Younger – Secrets and Liza

By starrymag | March 17, 2016

By: Taylor Gates

 

Liza (Sutton Foster) shows Maggie (Debi Mazar) the video of Thad getting naked and cozy with his assistant in an office restroom. Liza vows that if Thad doesn’t tell Kelsey (Hilary Duff) about the affair, she will. She refuses to lie to her. Maggie points out though that Liza lies to her all the time, but Liza says that’s different. She only lies about her past, not Kelsey’s entire future.

 

Liza sees that Caitlin is a block away. She asserts to Maggie that she’s going to tell confess the truth about her job to her daughter, but Maggie thinks that’s a bad idea. Liza says she has to, as she’s tired of all the secrets. Catilin (Tessa Albertson) walks in the apartment and Liza is apologizing about having to leave for work the moment she gets back. She promises to explain everything about her job over dinner that night.

 

On Liza’s way to work, Thad texts her. He says he wants to talk about the video. Liza rolls her eyes, ignoring it and walking into Empirical.

 

Diana (Miriam Shor) is frazzled, asking Liza if she forgot about their huge Crown of Kings book (clearly a spoof on Game of Thrones) release the next day. Liza doesn’t let Diana’s attitude faze her, explaining how excited she is to find out the ending to the series. Charles (Peter Hermann) walks in, looking sick and nervous. Liza confirms that everything is in place and has been triple-checked for the book launch, but it does little to calm him. Diana tells Liza that these books are their most profitable franchise and if the author stopped writing or moved to another company that Empirical would crumble.

 

Diana says that everything for this author needs to be perfect. She tells Liza to be on snack duty—almonds, dried cherries and peppermint gum are necessities – before Charles yells that the author is currently in the elevator.

 

Edward L.L. Moore (Richard Masur) bursts out of the elevator on a mobile scooter, laughing good-naturedly and admiring all the props they have set up around the office for his series. He then goes to a casting session to choose who will play each of the characters from his books for the fan event they’re putting on in Times Square. They cast the most important role last, Princess Pam Pam. Edward isn’t captivated by any of the actresses auditioning until Liza comes in carrying a tray of snacks. He announces that she’s perfect and immediately casts her.

 

Diana, Liza, Charles and Edward all meet up for dinner. Edward insists they toast to Liza, his perfect Princess Pam Pam in “Cronish,”the fictional language in his book. Diana has become fluent in Cronish in a desperate attempt to show Edward that Empirical is still the best place for him since they care about the details. Edward reveals that the entire last page is written in Cronish, save for the final sentence. Diana asks if he can tell them anything more, but he says he can only tell his princess. He whispers the ending in Liza’s ear, but then awkwardly jokes that he’ll have to eat her since he told her his secret.

 

The next morning, Maggie tells Liza she can’t believe she knows the entire ending. Liza; however, is more concerned that Edward is joking about eating her and her bosses are just laughing along. Maggie says that moneymakers always get to misbehave. Liza goes into Caitlin’s room, asking if she would rather sleep or have blueberry muffins with her before she has to leave for work. Caitlin groans and flips over in bed, choosing sleep.

 

Thad texts Liza again on her morning commute, pleading with her to talk with him. Liza refuses, saying he needs to tell Kelsey about what he’s been doing.

 

At the office, someone carries an authentic crown based off the Crown of Kings series. It’s going to be at the party that night. Diana orders them to let Amy Schumer wear it, but not Donald Trump. Kelsey begs Liza to tell her the ending of the book. Liza holds strong, saying she’ll tell her the second she’s legally allowed to. Kelsey teases that Liza clearly loves having an inside scoop, but Liza promises she hates lying to her friends. Diana walks over informing Liza that her costume was accidentally mailed her to home address in Brooklyn instead of the office. She’s going to have to run to get it if she wants to make it back to Times Square in time for the book event.

 

Thad (Dan Amboyer) shows up at Empirical, looking for Liza, but he runs into Kelsey instead. He asks her where Liza went and she tells him she had to run out. She’s also suspicious as to why he’s so interested in Liza all of the sudden. He lies, saying he wanted to ask her opinions about honeymoon destinations in order to surprise Kelsey.

 

Diana calls Liza, telling her not to go home since they found her costume at the office so Liza rushes back to Empirical. Meanwhile, Thad shows up at her apartment. Thad runs into Caitlin outside and Caitlin innocently lets the fact that Liza is her mom spill. Thad, delighted by this new dirt, runs home to do some more research.

 

Maggie is getting ready to go to a wine tasting while Caitlin lounges on the couch. Caitlin mentions that Liza’s job has crazy hours and Maggie agrees. She won’t tell her anything more about her job, but she promises everything she’s doing is for Caitlin. Not completely satisfied with the limited information she’s been getting, Caitlin picks up the iPad sitting on the coffee table. She opens the phone-tracking app, searching for her mom’s location to figure out her workplace.

 

Clearly in awe of Liza’s physique and that Liza’s costume is small and made of fur, Charles thanks her for going above and beyond for this job. Liza joins Edward onstage, where he makes some more sexist, uncomfortable comments about Liza playing the princess.

 

Diana welcomes everyone to the event, announcing that some lucky fans will get to wear the crown and have their picture taken with Princess Pam Pam and Edward. There are also some celebrity super fans there, including Seth Meyers and Ice-T.

 

Edward sleazily asks Liza if he can escort her to his heated trailer, but Liza escapes his cluthes by saying she needs to use the restroom. She runs into Caitlin outside, who is confused to see that her mom is a costume character in Times Square. Liza assures her it’s just for one day, but Caitlin hugs her, thanking her for doing all this to put her through school. She also promises that, once she gets home, she’s going to register for Chemistry next semester. Since Liza is working this hard, she’s determined to bring it when it comes to school, too. Liza is thrilled, but spies Diana out of the corner of her eye. Afraid her secret is about to be blown, she tells Caitlin she’ll see her at home.

 

Thad calls up a friend, asking for his password to the Dartmouth website hoping to get some proof that Liza has been lying. He searches her name and sees that her graduation year is far earlier than what she’s been telling people.

 

Diana leads the countdown to when the books go on sale. Edward tells Liza now that their day is done, he gets to eat her. He also tries handing her his room key for the Four Seasons hotel. Luckily, Charles swoops in, saying Liza needs rescuing as she’s been on her feet all day. Edward is disappointed, but Diana introduces him to NPR’s Diane Rehm. She asks if he’ll sign her book, but he says he’ll do something better—he’ll let her know how it ends if he can eat her afterwards. Diane flirtatiously accepts the challenge.

 

At dinner, Liza thanks Charles for stepping in with Edward. Charles apologizes for not doing it earlier, but Liza says she understands. Charles admits the fact that his grandfather’s company rests solely on Edward makes him panicky. Liza tries to cheer him up by revealing Crown of Kings is the number one seller on Amazon. Charles is relieved, but admits it’s a lot of pressure wondering year after year if their company is going to make it. He wonders what he would do if everything collapsed and he was left without Empirical. Liza asks him what he’s always wanted to do, but couldn’t because of his job. Before he can answer; however, Thad texts her a screenshot of her Dartmouth graduation picture. He asks if she’s ready to talk now. Liza quickly excuses herself from the table.

 

The next day, Liza meets up with Thad. She says she texted him a ton the previous night, but Thad mocks her saying his new leverage had him sleeping like a baby. He blackmails her by saying if she deletes the video and attends their wedding, he’ll let her keep her job. Liza refuses his deal, telling him to do what he needs to do. She’s showing Kelsey the video no matter what, as she deserves to know the kind of person she’s marrying.

 

Right as Liza is walking away, a piece of construction equipment falls from a crane, squashing and instantly killing Thad. What could next week’s season finale possibly do to top this…