Younger – Girls on the Side

By starrymag | August 20, 2018

By: Taylor Gates

 

Diana (Miriam Shor) leaves Enzo’s (Chris Tardio) house early in the morning, as she needs to get to work before the Uber surges get too high. Scared of Enzo’s mom (Camille Saviola), she tries to sneak out quietly, but Enzo’s mom catches her and invites her to dinner with the whole family. Diana lies and says she loves to cook, and Enzo’s mom tasks her with making a dish. At Enzo’s suggestion, Diana decides to take the ferry to work instead of an Uber and hates it just as much as she expected she would.

 

Liza (Sutton Foster) brings coffee over to Josh’s (Nico Tortorella) apartment, but Lauren (Molly Bernard) blocks her from entering, knowing she’s just trying to get a sneak peak of the newly-renovated Inkburg before the launch party. Kelsey (Hilary Duff) tells Liza it’s amazing, noticing Josh is suddenly more mature since signing the ten-year lease.

 

Kelsey also tells Liza that Josh wants to impress her, asking if she thinks there could ever be a relationships between them again. Liza says she’s already in a relationship with someone else, asking Kelsey to keep her and Charles (Peter Hermann) a secret. Kelsey reluctantly agrees.

 

Liza and Kelsey meet with Quinn (Laura Benanti) about Claw. They suggest that she incorporate more autobiography into the book since readers will want to get to know her before taking her advice. Charles checks in on their progress, and Quinn assures him Kelsey and Liza are doing great. When he leaves, Quinn asks if he’s single, and they awkwardly tell her that’s the official word.

 

Liza goes into Charles’ office and tells him about Quinn’s crush. Charles tells her that, next time she’s asked, Liza say that Charles is more into divorced single moms. Liza wants to get out of the city for the weekend, but Charles has a conference in Sun Valley to go to. Since Liza can’t kiss him goodbye, she kisses a piece of paper she’s doodled on and gives it to him. Diana spies the paper, and Charles tells her it’s from one of his girls. Diana assumes he’s talking about one of his daughters.

 

Diana tells Liza to call an Italian restaurant, asking them to put a delicious dish in a casserole container so that it looks homemade, as she wants to impress Enzo’s mother. Liza tells her that Maggie’s (Debi Mazar) lasagna is so good she cried the first time she ate it, and Diana agrees to let Maggie be the savior.

 

That night, Liza is floored by the amazing renovations Josh has done to Inkburg and compliments him on it. Josh says it took some time but jokes she wouldn’t know since she hasn’t been around. He introduces her to Skye (Sydney Morton), another tattoo artist who specializes in renovations. Josh and Skye strike up a conversation about the tattoo Josh got for Liza, and seeing that they are bonding, Liza decides to leave them to chat.

 

Lauren and Kelsey make a speech about Josh’s insane accomplishments as well as his humility and modesty. Josh is flattered but embarrassed by all the attention. He thanks Liza for inspiring him to not give up on his dreams and stay in New York.

 

Liza is happily surprised to see Caitlin (Tessa Albertson) walk through the door, especially since she lives far from the city. Caitlin informs her she was actually already in the city for a wedding she was invited to with her boyfriend.

 

Caitlin introduces Josh and Liza to Greg (Josh Cooke), who is much older than Caitlin. Furious, Liza pulls Caitlin away and tells her she now knows why she wanted to keep him a secret. She tells Caitlin that Greg is way too older for her, but Caitlin points out that she’s being hypocritical considering her relationship with Josh. Though she’s still upset, Liza calms down and suggests they all get together that weekend. Caitlin agrees to brunch and requests that Liza bring Josh.

 

During brunch, Caitlin says that Greg was her former English professor. Once they started a romantic relationship, Caitlin switched classes so there would be no conflict. However, they are keeping it a secret for now. Liza is horrified at the whole thing.

 

After brunch, Josh tells Liza she should try and put a stop to the whole thing. Liza gets the courage to tell Josh that she’s been sneaking around with Charles. Liza tells Josh that it’s different with him this time and that she’s trying to be more real. Josh says she doesn’t even know what real is considering she’s sneaking behind everyone’s back about yet another thing. He was honest about everything when they were together, and it hurts him that she wasn’t. Josh gets Skye to cover up the dragon he got for Liza, officially done with her.

 

Liza tells Maggie and Kelsey about her awful day when she gets home. To make matters worse, though, they gently show her an Instagram story Quinn posted of her flirting with Charles at Sun Valley. Kelsey apologizes for covering too well for her with Quinn.

 

At family dinner, Enzo introduces Diana to his enormous family. Enzo’s mother is impressed with her lasagna, enlisting her help in the kitchen. Her first task is to smash live eels, and Diana swallows her nerves and gives them a whack.

 

Enzo’s mother continues grilling about cooking her until it’s time to serve the food. Diana is not used to being bossed around his way but sucks it up for Enzo. When Enzo’s mother yells at her for garnishing the eel with cheese and calling her dumb in the kitchen, that’s the final straw, and she gets up to leave.

 

Enzo’s mother tells Diana that she’s an old woman who can’t cook and shouldn’t be with her son. Diana fires, back, saying she’s the reason Enzo is still single. Refusing to stick around and be insulted anymore, she walks out.

 

Enzo follows her onto the ferry, apologizing for his mother’s words. Diana thinks they were foolish to think this could have worked out between them, as they’re from two different worlds. Enzo says he’s moving into his own apartment in Manhattan to be closer to her. He wants to give them a chance, and Diana agrees, kissing him.

 

Liza tortures herself by scrolling through Quinn’s Instagram. She almost texts Charles asking about the photos but ultimately decides not to. Liza wonders if she and Charles are just a fantasy. Maggie tells her she deserves better than to be reduced to someone’s sidepiece.

 

Caitlin shows up to the apartment in tears, saying Greg asked her to leave since they ran into another faculty from Vassar there. She’s tired of sneaking around. Liza comforts her and says she deserves better than that. She decides to tell Caitlin the truth about lying to get back into publishing and dating her boss. Caitlin is shocked that anyone could think she’s twenty-seven. Liza tells Caitlin that, although she can’t tell her what to do about Greg, from her experience it’s better to be in an open and honest relationship.

 

Liza meets up with Charles, asking him about Quinn’s Instagram. She didn’t know what to think, not having heard from him much all weekend. Charles promises it was entirely business-related, but Liza tells him she was clearly flirting on social media. Charles replies that she’s flirting with the idea of making an investment in the company. He didn’t want to tell her because he’s trying to keep them and work separate.

 

Liza tells Charles that she doesn’t want to be in a secret relationship anymore, but Charles says it’s just not the right time to go public. Not willing to accept that answer, Liza tells him to call her when it is the right time and walks away.