Younger Season 2 Episode 12 Review: No Weddings and a Funeral
Carissa Pavlica
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Who is Liza going to choose?!
The cliffhanger for Younger Season 2 Episode 12 was an amazing kiss from Charles and an offer for Liza to reunite with Josh.
Liza's secret is still safe, and with one man she would have to keep it and with the other, she could be partly free. But even with that freedom comes a price, because the conversations she has with the younger fellow just don't stack up against what she has with Charles. They just don't.
It's a decent place to leave the season, as worrying about the overall arc would be too much. Thinking about the relationship aspect? We can handle that.
From one surprising twist to another, shortly after we saw the reaction on Liza's face to Thad going SPLAT, we found out he had a twin, Chad. Chad is the kinder, gentler Thad, and the one who was always one step behind. He also has a mad crush on Kelsey.
Whether that will eventually lead into something will be for another season, but something tells me it might. After all, there was a lot of Thad that Kelsey really liked, and as bizarre as the whole Chad thing is, if he really is the nicer of the two, maybe this was always meant to be.
Then again, maybe he's just weird, and I'm over thinking.
Kelsey couldn't cry after Thad died. Not a single tear. The girls he slept with and flirted with at the office, though, were tittering like a bunch of little birds, annoying the hell out of Kelsey after the funeral.
Josh and Liza decided to be sad together, kind of for all times' sake, I suppose.
Josh: That was great!
Liza: That was mourning sex.
Josh: What are you talking about? It's three o'clock in the afternoon!
Liza: You know what I mean...?
After the conversations Liza had recently with Charles and the writer who may or may not have had a very weird way of shearing his sheep, getting lost in the communication so quickly seemed to throw Liza. It sure threw me.
Whether or not anyone out there who has a crush on Josh wants to admit it, little things like that can make you resent the person you're with. You want to be on the same level intellectually just as much as you are physically, and when you're not, it stings.
Especially when words are your passion.
Not to mention that I really didn't think Josh was dating Gretchen, but he was beyond dating her. He gave her a key to his place, which she used while they had barely wiped the sweat off their brows from their first round of sexcapades. Liza never had a key to Josh's place. That stings, as well.
Then Josh pushed Liza out the window. Not liking that whole situation at all. We'll get back to it.
Because when Chad discovered that not only was Liza with Thad when he died, but they were fighting, Liza picked what she thought was the easier of the two truths to out. After all, Thad was dead. She told Kelsey she was looking out for her friend and hoping Thad would tell the truth to her about cheating.
That didn't sit nearly as well as Liza hoped, and Kelsey boarded a morality train, ramming straight into Liza. Instead of dealing with it and waiting for the other secrets to come to light on Thad's laptop, Liza quit Empirical, saying she got an offer she couldn't refuse.
Of course that wasn't true, as anybody could refuse a retail job at Paramus Mall, and everyone wanted her back. Nobody had to twist Charles' arm to head to Paramus to talk her into returning.
The longer they're in scenes together, the more I like them. That thing Sutton Foster does when she's in a scene with Peter Hermann just gets me every time. They're really selling it, those two.
But Charles' pitch to Liza was about mistakes you make when you're young and remembering that they do not affect the rest of your life. Or something like that. The point is that it comes with the youth angle and the lies. He wanted her to think about how much they wanted her to return and a kiss. Finally. A kiss.
The look on her face proved it was definitely something worth thinking about, too. So the big decision is youth, lies and an otherwise real and comfortable relationship where they share so much common ground or age, truth and comfort where they share very little.
Of course Liza went back. And that lie is still there. The premise of the show requires it to be there. It's kind of like The Good Wife and Jane the Virgin. What happens if the premise changes? Will the title, as well?
I'd love to think the issue of being younger could still be examined without the lie in some manner, but that's for the experts to decide. The lie just hurts more people the longer it continues.
When Kelsey broke down and grasped Liza saying, "Please don't ever disappear on me again!" it was very obvious the lie would have to end for their friendship to survive in the long term. What they have is very special. It will stand the test of time; even that related to vast differences in age.
Watching the fallout over Liza telling the truth eventually would be just as compelling as her keeping the lie, don't you think? In any event, we have to wait now. Bring on Season 3!! I can't wait. How about you?
If you want to remember each and every glorious minute until it returns, you can watch Younger online right here via TV Fanatic!
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
