Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Younger 3x01 Recap: "A Kiss is Just a Kiss" (Make a Decision) [Guest Poster: Bibi]


“A Kiss is Just A Kiss”
Original Airdate: September 28, 2016

Ahh, the refreshing joy that comes with the return of fall TV. I am so happy to have one of my favorites back from hiatus, Younger. So if you don’t know the premise of the show and are just joining, here’s a quick blurb to bring you up to speed! Liza is a 40-something year old divorced mom of one, who finds herself in dire need of a job to help with her daughter’s college tuition. Being a stay-at-home mom for the past 18 years, her prospects are looking bleak. So Liza she lies about her age on her resume in order to get back into the world of publishing. There are lots of ups, downs, lies, twists, and unexpected turns for her along the way. And then there's the love triangle. Liza has a hot twenty-something tattoo artist on-again, off-again boyfriend, who she never expected to fall for. But there is her age-appropriate divorced boss (technically her boss' boss), equally as handsome, charming, and brilliant. Liza also has a demanding boss named Diana, her blooming friendships with young co-workers and her developed relationship with her longtime friend and roommate Maggie. Liza's life is filled with blackmail, death, and more! Sounds exciting, right?

So "A Kiss is Just a Kiss" picks up right where we left off in the season two finale. Liza’s boss, Charles, had just kissed her and convinced her to come back to her job at the publishing house. Josh, Liza’s kind-of boyfriend, had just decided that he was all in with the real Liza — adult daughter in college, and all. The only problem of course is that he still has to lie to everyone closest to them in order for her to keep her job.

As the premiere opens, it's time for Caitlin to start another year of school — although where, I'm not sure. Is she going back to India, or staying in NYC? I mean, it's probably not important as she is a secondary character, but I'm just curious. As Liza helps to prepare Caitlin for the next year, Josh arrives with donuts proving — once again — that he's all in for their relationship.

So the crew walks Caitlin to the bus and there, Liza meet's Caitlin's new friend Rose and her parents. In an awkward exchange where they clearly assume that Liza and Maggie are Caitlin’s two moms, the parents unexpectedly and unnecessarily try to let them know they're okay with their decision to be a couple. We find out that Rose's parents are art collectors and want Maggie to describe her work to them. She doesn't help their perception of she and Liza as a couple and says that her art is gay. Ha!

At the office, Liza bumps into Charles and you can really see that the kiss opened up her heart to the idea of being with someone new. He is clearly smitten, jovial, and really hopeful of what might come from his relationship with 26-year-old Liza. She loves Josh, of course, but I do believe Liza is struggling with the idea of being with someone her “own” age who also has children.

Per Younger usual, there is some wacky author at Empirical, with the next bestselling book that obviously leads into a life lesson for Liza or one of our other characters. This author, however, I wasn’t too invested in. Her book focuses on setting things free that distract or no longer serve a purpose in your life. Of course with Liza trying to decide between Josh and Charles, this is pretty heavy on her mind and heart. Using this author’s methods, she soon realizes that a romantic relationship may be her downfall.

Kelsey, meanwhile, is still trying to come to grips with Thad’s untimely and unusual death. She went from being a fiancée to being a “widow.” She tries this horse emotional release therapy that Lauren insists upon. The idea is that you share your deepest feelings with the horse — things that you can’t say to a human. Kelsey confides in this horse and apparently the secret is so juicy that the horse poops. Yup.

Back at the office, Charles propositions Liza and tells her to meet him later at a bar. If she shows ups, then they have a chance to see where this could lead; if she doesn’t, he will understand and will not hold it against her. Right after Charles leaves, Josh asks Liza out via text message. And in her text back to Josh, she tells him that she has to do something for work. So she chooses Charles in that moment! I have to say that I love Liza and Charles together. Josh is great, but there is something so great about Charles and Liza sharing more history and life experiences than they realize that makes them appealing.

Diana, who is always wound way too tight, sees Kelsey late at the office and offers to take her out for a drink. Turns out, Diana is fun and has actually been through a lot in her life. After discovering her husband was gay, she threw herself into her career and hasn’t looked back since. She gets terribly wasted while out with Kelsey, and Kelsey turns to the only responsible person she knows for help: Liza.

While Charles is waiting for Liza at the bar, who does he see? His lawyer and his wife — Charles' great friends — who... also happen to be Rose’s parents. That’s right: Liza’s daughter’s new friend’s parents that she met earlier that day. Charles is so excited about the prospect of a relationship with Liza that he shares his plan with them. But Rose’s dad, as his lawyer, advises against pursuing anything romantic with her. It doesn’t matter, unfortunately anyway, because Liza is so trapped in her lies. Once she sees Charles with Rose’s parents at the bar, she bolts. Why she couldn’t just wait until they left or text Charles suggesting a new locale is beyond me, but such is the drama in Younger. Liza does send Charles a text saying that she has to cancel. And, despite his speech earlier, we know he won’t take this well. Right as she is standing him up, Liza gets an S.O.S. text message from Kelsey.

Dealing with drunk Diana is the worst, but also the best. She is carefree, open, and you can tell that prior to be a workaholic, she did engage in some fun. Her apartment is literally the best one I’ve ever seen in NYC, and I didn’t even step foot in it. Diana has a moment of freedom as she talks with Kelsey and Liza, and then throws her wedding dress out of a window. After they put Diana to bed, Liza and Kelsey have a heart to heart on the way home in which Kelsey shares that she is relieved Thad is dead because now she doesn’t have to marry him. Thad was the worst, and deep down Kelsey knew that marrying him wasn’t the right decision and she would be doing it just to prove to everyone around her that she could make it work with him. Did Thad deserve to die? Nope, but Kelsey should’ve broken up with him ages ago.

The next day, Liza feels terrible for standing Charles up, but it's clear that maintaining her lie and livelihood is more important than a romance with him. She tries to apologize, but he basically shuts her down like we knew he would. Charles is more invested in Liza than she realizes, and likely more than he cares to admit. I hope to see them as more than friends (apologies to the hot, charismatic, kind, heart-on-his-sleeve Josh) at some point this season. I’m conflicted even as I type that because both men have good qualities that mesh well with Liza. But there is something about a shared past with Charles that I would like to see Liza explore in her post-divorce dating life.

So what did you think of the premiere? Is Kelsey ready to move on from Thad? Who will Liza choose? Will we see more of fun Diana?

Share your thoughts below!

0 comments:

Post a Comment