Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Younger 4x07 & 4x08 Recaps: One Heck of a Summer [Guest Poster: Bibi]


It's been a busy few weeks on Younger, and Bibi is here to recap them all for you. Trust us -- things are only about to get crazier from here!

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“Fever Pitch”
Original Airdate: August 9, 2017

Welcome back! Younger might be having one of my favorite seasons so far, and this episode was a doozy! Dying to know how Liza responded to Charles shouting out his feelings, "Fever Pitch" picks up seemingly right where we left off. It's them finally having an open and honest meeting, a point of vulnerability. Instead of talking, Liza and Charles get straight to kissing in his office and... well, things start to get a little hot and heavy! It is moment that all of us fans have been waiting for -- untilllll Liza wakes up! It's all a dream. A very, very steamy dream that understandably has Liza rocked. When Liza comes out of her room, Maggie thinks that she had a long night of activities, but it is all inside of Liza’s head. Maggie is trying to convince Liza to just stop thinking and just sleep with Charles. “Consummate and deflate” is the motto that Maggie wants Liza to live by. Liza disagrees, saying that she needs to ignore this sexual urge and feelings that she has for Charles.

Liza and Kelsey meetup to head to work and on the way, Liza recommends that Kelsey skip work and go straight to Pitchfest instead, to hear new and upcoming authors pitch their books. Kelsey claims she cannot manage that task, nor face Charles after the Zane fiasco. Kelsey asks Liza to cover, and Liza of course obliges. Liza gets to the office and sees that Charles isn't in either. Heartbroken and really hoping to address what happened the day before, she notices his sad birthday cupcake still left on the table. Diana says she cannot blame Charles or Kelsey for not showing up at work after the big L.L. Moore disaster.

Liza barely makes it out of Pitchfest with a sound mind. After a series of awful pitches, she finally hears a great pitch from an unknown author named Pauline. She's pitching sort of a cautionary tale to millennials about a woman who falls in love, then loses herself and leaves her family to go figure out who she is and who she wants to be. It is story that shows the true pitfalls of married life, how it can be stifling, and how it threw her into the realization that she needed more. This story talks about what marriage truly is -- highs, lows, challenges, and not the rose-colored glasses version of it that society portrays. This untitled and unfinished book still sounds like a hit to Liza, and so she offers to look over the chapters Pauline has.

At Kelsey and Josh’s place, Lauren decides that she and Kelsey need some time alone in upstate New York. Josh bribes them with some recreational party favors, thus securing a spot for himself on this girl’s weekend. At the lake house, Kelsey is still working while Lauren is trying to create a drug to unlock the unused portions of their minds. Josh throws that out and just when Kelsey thinks she can relax, Liza calls. Liza is excited about the Pauline's pages but Kelsey confides in her that she is really hoping to disconnect while upstate. Liza asks who she's with and Kelsey replies that she is with Lauren, while craftily leaving out Josh. Lauren calls her out on this and she plays it off. Lauren confesses that's she thinks Kelsey and Josh should be together and she assumes that Kelsey is in love with Josh. Kelsey continues to deny it, but you can see a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Later on, Josh and Kelsey bond over their past relationships and have a moment. And while they do kiss, Kelsey reminds him that it can never happen.

Liza decides to work late reading Pauline’s pages. And alas, here Charles and Liza are together -- just the two of them. Liza decides it is ridiculous to avoid the conversation and tension, so she goes to talk to him and they start kissing. They are interrupted, by the janitor of all people. So unfortunately, we do not get to see Charles and Liza live it up and finally give into their feelings. Since their moment has passed, Liza starts to talk to Charles about Pauline’s pages and you can see something in his eyes. You can tell there is something familiar about this story, and as Liza keeps describing Pauline and her journey, Charles reaches into his desk drawer and pulls out a photo. In a shocking twist, Pauline is actually Charles’s estranged wife! Well, that escalated quickly and changes things. Charles is thinking about if legally, Pauline can even release this book, what it would mean for their daughters, and so much more. He is beyond shocked that Pauline would even approach Liza, but he is also in full-on attack mode.

Can we just discuss how excited I was that Charles was honest, but then immediately disappointed that they didn’t discuss their feelings? Also, how bold was Pauline for approaching Liza, knowing that her book would expose her and Charles’s marriage? Are Kelsey and Josh really going to be able to remain just friends? What does Pauline’s return mean for Liza and Charles? Why is it taking so long for them to get together? Guess we shall see!

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“The Gelato and the Pube”
Original Airdate: August 16, 2017

Another week, another over-the-top episode of Younger to dissect. Let’s hop to it! With the re-appearance of Pauline comes more on her soon-to-be hit, with the new title, Marriage Vacation. Liza is entrenched in this novel, but Maggie does not care how good it is, she is only concerned about why Liza has yet to have passionate sex with Charles. In the middle of this conversation, they are interrupted by their new neighbors. Their chicken coop on the roof -- which Maggie tells them is illegal -- is used to create meals for their farm-to-table restaurant. As a bribe and an apology, they invite Maggie and Liza to come check it out.

At the office, everyone is so deep into Marriage Vacation (page 58 is getting a lot of chatter and apparently it is so hot that Kelsey can't even look at Charles the same way).

Diana and Charles have a conversation about the book and Charles confides that he has no idea what to do with it. Diana advises that he should get ahead of the story and control his own narrative by publishing it first. He is understandably concerned that his private life will be splashed across the media. It is in this moment where Charles is ready to go full legal on the book that Liza comes in and recommends a conversation without lawyers first. Liza offers to watch the kids while he and Pauline hash this out over dinner. Diana, trying not to press, wants Charles to decide quickly because the book is a hot commodity that all major publishers want.

Richard calls Diana at work and says she needs to get home ASAP for a surprise that he has for her. This surprise is not one that Diana is traditionally expecting nor would want, as it is his son, Ethan, coming to stay for an indefinite amount of time. This is Diana's apartment and Richard's lack of communication when he, himself, is technically a guest is visibly an issue for Diana. Richard does not seem to pick up on this, or maybe he does not care because he has already made up his mind. If Diana refuses to let his son stay, she looks inconsiderate, when really Richard is the one who is for not treating this more delicately. Ethan has decided to take a "pause" on his collegiate studies to do who knows what, but Richard is trying to disguise it as just a few nights, to which Diana begrudgingly agrees.

Charles, still fragile and blindsided by this book, is prepping for his reunion with Pauline. He tells Liza to text him in an hour with an excuse so he can get out of the lengthy and uncomfortable conversation. Before he leaves, he unexpectedly thanks Liza for her role in his life, and confesses that he was in a dark place before they met, but Liza helped make him feel like himself again.

Liza and the girls are having a great time, and time continues to fly by. Charles and his estranged wife are clearly hashing out a lot. Hours pass by and Liza falls asleep waiting on Charles. When he gets home, he is spent -- rude even -- and asks Liza to hold off on questions until the following day. In Liza's eyes, you can see she's concerned as a colleague, a friend, but also she is unsure if this means the end of them before they begin.

At Diana’s place, Richard butters up Diana to avoid the fact that Ethan is still stalling to make a decision about his future and where he will live.

The next day at work, Kelsey is dying to know from Liza what happened at the dinner between Pauline and Charles. Liza tells her she isn’t sure because Charles didn’t loop her in. Charles decides to have a one-on-one with Liza to apologize for his rude and standoffish attitude the night before. He gives Liza a speech about marriage and how you're still connected even when you are not -- even when you do not want to be. Nevertheless, Charles has decided to publish the book and Pauline has personally requested that Liza edit the book. Liza assures Charles that after reading the infamous page 58, it cannot be any more awkward.

The noisy new neighbors have a swanky restaurant and Liza and Maggie aren't even given menus because they assume that they are going to be taken care of. After this divine meal, they receive a bill for $500. Liza pays but Maggie is not having it.

Kelsey is at home and still ghosting Zane. While talking to Josh, he reveals that all of Kelsey's boyfriends are jerks and they agree to set each other up. Maggie and Liza show up and, in a move toward friendship, Liza introduces and sets Josh up with the Irish bartender, Claire. Claire and Josh stay out all night talking and there seems to be a real connection there. Josh wants to continue talking, but Claire has to go to her day job and so she leaves him with a kiss. Josh is so excited that he texts Liza, thanking her for setting him up.

Pauline and Liza have a lunch meeting about Liza editing the book. Liza recommends that they start with the first chapter and see how well they work together. Pauline wants brutal honesty and so Liza's first critique is that moms will harshly judge her for taking time away from her kids. Pauline responds that this is normal. While women are judged harshly for taking time for themselves, men would never have to endure that type of criticism if they chose to take a break. Pauline explains she needed to do this for her family -- for the girls and for Charles. Pauline confides that she still loves Charles and that she mostly wrote this book and wants it published in an attempt to win him back. She needs and wants Liza's help. If only she really picked up on the fact that Liza and Charles are a thing, she would not be asking Liza to do this!

Liza heads home to tell Maggie about Pauline’s master plan and the noisy, chicken coop neighbors come to visit. They demand to know where their rooftop chicken coop vanished to. They threaten to call the police, but it is illegal to have chickens in the building. Turns out Maggie called the health department and had the chickens removed while the neighbors were at work.

Liza meets with Charles to talk about the lunch with Pauline. She immediately confesses that Pauline wrote the book to win him back. Charles denies that this is an option and assures Liza that his feelings for her are real and Pauline will not stand in the way of their budding romance.

Okay, so why did Pauline have to come in and ruin Charles and Liza? They never have a chance just to explore their options as a couple. Will Josh and Claire last? Didn’t Josh and Kelsey just almost hook up? Will Diana put both Richard and Ethan out of her home? Guess we shall see next week! Share your thoughts below!

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