BWW Recap: Liza Gets Real with Josh on YOUNGER Season Finale

What a whirlwind Liza has been on this season! And unfortunately for her, it doesn't get ease up in the final installment - if anything, it's even more crazy!! As she tries to patch things up with Josh (remember, she came clean with him at the end of last week's episode), she's hit with another huge roadblock at work, which puts her in another awkward position which may not only lead to legal trouble, but commands her to face compromising her moral values. Though there are no literal fireworks present, it wouldn't be inaccurate to say this episode's an explosive finale, capping off a season of blunders and hijinks as only the YOUNGER writers can create.

Want more? (Of course you do!) Read on...

Things start off pretty normally at work. Apparently, Ellen DeGeneres has written a (fictitious) new memoir, and Empirical is first in line to make a bid to publish the book. Charles makes it clear to everyone: Do everything you can to secure this for the company; "I do not want to lose this book." (Remember this for later. That's all I'm gonna say).

After giving Liza some instruction, Diana goes off to a business lunch, but doesn't say who she's meeting. While delivering a wallet Diana forgot at the office, Liza learns the identity of Diana's lunch date - Cheryl Sussman (Broadway's Martha Plimpton, most recently of this season's A DELICATE BALANCE), a woman with whom Liza had previously worked at Random House Publishing 14 years ago!! Luckily, she ducks out without revealing her identity... but of course, causes havoc while doing so, enraging Diana.

Close call, but Liza seems to have left unscathed (even if Cheryl hasn't ;-) ). But then... Diana returns, and calls Liza into her office, with her signature Trout Pout 'tude, for a chat. Ruh roh. But we can all breathe easily as the emergency - while still quite huge - involved Cheryl's sweater not being dry-cleanable... not anything to do with Liza and her age. Phew! She also reveals that Cheryl "wanted to have lunch to pump me for information on [the] Ellen book deal." You know, the one that was supposed to be top secret? Hmmm....

Liza leaves the office, wiping her brow, from the second bullet she's dodged this episode, and answers her phone... to find Cheryl on the other end, demanding to know "what the hell is going on." Oops.

We breathe another - phew! - sigh of relief, when we return from commercial break and see Liza and Cheryl at a bar, Liza having explained the situation to Cheryl, and see the two of them laughing about the whole thing. And Cheryl totally sides with Liza, too - "the real crime is that no one will give a 40-year-old woman the chance to start over again." Wow, so things seem to be going pretty smoothly. Doesn't seem like Liza's in danger at all. Cheryl even agrees to not spill Liza's secret to Diana. But wait! She wants a "small favor" in return: she wants to see the marketing budget numbers for the Ellen book. You know, the ones that are top secret and confidential? Yep. Yep. There it is. There's the catch. Remember, Charles' warning: "I don't want to lose this book"? Yeah, that'd be something that'd probably lose them the bid, as Cheryl's company, after seeing the numbers, would make a higher bid and win the book. So, there's no way Liza could do that. But if she doesn't, Cheryl'll spill the beans on Liza's secret. So... pickle. Side note: Can I also just say what a b**** Cheryl is? No "friend" of Liza would be that condescending! That snarky look as she sips her drink... and that spiteful comment about how she hasn't stopped working - I mean, was that really necessary? Cheryl, like Diana, needs to be taken down a peg! #shade #CherylsTheNewDiana

The girl talk with Maggie doesn't help much, either, with Maggie telling her to just do what Cheryl tells her, because "you're living in a shadow world, and sometimes, every now and then, you have to play shadow rules."

Back at the office, the pressure continues to rise, as Liza receives a threatening-in-tone e-mail from Cheryl. A nervous Liza attempts to back out of the deal, mentioning the legal repercussions if they're caught, but Cheryl snaps back with a spine-tingling response: "I can keep a secret if you can." Oooh... this is bad!!! But I also can't look away. :-/

Cut to Liza, delivering the documents to Cheryl at a bar. The latter pops the champagne - "to a wonderful partnership" - assures Liza she's doing the right thing, and giddily opens the folder. But what does she find? The aforementioned e-mail conversation between the two of them, which details Cheryl demanding profit-and-loss and marketing numbers for the Ellen book, which "goes straight to Gawker [gossip site] unless you back off." Awww... snap! Liza turned the tables around! I have to admit, I kinda knew the secret wasn't going to be revealed, but I definitely didn't see that coming! Sneaky, sneaky Liza!

I really like how this plot was dealt with, too. Yet another plot which is both introduced and completed within one episode, but it's okay this time, because the stakes were so much higher that I didn't care. Considering the topic of the plot, too - and its pairing with the other plot within the episode - I feel like, though it's coming from a different angle, it's a plot that we've been dealing with all season, so it didn't feel too "one-and-done." it felt like we had been with the plot all along, and now, as we've come to a season finale, we've gotta bring to a head. Raise the stakes. And that's what they did. Really handled well! What a burn! You go, Liza! And may I say, though Cheryl's a complete snob, I'd love to see her back next season so we can see how this relationship plays out now that Liza's got this dirt on her. Plus, who wouldn't want more Martha Plimpton? I mean, seriously? #winning

So, that's that. On the other hand....

The other side of the coin, aka the plot affecting her personal life, picks up right where left off last week - and it's not good news for Liza. Josh is extremely hurt by Liza's DECEPTION - and she doesn't make it any better, spilling about her daughter and her divorce - and tells her not only that he never wants to see her again, but to "have a nice, fraudulent life." Ouch.

Liza, in turn, is also super sad over the way things ended, and constantly texts Josh, hoping for forgiveness. She comes clean to Kelsey - about the break-up, not about her true age - telling her,

"I still love him. I think I always will." Ever the friend, Kelsey grabs Lauren and they head over to the bar to talk Josh into taking Liza back, but it doesn't go well; Josh turns them away, saying, "Bottom line is I never really knew her." With that, Kelsey goes back to Liza and urges pushes her to open up completely to Josh - "don't hold back... get messy... show him the full Liza."

It's a really nice moment of connection for them, and I'm glad the writers chose to include it, 'cause it

exemplifies how strong their bond is, and we see that in how they look at each other here (notice the tears on Duff's face and the crack in Foster's voice). In a show where she's otherwise conning the boss or getting into weird sex stuff with her underage boyfriend, Liza's forged a genuine friendship with Kelsey. She's got a real girlfriend here, which is so different from how she relates to the other characters; again, Diana's her boss, so there's a hierarchy there; and Josh is/was her boyfriend, so that's romantic; this one's the only relationship (aside from Maggie, but she's from Liza's "real" life) where they're both on equal ground, and it's nice to see that played out, and how meaningful it's become for Liza. It's not just a game anymore. She's really learned to appreciate what she has, and it shows here. And it's great. I'm glad Liza found her.

Heeding Kelsey's advice, Liza drops off a USB drive to Josh's apartment. In a 50 FIRST DATES-esque scene, we then see Josh insert the USB drive into the computer, and watch a montage of clips chronicling Liza's entire 40-year life. (Major props for including the real-life Sutton Foster childhood photos!! Was that from her real prom? I thought she went with David Burtka!) Midway through, the montage switches over to photos of Liza and Josh together, which is clearly her way of not-so-subtly emphasizing how much he means to her, and how she considers him such a vital part of her life.

I think she's hoping he'll see this and reconsider.

Cut to Liza in the street, talking to Caitlin. Apparently, she returns home tomorrow. (I do hope we come back to this - would be kinda awesome to see Caitlin in the same space as the other characters... and would LOVE to see/hear/experience her reaction when she hears what her mother's been doing all this time!)

Josh appears behind her. Remember when I said at the beginning of the season, quoting Sutton Foster herself, that this series has elements of TOOTSIE? The final scene matches the final scene of that movie almost exactly in tone and idea, with Liza playing the Michael Dorsey role: "I'm not expecting for us to pick up right where we left off. All I'm asking for is a new beginning." Just like Michael Dorsey is desperate to forget about the hijinks with Dorothy Michaels and continue his relationship with Julie Nichols, so too is Liza desperate to get Josh to forget about her age, because she loves him. Vowing to start fresh, she sticks out her hand: "I'm Liza Miller. I'm 40, I'm divorced, and I have an 18-year-old daughter named Caitlin." Josh puts his hands in hers: "It's nice to meet you, Liza." They take hands and walk down the street to a coffee shop, with music playing as the scene fades to black. So, pretty much exactly like the end of TOOTSIE.

'Cept that TOOTSIE didn't have a Season 2. So, what's to come of this new relationship? How will it work now that Josh knows the secret? (I guess it won't really, but still....) And how long will the secret be kept from everyone else? Will the secret be kept from everyone else? Or will Liza be able to keep her "age-guise" for another 12 episodes? Guess we'll have to all tune in next season to find out!! Tune in next January 2016 to find out!! #YoungerSeasonTwo

And as for my BWW recapping, that's all she/I wrote! It's been an incredible year, and I'm so appreciative I had the chance to recap all these wonderful series for you guys. Maybe I'll come back in the fall... maybe I won't. I honestly can't say. We'll just have to wait and see.

So, for now, just... stay YOUNGER. ;-)

Bye, y'all! Have a great summer!

Photo Credit: TV Land

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