Younger: Season Seven/Final Season
April 19, 2021 6:54 PM - Season 7 (Full Season) - Subscribe

At the end of last season, Liza's true age was revealed to the public and Charles asked Liza to marry him. This season starts with that question and moves on from there.

I'm not sure if anybody is watching this, but I thought I'd post it in case anybody wants to share their thoughts on the final season.

AVClub review
posted by sardonyx (34 comments total)
 
Watched the first four episodes. I miss Diana. More Lauren is just way, way too much Lauren. She's a character best used in small doses to advance specific plot points. I'm liking new failed Quinn. In my head I was yelling at Kelsey, "Empirical is not your family. It's your job. Don't stay at a job because they say they're family" but I guess that's a mistake everybody makes once in their lives. Liza and Charles are both jealous idiots. It feels like they're heading down the path of Josh and Liza, but I hope they don't. I think Josh needs somebody who puts him first. I don't know if the celebrity handler is that person, but it's not Liza.
posted by sardonyx at 2:21 PM on April 20, 2021


I stopped in the second episode when it was clear the Greta Thunberg analog was going to turn out to be terrible and I remember why, despite all the good qualities this show has, it's so frustrating I actually kind of hate it.

I may binge all of it on some lazy Sunday, though. I watched all the other seasons, after all.
posted by edencosmic at 2:27 PM on April 20, 2021 [1 favorite]


That Greta stand-in was terrible. You're right, she epitomizes the show at its worst. It's weird because there are things this show does so well and so smartly and there are others that just make you shake your head in shame for all those involved.
posted by sardonyx at 2:33 PM on April 20, 2021 [1 favorite]


That was a very bad episode.

Is Diana not coming back at all?

I feel in my heart Liza and Josh will end up together, to the point where this whole season kind of feels like a waste of time. Charles is SUCH a bore.
posted by something something at 8:08 PM on April 20, 2021 [1 favorite]


Apparently the actress playing Diana wasn't super available so we will be mostly without her.

I have watched the first 3 episodes - oof. Not good. Agreed that the Greta storyline is gross - it's a very Darren Star trope, for those of us who were devotees of SATC. Same as the good looking, successful, nice guy surfer that now has the hots for Liza - who remembers Carrie and the "New Yankee"?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:31 AM on April 21, 2021 [1 favorite]


And who else completely forgot the actress from Bridgerton was on this? I was like OMG DAPHNE
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:32 AM on April 21, 2021


I also had issues with the celebrity that wanted the face tattoo and how she was portrayed, but again that type of characterization is almost expected from this show.
posted by sardonyx at 12:28 PM on April 21, 2021


I’m watching episode 4 now and you know who I don’t hate - Laura Benanti! Man she is so funny.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:48 PM on April 21, 2021


Exactly. I don't know if it's the character or the actress or both, but at this point, I'm rooting for Quinn.
posted by sardonyx at 7:57 PM on April 21, 2021


Okay, I made a mistake when I posted. I thought I had seen the first four episodes. I only watched the first three.

So episode four: wow, what a bitchy comment from Liza about Quinn being a rebound. I get that they aren't the best of friends, but boy was that uncalled for.

I'm glad Dave & Busters got plenty of promotion for their sponsorship dollars.

I'm really annoyed at the timelines portrayed here. One day to turn around a book proposal and go through a pile of journals? One night for the staff to read Quinn's book? I don't work in book publishing, but even I know those timelines just aren't the way things are done. Again, this is stupid for the sake of being stupid (and okay, for the drama, but mainly for the stupid). This also goes with the way surfer dude's book proposal was put together. The author should have some kind of say in what is book is about. (Not that I can see him objecting, but it's the way the story elements are being compiled that make it hard to take any of this even semi-seriously.)

Of course Josh is going to find out that the woman he's attracted to is anti-kid. Because that makes it too easy for him to start pining after Liza again.

I swear this show is just cruising when it should be kicking into high gear.
posted by sardonyx at 2:54 PM on April 28, 2021


I don't get the fashions on this show. Lauren has been wearing short shorts for the past two episodes but Claire is wearing a big thick turtle sweater and a large, heavy wool coat. Maggie has on an oversized leather cape. What season is it supposed to be?

Also, I want to know when Liza swapped out her rhinestone tasseled strappy heels for more traditional t-strap dance shoes for the Charleston number. I mean if you're going to make the effort of showing us her complete costume in close-up detail, then you'd better make sure she's actually wearing that same costume in the next close-up next shot (excluding things like taking off a jacket or putting a purse down).

Okay, earlier, I said something about what the show does well. The back and forth between Hot Dad and Liza and Charles and Quinn was really well done--at least until Liza lost it. Maybe I'm being too harsh on her, but I don't find it wrong for people to break up if they want fundamentally different things from life.

I'm sure it's truer to Quinn's character to find herself a discount Kennedy to walk her across the finish line, but part of me wants her relationship with Charles to be coming out of an honest place. I would like to see two mature people say, we've made mistakes, but now we know what we want and we want an adult partnership with all it entails, because that's a pretty rare type of relationship to be portrayed on TV.
posted by sardonyx at 6:54 PM on April 28, 2021


What season is it supposed to be?

It's autumn. One person bundled up in a sweater and another in shorts in a New York autumn is a rare moment of realism in this show. Leather capes are an all season item.
posted by betweenthebars at 5:59 PM on May 4, 2021


This is a small detail, but the scene where Liza and friends were walking on the small pebbles at the wedding/event had TERRIBLE sound/foley artist sound effects. It was like they were walking on crunched cereal. I had to rewind it to laugh a couple times.
posted by shortyJBot at 5:59 PM on May 4, 2021 [1 favorite]


I'm glad they didn't drag out that Charles and Topher thing.

I'm pretty sure that even if Charles passed on that new author, as employees, Kelsey and Liza can't go pitching the book to another publishing company. Even if they leave to start their own agency as literary reps or as publishers, I'm pretty sure that book would be problematic for them to take, given that they scouted it while still Empirical staff.

That tease of Diana on the video call was almost mean. It just shows how much her character is missed.
posted by sardonyx at 10:08 PM on May 7, 2021


Oh, and that product placement was really crass.
posted by sardonyx at 2:05 PM on May 9, 2021 [1 favorite]


Sutton Foster dancing to....Sutton Foster was a cute choice.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:58 PM on May 13, 2021


Episode eight comments:

What a fabulous plaid coat Liza had on. And I love that they had Liza and Quinn in competing reds in the boardroom scene.

With all the Sound of Music references, is it time for a revival of the Lonely Goatherder?

That Treblemaker scene was fun.

Why would Liza want to talk up the undergound incuabator that they didn't want to publicize to a writer with Vulture?
posted by sardonyx at 6:19 PM on May 14, 2021


Sutton Foster dancing to....Sutton Foster was a cute choice.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:58 PM on May 13


Was Sutton singing during the dance number? Somehow I was so focused on the dancing that I don't recall the music. That's really odd.
posted by sardonyx at 7:18 PM on May 14, 2021


She was dancing to "Forget About the Boy" from Thoroughly Modern Millie, the role she won her first Tony for.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:03 AM on May 17, 2021 [1 favorite]


That was cute. I've never seen it before, so thanks for posting it, ThePinkSuperhero.
posted by sardonyx at 10:41 AM on May 17, 2021


There's a great deal of Broadway winkwink in this show, I like it a lot. When they brought on her ex-husband husband Christian Borle as a love interest, I died.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:52 AM on May 18, 2021 [1 favorite]


Episode nine:
Look, I've been known to sport a headband. I have a couple of favourites that I pull out of the drawer occasionally. I admit this because I can't help but asking "what was that atrocity that Kelsey was wearing?" Puffy and studded/bedazzled. No. Just no.

Quinn is doing a good job of being a hard-to-figure out character, first telling Liza that she doesn't want to expose her tax returns and wants to run from binding agreements, then telling Charles that she would have said yes. I have no idea where the writers are going with her or what her true feelings and intentions are supposed to be.

Back to Kelsey. Girl, no! The company will not pay you back! If you're going to use your own money, then it should be for your own business (which you and Liza are going to start) not for your current corporate master. Come on, you've made some poor decisions in the past, it's about time you learn from those mistakes. And sacrificing your down-payment money to benefit somebody else's business is definitely a mistake.

Speaking of mistakes, I don't think dating the box holder is necessarily one. It could be a bit awkward, but if you're an adult about things, and let his ex know that you're seeing him, it should be something workable. I mean if Josh and Liza can still be friends within a larger circle of friends, there is a precedent for how to behave like mature people.

Somehow, whenever I write these comments, I tend to ignore Liza's story. I know she's the main character, but for whatever reason, I have hard time coming up with anything to say about her or her story lines. I'm not sure if that says more about me or the writing.
posted by sardonyx at 4:24 PM on May 21, 2021


Puffy headbands are very in right now.

Liza's storylines are pretty yikes right now. Not much more to say about it.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:38 AM on May 24, 2021


I only started watching this show a few weeks ago and now I'm all up-to-date and ready to watch the final two episodes live. The show got off to a rough start and I only stuck with it because of encouragement from friends who are fans. And I like how the shows has evolved, but this last season has felt a bit stuck in a rut. And while the show is doing an okay job at rehabilitating Charles from his "we must be married or I won't have it" stubbornness, I'm not sure I buy it as a satisfying ending. And I'm very surprised they've kept Josh off the board - he's had so little screentime this season, but I'm also surprised they haven't gone back to the Liza/Josh well to complicate things before the end. Quinn is complication enough, I'm sure, but I have no idea how they wrap all this up in two episodes. I'm also not sure about Kelsey and Clare's ex boyfriend, even though he's probably the nicest guy Kelsey has ever dated.

I appreciate that for most of the run of this show I wasn't sure if the endgame was Liza/Josh or Liza/Charles and I'm one of those people who is happy for Liza to remain single. I'm surprised I don't really know what the end is going to be. A lot can happen in two episodes on this show.
posted by crossoverman at 4:10 PM on May 27, 2021 [1 favorite]


Episode 10

Yuck. Janeane Garofalo's character is just so skeevy. I don't care if she felt guilty and sent her art critic friend around to Maggie's show, that doesn't give her the right to claim Maggie as a romantic/sexual conquest, which seems to be her intentions.

Speaking of Maggie, she looked absolutely fabulous the whole episode through (despite some gapping blouse buttons and those oversized bell sleeves). Kelsey also had one scene (in the office) where she looked absolutely fabulous with just really great hair. It's funny because earlier in the episode I was thinking her make-up was pretty harsh and her hair looked like the colour needed some retouching. The show's coat game continued to be strong with Liza's off-white coat.

Kelsey never actually got the admin password for the app, so I presume we can expect something dramatic to happen with that (such as Clare turning it over to somebody else).

I'm not sure what I think about Clare's reaction to Kelsey dating Rob. On one hand, I'm with Kelsey in that if she said she was over him, and it was all amicable, then she's got no claim and no real right to complain. On the other hand, I can get that she feels like Kelsey somehow betrayed her. I do hope they resolve this conflict between the two characters.

So Charles wants to "bring" Inkubator into the company. It's already a company asset because of how stupid Liza and Kelsey were in how they started it up. He can do whatever he wants with it. At least maybe Kelsey is finally realizing that she has been a world-class idiot when it comes to business and financial decisions.

Welcome to the discussion, crossoverman.
posted by sardonyx at 9:42 PM on May 27, 2021


Episode 11

Well, it certainly seems as if the endgame is Liza and Charles and not Liza and Josh, unless something drastic happens in the final episode.

I can understand wanting to bring key players back for the final season, but the plot with Charles' ex-wife felt really forced. Also, to be honest, I can't even really remember Lauren's doctor ex. If they wanted to pursue that story, it should have happened two or three episodes back.

It appears we're going to get evil Quinn again, which is kind of a shame.

Maggie looked too fabulous for words in that green satin/silk/poly/whatever it was outfit. Like seriously, way too good to be lounging around the house, digging out pots and pans.
posted by sardonyx at 7:11 PM on June 4, 2021


I really don't like Charles at all, and the apartment Kelsey is getting to live in for free is hilarious. This season has not been good.
posted by something something at 2:35 PM on June 5, 2021 [1 favorite]


FORGET Charles, shame on them for messing him up so bad.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:24 PM on June 5, 2021 [1 favorite]


Me seeing Lauren’s parents: Oh, fun cameo! Ok, long story. Ok, they’re still here. Ok, more Lauren….. ay yi yi.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:25 PM on June 5, 2021


Putting that weird Lauren dream sequence made that Charles/Liza reunion seem fake.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:18 AM on June 6, 2021


Even if Charles/Liza was the endgame, I'm still sad they've almost completely sidelined Josh this season. Not sure how they resolve everything in one last episode. I really hope we get to see Diana one last time, even if it has to be via Zoom. But resolving the Evil Quinn stuff, figuring out Ink-ubator and sorting out Charles/Liza once and for all in 22 minutes?! Let's see how they go.
posted by crossoverman at 7:59 PM on June 6, 2021


What in the mustard on watermelon hell was that finale?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:56 PM on June 10, 2021


The finale was very strange but, in the end, satisfying to me. I don't love neat bows on things. I have always thought Charles was too much of a traditionalist/stuck in his ways for Liza to be really happy. But after the rehabilitation they did on Charles this season, to have that pulled away in the finale felt like a weird swerve to take. That said, relationships are complicated and I can buy there was underlying things they might not have grown past - getting them back together in the penultimate episode and pulling away in the finale didn't quite work for me though. I did like that the nail in the coffin was Liza admitting she would have kept something from Charles again, though. And yet I totally understand why she would do that - tell him that he won the fellowship, but don't tell him if he missed out. Sparing people pain is a good thing, but I imagine if he had missed out, he would have been more annoyed that she submitted him in the first place.

I didn't love that Maggie ended up with Janeane Garofalo, because I disliked that character. I was happy with the resolution to the Lauren and Max story, because it's nice that the bisexual character didn't have to end up in a hetero-passing relationship and that her story concluded in a satisfying queer way. Kelsey had a great emotional speech breaking ties with Empirical - and she finally admitted she always dated awful men, which is character growth! They kept the details of her next life very vague because Darren Star is developing a spin-off.

I'm sorry we couldn't have had Diana again. And after sidelining Josh for the year, I'm glad there was a glimmer of something between him and Liza in the end, without having it be concrete. It's satisfying to me that Liza is now running Empirical. She didn't necessarily need a guy to be happy.

I'm overall satisfied with this final season and the final episode, but there were some odd choices made.
posted by crossoverman at 12:44 AM on June 11, 2021 [1 favorite]


I also don't think Maggie deserved to end up with Cass. Cass is a terrible character, and I don't think she's right for Maggie at all, in part because Cass only sees Maggie as an example of what she herself could have been if she had been fearless. She seems to pick partners for their status (attractive young woman, successful artist) and not for who they are as people. She's not mature enough (based on her social media attempt to cancel Maggie) for an adult relationship, whereas I think Maggie is. This is probably the development I hated the most.

I'm not entirely happy with what they did to Josh. So now he's the good guy who only was friends with the woman because he was hoping to get his shot at romancing her? I would have preferred it if Liza had turned to him at the end (if the writers were so intent on getting them together), not the other way around with his, "I've always been here" line. I think his character deserved much better. Also, I'm not sure about the message that Josh is now an acceptable partner for Liza since he's finally successful enough to buy the building. Maybe that's his reward for being the boyfriend in waiting?

Lauren's life and lifestyle is not one that I can personally related to in any manner, but that said, I felt like she kind of bulldozed her way into an existing relationship and put the engaged couple in an awkward situation. Yes, it was very Lauren, but just as with the way the writers wrapped up the other relationships, this one made me cringe a bit because of how it was handled (not because of who ended up together).

That entire Broadway subplot was so poorly done and a big waste of time, right from the moment Redmond asked to speak to Charles and Liza alone. The reveal was so telegraphed that it was annoying to have to wait for it. Redmond's boyfriend was just annoying. The whole thing seemed so out of place in this show and in this final episode in particular.

I didn't have as many negative feelings about Charles as most people here but this last episode really put him in a bad light, especially the whole line about the valuation discussion being a test.

I wish Kelsey hadn't gotten burned by the real estate developer. That turn threw me because I wasn't expecting it. Up until this point, he hadn't really done anything to Kelsey that signalled red flag to me.

I hadn't heard about the spin-off but I can't say I'm enticed to watch. If this last season proved anything it's that despite all of the mistakes she has made in the past, the Kelsey is an absolute idiot when it comes to business, and I don't think I have the patience to watch a show based on a character like that. I don't need her to be a Wall Street genius, but I do need to know that a character that has worked her way up in the business world has at least the tiniest sliver of a clue as to how the business world works, and she doesn't. Mind you, nobody else on this show does either, but Kelsey is definitely the worst of the bunch in this regard.

Again, I find I'm at a loss when it comes to figuring out what to say about Liza, even though it's her show. I'm fine with her running Empirical (although there must be other more senior editors there who also probably deserve a shot but haven't slept with the boss). I'm fine with her ending up on her own (or dancing around Josh again). But I'm fine is really all I can say. I don't have strong feelings one way or the other about her at this point. I think this final season really let her down as a character, or as the main character in her own story.
posted by sardonyx at 9:18 AM on June 11, 2021


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