wish they had met under much different circumstances.
*Lauren is really good at PR, she made some great moves this episode.
So what did you think? Is the sneaking around already getting old? Was Kelsey right to be so aggressive? Let me know!