It’s here. The big confrontation between Liza and Charles is here and our hearts cannot take it. Three episodes into the fifth season, we’ve been treated to many highly anticipated scenes, from Charles finding out about Liza and now to Charles confronting her about her lies.
In last week’s episode, Marriage Vacation caught the interest of Reese Witherspoon’s book club and with the hard work of Liza and Kelsey, Millennial has signed a deal with Reese’s production company Hello Sunshine for exclusive access to their upcoming titles. Josh is back and later on, we learn that Clare isn’t coming to the U.S anymore and he seeks comfort in Liza, platonic comfort that is. During the book launch of Marriage Vacation, Charles makes the big announcement despite not wanting to give Liza any kudos. Afterwards, he informs Pauline that their attempt at a relationship is not working.
Game On
Kelsey is getting ready and watching an interview with Jake Devereux, a former White House speechwriter for Obama, who mentions he is looking to write a memoir later in the year. She’s interrupted by Lauren who says Kelsey has been accepted into Yara, a dating app that she has to apply for which was done by Lauren. Josh joins their bathroom conversation and looks at Yara with Lauren, when they are also joined by Josh’s bedroom buddy so Kelsey kicks them all out.
Kelsey approaches Charles about Jake Devereux being a great title for Millennial, while Zane thinks it would be great for Empirical and apparently the both of them have meetings with him in DC. Zane and Kelsey meet with Jake, and Kelsey drives a hard sell. Back in her hotel room, Kelsey is checking out Yara when she matches with both Jake and Zane, who sends Kelsey a message.
Next thing we know, Kelsey and Zane are then sharing fries in bed, and Zane is surprised to learn that Kelsey is interested in both men and women—thanks Lauren! The pair then receive the same message from Jake, and they’re both excited. At breakfast the next day, Jake meets with the both of them and he wants to work with Kelsey and Zane. He also mentions to Kelsey that he saw her on Yara, which gets a smirk from the both of them.
Time For More Lies And A Little Truth
At Empirical, Diana informs Liza that People Magazine want to do a feature on Marriage Vacation, including Pauline and Charles getting back together. Charles then informs them they’re actually getting a divorce. Liza later voices her surprise about the break-up to Charles and he asks if they can talk after Pauline’s book tour.
Liza and Diana have lunch with Pauline, and she’s going on about her break-up with Charles. Diana recommends she ‘postpones the truth’—at least until she makes the New York Times Bestseller list. They then try to see if she can lie by using the correct tense, but she gets too upset and goes into a little too much detail like their love-making.
Meanwhile, a new girl is at Josh’s place, and Lauren’s not thrilled the girl asked to borrow her eyeliner, especially since eyes are not only the window to the soul, but also the doorway to disease and infection. She asks to set some ground rules about bringing people over. Josh says he’s trying to not fall in love with everyone, but Lauren believes he’s a born romantic. When she mentions the perfect person, he wonders if it’s Liza, and so Lauren says if it’s meant to be, nothing will keep them apart.
A Disastrous Tour
At a reading, Pauline is asked questions about her process, specifically the process of getting back together with Charles. In another radio interview, Pauline struggles with the same question yet again, especially when asked about her sex life, and both interviews result in her crying.
Charles asks Diana about the tour, and Diana says Pauline is unhinged with all the questions about the relationship. Diana recommends Charles goes in her place to support her. Just as Pauline is asked another personal question after a reading, Charles walks in and she comes out with the truth, along with that her happy ending is still out there somewhere.
Liza approaches Charles, and he rudely assumes that lying was Liza’s idea, which leaves Liza confused. Pauline is glad to see Charles there and he is glad that she was honest as it was the right thing to do. Pauline blames Charles’ career and ambition, and that he didn’t want to take notice of her unhappiness. Naturally Liza is beginning to put two and two together, especially when he says that she’s right and he is blind to what is right in front of him – while directly looking at Liza. Pauline turns to Liza confused, and then Pauline is left shocked.
Liza goes after Charles and he asks who she is, but she knows he would know everything already. He asks what else she has lied about, and Liza tries to explains, but he says she betrayed him and he doesn’t want to cause a scandal so it’s going to be a professional reporting relationship.
Liza wonders if she should just leave, before Charles gets the last word before walking away: “I thought you did all this to get a job.”
Overall Thoughts?
While I don’t condone nastiness, I commend Peter Hermann on his excellent portrayal of Charles this week. His words were full of venom and anger, which left poor Liza feeling terrible about what she has done, especially with feelings shared between the two of them.
The new season is feeling quite different to the past seasons as we’re so used to seeing Liza having feelings with either Josh or Charles, or even another fellow, but so far, nothing! It’s definitely refreshing, but most likely the confrontation with Charles is going to cause her to seek solace in someone very soon—and no, we’re not saying she needs a man for comfort, but we feel like a handsome man is just around the corner for Liza because she’s about to feel terrible for quite some time.
The introduction of Jake (played by Jason Ralph, The Magicians) will be interesting, especially since Kelsey has Zane somewhat in the picture already. Could this be another Anton situation again? If Kelsey hooks up with Jake and Zane finds out, we can definitely see him using this information in order to get rid of Kelsey and make Jake’s book an Empirical publication.
As for Pauline, if the book tour is still happening, will she let slip the knowledge that Liza and Charles have some sort of history? Perhaps. Will Josh hook up with Liza at some point this season? Most likely. Will we continue to watch weekly and then get frustrated when the short episodes are over? Definitely.
And don’t forget! If you’re interested in actually reading Marriage Vacation, you can find it on Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers!
Tune in next week for a new episode of Younger!
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