Younger – Beyond Therapy

By starrymag | February 25, 2016

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

Liza (Sutton Foster) meets Josh (Nico Tortorella) at the bar, where they use beer to toast to the fact that he is going to be featured in The New York Times’ “Young Creatives” issue. Josh tells her that a curator is going to come hang out with him for a few days in order to get to know him before the article. She’s going to see the band play tomorrow and he wants to know if Liza will join them.

 

Liza panics, as the magazine not only has dozens of fact checkers on staff, but they also write down everyone’s age in every article. Josh assures her she doesn’t have to come if she’s worried, which is a relief to Liza. She drags him out of the bar to go in search of some real champagne.

 

Kelsey (Hilary Duff) and Liza arrive at the office of the author of The Deciding Decade—a book that every publishing company wants. It’s by a psychologist who specializes in exploring the millennial generation. There’s only one sample chapter out so far, but everyone knows it’s going to be a hit.

 

At the office, Liza runs into Cheryl Sussman (Martha Plimpton), the rival publisher who figured out Liza’s secret last season. Cheryl calls Liza shameless and warns her that she’ll never be able to fool this author, as she psychoanalyzes twentysomethings for a living. Irritated and flustered, Liza excuses herself to join the meeting with Kelsey.

 

Kelsey is trying to convince Dr. Wray (Camryn Manheim) that all the other prospective publishing companies are full of older people who only understand her book conceptually. She and Liza; however, are truly living it. They can relate to the book and, therefore, they can sell it.

 

Dr. Wray asks Liza and Kelsey how old they are and Kelsey reveals that she’ll be turning twenty-seven the next day. Dr. Wray sneakily begins to psychoanalyze her, explaining the fact she’s running an imprint so young suggests she doesn’t have much of a personal life. Kelsey admits she and Thad (Dan Amboyer) haven’t seriously talked about marriage or children and Dr. Wray cautions her to figure out what she wants and to make sure Thad can give it to her. She says non-committal relationships might be fun now, but enough of those and you’ll end up thirty-nine years old asking your niece to help you online date.

 

Her conversation with Dr. Wray has Kelsey freaked out. She asks Liza why she hasn’t been worrying about her future more and tries to defend her relationship with Thad. Liza tries to calm her down, saying there’s no perfect life plan and you can’t always know what’s coming. She passes off her own story as a girl she knew from high school’s, telling her that she had everything laid out before she got pregnant. Kelsey is unimpressed, saying that story is boring and cliché.

 

Thad and Kelsey are at a business dinner for Thad’s company and he tells her that when she meets his boss she doesn’t need to say a lot, as he’s not big on small talk. A bit insulted, Kelsey assures him she knows how to behave. Sure enough, Kelsey nails it, naturally talking to him about the meeting she had with the psychologist. Thad’s boss even makes her promise to let her know the release date, as he has a 19-year-old he wants to get it for.

 

Maggie (Debi Mazar) walks in on Liza applying copious amounts of anti-aging cream to her face and Liza tells her all about her horrific encounter with Cheryl. Josh texts Liza, pleading with her one last time to come meet the creative director at the bar with him. Liza passes, feeling even more paranoid about her age after running into Sussman. Liza explains her situation with Josh to Maggie, but assures her that Josh is fine with it. Maggie, however, isn’t so sure she’s right.

 

Kelsey spies Thad talking to another girl. Furious, she drags him away. He tries to make it up to her, saying she looks hot in her dress, but it has the opposite effect – setting Kelsey off. She says all he cares about is looks and Dr. Wray was right about their relationship. She tells him she’s tired of waiting for him to grow up before storming out. Thad’s boss comes up to him, saying he wants his wife to meet Kelsey. He warns Thad not to let Kelsey get away, as she’s something special.

 

The next day, Liza spies Josh doing his photo shoot outside his tattoo studio. Josh sees her as well, sneaking away to talk to her. He says, while it’s going well, it’s a little awkward. She’s such a big part of his story, but he can’t tell them any of that so he’s just making stuff up. Greta, the creative director, interrupts them saying they’re running behind schedule and Josh needs to hurry up. Josh reluctantly leaves Liza, but the two promise to meet up for lunch.

 

Liza walks into Kelsey’s office, carrying a cupcake with a lone candle. She wishes her happy birthday, but Kelsey is too busy to appreciate it. Dr. Wray’s book is between them and one other company and she’s doing everything she can to find out who their competitor is. Plus, she broke up with Thad the night before.

 

Liza expresses her condolences, as Kelsey invested a lot in that relationship, and she really loved him. Kelsey shows her the cartoon he texted her as an apology, just adding to the evidence that he’s way too immature. Liza asks how she can help and Kelsey tells her to reserve a booth at Stanton Social for her birthday for just her, her girlfriends and Josh. Liza assures her she’s there if she wants to talk, but Kelsey refuses to spend the first day of her new timeline dwelling on the past. However, once Liza leaves, her face begins to crumble—she’s clearly not over it yet.

 

Liza is struggling to juggle everything on her plate. She’s on her way to get lunch with Josh when Diana (Miriam Shor) stops her. Diana says that assistants don’t get a lunch, rather, they fetch lunch. She reminds her she’s still her assistant and Cheryl Sussman told her Liza acted full of herself at Dr. Wray’s office yesterday. Liza promises she didn’t, but Diana stresses that Liza’s behavior towards her colleagues reflects back on her. Then, because Diana’s honestly a big softie under all that statement jewelry, she lets Liza go to lunch – but only if she gets her a cob salad with the dressing on the side.

 

In the elevator, Cheryl texts Liza demanding to meet with her, which forces her to cancel her lunch date with Josh. At their meeting, Cheryl says she feels it’s unfair that Millennial is in the running purely because Dr. Wray thinks they’re both twenty-six years old. She says if Liza doesn’t take them out of the running for the book, she’ll tell everyone she’s been lying. Liza relents, promising to pull their offer. When Cheryl leaves; however, Liza rings Dr. Wray saying that they need to talk.

 

Liza goes to Dr. Wray’s office, saying she’s there as a patient, not as an editor. Confirming that she has the privilege of doctor-patient confidentiality, she spills – telling her big secret – she’s really forty! She concludes by saying that she has lived her book (twice now) and she really understands the importance of it.

 

Dr. Wray is fascinated, making Liza a deal. She says she’ll sign with Millennial if she can use Liza as an anonymous case study. She says she admires Liza for pulling off such a crazy idea. Liza thanks her for the compliment and agrees to her terms.

 

Kelsey practically skips to Liza’s desk, sharing the good news that they got the book. Liza acts completely surprised and Kelsey promises they’re going to get wasted later that night.

 

Cheryl calls up Dr. Wray, about to tell her about Liza, but Dr. Wray is having none of it. She threatens to expose Cheryl for blackmail, saying she’d be more than happy to meet with her to discuss some of her anger issues.

 

Liza joins Kelsey and Lauren (Molly Bernard) at Kelsey’s birthday dinner. They’re reading Josh’s article, which Greta posted on Instagram. They’re livid, as Josh doesn’t mention Liza once. He simply refers to himself as a lonely artist. They’re disgusted, saying it’s no more than a glossy Tinder profile.

 

Josh walks over to the table, Liza getting up to greet him; however, Kelsey and Lauren continue trashing him, saying they’re all getting a little too old to play pretend. They tell him that he’s a horrible boyfriend who obviously doesn’t care about Liza at all. Josh slides Kelsey’s birthday card across the table and walks out.

 

Liza chases after him, apologizing. She says Kelsey and Lauren sprung that on her and she didn’t know the article was coming out that night. In fact, she hadn’t even told them about the article. Josh asks Liza if she thinks that’s weird, but Liza says they’re weir, and he likes that about them. Josh says neither of them can ever be in each other’s lives and he can’t do it anymore. He walks away, officially breaking up with her.

 

Thad walks into the restaurant and heads over to Kelsey and Lauren, promising he’ll leave after he says something first. He says Kelsey deserves everything she wants and he’s prepared to give it to her. He pulls out a ring, saying she hits all his criteria plus a few he never even thought of—proof that he read the chapter Kelsey sent him. Kelsey’s breath is taken away. Lauren literally squeals.

 

He finally pops the question of whether or not she will marry him and she accepts. Liza, crushed from her extremely fresh breakup, plays off her crying as being happy tears for Kelsey. The two embrace, but the pain of losing Josh is still evident on Liza’s face.