And just like that (to borrow a phrase from another of Darren Star’s hit shows), Younger has come to an end with a finale that maybe didn’t check all the boxes, but still gave us a proper goodbye.
Don’t worry, we won’t post any spoilers here — although it’s probably safe to say the whole #Team Josh or #Team Charles debate was laid to rest early on in the final season when it became clear that Josh and Liza were definitely in friend zone territory. Or are they?
Younger has certainly tested our patience at times, and I think we can all agree that without Diana Trout (Miriam Shor) the show has been missing much of its humour but gosh darn it, we’ve stuck with it because unlike Zane (Charles Michael Davis — who we also missed this season), we’re not quitters.
In honour of the seven seasons of Younger, I wanted to reflect on the biggest takeaways I’ve gleaned from the series. Enjoy!
If You’re 40…Forgedda ‘Bout It!
With my 40th birthday fast approaching (or, as I like to call it — the 20th anniversary of my 20th birthday), I have learned that if I lost my job I would need to begin compulsively lying to everyone around me in order to re-enter the workforce.
I would delete my (seldom used) Facebook account, find a dark web service to doctor my birth certificate and, somehow, learn how to “TikTok” — all of which seems shockingly easy based on what I’ve seen on the show. Actually, the TikTok part sounds super hard and scary.
Even harder, however, would be keeping a lid on my frequent references to music, TV shows, films, pop culture events and my sciatica which immediately give away both how old and painfully uncool I am.
People in Publishing Have Shady Side Hustles
Let’s look at the facts here: even as a marketing assistant with a deadbeat ex who gambled away all their money, Liza was always decked out in the latest fashions and was never once seen rummaging through the clearance bin at TJ Maxx. She even wore a green Chanel sweater in this last season, which would have cost around the $2600 mark — no thrift store threads for this sassy New York lady!
According to salary.com, the average annual paycheck for a marketing assistant in New York is $52,761 — BEFORE TAX! After-tax, you’d be lucky to afford a hot dog from a street cart. Which, for the record, I strongly suggest you avoid at all costs.
It is for this reason, that I have deduced that people who work in publishing must have either illegal side hustles or chronic shoplifting habits. Kelsey (who can afford the latest Balmain coat but can’t afford to move out of a shared apartment in Brooklyn) did once mention something about selling her underwear for cash so maybe she was dropping us a hint.
If You Don’t Accept Your Man’s Proposal, He Will Leave You and Immediately Shack Up With a Billionaire
I always thought that if you told a man you didn’t want to get married, he would swing from the rafters in glee as he imagined a life blissfully devoid of seating charts, flower arrangements and whatever the f—k bonbonnieres are.
However, after watching Younger, I have had my eyes opened.
When Liza respectfully told Charles that she would love to grow old with him in a monogamous yet unmarried relationship, he basically turned into Veruca Salt in a suit.
Yep, the guy seemed like he was seconds away from balling up his fist, stamping his foot and declaring “I want it NOW, Daddy!” and, frankly, it wasn’t cute. Luckily, he didn’t go into full meltdown mode…he just immediately started a relationship with another woman who awkwardly works with him and the woman he actually wanted to marry.
Lesson learned — I shall accept every proposal I receive from here on out. So far, the tally is at zero.
Lying Makes You Irresistible!
As I have mentioned previously, I spent 12 years living in New York (where Younger is set) and, for a decade of those, I was single.
During those ten years, I can say — without a hint of exaggeration — that I found it damn near impossible to keep the attention of ONE man, let alone two. Correction: let alone two insanely attractive ones. Hell, I once got ghosted by the same guy twice in the space of six months.
I now realise the error of my ways, however, and that was that I was honest. What an amateur! Here’s me, putting my real age (and height) on my dating profiles and being all forthcoming with factual information about myself, simply because I fell for that urban legend about honesty being “the best policy” and “the most important thing in a relationship.”
If only I had told the double ghoster I was 24, he (and, apparently, one other guy) would have proposed so I could then say no and he could have ended up with a billionaire.
The seventh and final season of Younger is now streaming on Stan, with new episodes dropping every Thursday.
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