The season five premiere of TV Land’s Younger has been a long time coming. I don’t know how many days I’ve been counting down, but watching the premiere was a most welcomed distraction from studying for finals. The cast has been teasing the ~scandalous~ plot of the first episode for a while, and I definitely wasn’t disappointed. In fact, my mouth was open the entire time, even during commercial breaks.
This does contain *big* spoilers (and pretty much sums up the half-hour episode), so proceed at your own risk.
1. Liza’s sentimental confession to Charles
The episode opened up to a highly anticipated scene with Charles and Liza alone in his office. I was convinced there would be another hot ‘n’ heavy make out session after finding out what was on that voicemail, but I was completely wrong. The conversation between the star-crossed lovers turned out to be much more serious. Charles asked Liza to speak up if any relations had made her uncomfortable in the past (vague, much?), but she denied any wrongdoing and reiterated that her feelings for him were real and present. Charles clarified that he was speaking about Edward L.L. Moore, and Liza tried to recover quickly from the sentiment she expressed 30 seconds before. I felt awkward for the both of them.
2. Liza’s run-in with Bob the lawyer almost *twice*
In earlier seasons, Liza has run into friends from her past life of being a 40-something divorced mom from New Jersey. She’s always managed to dodge the bullet by skirting around why she moved to Brooklyn or why her sense of style looks particularly younger. This time it was a little too close for my comfort. When Liza went to pick up a salad for Diana at a place nearby, Bob (the father of Caitlin’s college roommate) just happened to be there. And then after Liza makes a quick dash back to the office, he shows up again at the sexual harassment seminar. Of all people, Bob turns out to be Charles’ lawyer. Small world, huh?
3. Charles’ surprising book betrayal
Charles has always been a pretty upstanding guy. It’s really hard to dislike Charles when he has the build of a Greek god, even when he does make stupid decisions. But the one thing I didn’t suspect he’d be was sly and underhanded. What in the world could I be talking about? How about his decision to essentially steal the publishing rights for Marriage Vacation from Millennial? Kelsey had every right to be pissed at Charles for going behind her back and taking the book for Empirical. Yes, Empirical is struggling financially. Yes, it’s his ex-wife’s book. Yes, he makes the ultimate decision. But whatever happened to keeping promises? I was not impressed with Charles for the first time ever.
4. Charles’ unexpected moment of redemption
After Charles’ little stunt with Marriage Vacation, I wasn’t sure how he could redeem himself. Boy, was I wrong. He wasn’t completely convinced that the allegations against Edward L.L. Moore were unfounded in the beginning. When Liza brought to his attention all of the lewd comments Moore said to Pam Pams of the past, Charles announced at Comic Con that Empirical would be postponing the release of The Pam Pam Chronicles until further notice. Watching the moment when Charles and Liza exchanged a look of comfort and encouragement gave me chills.
5. The big secret reveal courtesy of Edward L.L. Moore
In the last minute of the episode, I expected something gut-wrenching to happen. This show always leaves us wanting more, but I was not expecting for *the* secret to be revealed to Charles. When Edward L.L. Moore showed up to Charles’ office with evidence against every single Pam Pam who made complaints of sexual harassment, I didn’t think Liza would be part of it. Charles’ realization that Liza has been lying for the last four seasons actually broke my heart, and I don’t think I can wait for next Tuesday to find out what happens.