Younger – Last Days of Books

By starrymag | October 19, 2016

By: Taylor Gates

 

Bryce (Noah Robbins) tells Empirical he thinks the press release for their new book is boring, vague and stodgy, but they have bigger fish to fry, so he gives them permission to release it as-is anyway. Diana (Miriam Shor) is visibly frustrated by Bryce’s critiques, but Charles (Peter Hermann) reminds her Bryce is giving them a huge amount of money.

 

Liza’s (Sutton Foster) suburban mom friend Michelle (Heidi Armbruster) calls her with sad news. The Book Nook, a local bookstore they used to go to all the time, may be closing for financial reasons. Michelle tells her the book club is meeting that night to plan a fundraiser to save the shop, and Liza promises to be there.

 

Lauren (Molly Bernard) forces Kelsey (Hilary Duff) to go out and get back in the dating game, as she hasn’t been out since Thad died. The night doesn’t go well—she keeps bringing up the fact she has a dead fiancée, which is a real turn off for everyone. Kelsey’s not feeling it and tells Lauren she’s going home. Lauren runs into Max (Ben Rappaport), an old childhood friend. He’s a doctor now, which impresses Lauren. He grabs Lauren a drink and they start talking.

 

At the book club fundraiser meeting, the ladies inform Liza that they began a Kickstarter to make a nude calendar. One of their husbands started a competing Kickstarter to keep them from doing it, which made double the amount of money. However, they still feel the sexy calendar is a good idea.

 

Max and Lauren wake up in bed together. Max tells Lauren he has been dreaming of this day since he was twelve years old; Lauren informs him that she has a girlfriend.

 

The press is not being kind to Bryce’s involvement with Empirical, writing articles titled things like “Hungry Tech Titan Feeds on Publishing House.” Diana, Liza and Charles do damage control with Bryce via a virtual reality game. Bryce is upset, thinking old media is just feeling threatened by his brand of new media. Liza talks to Charles, suggesting that Bryce donate money to save The Book Nook as it would be great press for him. Charles thinks this is a brilliant idea and promises to pitch it to him.

 

Lauren texts Kelsey that she is in crisis mode—she is on a bottomless breadstick binge so it must be serious. She is conflicted because Max is so different than the kind of person she is usually attracted to. She is afraid she might be basic and straight. She decides to go to the hospital to give Max a blow job, pleading with Liza not to tell Maggie (Debi Mazar) about this until she figures everything out.

 

Diana tells Liza that Bryce is on board with The Book Nook idea. He is going to donate $300,000, which will cover the rent for the next five years and get him good press. Michelle calls Liza to tell her the good news. All the girls are going to meet Bryce when he flies in on a helicopter the next day. Liza says she will stay at Empirical and hold down the fort while everyone goes with Bryce to the bookstore, but Charles and Kelsey persuade her to go with—after all, this was her idea. Liza calls Maggie in a panic before getting on the helicopter, realizing that when it lands, her two worlds are going to collide and her secret is going to be revealed.

 

On the helicopter, Liza tells the group that people in this town know her and might say things about her that will be confusing. She’s not the person they think she is. Bryce unexpectedly tells the pilot not to land. Mark Zuckerberg just rescued an independent bookstore staffed by orphans and he can’t look like he’s copying him. Bryce presses Liza to explain what she meant by saying she is not being the person they think she is. She quickly makes up an awkward lie about having been a slut in high school.

 

Lauren goes to Maggie’s house, explaining her dilemma. She really likes Max, but she’s afraid since he’s so traditional. Maggie is unfazed, lovingly telling Lauren to stop trying to be so interesting and just date Max. Maggie promises Lauren she’ll be okay before pulling back a curtain to her living room to reveal a sensual art project that involves paint and naked women.

 

Kelsey tells Bryce that Millennial will release good books and good press will follow. Bryce mentions her dead fiancée, but is more interested in the fact she’s single. Kelsey isn’t interested, but she does thank Bryce for not caring about the fact her fiancée died.

 

Charles apologizes to Liza for Bryce pulling out at the last minute. He questions whether it was smart to bring him on, as “you never know what’s going to happen when you get in bed with a 26-year-old.” They both pause at his choice of words and Charles tries to brush it off as just being an industry term.

 

Josh (Nico Tortorella) drops Liza off at the bookstore, telling her to stay as long as she wants. She’s meeting her book club for some last drinks to say goodbye. Michelle goes to get some hard liquor and sees Josh waiting for Liza in the car. He says he’s sticking around in case Liza needs a designated driver and Michelle tells him that he’s the real deal.

 

Michelle tells Liza how happy she is for her to have found Josh. The bookstore owner tells the ladies that she’s not sad—nothing lasts forever and the time they had was great. Liza stares out the window at Josh, contemplating their relationship.