Younger – Sex, Liza, and Rock & Roll

By starrymag | July 24, 2018

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

Maggie (Debi Mazar) gleefully tells Liza (Sutton Foster) that her work has been chosen for a prestigious art show and that there will be a cocktail reception that night. Though it’s still morning, they pop a bottle of champagne to celebrate.

 

Diana (Miriam Shor), a fellow at the art gallery, tells Liza she’s going to bring Enzo (Chris Tardio) as her plus one. However, she’s worried that his blue collar roots will stand out at the elegant event. Charles (Peter Hermann) is stressed, as Chrissie Hart (Gina Gershon)—a legendary rockstar who is publishing a memoir under Empirical—has not yet turned in her pages. Charles is worried they jumped the gun after her pitch, and Diana suggests they drop her as a client for breach of contract, but Liza, being a huge fan, encourages them to give her one more chance. After all, this book has the potential to be enormous. Charles agrees to set up a Skype call.

 

During the call, Chrissie shows the staff her entire manuscript. Not only does she have the first pages finished, she has finished the whole thing after a burst of inspiration. After having nude pictures leaked, Chrissie doesn’t trust putting anything on the internet, so she convinces Charles to drive up to Shelter Island to get a hard copy instead. Though Diana eagerly offers to cancel her plans and accompany him, Charles assures her he can handle it.

 

Charles gets to Chrissie’s house, which is huge, dark, and gothic. She is getting a strange sort of massage and tells Charles to give her his honest opinion on her Kombucha tea. She also shows him her room of skull art, crystal penises worth thousands of dollars, and tells her stories about her past lovers. Charles snaps, wanting to keep it all business and get home. His attitude, though, only makes her more closed off.

 

Maggie gets emotional at her art show, having trouble believing it’s finally her time to shine. She let herself stop dreaming about a moment like this. Liza reassures her it’s real and that she deserves it. Maggie reminds Liza that she bought her first piece, having supported her since the beginning.

 

Diana arrives with a massive suitcase in tow. She tells Liza she’s staying over at Enzo’s that night—something she hasn’t done in forever. She’s nervous that his house will be much less than the luxury she’s used to and had to come prepared.

 

Diana and Maggie finally meet, Maggie complimenting Diana on her fabulous taste in jewelry. The two are interrupted by Penelope (Lois Robbins) and Luca (Michael McKenzie), who give Maggie their information and tell her they want a piece. Diana gets a text from Charles saying that Chrissie is stonewalling him and that he’s going to have to stay the night at her house. Liza tells Diana to stay the night with Enzo, promising to join Charles and try to take care of the situation.

 

Charles’ isn’t too excited by Liza’s arrival, but Liza is ecstatic to be in Chrissie’s house. she tells her what a big fan she is, and Chrissie tells her she hopes she didn’t come to cock block, as she fully intends to bang Charles that night.

 

Chrissie shows Charles and Liza a demo of her new band’s song, heavily flirting with Charles. Charles begs Liza not to leave him alone with her. Liza asks her when they’re going to get to see the book, a lunch of wine and dinner of absinthe already having passed them by. Chrissie tells them that once someone came by to get her new record and didn’t leave for three weeks—she doesn’t give up her babies until she’s ready. Although they’re frustrated with Chrissie, Charles and Liza end up having a good time with each other.

 

On their way to their bedrooms, Liza tells Charles how good it was to see him laugh again. She asks Charles when he’s going to trust her again, begging him to talk to her. She’s not sure how much longer she can take him freezing her out, but he’s still not ready to make amends. Later, Charles considers knocking on Liza’s door to talk things out, but he ultimately decides not to.

 

Zane (Charles Michael Davis) and Kelsey (Hilary Duff) agree that Jake Devereux’s (Jason Ralph) first chapter is boring. Zane wants to call him up and dish out this criticism, but Kelsey thinks he’s too fired up to do it politely and wants to email him notes instead. Convinced he can handle it, Zane calls him up anyway and gives it to him bluntly. Kelsey attempts to soften the blow with kinder words, but Zane won’t let up on the harsh critiques.

 

Kelsey meets Jake in his hotel room to give him some notes in person, telling him he should try to incorporate the voice and humor from his podcast into his book. Jake gets distracted, just wanting to hook up with Kelsey. He asks if there’s another reason stopping the situation besides just her being his publisher, and Kelsey tells him no. Once it’s done, they can start talking about their relationship. Kelsey packs up so they can move to the business center. Mere seconds after they get into the hallway, they go back in the room and have sex.

 

Kelsey tells Zane some of the stories she got from Jake after sitting down with him, and Zane is impressed by the scandalous and hysterical anecdotes. Overall, the first chapter is much better now. Zane says that Jake is a dull wet blanket but looks at Kelsey like she hung the moon. However, Zane knows Kelsey’s not into nice—she wants someone who isn’t intimidated by her intelligence and can challenge her. At first she is insulted that he seems to assume things about her, but soon she is turned on, and they start making out.

 

Kelsey tells Lauren (Molly Bernard) that she’s feeling guilty for sleeping with both Zane and Jake. Lauren tells her not to feel bad since guys do it all the time. She doesn’t need to choose since it’s healthier for her flora. Lauren announces to Josh (Nico Tortorella) that Kelsey is polyamorous. Josh laughs but says he’s a one-woman-at-a-time type of guy. Lauren reminds him he definitely lusted after Liza when he was with Clare (Phoebe Dynevor). He asks where Liza is and gets jealous when Kelsey tells her she’s with Charles on Shelter Island.

 

Diana is happily surprised by how clean and spacious Enzo’s home is. The next morning, Enzo introduces her to his chef…who is also his mother (Camille Saviola), who he still lives with. Enzo’s mother begins throwing shade about Diana’s age in Italian, thinking Diana won’t understand. Surprisingly, Diana begins matching her sass in perfect Italian, having studied art history in Florence.

 

Meanwhile, Chrissie tells Liza that Charles has taken off. Chrissie and Liza take a walk, and Chrissie tells Liza she feels safe with her since she’s an old soul. She’s worried that people will either hate her book or not even care about what she has to say, which is why she’s not letting Charles and Liza have it just yet. Liza assures Chrissie that her music is meaningful. Her songs helped her get over the fear and sadness of her divorce, helping her feel strong again. This book could help more people feel the same way.

 

Liza marches into office with Chrissie’s manuscript in tow, slamming it on his desk. Flabbergasted, he asks how she managed to get it. Liza snarkily says that—unlike him—she didn’t run away.