Younger – A Titanic Problem

By starrymag | June 18, 2018

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

Feeling betrayed by Liza (Sutton Foster), Charles (Peter Hermann) looks back on an article where she was named to a “29 Under 29” list as well as a newspaper article announcing her wedding. Pauline (Jennifer Westfeldt) comes into his office, telling Charles one of their daughters asked why they were sleeping in separate bedrooms. They want to know if she and Charles are ever getting back together, and frankly so does she.

 

Liza struggles to read a piece on her phone about Moore (Richard Masur) without reading glasses, which Maggie (Debi Mazar) teases her about. They both get annoyed at the constant sound from the tour buses outside their apartment. They are interrupted by Liza getting a notification that Reese Witherspoon has picked Marriage Vacation for her book club.

 

Eventually, Maggie makes a deal with the bus guide (Paul Bomba) that she will yell at the tourists and be part of the experience for $50 a day. On Fridays, she even gets to throw apple juice on them and pretend it’s pee.

 

Liza runs over to Josh’s (Nico Tortorella) apartment to tell him, Kelsey (Hilary Duff), and Lauren (Molly Bernard). Clare (Phoebe Dynevor) won’t be back for a few days, as she has to get her dog some shots before she’s allowed to bring him over.

 

Liza apologizes to Josh for leaving the wedding without saying goodbye, and Josh tells her it’s okay, letting her know he DMed her. They explain to Liza what an Instagram DM is, and Liza decides to contact Reese, telling her Marriage Vacation would make a great movie starring her.

 

Charles asks Diana (Miriam Shor) how she found Liza, and Liza reminds her she ambushed her at a women in publishing event. Diana notes Charles is in a bad mood, thinking their meeting won’t be because of good news. In the conference room, Charles explains that their financial situation is bad because of the Moore situation, but he promises Empirical will endure—the company has survived worse than this.

 

Zane (Charles Michael Davis) announces that he has a top-secret genre-busting book that will reach across multiple audiences. Liza gets a notification from Reese that she would like her and Kelsey to meet with her people about a potential movie.

 

Charles tells his lawyer and friend Bob (Grant Shaud) that he doesn’t know how he didn’t see that Liza was lying. He was ready to break up his family for her but is now disgusted that she would be dishonest. However, part of him still can’t stop thinking about her and is relieved she’s not 27.

 

Charles wants to fire Liza, but Bob tells him that could be an scandal waiting to happen considering their romantic history and ageism controversy. His lawyer tells him to avoid Liza as much as he can and pretend she’s 27 when he can’t.

 

At the meeting with Reese’s team, they learn from Kiara (Alanna Masterson) that Hello Sunshine is extremely interested in optioning the book for a movie. Pauline and Kelsey go to lunch to celebrate, but Liza hangs back and pitches one more thing: an incubator deal for the production company to have access to options for all Millennial titles. Liza knows they will have many more projects that overlap.

 

Back at the office, Liza tries to tell Charles the good news, but Charles ignores her and tells her to email him. Kiara calls him and says that Reese is ready to make a sizable financial commitment to their content and chance to work with Kelsey and Liza. Surprisingly, Charles says he’ll have to think about it.

 

At a bar that night, Kelsey thinks that Charles is bitter Millennial might out earn Empirical, but Liza gives Charles the benefit of the doubt that he has a good reason for sitting on the deal. Lauren (Molly Bernard) shows them and Maggie a new advertisement for her new PR firm. The tagline is, “We’re not great—we’re Heller good.”

 

Though the group thinks the promo is odd, they are excited that Lauren has found a vodka sponsor for Kelsey and Liza’s book launch. Liza needs to use the bathroom, but they advise her not to go in the bar’s. Instead, she goes up to their apartment and finds Josh crying and drinking. Clare just called, saying she’s not coming back to the states at all, as she couldn’t keep lying to immigration.

 

Josh feels like something’s wrong with him, as he keeps putting himself out there and keeps getting kicked in the face. Liza comforts him, promising nothing is wrong with him and everything will be okay.

 

Diana (Miriam Shor) congratulates Liza on the tropical-themed Marriage Vacation launch party. Lauren gives Liza a cocktail and meets Diana, telling her she loves her work and handing her a business card in case she ever wants to outsource anything PR. Diana is flattered, saying she might just slide into Lauren’s DMs.

 

Zane admits to Kelsey that he’s nervous about work, but Kelsey assures him he looks cool and collected on the outside. Kelsey tells Zane she could hire him freelance so he could work on a Millennial book if worse comes to worst. Zane says he couldn’t do that, as she could get in trouble for dating him, which Kelsey rolls her eyes at. Kiara inquires about Zane and his relationship status, and Kelsey lies and says that he’s single but gay.

 

Charles announces that they are going to accept the incubator deal with Hello Sunshine, much to Liza and Kelsey’s excitement. Liza sees Charles and Pauline hug, which makes her jealous. When they get home, however, Charles tells Pauline that, although he loves her, he is not in love with her and he can’t pretend he does. Pauline tears up and goes to bed.

 

Liza thanks Charles for signing off on the deal with Reese, but Charles continues to act short with her and says he only did it because he didn’t feel like he had a choice. Liza doesn’t understand why he’s upset at this good thing for their company, and he snarkily congratulates her for pulling everything off.