Many Younger fans came into the finale frustrated. With the lack of Charles/Liza, with the lack of Josh all season, with Kelsey’s storyline continuously being up in the air, I could go on. Coming out of it… I have not watched a finale that ridiculous in a while, probably years. Let’s jump right into why I, and many others, seriously disliked the finale. What I truly don’t understand about this whole thing is, why even give us this entire season? Sure, Liza and Charles weren’t going to end up together, but there’s no reason why we couldn’t have figured that out in episode two and had Josh and Liza pining all season.
Instead, they decided to throw a “gotcha!” in our faces, forcing Liza to choose her career over love, and revealing that even the writers don’t know what their own show is about.
The only person to come out of this finale with their future in a pretty bow was Kelsey – arguably the most unreliable, irresponsible character. We have no endings for anyone else besides things that seem temporary with no long-term plans.
Liza gets her dream job, I suppose, but is it only for a few months? Will Charles work under her now as a writer? What about Diana? Does she know about this?
Maggie is falling in love with the person who publicly accused her of being transphobic and nearly ended her career, truly ending her job, which she gave Maggie! Cass had more closure than Maggie did this season, for god’s sake.
Lauren is part of a throuple now, with two gay men, and I truly don’t know why. I’m happy for Max, but there’s no reason why he couldn’t have come back a few episodes prior, or we could’ve seen Lauren find someone completely new.
Josh’s story is sort of wrapped up with buying his building and keeping Inkburg, which is great, except then he’s brought back to the very beginning of the series with Liza.
This maybe, maybe, would’ve made sense if we had any lead up to it, but we didn’t. The entire season was based around Charles and Liza loving their way back to each other, only for them to fall out because… of a lie from years ago? A lie that wasn’t even an issue until now?
Darren Star commented that Liza’s lie from the beginning of the series was her and Charles’ ultimate undoing (which, huh?) but if that’s true, why a few seasons ago, was it entirely resolved? Why did they settle it, only for it to come up years later?
They made it seem like they’ve been planning this for the entire season when we didn’t get even a hint of this in all reality. Every moment past episode two between Liza and Josh is purely platonic.
And look, I’m happy if Liza is happy, I’m happy if Josh is happy, but this just doesn’t make any sense. Why would Charles be upset about a lie from years ago? Why would Charles be upset that Liza submitted him to Yaddo?
The thing with this finale, truly and wholly, is that it’s dumb. It’s bad writing. It’s out of character and sloppy and it didn’t make narrative sense at all.
They knew ahead of time that this would be the very last season, the true finale of everything, and they gave us more screen time with Quinn than people like Josh and Maggie.
And why did we spend so much time on Quinn if we weren’t even going to wrap her up? We got absolutely no closure on Quinn. She got on that plane, tried to sabotage Liza and Kelsey, and we never heard from her again.
What was the point of building this entire character, destroying Liza and Charles, if they’re not even going to tell us where she went and why she did the things she did?
The show relied completely on shock value this season, and it didn’t make sense at all. The last season was spent on the relationship between Charles and Liza, how they were going to better it and make it have a great outcome, and then three minutes into their rekindling they’re talking about how they’re not going to make it.
Which, again, I would’ve been cool with, had it happened in episode seven or eight. They made her leave Charles and a day later, Josh was there. Apparently like he was the entire time? Which he wasn’t. He was with Clare. He was with KT. He hasn’t been here pining after her this entire season. They made that clear with the discussion the two had about being in each other’s lives forever.
The insinuation that fans don’t know what the show is about was the worst part. Making it seem like the fans think the show is about who Liza would end up with is completely wrong. Nobody thinks the show is about who Liza will end up with – that was only ever a bonus source of excitement with regard to her character development. We all know the show really was about Liza and the people she loved and how she was building a better life and becoming a better person with their support as she finally was able to become who she wanted to be.
Charles is incredibly out of character in this episode – a lot of this season, quite frankly – and the way that he flip-flops doesn’t make any sense. Why would he be mad at Liza, why would he test her (and say that straight out? What on earth?) about something she didn’t even know was happening. Liza had no part in Kelsey sending out that pitch.
And why was he so upset about Liza submitting him to Yaddo when she just wanted what was best for him? I’m pretty sure there’s an insinuation that she submitted him while they weren’t together, so if anything, this should show him how much Liza believes in him.
Why did he ever take it as keeping something from him? If I was rejected from a program that I loved and believed in, I wouldn’t want to know either. It would be devastating. And if he was truly that upset and betrayed, why did he end up going to Yaddo and basically promoting her? It doesn’t make any sense, seriously.
Here’s the thing about sticking with the reason Charles doesn’t want to be with Liza: it puts Liza in a position where she doesn’t grow at all. If you start the series with a lie, and through the first four seasons have Liza explaining and learning why that lie was wrong, to have it come back in season seven and make it ruin her relationship is… degrading.
This also insinuates that the writers think that Liza is dumb. Just because you chose your marketing campaign to be Team Josh vs. Team Charles doesn’t mean we thought the same way about the show as a whole.
Making it seem like the entire show was about Team Josh or Team Charles is also horrible to the rest of the cast and characters you’ve spent years building. If the core of the show is really Josh and Charles and which will end up with Liza, why is anyone else considered relevant? Why was there such a spotlight on Kelsey? Why was Lauren made into a bigger character at all?
Because Liza’s love life is not what the show is about and we all know it. They wrote an appalling ending and to back it up, they’re making it seem like the crux of the show was about Liza’s romantic relationships, which was a good added bonus, never the center of the show.
This thought process also takes Josh and Charles as characters completely out of it. It makes all of the characters on the show seem like they don’t have a place without Josh and Charles, who are just men that Liza is with. This strips away their entire characters.
So, look, here’s my advice: if you’re going to watch Younger, watch seasons one through six and be done. If you insist on watching season seven, have lots of alcohol nearby. I sure wish I had that to watch the finale.
What did you think of the finale? Were you happy with your favorite characters ending? Whose ending did you love most? Let me know in the comments below!
