Younger Season 4 Episode 4 Review: In the Pink
Carissa Pavlica
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With Younger Season 4 Episode 4, everything feels so right again.
Just to make sure we were all on the same page, Liza even asked Kelsey if it was all good. Once Kelsey understood the lengths to which her friend had gone to care for her daughter, the tension abated.
That made "In the Pink" a bit of a throwback to the good ol' days of Younger when boy problems seemed like real troubles.
The first item of business was raising Liza beyond the level of assistant, even if only in title.
Because they can't afford a new assistant for Diana in addition to Liza's salary increase, she'll continue doing all the work she's been doing. At least now she'll be paid for her efforts and have a shiny new title and business cards!
Plus, would we want to lose the dynamic between Diana and Liza? Diana's inappropriate barging to ask for a cup of coffee when Liza's doing some of Millennial's most important work is priceless.
I enjoyed the setup of losing their prolific author for the new storylines. If offers a lot of material down the road. Empirical seems to have a lot of very old partnerships in the business, and getting new clients hasn't been the easiest for them.
Relying on old money streams is a source that can dry up in a snap. Kelsey took the bull by the horns with one of her favorite childhood authors, Laughlin Flynn, and even got a date out of the deal.
Charles Michael Davis brought his smooth moves and winning smile to the role of Zane Anders, and the character was quite a match for Kelsey.
Zane: He's ready to say he's not coming. I'm Zane Anders, Laughlin Flynn's editor, but you already knew that.
Kelsey: Sorry...
Zane: Don't play dumb, Kelsey, you're too smart for that. I'm actually a fan of Millennial. It's a cute imprint.
Kelsey: Is cute code for girly? I mean, we do skew female, but young women do still read books. Young men think they know everything already.
Even better, he's the exact opposite of the doppelbangers she's always into, so he'd present to her a challenge professionally, intellectually and by way of upending the traditional men she toys with when she's playing games.
Zane: He's ready to say he's not coming. I'm Zane Anders, Laughlin Flynn's editor, but you already knew that.
Kelsey: Sorry...
Zane: Don't play dumb, Kelsey, you're too smart for that. I'm actually a fan of Millennial. It's a cute imprint.
Kelsey: Is cute code for girly? I mean, we do skew female, but young women do still read books. Young men think they know everything already.
Of course, as soon as they discover in each other equal sparring partners that could move to the next level, Laughlin rears up with an apology about missing the meeting in the morning.
The timing of everything is suspicious, though. How did Zane know where to find Kelsey for the first meeting with Laughlin? How did Laughlin know she had just ended a date with Zane?
It will be interesting to see how that all plays out.
Like me, someone else must have figured Lauren with a man just wasn't working out. It's not in her DNA to be partnered with a guy who like Max. A doctor? No.
Lauren has been bored stiff and mistakenly forgot Teen Diary 101 rules that require all rating and important news to be written in code. For shame, Lauren. For shame!!
Anybody who lived through their teen years knowing a mother was whiffling through the pages of her diary didn't use words like Lauren's in their diary. The stickers along would have done fine. A red dot could have meant love for all he knew. She could have kept the key elsewhere!
The thing about girls is that even if we're bored as stiff planks, we do not want anyone to make the decision about leaving but us. Was that taken out of Lauren's hands?
It sure looked like it by the time she was wallowing into Maggie's lap. Of course, Maggie needed a head to clutch after losing Montana to Josh and Liza's damage.
Liza: Hey, good morning, what cha up to?
Montana: I BANGED YOUR EX BOYRIEND I'M SORRY!
Maggie: She really didn't know.
Montana: I didn't.
Liza: Oh. That's fine. Really. Bang away. Like a screen door in a hurricane.
Montana: OK.
Liza: Yeah, OK. I'm going to go to work now. Have a nice day.
Maggie already lost Montana as a girl toy to heteroism and then to Josh, but to lose the last remaining vestiges because of Liza guilt sucks.
Girl cannot catch a break, mostly because there simply isn't enough time for her break to be caught on Younger. I'm still aiming for her spinoff.
Thanks to Kelsey's friendship renewal, Liza found a guy who was her age. He was maybe a little too into her too quickly, which should probably have been a giveaway.
Hell, Liza's amazing. Anyone should be into her straight away, so it's hard to understand the signs, right?? It was surprising she told him her secret like she did, but he had his own.
What? I don't see what the big deal is. You're 27 at work, and I'm single in New York.
Diego
He was a liar. It had to sting a little to be with someone, even momentarily, who would be doing the same thing to you that you did to others.
But I hope it proved to Liza that being with someone her own age feels good, and she's ready to go that route. Maybe that reminder (sans the lying) will help her come to terms with her truth and consider sharing at some point.
Then again with the big promotion, it keeps getting harder.
It's hard to imagine what truth swing is around the corner, but as long as Liza and Kelsey are in this together, it's so much easier to take. Thank God for friendship.
Don't forget, you can watch Younger online for all that you missed!
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.
