Younger – In The Pink

By starrymag | July 25, 2017

By: Taylor Gates

While stretching canvases, Montana (Meredith Hagner) asks a hungover Maggie (Debi Mazar) about Josh (Nico Tortorella), revealing that the two of them slept together. Maggie cringes and informs her that Josh is Liza’s (Sutton Foster) ex, making Montana feel instantly terrible and awkward. Montana blurts out the news and apologizes as soon as Liza enters the room. Liza attempts to appear nonchalant and fine about it with very little success.

 

Charles (Peter Hermann) names Liza the new Associate Editor of Millennial. There’s a bit of a catch—Liza will receive a title bump and pay raise, but she still has to remain Diana’s (Miriam Shor) assistant as well for the time being—but they invite her to celebrate by having lunch with Belinda Lacroix (Lois Smith).

 

At lunch, Diana informs Liza that Belinda has been writing a hit book a year for Empirical since the early 70s and that her romance novels were Empirical’s biggest earners for over a decade. Charles informs Belinda that they want to introduce her books to a whole new generation of readers.

 

Liza escorts Belinda to the bathroom where she tells Liza that men come and go but friendships are forever. Though her writing is filled with passion and lust, at the heart of them they’re about women coming together to control their own lives. Unfortunately, Belinda quickly goes from joking around to falling dead in a restroom stall.

 

Everyone dresses in pink for Belinda’s funeral just like she wanted. The funeral happens to be a prime networking event, as it’s like a who’s who of publishing. Among the attendees are Barbara Walters and Zane Anders (Charles Michael Davis), a man with a clothing allowance who runs Wilmington’s publishing company. Kelsey (Hilary Duff) also spies Lachlan Flynn (Burke Moses), one of her favorite authors from childhood. She introduces herself to him, saying she read all of his spy books twice when she was in middle school. Flynn is surprised girls even know his books exist, and Kelsey informs him that young females are a large part of the market and his publisher should capitalize on it. She slips him a Millennial business card before walking away.

 

Liza and Kelsey walk home together after the funeral. They get to talking about living life to the fullest, and Liza reveals it was recently her birthday. She turned 41 but didn’t celebrate since the two of them weren’t in a good place. Liza trepidatiously asks if the two of them are okay now, and Kelsey assures her that they are. She sees now that she only lied in order to provide for her kid. Kelsey says Liza needs to go to a bar and getting some birthday sex to help get over Josh. Liza reluctantly agrees to grab a drink.

 

Kelsey takes her to a low-key bar and spies a hot guy named Diego (Victor Webster) hitting at Liza from across the room. Liza adamantly refuses to get involved with anyone, but Kelsey encourages her just to “smash and dash.” Lauren (Molly Bernard) shows up, moping about how Max (Ben Rappaport) is starting to make her feel dull and boring. She’s been tracking her relationship with him via a sticker system and there are far more red dots than gold stars. She drags Kelsey away to a hipper, edgier bar. Liza pretends as if she is also going to leave but ends up going back inside to flirt with Diego.

 

The next morning, Liza tells Maggie that Diego is from Connecticut but in New York to renovate an old bank building. Maggie is angry Liza didn’t get his number and tells her to swing by his construction site. Liza rolls her eyes but does just that.

 

Kelsey tells Liza that Lachlan wants to meet her for coffee—he’s not happy with his publisher, his contract is up, and they just buried one of their best writers. The circumstances are perfect. Liza catches Kelsey up on what happened with Diego, and Kelsey promises Liza that she’ll help stalk him online later.

 

Lachlan doesn’t meet Kelsey at the cafe, but his editor Zane does. He insults Kelsey by calling Millennial a “cute” imprint and complimenting her legs. Kelsey sasses right back, making fun of his clothing allowance and the fact his author is on the hunt for another publishing company. Zane invites Kelsey to be his plus one to a book event that night, warning her to keep her hands off his writers.

 

Diego calls Liza at work, telling her he’d been kicking himself ever since he didn’t get her number. He also looked at his security camera footage and was relieved she felt the same way—he saw her sneak by his construction site. He invites her over to see the place and she bashfully agrees.

 

Montana tells Maggie she feels weird and bad around Liza and thus can’t be Maggie’s assistant anymore. Maggie is disappointed but understanding, giving her one of the paintings she made as a parting gift. Max sees Lauren putting the stickers in her tracking journal and gets offended. Lauren says it’s not about him, it’s about her, and Max realizes that’s what people say when they want to break up.

 

Diego gives Liza a tour of the apartment before leaning her back on the bed. The two begin laughing and making out. Not wanting to have any secrets, Liza tells Diego about her work lie as well as the fact that she’s almost divorced. Diego isn’t upset, as he’s also still married. His relationship, however, isn’t over. Diego defends his cheating, saying it’s no different than Liza’s age lie.

 

Kelsey asks to borrow Zane’s jacket on the way home from the book party, and the two joke and continue their witty banter. Zane starts to call her a Lyft, telling her that she can return his jacket the next time. Considering she went a whole night without trying to ruin him professionally, she wins another date…that is, if she wants one. Kelsey agrees to go out with him again, but seconds after they part she gets a text from Lachlan informing her that he’s still interested in potentially working with her.

 

Liza comes home to find Maggie, Kelsey and Lauren having a girls’ night. They all drink wine and watch “The Crown” together, avoiding talking or thinking about their complicated love lives.