Younger Season 5 Episode 4 Review: The Talented Mr. Ridley
Lizzy Buczak
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There are so many layers to Charles' anger. It's almost as if he's going through the five stages of grief.
On Younger Season 5 Episode 4, we get to explore the "petty Charles stage" as he attempts to punish Liza for lying to him.
I'm hopeful for their eventual reconciliation because the fact that he's getting to the next stages means that he'll come to terms with it and possibly even give her a chance to explain.
On Younger Season 5 Episode 3, it seemed like Charles never wanted to see Liza again, but now he's acknowledging her, openly calling her out in front of people, and punishing Don Ridley, a writer who has taken an interest in her.
It means that somewhere, probably deep-down inside, he wants to fix this and hear her truth.
Let's just hope it happens sooner rather than later. I really don't like seeing them in this rocky, unbalanced state.
In fact, he did make some personal growth by apologizing to her for almost sabotaging Millennial because of his personal emotions.
Liza: The killer would stay off the radar. Let someone else accuse and then pounce. Like you did.
Charles: You sound paranoid. And guilty.
He may not be ready to admit that he needs her just yet, but for his business' sake, he needs to be ready to admit that the company needs her.
I imagine being that vulnerable and admitting defeat was hard, but it slightly recenters his character again.
His outbursts, though expected, have been very uncharacteristic as of late.
Did anyone realize that his outer appearance -- specifically the messy hair -- matched how disheveled he was on the inside? It fits the image of a man who is losing grip on both his personal and his professional life.
But by the end, he resembled the man we've come to know, and he was able to put aside his own hurt and acknowledge that this is bigger than the two of them.
He knew it wouldn't be Liza's lie that did the most damage to a company already taking massive hits; it would be his own personal emotions.
His reaction -- like calling out Ridley for taking a pork chop to go -- also proves that he cares deeply about Liza more than he ever let on.
Although let's be honest, who hasn't pocketed food after a party?
He can't control his emotions, his disappointment, his jealousy, or his pride. And try as he might, he cannot fully push her away.
Realistically, if he just shrugged it off and weren't phased by the deceit, it would have meant he didn't truly have feelings for her.
Now this new guy, I can't really put my finger on his intentions.
I want to believe that Don is a good guy who just happened to take an interest in Liza, but he's a journalist. A journalist who had no qualms about exposing all of Hollywood's elite for a book deal, might I add.
Since he's written for such prestigious publications and exposed his fair share of scandals, I'm willing to go on a limb and say his investigative nose is pretty good at sniffing around and finding out the truth.
Maybe he's actually trying to expose Liza, Empirical and Millennial? Maybe Pauline hired him? There wasn't even a peep from her which is odd considering she'd figured out Charles and Liza's deeper connection.
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Charles may have been shrewd in shutting his pitches down, but he wasn't exactly wrong -- they were half-assed ideas. It very well could be that he was just trying to finagle his way into the company and gain Liza's trust.
And what better way than to lie about who you are upfront and then reveal the truth? Ha, see what I did there.
He is a man desperate for money in New York, after all.
Zane: I said crash, not smash.
Kelsey: They’re synonymous.
Zane: That’s presumptuous.
Liza is very understanding when she learns the truth because she's in no position to judge when she has been lying about her identity this whole time.
I could be reading too much into it, and Don could just be another dude in Liza's way to ultimate happiness with Charles.
Am I opposed to her having a fling with Don? Not exactly. Do I think it's poor timing? 100%.
What is this really proving to Charles? She tells him she wants to explain herself because she cares about him but then runs off with another dude the very minute he sends her an invite to some lavish party.
In no way should Liza put her life on hold for a man or prove anything to him, but she isn't exactly convincing Charles that she's someone deserving of another chance.
And it infuriates me because she told Don that she wasn't dating at the moment and then went right back on her word.
Though, I love this new badass attitude Liza has since Charles knows.
She's not acquiescing; she's fighting back, sticking up for herself and basically saying she isn't going to be treated lesser just because she made a mistake.
Plus, she kind of has the upper hand here!
While watching Charles and Liza navigate this new dynamic is fun, this episode would have been much duller without Diana's dating life spicing things up.
This party, like my marriage, is officially too gay for its own good.
Diana
Who knew that a broken toilet could lead her back to the super hot plumber from Younger Season 3 Episode 4 that she should have dated instead of man-child Richard?
And take them all the way to Staten Island for their first date! It was something straight out of those Harlequin fantasies only a bit timider... this time.
They always say don't judge a book by its cover, but in this instance, it's good that she judged based off of looks and didn't let pride get in the way, again, because it allowed her to uncover a whole new side to Enzo.
And since she assumed he wouldn't meet her standards and kept her expectations low, she was pleasantly surprised. Turns out, plumbers actually make a lot of money in New York!
And even though this was so unlike her, at the same time, it was so her, so I'm glad she finally gave it a shot!
The takeaway lesson -- sometimes, something great might be disguised behind a tacky (or genius, depending on how you look at it) phrase like "Son of a Plumb." Plus, it's not like being picky with her men ever did her any good.
Liza's joy with Diana finally finding "someone" was so pure, I'm worried about what will happen when she learns the truth about her only friend.
Kelsey and Zane's cat-and-mouse-game is sexy, but it also needs to come to a head -- are they doing this thing or are they not?
Josh also needs to get out and make some new friends. And by friends, I don't mean friends with benefits. Or Liza's friends.
Honestly, does he have anyone that isn't part of Liza's circle to lean on?
While I love me some Josh and Maggie time because he's right, she does make everything better; I don't think that hanging out with your ex's best friend is going to fix this one.
He's served his purpose for Liza -- to be the man that opens her eyes to new experiences and shows her that love is possible following a divorce -- but now, he needs to refocus and realize it's time for him to find that love.
He needs to take a step back, take what he learned with Liza and implement it.
I just want to remind you that the last time you picked up a stray, you married her.
Maggie
And I hope that for his sake, they do away with him finding that "soulmate" until he really has time to be alone and figure out what he wants out of a relationship.
All he knows is Liza, so he keeps going back to that even though deep down, he knows she isn't the one.
And "numbing" the pain with sex and alcohol has never actually worked for anyone.
The whole storyline with the dog and his hook-up-of-the-week also felt so forced.
Did the writers run out of ideas for his character now that Liza's out of the picture romantically?
Make sure you do that thing where you watch Younger online right here at TV Fanatic. The floor is open for discussion!
Lizzy Buczak was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in June 2021..
