Friday, September 8, 2017

Younger 4x11 Recap: “It’s Love, Actually” (It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye) [Guest Poster: Bibi]


“It’s Love, Actually”
Original Airdate: September 6, 2017

As the season finale approaches, the stakes are getting higher on Younger! After a few weeks of dating, we seemingly say farewell to Josh’s relationship with Clare. Josh and his band play a farewell concert and the whole crew is invited. Josh confides in Liza, saying he feels like timing is always an issue with him. His timing with Liza was off and now the same thing is happening with Clare. It is a moment of transparency where Liza has very few words to say. However, I am not sure how long Liza can sustain this friendship. It feels like she is always still investing in her exes after their relationship ends, and is that truly what’s best for her? For any of them? Who knows.

The next day, Josh and Clare are down to hours left together, and Josh is heartbroken that he and Clare never got to know what they could've been. Josh isn't ready to let go, and proposes that they visit each other and do the long distance thing for a while. Clare's dream was to be a New Yorker and fall in love with the perfect New York guy. In her final weeks, she got to do that. But she would rather let Josh and this dream go for now, especially since she won't be eligible for another work visa for two years. Josh is so devastated that he starts crying. I like Josh, so I feel for him. But also, this relationship wasn’t that fleshed out and it happened aggressively fast, so I do not have the same kind emotional connection to their end that I would want. Josh is a good guy though and I want him to win. I would like for the writers to focus on his career a bit more next season, and his growth in other areas — not just when it pertains to a woman.

At Empirical, Diana is being honored at an awards dinner for her work on P is for Pigeon. Diana proposes an awards push strategy, since the release of Marriage Vacation is just around the corner. Diana and Charles reveal to Kelsey and Liza that they want to release Marriage Vacation as an Empirical title, not Millennial. They want to rebrand it under Empirical, and have seem to made a final decision — only giving Kelsey and Liza the faux courtesy of being involved in the conversation. After the meeting, Kelsey is understandably upset. Liza asks her to breathe, take some time to see their perspective, and not to act rashly. From the look in Kelsey’s eyes, she cannot be trusted to keep her cool. In the midst of all of this, Zane is blowing up Kelsey’s phone asking for a dinner date. Against her better judgment, Kelsey begrudgingly agrees to a food truck lunch, once Zane reveals this isn’t about their personal relationship, but rather their professional one.

At the food truck, Zane flirts incessantly and Kelsey doesn't have the time to be bothered with his antics. He gets the point and tells her that he's leaving his current company. While they started off too rough by taking professional jabs at each other, he wants them to turn over a new leaf by going into business together and starting a new company using L.L. Moore as leverage to do so. Zane says L.L. Moore’s contract has an editor’s clause and he HAS to go wherever Zane does. This is perfect timing since Kelsey is fed up with Charles and how he is dictating a lot of the decisions. Liza, being cool-headed, recommends that Kelsey talk to Redmond and verify this editor’s clause. Kelsey and Redmond play Zane, and Redmond reveals that the clause says L.L. Moore CAN leave, not that he HAS to. Kelsey catches Zane in another lie, and decides that starting her own company with him is not the best idea.

After Diana told Richard that it was time for Ethan to move out of the apartment, Richard decides to surprise her. Richard "heard" Diana's concerns and came up with the perfect solution — he finds a two-bedroom apartment for the three of them to move into. Diana doesn’t even have time to fully address this, but the look on her face says it all!

Elsewhere, Jay and Liza have a fun date with one of chef authors that Jay’s company works with. They keep getting interrupted because lots of people keep walking up to Liza asking her about Marriage Vacation and expressing how excited they are read it! The date is a success despite the interruptions, and Liza and Jay continue to take it slow. Liza thinks that Jay could be a legitimate contender for a relationship and she doesn’t want to mess that up.

While trying to sleep, Kelsey’s house guest, Lauren, wakes her to borrow a suitcase. Apparently Josh is going on an impromptu trip to Ireland to see Clare. Although Clare has said plenty of times for him not to come, Josh thinks surprising her is still the best idea. Kelsey thinks it is terrible and Lauren does too, although she will not admit it to Josh. Surprising someone in another country could either go terribly well or terribly wrong, so good luck Josh!

Diana, in an attempt to resolve the Ethan living situation, goes to see Richard's ex-wife (who is a therapist, remember) for a small fee of $300. What starts off as a conversation about how Ethan can move back with his mom and how Diana can assist in repairing their relationship, ends with Diana unraveling more of Richard’s lies and lack of consideration. Richard’s son never fell out with his mom — Richard wanted more time with Ethan and requested his presence, without discussing it with Diana first. Diana likely pays way more than $300, but Richard’s ex-wife lays it all out for Diana so that she has the full truth and can make an informed decision about whether or not she wants to stay.

As they go deeper and Diana learns more, you can see her whole face change and know what’s coming next. When Diana confronts Richard and calls him out for being the inconsiderate liar that he is, he admits to it — but doesn’t apologize. When Diana brings this to his attention, he halfway apologizes but it isn’t sincere and the damage is already done. Diana tells Richard that he and his son better be out when she returns from the awards ceremony. This is the proudest I have ever been of Diana. Richard tried to manipulate Diana and she regained her power by letting him go. She realized her worth and walked away for the person giving her far less than she deserved.

At the awards ceremony, Charles lets Liza know that book has changed his and Pauline’s relationship. While there with Jay, Liza is still visibly shaken by any and everything Charles and Pauline do together. Zane finds Kelsey and proposes that they give their personal relationship as shot since they will not be owning their own company together anytime soon. When Kelsey asks Zane what his next move is, his response is cryptic and you realize very quickly that you still cannot trust him.

After Diana receives her award, Charles has some BIG announcements at the Empirical table. The first being that L.L. Moore is coming back home to Empirical. Kelsey is floored, especially after what just transpired with Zane. So, was he testing her? Were he and Redmond playing her together? While this announcement is great news for the company, seeing as money is tight, Liza isn’t even focused on that and is just focused on how close Charles and Pauline are. Just when we thought the surprises were over, Charles makes one final announcement: Zane has just been hired as Empirical’s executive editor, as he was instrumental in bringing L.L. Moore back. So what exactly does this mean for Zane and Kelsey?

In the final shocking scene, Pauline, Jay, Charles, and Liza are getting ready to head to their respective homes. Pauline stops Liza and thanks her for making her life better and getting her back into her home. Liza is visibly upset but to be honest, and while my heart hurts for Liza, a bit of this is on her. I will say she was in an impossible situation, but Liza did choose not be open and completely honest about her feelings for Charles and then very quickly, things changed. Assuming Liza knew that she was in love with him, I wish she would’ve told him sooner, before he moved forward with his estranged wife. Jay goes after Liza and realizes what we all know. Except Jay is the only person who gets her to confess it: she is in love with Charles. Liza has spent all season and much of last season not allowing herself to lean into these feelings because of life’s many variables. She needs her job to support herself and her daughter, and sleeping with the boss is probably not the best idea.

Liza however, hasn’t been truthful with Charles or herself. Her heart is way more invested in him, and she pushed Charles away, allowing him to think that he was the only one to feel this way. It is a sticky situation for sure, but I would’ve preferred that Liza just tell Charles that while her feelings were growing. She apologizes to Jay for not being able to feel differently and for them not being able to be together. Poor Jay!

This whole time we think that timing is crappy for Josh, but boy is it a mess for Liza too!

So, what did you think about the episode? How do you feel about Liza’s growth this season? Share your thoughts below!

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