In Its Final Season, Younger Remains a Frothy Delight
Photo Courtesy of Paramount+
As the saying goes, age ain’t nothing but a number.
That’s a concept Younger, which moves to Paramount+ for its seventh and final season, has long played with. In the show’s original conceit, recently divorced Liza Miller (Sutton Foster, winsome as ever) quickly realized that no one wanted to hire a fortysomething woman for an entry level publishing job. So she pretended to be twentysomething (Foster is gorgeous so just go with it). As the seasons progressed, everyone from her work buddy Kelsey (Hilary Duff), to her much younger tattooed boyfriend Josh (Nico Tortorella), to her boss Charles (Peter Hermann) eventually found out. The age reveals were big and dramatic. As was the Josh/Liza/Charles love triangle that the show milked for all its worth for five seasons. Last season Charles and Liza finally got together. But, of course, that can’t last (more on that in a moment).
The truth about aging is that if we are lucky, we all get to grow old. And your time in the sun as the new kid on the block is oh-so-brief. When Kelsey’s best friend Lauren (Molly Bernard) turns 30—in a bash only Lauren could throw (suffice to say it involves a grand entrance)—Kelsey must face that Millennials, by definition, are getting older. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that age is irrelevant,” Liza says trying to comfort her.
In this final season, there are cast changes as Zane (Charles Michael Davis) and Diana (Miriam Shor) are no longer on the show. Both show up via separate video calls to explain their absence. “Are you breaking up with me because I got promoted over you?” Kelsey asks Zane. While Zane had his charms, the show is fine without him, as Younger always has a revolving door of love interests for Kelsey. The absence of Shor’s acerbic Diana, who is on an extended honeymoon because she’s saved “221 vacation days” is a huge loss. Her brief, quick-witted appearance will leave viewers hungry for more. There’s no such thing as too much Diana. Thankfully, that loss is somewhat mitigated by the increased presence of billionaire Quinn (Laura Benanti). Quinn makes for a delightful villain and her clever putdowns and dismissals are a lot of fun. She’s also the anthesis of Liza. “You’re Maria Von Trapp and I’m the Baroness. Nobody roots for the Baroness,” she tells Liza. (A fun reference because Benanti did indeed play Baroness Elsa Schrader in NBC’s live version of the beloved musical. )
One of the true joys of Younger, which continues into the new season, is how delightfully it trolls the publishing world. Over the years the show has parodied the likes of Kellyanne Conway, Marie Kondo, John Green, Elizabeth Gilbert and, in the piece de resistance, George R. R. Martin. Sometimes the homage is subtle, sometimes it hits viewers over the head as with this season’s Fupa Grünhoff, a not-so-subtle-reference to climate change activist Greta Thunberg. “She’s incredible. She’s like one of the Von Trapp children but hangry,” Liza laments. (Clearly someone on the writing staff loves The Sound of Music). This season the show also mocks every House Hunters type reality show and beloved classics being modernized. “It’s really a way to explore the gravity of marriage in a zero gravity world,” deadpans the novelist who wants to send Little Women to space.