BWW Recap: Liza Takes a Ball to the Face, and Rejoins Book Club on This Week's YOUNGER

Hey, all you YOUNGER fans! Excited for this week's recap? Ready to see what kind of trouble Liza gets herself into this week? With a return to 40-year-old life for her both physically and mentally, she's headed for a doozie! (Okay, I know I've said that before, but considering she's a woman who, week after week, continues to masquerade as someone 14 years her junior, would you really expect anything less than that?!) Onto our weekly rehash:

We open in a delicatessen, where Liza's eating breakfast while skimming through ANNA KARENINA (three cheers for the BUNHEADS reference!), when she unexpectedly bumps into Charles. When he notices what Liza's reading, he suggests she browse through the Slush Pile at work, a "trash collection" of sorts containing old manuscripts deemed unfit for publication. (Side note: LOVED the line about keeping a secret. Oh, if Charles only knew!!) When Liza goes back to the office, she and Kelsey read off some examples. Of course, it's all fun and games until.... Liza finds one she likes.

She reads through her selection, titled THE SCARF, and mulls over the inciting plot with Kelsey, questioning why the piece landed in the Slush Pile... and why it hasn't been published. Kelsey tells Liza that if she really believes the book has potential to be big, Liza should start making some noise on a grassroots level (that's where books like these start); for example, bring it to a book club. Ah, perfect... 'cause who belongs to one of those? Why, Liza of course... well, 40-year-old Liza anyway.

With a newfound mission, she then revisits her book club, and sure enough, these "bored housewives with their Oprah picks and bottomless glasses of Pinot Grigio" eat it up. One gives it the comparison of "WINTER'S BONE meets SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS," two more relate to it in literary terms, calling it "a parable," and one says it's simply "genius." For Liza, that's enough positive feedback to petition to get it published! Back at the office, she does just that; after a GoodReads user (props for the real-life site promotion!) asks where she can purchase the book, Liza responds with "Contact Empirical Press" and demand that they publish the book. And that ends that, for now.

Will we come back to this plotline? I think it'd be really great if we did, and this was the episode where the "plan" was set in motion, and then we see it blossom over the next several episodes, like we saw with the Anton/Kelsey plot. The only problem is that there are less episodes left in the season for this book plot to blossom than there were for the editor-author lovebirds, which might result in - dare I say - a rushed plot!

On the other hand, it would sure be interesting to follow Liza through this plan - and have her succeed - before she eventually ruins everything with her reveal (I mean... she has to ruin everything, doesn't she? Dorothy Michaels did!) It could change some people's minds about how they might otherwise view her. Like "you didn't think I could do well at my job as a 26-year-old and I did, but I'm actually 40; so, though, I lied to you and you might be angry, you can see I've actually done well for this company, so maybe you won't fire me?" Does that description make sense? And if it does, don't you think it's plausible? Would make for a good reason to keep her on, despite the lie, wouldn't it? Just thinkin' out loud.

But onto plot line #2. Josh drags Liza into a dodgeball game, which doesn't end well, as Liza's pegged in the face within seconds. To make matters a little bit worse, the thrower's revealed to be Jen, a girl with whom Josh had a one-night-stand back in his college days. Jen warns Liza, that while Josh is "gorgeous," he's "dumb as a box of hair." Now, I believe she was just saying that 'cause she was jealous... as in, "he was dumb enough to leave me"; however, Liza takes it literally - as evidenced by her tripped-out hallucination of him struggling to guess the plural of ice - and begins to question his intelligence and, by proxy, how she perceives him. Yeah, this is going where you think it's going.

Unfortunately, his answers to her questions about his life don't make things any better, and only prompt further judgment from Liza: he doesn't read (except for Japanese manga), and he dropped out of college after one semester, blowing off his classes to smoke weed. In an attempt to salvage her ideal PERCEPTION of him, Liza proposes Josh pick up a book. Uh oh. Wrong move. Abort abort abort abort.

Things get progressively more awkward, and after a super tense conversation that begins with him saying, "I'm just gonna tell you some things about me, because I'm not really sure you've been paying attention," Liza knows she's struck out for the night. But wait... it ends with Josh saying, "Maybe I don't know that much about you either." Ouch. Well, on the other hand, he's not wrong; he just doesn't know he's not wrong, so......

After a girl talk with Maggie (doesn't she always make things better?!) and a brief period of unresponsive texts, Liza meets up with Josh in the park and apologizes. And get this - she legitimately says, "I think I was looking for a problem ['cause] I just don't wanna be blindsided by one down the road." Ooh.. Liza. You're one to talk.

Fantastic dramatic irony: that we know (and Liza knows) that Liza's the one with the problem, yet she's the one who said that to Josh - and Josh still has no idea that she's even hiding anything in the first place - just gives me chills. Chills, people!

Admitting that she's less "emotionally smarter" (Josh's word) than he is - and by making up for her mistake with apology sex (I presume) - Liza's free and in the clear. So, all is forgiven. You know, until he finds out she's been lying to him this whole time, posing as a 26-year-old when she's really 40. But... for now, if it ain't broke....

Two thoughts. First: With the exception of that first scene with Charles (which is actually pretty heavy on the flirting if you ask me), there's no(t much) focus on the fireworks sparking BETWEEN he and Liza. To that end, there's also NO Anton whatsoever. So, did his ending it with Kelsey mean he's ended it with Empirical? And how did the fallout with Kelsey and Annika conclude? I liked the story of this episode and didn't need it interrupted by the Kelsey/Anton drama, and I know they'll probably deal with all those issues later on (they have to, right?), but to not at least reference what happened (especially with Kelsey present in this episode; it'd be a different story, I'll admit, if she wasn't present) is a little bit of a letdown, especially given how we ended last week. Oh, well. Keeps us on our toes.

Second - and this one perhaps explains why the inappropriate workplace romances were excluded this week - I appreciate how this episode focuses on aspects of Liza's "old" life throughout the whole episode: in one plot, she physically returns to life in her 40s by rejoining book club; in the other, she's still "26", but becomes 40 mentally, through her behavior; as she says, "Critical... judgmental... like I have any right." After all the crazy escapades we went on last week, it's great to see her revisit and return to who she really is. It's also nice in general, in a show that's so focused on her being "younger," that we have these little scenes and moments where we see her as her old, real self. It's also fantastic to have that comparison too - we really see how much she/her looks/her attitude has changed. She's not just a bored suburban housewife anymore, folks! And maybe there'll be a moment (not to get too tacky and cheesy) where she'll realize she surprised herself. Though I'd soooo go more for the OMG-she-almost-ruined-everything-reveal a la TOOTSIE. I just love me some drama!

On a closing note: though her appearance was waaaaay too brief this week, I gotta give it up to Diana, and Miriam Shor's brilliant deadpan delivery of the line: "Cute. My niece plays dodgeball. She also calls jeans hard pants because's she's six." The line about kennel cough also made me chuckle a bit too. Glad the show retains such humor... even when it's not centered around Liza's psuedo-slang. (Also HILARIOUS... "Sometimes I fantasize about being... in Brooklyn".)

Well, guys, that's all for now. 'Til next time... stay YOUNGER.

Photo Credit: TV Land

To post a comment, you must register and login.