“Girls on the Side”
Original Airdate: August 14, 2018
What happens when the tables turn in the relationship between Liza and Caitlin? Does Liza even know the difference between reality and this world she’s created built on lies? How much longer can she keep secrets? This week’s Younger answers these questions and more!
It’s the first weekend apart for the newly-dating Charles and Liza, but Charles is being quite vague about why he is going on a mysterious last-minute business trip to Sun Valley. Liza — disappointed that they can’t go away together — quickly bounces back because life has other plans to keep her preoccupied.
Meanwhile Josh, signing the ten-year lease on his business after a big push from Liza, finally relaunches his newly renovated and upscale tattoo parlor, now affectionately known as Inkburg 2.0. Kelsey warned Liza that everything Josh does is to impress her, but she assured her that they are just friends. Liza must be blind though, because Josh lights up like a child on Christmas morning any time she is around. Liza is the love of his life and he would do anything for her.
So after he publicly thanks her for helping him get to this point of success in his life, he surprises her with a visit from Caitlin! Josh is so thoughtful, especially when it comes to Liza. The idea that she can’t see that he is still in love with her though is insane. At this point, I believe that she is choosing to look beyond his feelings and live in a space of friendship to avoid dealing with it directly — especially now that she’s dating Charles.
Caitlin, who very clearly wants her mom and Josh to be together, brought a surprise of her own in the form of her new, much older, former English professor boyfriend. Liza is upset, naturally, because this is her daughter. But comes off as a bit of a hypocrite since she dated Josh and provided the blueprint for Caitlin to date someone in a different age bracket. Caitlin suggests they all go to brunch, and Liza has to keep drinking as more and more details of the relationship between this older man and her daughter are revealed. Liza, the mom, wants to shield her daughter; but Caitlin needs to experience some things on her own.
Meanwhile in Sun Valley, Millennial’s newest author, Quinn, is flirting up a storm with Charles and posting about it on social media. With Liza and Charles still actively hiding their relationship, the flirting obviously strikes a nerve with Liza. She isn’t entirely sure where they stand as a couple and it makes her a bit wary. When she openly confesses to Josh that she and Charles are in a new relationship, he challenges her to really think about whether or not this is real. Josh feels so much for Liza and was always honest with her, while Liza is constantly wrapped up in lies. And this is when Josh tries to make her realize how damaging this non-stop cycle of lies truly is. Josh loves Liza, but firmly decides after their conversation that he needs to move on. He even repurposed his tattoo that they got together.
When Caitlin’s professor boyfriend asks her to leave the wedding they attended in fear of getting caught by a faculty attendee, she rushes to her mom. Liza comes clean about the lies she’s told over the past five years to get and maintain a job in publishing and support Caitlin and herself. She also admits to her secret relationship with Charles, in an attempt to try and teach Caitlin the error and harm in lying and creating these secretive environments. She encourages Caitlin to know her value and worth, and to start to receive the type of love she deserves.
When Charles returns from his business trip, Liza wastes no time letting him know that she felt uneasy about his time in Sun Valley, because it seemed like it was more then just business with Quinn. Charles confesses that Quinn is interested in investing in the company, and reassures her that he’s all in with her... just in private for now. Charles can’t be all-in in public quite yet, because things are complicated with work and his impending divorce. Liza, realizing that she only wants him in whole not in part, takes a stand and tells Charles to call her when he’s ready to go public with their relationship.
Elsewhere in the episode, Diana has her first major test with Enzo’s family. His mom invites her to dinner and asks her to bring a dish. Liza gets Maggie to make her world-famous lasagna on Diana’s behalf, and Enzo’s mother immediately knows Diana’s cooking skills are a farce. Instead of calling her out, she requests her assistance in preparing the rest of the meal. Diana works hard and tries her best, but one cheese topping mistake and Enzo’s mother loses it. She basically tells Diana that she’ll never be good enough. And while she thinks Diana will take it, Diana snaps back! She gives Enzo and his mother some hard truths about why he hasn’t settled down yet — and a lot of that is rooted in his mother’s consistent babying of him. Enzo agrees, follows Diana, and asks her to give him another chance. He will be finally leaving the nest and getting an apartment in the city!
This episode was really good to me. Seeing the level of discomfort on Liza’s face when Caitlin introduced her boyfriend was priceless. Also for the first time since her divorce, Liza is in a relationship with someone she really likes, and who understands her work, her divorce, and parenthood — yet she can’t share that openly with the world. This leads to a bigger issue of her double life catching up with her and not being sustainable. Having Josh confront Liza empowers her to really do some introspective work, which is exactly what this show needs to drive home this season’s last couple of episodes. Does Liza even know herself anymore? Does anyone know the real her?
Tell me your thoughts! Did you enjoy the episode? How much longer will Charles and Liza have to be apart? Will Enzo and Diana be getting engaged this season? Should Liza just be single and figure out who she is and what she wants? And will she sacrifice everything she’s built with Kelsey at Millennial for the sake of her relationship with Charles? Until next week!
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