Younger – Big Little Liza

By starrymag | July 16, 2018

By: Taylor Gates

 

Liza (Sutton Foster) watches a video of Caitlin (Tess Albertson) stuffing her face into a loaf of bread. Her roommate’s mother sent it to her because she was concerned. Liza is worried it’s some weird kind of porn, and Maggie (Debi Mazar) confirms her fears that people are definitely jacking off to it.

 

Much to Josh (Nico Tortorella) and Kelsey’s (Hilary Duff) irritation, Lauren (Molly Bernard) has stuff cluttering the entire apartment, as she’s getting ready for a big event that night for a makeup brand you can eat. She’s even hired an intern named Tam (Jesse James Keitel) to help her out.

 

Kelsey, Diana (Miriam Shor), and Zane (Charles Michael Davis) pressure Jake Devereux (Jason Ralph) to finish writing the first chapter of his book, and he promises to knock it out after an Ariana Huffington party about #NegativeThinking that night. He invites Kelsey to join him.

 

At the party, Jake admits he gets nervous one-on-one. Weirdly, he feels most comfortable either in a crowd or alone. Kelsey is a big hit with Jake’s friends, but he takes her outside to talk privately, as he doesn’t want to have to share her. He bluntly asks if he can kiss her, and she notes that she thought Obama’s speechwriter would be smoother than that. He asks if she truly only cares about the book, and when she lets him kiss her, he gets his answer.

 

Liza hangs out with Don Ridley (Christian Borle) again, and they get falafels from a food truck and talk about some of the embarrassing articles Don is currently having to write to pay the bills. Don’s 16-year-old son unexpectedly sends him a picture of his penis, worried he might have herpes though Don thinks he just masturbated too much. He tells Liza he tries to be there for his son without judgment though he doesn’t understand this generation’s need to share everything. Liza muses that at least he isn’t sharing his penis being stuffed into a loaf of bread.

 

Liza slips on some ice and the contents of her purse go flying everywhere. Don helps her pick up her things and sees that she has two different licenses. Liza sits him down on a bench and tells him about her lie. Don tells Liza she’s his hero for combating ageism, and Liza says she’s nobody’s hero—she’s a fraud.

 

Zane notices that Kelsey and Jake looked cozy in the Instagram pictures from Ariana Huffington’s party. He tells her that she’s too smart to jeopardize the book. Insulted, Kelsey says she is, which is why he should stop worrying.

 

Don texts Liza, apologizing for not being able to go to Lauren’s party with her that night because he’s too busy writing. She’s scared he’s blowing her off, but Maggie reassures her that it seems like he actually has stuff to do. Lauren says hi to Liza and Maggie, telling them not to mingle too much after they get confused about Tam’s pronouns and the updated LGBTQ+ acronym.

 

Liza spies Kelsey smiling at her phone, and Kelsey admits she’s texting Jake. She spills that they kissed last night and she thinks she might like him, which freaks both of them out considering the book deal.

 

Lauren wants to take a selfie with Tam, but Tam tells her nobody posts things anymore, as it’s all about word-of-mouth now. Desperately trying to be hip, Lauren says she just wants a photo to post ironically on her finsta. Tam tells her that millennials are sad in irrelevant, which sends Lauren into a crisis. Maggie tells her that getting older isn’t so bad.

 

Josh asks Liza if she wants to say goodbye to the tattoo shop, as he’s done with it. Panicked, Liza goes over to talk to him. Josh says his landlord wants him to either sign a ten-year lease or vacate, and he thinks he’s going to move on. He doesn’t think there’s anything there for him anymore and doesn’t think that he has it in him to make any more commitments. Liza says he can’t go wrong making commitments to himself. Plus, he has all of his friends, including her. Josh sadly says that he doesn’t have her anymore before starting to clean up.

 

A woman from Vanity Fair calls Liza, saying she wants to confirm some things about a story about her and Millennial that Don is writing. She asks if she’s truly 41, and Liza hangs up the phone before running to a meeting with Hello Sunshine. On the walk there, Liza tells Kelsey about the Don situation, and Kelsey flips out.

 

At the Hello Sunshine offices, Kiara (Alanna Masterson) tells them both she received an unsettling phone call from a fact checker asking about Liza’s real age. Liza says that she’s age queer. She’s so tired of people only focusing on how successful she and Kelsey are for their age that she told them she was 41 in protest. Every time a group of women get together, it’s all about their looks and age, and none of that should matter. Kiara buys it enough to let it go, but they still have to stop the story from going public.

 

Liza goes to a Broadway Cares charity brunch to confront Don. She sees him at the food table stealing egg rolls, upset that he would betray her. Don says he’s a freelancer who was desperate to dig up a good story. However, the publication just pulled it, as social media is now exploding with anti-ageism sentiments. Don says middle-aged straight white men are the only people getting discriminated against anymore, and Liza says he probably can’t find work because he’s an asshole

 

Liza frantically continues to try and reach Caitlin, the bread video having freaked her out. Caitlin finally agrees to meet her for dinner, during which Liza asks her about her new hobby. Caitlin is mortified that she knows about it, promising it’s just something she does for extra money. Liza says that the things you do define who you are. Caitlin tells her she’s perfect, and Liza promises she’s done plenty of questionable things she’ll tell her all about someday. She smashes her face into the restaurant bread, embarrassing Caitlin so much she promises to stop.

 

Liza walks by Josh’s studio and sees people taking down his tattoo shop’s sign. She runs upstairs to his apartment, saying she can’t let him do this. His roots are here, and Maggie, Kelsey, and she will all be at his side. Liza might not always be the same person in his life, but she will always be in his life. Josh tells Liza he didn’t sell the place—he’s just getting a bigger sign. They hug, and Josh says he’s not ready to give up yet.