Welcome to Younger! After the decisions made in the previous episode, “Holding Out for A Shero” deals with the consequences. Liza still doesn’t face the truth until she has no choice, as Kelsey tries to find out what she wants to do, after her decision to leave her post. Let’s comment everything.
Here we go!
Eleven episodes later and I’m still waiting for our Liza, the Liza we have known for 6 years, to finally appear. In the previous episode, Liza decided to hide her head in the sand, and in this episode the consequences of it have been seen.
From minute one, she has tried to convince herself that she was choosing right, that she and Josh were the past, and that she had to get away from that, and close that door definitively, since she had chosen Charles. But if you have to talk yourself into something … you are not convinced or sure of your decision at all. That is what happens with Liza. Maggie has realized what was happening: Liza was repeating that litany to convince herself. Liza, of course, denies it.
However, Liza has no choice but to admit what I have been saying for a few weeks, that she feels very strongly for Josh, and that she doesn’t trust herself to be with him (or her relationship with Charles, something which is implied). At least, Liza acknowledges that there is still something very strong between them. The problem is that instead of facing that, she decides to make ignore it, convincing herself that what she feels will disappear over time, and that she is making the right decision. In short, she decides to bury her head in a very deep hole. Again.
That hole is getting bigger, so much so that Liza makes the most cowardly decision that can be made by breaking up with someone: she doesn’t tell him in person and sends him a letter. A letter, come on!
Let’s talk about that damn letter. It is the alternative of cowards, and the reflection of the current ‘break by WhatsApp or by email’. There are things that need to be said face to face, and a break is between them. The least that person deserves is that you look him/her in the face and tell him/her the reason for your decision, the reason why you cannot continue with that relationship. That person deserves an explanation. That is the least he/she deserves. A minimum of respect for the feelings you shared, and what you meant to each other. A minimum of respect for your relationship, and a minimum of courage to face the decision that has been made.
But Liza doesn’t do it, why? Liza herself has confessed to Maggie: she doesn’t trust herself when she’s with Josh. She feels something so strong (new flash: she is still in love with him, but she still doesn’t dare to accept it) that she knows that when she is with Josh it is simply inevitable that there is that connection, that she gets hooked on it … on him. And that grows and grows every day, every time she sees him … so she decides to cut it. Liza tells herself, tries to convince herself, that Josh is the past and that she has made the right decision, but if it were so, she would not need to convince herself of anything, and would have no problem telling Josh face to face what she feels.
But Liza is hiding … because she is afraid. She is afraid of what she feels for Josh, she is afraid that she cannot control herself anymore, she is afraid that Josh will see her feelings in her eyes and, above all, she is afraid that Josh will see in her eyes the lie she tells herself to make that decision. Right now Liza is at a crossroads, she knows that if she keeps seeing Josh it’s a matter of time before something happens. She can’t hide her feelings for him anymore, even if it is Charles who fits into her own ideal of what her life should be. So she chooses the easiest and most self-destructive option, saying goodbye to Josh, but without daring to face him.
Liza behaves like a coward in all aspects. It is cowardly not to face her feelings for Josh and dare to do something with them, it is cowardly not to accept that the ideal she had for her life is not really the ideal, and the perfect thing for her, and it is cowardly not to face Josh head-on to tell him all the lies she tells herself.
It has broken my heart to see Josh read that letter, cry because he was losing someone so important to him … the love of his life, and all of that without a real explanation. It hurt my heart to remember all those moments that Liza is now ruling out as if they were nothing. It’s horrible, and I’m waiting for an apology from Liza for all this when the time comes.
Of course, this could not be so. It is impossible to break up with Josh, and not only because of what they feel for each other, they are neighbors and have friends in common. Everything takes her there, to face him, just what she feared most, and what she has been trying to avoid. Of course, Liza wants to pass by and basically ignore him; Something not only cowardly, but not quite childish, like closing your eyes and waiting for everything to disappear. But this is the real world and nothing disappears. Then Josh acts like the mature person he is now, and faces Liza with the truth.
Josh reminds her of the promise that Liza herself made. She was always going to be in his life, but now she simply abandons him as if he were nothing. But for Liza he is everything … and that’s why she wants to let him go; because she doesn’t see what else she can do. Well, I have an idea: she should face him! Josh agrees with me. But we will analyze the scene in depth, because it has no waste, and the situation is clarified much more with what is not said, than with what is said.
Liza confesses to Josh that she wants to give his relationship with Charles a chance and that, although is killing her, she cannot continue as she has until now with him. This is extremely important, because it tells us that Liza knows perfectly well that if Josh is still in her life, she will not be able to continue her relationship, because what she feels for him is so strong that it will remain there. That is to say, what Liza feels for Josh is so strong that it challenges what she always thought she wanted for her life. If Josh is still in her life, Liza knows that in the end she will throw all her expectations overboard and return to him. All this confirms what Liza has said to Maggie before: that she doesn’t trust herself and her relationship with Charles regarding her feelings for Josh.
This in itself is a problem. If you feel something so strong for another person that it puts your relationship at risk, you must face it. In this case, the right thing for Liza would be to break up with Charles since she doesn’t love him as she says (if she did, she wouldn’t be in this situation with Josh), and assume her true feelings. What she is doing now is not fair to Charles, to Josh or to herself. She is acting like a real coward, and destroying everything and everyone in her path.
Josh’s response to Liza’s confession are some questions that make Liza face what she has avoided so far: are Liza’s feelings for Charles stronger than what she feels for him? Is Charles more important to her? Why does she do all this?
These are the questions that Liza has refused to face, because she knows perfectly well, inside, that she does all this because she wants to follow the ideal that, until now, she had for her life. The problem is that, right now she has to convince herself that this ideal is what she still wants. Liza doesn’t want to consider these questions because she knows that her feelings for Josh are much more important and stronger than what she feels for Charles, although she always thought otherwise. And Liza doesn’t want to face the truth that Josh is more important.
Of course, Liza keeps choosing the easiest way out and decides to run away. This is important, she can’t answer, because she doesn’t want to face what her heart is screaming at her … so she decides to do the same thing she has been doing throughout the episode: hide her head and run away.
Josh hits the spot when he tells Liza that what happens is that she is afraid of them, of what they were and what they remain and, therefore, has made the safest decision. That is just what is happening. Liza is so afraid to return to Josh and turn her back on what, for her, has always been her ideal, her perfect man, her unattainable man. She is afraid of being wrong. Because doing so would mean leaving everything behind, including who she thought she was, and where does that leave her? Taking a chance, jumping into an abyss.
That is the real problem, Liza doesn’t control what she feels for Josh, it’s powerful, it’s crazy, it’s strong, it’s immense, it’s deep … it’s uncontrollable. Until now, she was in control. Control of what she felt for Josh and what she felt for Charles. Or, at least, she thought she was in control. Charles was what she had always wanted … but Josh is still there and he breaks all the schemes. He makes her lose control, and breaks the plan she had for her life. But that is love for you. Love cannot be controlled, it just happens, and it’s a passionate, fierce and uncontrollable feeling.
Liza wants to control what can’t be controlled. With Josh, she couldn’t control what she felt until it was clear that they were both on a different page of their lives. The control returned with Charles: Liza was clear that she had always felt something for him, and that Charles fit into what she had planned. But now everything has gone out of control again, and she is afraid of losing that control she has just regained, she is afraid of living something so intense again … she is afraid of giving up control, of taking that leap of faith.
It is understandable to be afraid … the issue is what is done with that fear. Love is uncontrollable and Liza, however much she wants, cannot control it. That’s what she feels for Josh, love. But she is so afraid to face it, to take that leap into the void … that, even if she breaks inside, she decides to stay with Charles. He is safe, what she can control … but what she feels is not real. Charles is not the key to true happiness, Josh is. But Liza decides to ignore that.
Liza stops running and looks Josh in the eye. She is furious and yells at Josh that he doesn’t know anything about her feelings or about Charles. This anger is significant. Liza is on the defensive and attacks Josh at the same time. This reaction is clearly because Josh has hit a nerve, and made her face the truth that she is so desperately trying to deny. Liza’s reaction shows clearly that Josh is right. If what he had said was not true, she would not have reacted like that. Liza is angry with Josh for knowing her so well that he has made her face a few truths about herself and, at the same time, angry with herself for feeling what she feels.
Also, Liza tells Josh the lie she has been telling herself. That they were only a moment in time. A happy, wonderful moment … but not forever. But here Liza avoids saying that she loves Charles more. Avoids the main topic … avoids it because she can’t say it. She doesn’t feel strong enough to lie to Josh.
But Josh presses her to do it. He presses so that, at once, she says it out loud. He knows her and knows that he will see the truth in her eyes. When she says so, he will know if she really means it, and then he will retire … or if, on the contrary, Liza lies to herself.
Liza draws strength from her anger and the litany that has repeated herself throughout the episode and yells at Josh that she loves Charles more. But never, and this nuance is important, she never says the complete phrase that she loves Charles more than Josh himself. She can’t say that whole sentence, she doesn’t dare … at the moment of truth, she can’t do it. Not really. Because it would be a lie, and Josh would know.
Anyway, Josh sees through her lie. He knows her. Her eyes tell him the truth, they have always done so, and he knows that she is lying not only to him, but to herself. She wants to believe so strongly that this is true, that she loves Charles more … but it is not. The reality is very different. And Josh, finally, clearly tells a huge truth: she has given the letter to the wrong guy.
Josh has told Liza a few truths, and given her a lot to think about. That last look from Liza to the picture where she is with Charles, along with her face … I think it says that she has realized that she can’t keep hiding her head in the sand. I hope Liza finally faces what she really feels.
Something is going very wrong when you feel something so big for another person that you don’t trust yourself, or the relationship you have. Something also goes very wrong when you have to convince yourself that a decision is the right one … and something is definitely wrong when you have to lie to yourself about your feelings. If Liza finally faces what she really feels, I don’t predict a good ending for Charliza in the next episode … however, I do have high hopes for Liza and Josh. Crossing fingers, #TeamJosh!
The other axis of the episode has been Kelsey. She wanted to pretend that everything was going well … but nothing is going well. She made a tiny mistake and lost everything. She’s trying to put a good face on bad weather, but she’s fucking mad at the situation. And much more when she sees that her decisions are being reviewed. Kelsey feels that she has failed in a big way, and to see that her decisions are being revoked, as if they had been bad decisions, it’s the last straw she needed to reaffirm what she sees as a failure.
The truth is that it has not been good for Charles and Zane to do that, especially without consulting her. There are decision that Kelsey made that should have respected or, at least, talked about. And Zane is even more at fault for doing so.
Zane, as always, still doesn’t know when to stop playing. He still doesn’t realize that business and personal are linked when there is a personal relationship. Kelsey doesn’t want to blame him, she knows it’s not his fault … but she needs to blame someone, and her frustration with the maneuver, makes her do something she shouldn’t do and blame him (even to Liza), even if he is not to blame for anything. Zane still has a lot to learn … he still doesn’t know what to do when her partner needs his support. That is what Kelsey needed, even if she is not able to say it. Kelsey just needed his support, his presence by her side, a hug from him, comfort … for Zane to tell her that she has not failed.
Instead, Zane stabs her in the back … as always. That reaffirms the idea that Zane is not ideal for her, because someone always loses in that game and she is tired of being the loser. Zane has done a lot on this occasion, and I hope he apologizes and shows Kelsey that he is wrong. I hope Zane fight for her.
The horrible idea of the letter gives Kelsey the notion of sending one to Charles, a letter of resignation. And the same that I have said about this subject regarding Liza and Josh, I reiterate it here. It’s not a good idea. Charles deserves to know why Kelsey has made that decision and Kelsey must tell him to his face, she must give him the necessary explanations face to face.
That said, let’s talk about Kelsey’s decision. Since the previous episode, I feel that she didn’t fight for her position, and here I feel the same. It has not been easy and much less when her own companions laugh at her, but the truth is that it was not fair to be thrown out like that … and I want her to fight to make that injustice known, and reach as high as she can get, showing everyone that no matter how many times she falls, she always gets up. But she hasn’t done it. Kelsey has given up. I hope that when people find out about the decision, someone talks to Kelsey and she realizes she can’t give up.
I liked that the show understands that they have put a man back in charge of the company in a world of men, to the detriment of a woman. Of course, that doesn’t exempt them from how bad they have done with the subject, but at least they don’t ignore it. What I did not like at all has been Liza’s half defense with that comment of “it is not a matter of women against men.” What the hell?! That has never been the subject, or the intention. There are no women against men, but women have to fight against injustices and vocalize them, raise their voices and that doesn’t mean that we go against men, it means that we fight for ourselves. We will not shut up, and whoever doesn’t like can go to hell. What has happened has been a damn injustice, and I don’t understand how Liza doesn’t recognize it and half apologizes. Sorry, but no.
What I liked about Liza is that she defended Kelsey the rest of the time, in front of everyone and even when Kelsey had somehow go against her at the meeting.
DRUNK DIANA IS MY SPIRIT ANIMAL!
Now everything is upside down waiting for the season finale that promises to be frantic. I can’t wait!
Agree? Disagree? Don’t hesitate to share your opinion with us in the comments below! We’ll be back next week with the season finale.
Younger airs on Wednesday, at 10/9c on TV Land.
