BWW Recap: Liza and Kelsey 'Stick it to Achilles,' & More, on YOUNGER

Hey, YOUNGER fans! Let's waste no time with an intro this week - we all know Kelsey, and her imprint, are in hot water after Jade's big reveal. So, let's get right to it!

Again, as we all know from last week, there is no book. And, as Kelsey states, there also "never was a book. There will never be a book." She says all this, of course, 'cause she's catching Liza up on what went down in the previous episode ('cause as we viewers know, she was in Jersey). Kelsey tells Liza to just lay low through morning meeting and not to mention anything to Charles or Diana.

Who, it turns out, are wrapped up in their own B-plot: they're attempting to poach the no-holds-barred feminist author Hugh Shirley away from rival publishing company Achilles. It seems there has been an ncident with the latter company (the specifics of which are surprisingly not mentioned throughout the entire episode. Hmmm...), which has led to boycotts from various bookstores, agents, and - as is the case with Hugh Shirley - authors. (I know, doesn't sound like a big deal, but keep it in mind. It might be important later - wink wink).

To the prep for the meeting with Hugh, Diana views one of his lectures. She's a bit... uh... disgusted, to say the least, as... well, let's just say "no-holds-barred" is the perfect way to describe him (Notice Liza's apprehension, too, as she presses 'PLAY' on the video... priceless!) But, knowing how huge the deal could be for Empirical (and while we're on the subject, doesn't it seem like every deal at Empirical is "huge" before COMPLICATIONS ensue?), she sucks it up and sweet-talks him into signing with them, stating "I'm not going to sell this as a book, I'm going to sell this as an anthem," citing the book as THE FEMINIST MYSTIQUE for the present day, and how "in Empirical's hands, [Shirley] will be nothing less than the new Betty Friedan."

It works (Hugh agrees - yay!), but perhaps a little too well... as an afternoon meeting to discuss lectures - insert your own innuendo, 'cause there's tons of material for you - turns into a dinner... and no, the writers are in no way trying to "suggest" where this might be going... rather, they're spelling it outright.

Trout Pout's clearly fed up and further disgusted, and the topic of conversation elevates into something so "revolting" that she finally puts her foot down, telling him: "I appreciate your intentions and I'm going to ensure that your book is a mammoth success, but try as you may, you can never know what it is like to be a woman. You can wear as many tampons or bosoms as you like, but you'll never understand what we go through."

Which should be enough. But surely, Shirley has a response - and it's a doozie: "You're absolutely right. It's such a Catch 22. Men can't be women, and yet we can't help feminism from the outside. We just need to find a way to get inside women. I just want to be inside you."

And, as you might have guessed, that line's just enough to rope Trout-y right back in. And it does more than rope her back in, as ferociously making out in the streets turns into going home for a little sumpin' sumpin'.

But Hugh, apparently still hooked on experiencing life as a woman, wants to ensure, despite Diana's protests, that she really wants this. ("This is too special a connection to ruin with a one-night-stand," he says). Therefore, he sends her home in the taxi alone, telling her to call the next day if she still feels the same way about him as she did that night.

Diana looks miserable, but - as she's been doing since they met - she sucks it up. :-)

That's where we end with that plot. But based on how it ended, there's no way they're over for good, and no doubt Hugh Shirley will be back next week. It'll be interesting to see how their relationship plays out - especially because Diana now seems attracted to Hugh - and how it affects her feelings/flirt-ings/whatever you want to call them, with Charles, as she's clearly not giving up on him, either. (Case in point, at the beginning of the episode, in the scene between Diana and Charles, we get our Diana-flirt-attempt du jour: "I will be gamier than ever.")

It'll be really great to see, too, how their personal relationship affects Hugh's project with the company and the future of their deal... because the characters' personal relationships almost NEVER affect their professional work. Especially on this show. Like, what?! No! Never! ;-)

But, anyway - speaking of author/editor deals gone wrong - let's get back to that initial morning meeting... and our main event.

So the meeting (coincidentally about Shirley, triggering the B-plot) ends, and all's looking good. Seeing a way out, Liza makes a beeline for the door. Too late, though, as she's soon cornered by Charles, who - obviously - asks how the Winslow book is coming along.

Liza surprisingly doesn't have an answer prepared, and panics, telling him that she actually has the first chapter and "it is so good." Yikes! She then continues (!!!), promising to hand-deliver it to him the next day so he can read it himself. Wait.. WHAT?! Oof, Liza! Hasn't the one lie gotten you into enough trouble?! Why do it again?! What good can come from this?! Aaah!

Kelsey (poor Kelsey) is understandably, freaking out. And, to make matters worse, she finds out - via Twitter again - that Jade has spent the last of her advance, officially killing their chances of ever getting their money back.

But wait! Liza (oh, Liza) has an idea: "[Jade] basically posts every moment of her life online [and] we already own all of her social media. I just need to add a little narrative, come up with some imaginative profanity... I CAN DO THAT in a night." So, Liza will write the first chapter of the book... interesting. And yes, Kelsey questions how she'll use that technique to write the entire book, but Liza assures her friend that she has that covered, too.

Just want to say it's interesting to note that Liza's the one coming up with all these ideas.

Despite Kelsey being the main editor - she even refers to Liza as her associate - Liza clearly has more experience - and yet, because she's under this 26-year-old facade, she cannot outwardly be the "motherly advice giver" that we know she desperately... not necessarily "wants" to be, but definitely can be.

So, again, it's interesting to consider: on the surface - and to Kelsey's knowledge - she just has an idea and is expressing it to her friend/business partner. On the other hand, she's an older person, expressing wisdom onto a younger person... under the guise of the younger person's younger friend. It's just genius-ly done on the writer's part... and a great way to play with Liza's "40-year-old persona" during her scenes with Kelsey! (And so subtly done that Kelsey doesn't even notice! Ha!)

But back to the story... the plan is set. So, Liza furiously writes away in her apartment - interspersed with a few flirty texts from Josh, because why not? - and by the end of the night, the first chapter of ZERO F&*#S GIVEN, Jade Winslow's "Beauty-Industry Explosé" (nice wordplay there, writers!!), is complete.

And yet, the fun is just beginning. She and Kelsey then enlist Lauren to help leak the chapter onto The Cut, a popular COSMO-esque fashion blog - so that it can be out there where anyone (wink wink) can see it. Sounds like another part of their plan.

Despite this, however, Charles is pretty pissed, and makes the women swear it won't happen again, stating, "One chapter whips up interest. Any more than that's too much."

True, but it turns out, as Liza said earlier, one chapter is really all they need, and it seems to have caught the eye of Brad Westlake, a former co-intern of Kelsey's - "who was so far up everyone's ass they called him the Butt Plug" - who now works as a publishing assistant at Achilles, that rival publishing company I mentioned before (hmmmm.....)

First, I should mention, Brad has a few words to say about the Achilles boycott situation, stating: "It's never gonna last. In the end, money always wins." (And again, I say that because it might just come in handy later).

Kelsey arranges to meet with him and with the ulterior motive set, totally wraps him around her finger throughout their entire conversation. She tells him how "publishing houses have been calling all day with offers, [how] Charles was so pissed about the leak" (well, that one's not a total lie ;-) ) - "it took every I had to keep him from selling it" and how that was because "none of those offers were anywhere near what I would let it go for." Sneaky sneaky Kelsey. She's setting the cheese in the trap... and she totally knows Brad'll bite.

As if on cue, Brad asks right then, "How much would you let it go for?" (If this were one of those LIZZIE MCGUIRE episodes Duff used to do, I could totally see a cut to little animated Lizzie saying, "And trap snapped!") Bingo.

Kelsey doesn't budge initially (don't worry, it's all part of the plan), but after hearing how hard the agent/author boycotts have been for Brad and how much landing the Winslow book would mean for his morale, Kelsey says she'll sell it to him for - wait for it - $500,000.

Brad agrees - because, as he said, "Money always wins," - and Kelsey calls it a deal.

So, in the end, their plan works! And they're out of the woods!

(For the record, Charles is disappointed, but notes that the whole scheme was "totally legal" as the subject material was pulled from social media that Empirical had already owned.) Notice his smile there, too - yes, he's pissed, but he can't hide how happy he is that, in enacting this plan, they totally, as Kelsey's text to him revealed, "stuck it to Achilles."

And the icing on the cake is, of course, what Kelsey told Jade, when the latter calls up the former, frantic and panicking that she's been sold out: "I don't want my book at Achilles. I refuse to have my book at Achilles."

The editor's response? What else? Naturally, it's "Bitch. There is no book." And, yeah, kinda rude, but isn't it what Jade told her before? #Karma #SorryNotSorry

So, I guess Jade wasn't the next Bjornberg either. Well, at least they got her off her plate. Definitely a bullet dodged.

I liked this plot, and definitely loved its execution. I, again, loved how it utilized Liza's motherly advice in a subtle way, and in doing that, also allowed Liza to save the day (which, I can only assume, will definitely work in her favor when she eventually reveals to the entire staff that's she's really 40).

I will say, however, that, in the vein of THE BABUSHKA plot from last season, the arc as a whole felt a little rushed (it only lasted about three episodes), and I think they could've spaced it out a little more, and added a bit more interaction with Jade - the whole "there is no book" last week, too, came on a little too fast - but I guess that's what happens when your season only has 12 episodes, and you're fighting to fit everything all in. Oh, well. Ya can't win 'em all.

But on the bright side, Millennial Press lives to see another day and, as Charles notes, the ladies now have a ton of money. What will they do with it? Pursue another author? Or, in typical YOUNGER fashion, blow it all on something and get themselves into more trouble? (Well, that's seriously a guess. I really don't know). Either way, it's exciting and I can't wait to find out!!!

Side note: This episode also includes a tiny semi-subplot involving Liza dealing with COMPLICATIONS from "40-year-old shoulder." It's pretty comical, but like the FitBit plot from earlier, it really, at the end of the day, only serves as comic relief.

In other words, it has its moments - the one-liner: "[You] just won't be able to raise your arm above a heil." and Foster's deadpan: "That's... inconvenient" is a particularly enjoyable one; "30? Who you kidding?" from the manicurist also made me LOL! - but it really (TBH) serves no other purpose.

Though, I will note, thematically, it does act as a nice throughway to integrate Liza's 40-year-old life within her 26-year-old life. And hey, isn't that what Josh asked for? (Hmmm... Josh... be careful what you wish for!) From that standpoint, kudos to the writers, and I hope we see more of that integrated throughout the series - just don't take up valuable "Jade/Kelsey" storyline time!! ;-)

And we also get a short(er) plot between Maggie and Lauren, which hints at Lauren moving in and Maggie potentially working with her/for her/part-time creating art decor for Hector and Dorff.

For one, it's awesome to see that the writers are developing that relationship, and that it's BECOMING a bit more serious. Lauren and Maggie's relationship is like the May-December relationship that we know about, as opposed to Liza and Josh, who have the "hidden", and complicated May-December relationship.

On that note, too, the former couple seem to have a lot less issues than the latter (sorry - but it's true!) But, maybe with this push of having them moving in together and then semi-working together, it's hinting that there might be more to come, as they're clearly BECOMING more of a serious couple. (A glimpse of this "more" may have been Lauren's protestation to Hector and Dorff using her piece as adornment rather than displaying it for what it is). Trouble in paradise? Only time will tell....

For now, just have a great week... and 'til next time.... stay YOUNGER. Bye, y'all!

Photo Credit: TV Land