The season finale certainly changed things for a lot of characters, let's discuss!
Nobody flush!
Diana's journey this season was all about her personal life and finding happiness with Enzo. Seeing Enzo free himself of his mom and have and apartment was a welcome sight but it was a bit disappointing that Diana was so quick to dismiss the job he had gotten on the task force to take on the
fatburg. Hear me out, I chuckled at what was being said, but I am not Enzo's partner. The man is trying to make moves to build a life with Diana, and she laughed right in his face about a career achievement. People who are passionate about their jobs are usually more happy and successful and Enzo is indeed content and happy with a profession he is great at. Diana's tendency to cut and run came out and she was ready to give up on this very sweet man because she was embarrassed with her behavior. Thankfully, the
fatburg proved just as dangerous as Enzo warned and Diana came to her senses when she realized that he was in danger. This is one storyline on this show I hope ends in a wedding because it would be nice for Diana to have a life that isn't tied to her career.
I loved you
It seems we are back to square one in the Kelsey and Zane department and this time blame rests solely on Zane. He had done the admirable thing by turning down Jake's attempt to return to
Empirical and could have been an adult when Kelsey asked him about it and taken the opportunity to express his true feelings. Instead, he let this competitive nonsense take over and go so far as to say he
loved Kelsey but not anymore after everything that happened. This is a far cry from the man who took care of her last week and seemed to finally be ready for something more. Zane tucking tail and running once
Millennial became the primary name was disappointing. This plays into an age old thought that men do not like to be below a woman in the pecking order of a business. The obvious storyline for next season is that Zane will head up Cheryl Sussman's
ChickY (seriously whoever thought that name was good should be fired) and be once again at loggerheads with Kelsey. This dynamic and relationship is a bit disappointing because it had potential to show Zane's growth and almost went there completely only to about face and return to square one. We will have to see exactly what they have planned next season, but this ending left a bitter taste.
Baby?!?
Last week I spoke of the possibility of Josh considering being a sperm donor for Malkie and Maggie. Josh seemed to kicked the tires on the idea with Maggie and as I suspected he just could not see himself being around a child he helped bring into the world and not be a dad. His fantasy thanks to Lauren was a bit heartbreaking. Seeing Josh so happy to have a family with Liza was beautiful, but the fleeting moment only served to remind us that Liza would never be in that place. Josh had broached this with her and it is clear that it is something he dreams about, but is unattainable with the woman he obviously still loves.
Josh has a lot of love to give and oh baby, he might just get to. Seeing Claire show up with a swollen midsection has thrown a curve for Josh and could give him a lot to work with in season 6. First and foremost, is that baby even his? Is Claire willing to co-parent without a relationship or for that matter is Josh? And if Claire should run after the birth, it would kind of be awesome to see Josh as a single dad right? So many things to ponder during this hiatus for Josh, but this should finally be a storyline that can be his own and separate from Liza and that is exciting.
That Look!
Finally we have the biggest jaw dropper of the episode and that is Charles, not Liza essentially left
Empirical. There are a couple of issues to be had with this and it has to do with what the show was built on which is Liza lying about her age. Yes, agesim is an ugly and unfair thing and I do agree with Quinn that should the secret get out, it is something that could be like cat nip for the talk show circuit. The positive thing is that next season the show can really sink its teeth into why Liza did this and turn it outward on how society views 'older' women re-entering the workforce. The issue here is the weight of the secret just does not seem that impactful anymore and that is disheartening when we've watched the show build on its effects for five seasons. So have we evolved past what Liza's secret does to her and other characters? I think so and I am on the fence about it. The show also made a bigger deal of Charles having to resign due to the outside world possibly finding out he'd been seeing a subordinate that happens to be 26. After the L.L Moore scandal, it was smart to bring it back to how it looks on the outside and the feasible choice was for Charles to leave before another scandal of that nature broke. On the inside, we as the audience know Liza is Charles' age, but he still had a sexual relationship with an employee and covered for her, so maybe it is the right choice for him to leave after his personal choices this season impacted his career. Quinn may have been blunt, but she's right to say she wouldn't be able to spin that.
While Charles and Liza seem like a good fit, it is going to be interesting to see how their relationship changes now. Liza must now have the weight on her shoulders that Charles left his family-owned company because of their relationship and what its exposure could do. Charles is essentially jobless and no matter how hard he will try, it is hard to imagine him not having resentment towards Liza that he can no longer head his father's company. This is a dangerous mix for a couple that has not built a truly solid foundation and that is what the uneasy looks may have been about. The fairytale moment happened where he chose her, but those moments are fleeting and life will creep in. This will either make or break this relationship next season.
Some Odds and Ends:
* Okay if you are a fan of Darren Star's previous hit
Sex and The City, how similar was that conversation where Enzo said he was feeling bad about himself after Diana laughed to when Steve broke up with Miranda because he couldn't afford a suit to go to a fancy party with her co-workers? I had some serious flashbacks!
* Wasn't it great that Maggie acknowledged how inappropriate it was that Malkie bombarded Josh with sperm requests last episode? That was a bit uncomfortable and it was great that Maggie felt bad that Josh sort of got blindsided by her girlfriend, even if it didn't seem to bother Josh.
* Kelsey got a huge career bump and while I know she can handle
Millennial just fine on her own, it seems like an overwhelming leap to head the whole company now and it was something that shocked me the most.
That's it for season 5, what did you think? Are Charles and Liza really going to be fine with all this? What is Josh going to do? Will Kelsey sink or swim? Guess we will find out next summer!
