The truth about Mercury is out as Kelsey catches Charles and Zane in the act.

It was only a matter of time before Kelsey (Hilary Duff) discovered the truth behind Zane (Charles Michael Davis) and Mercury’s mysterious benefactor. Liza (Sutton Foster) – and by proxy the audience – has suspected it was Charles (Peter Hermann) from the get-go, but ‘An Inside Glob’ confirms it – not once, but twice!

As usual, Younger uses its stable of false writers as a mechanism to explore the personal drama of the publishing world. Anyone who is remotely familiar with books knows where the money is, so kudos to the TV Land series for acknowledging that romance novels for older woman are where the cashola is. Regardless of what haters may think of its merits, there’s milk in that cash cow (as Miriam Shor‘s Diana half-jokes) and Millennial needs as many cows as it can corral. When it appears that yet another author is at risk of jumping ship to board Mercury’s rising profile (ha! I couldn’t resist for a second week), Kelsey and Liza jump into action to prove just how ready they are to fight.

If Kelsey thought she was stress-losing her hair before, this latest development might mean she needs fewer blow-outs and more wigs.

Unfortunately the extremely poor decision to mount a very public confrontation with Charles and Zane means a social media bonanza of the wrong kind for Millennial. I’ll confess that several of Kelsey’s reactions in this episode confused me – as a literal millennial, it’s difficult to believe that she a) wouldn’t know how to strategically market herself on dating apps better, and (more significantly) b) that she would expect anything less than a PR nightmare in the wake of her restaurant meltdown/rant.

As it stands, the fireworks display winds up working the charm for the Matron Lit of smut, but it has the opposite effect on plenty of their other authors; unsurprisingly there are lots of writers who would rather stick with Charles’ grey-haired Big Dick Energy (aka his experience) instead.

Random Thoughts:

• Younger‘s writers have always struggled (much like Liza) with the balance between timely, youth-friendly lingo and the constraints of shooting/editing/airing a sitcom on a structured timeline. In this case, the frequent use of Big Dick Energy (BDE) feels extremely passé, although when they shot the episode, it probably felt like the height of popular slang.
• Maggie (Debi Mazar) typically gets the less than stellar C-plots, but this episode gifts her with arguably one of the least subtle/most hilarious gags in the show’s six-year history. The holistic garlic remedy for her yeast infection and the resulting “smell” colour commentary around the double date dinner table is hysterical, especially the fragrant comparisons each diner makes and Mazar’s delivery of “Maybe you’re having a stroke?” to try and throw them off the (literal) scent.
• Re: the garlic – does this actually work? The idea of sticking an entire clove of garlic into your vagina seems nearly as unhealthy as the yeast infection itself. Internet research certainly suggests it wouldn’t help, so be safe, ladies!
• Speaking of Diana, ‘An Inside Glob’ finds the show’s utility player in full supporting player mode to maximum effect. Diana zips through this episode, delivering zingers (about Bronwyn, the older writer: “Does she think we’re the same age?!”) and crazy lady rants. I particularly loved her long list of stress-related maladies, which reads like a terrifying shopping list, especially “shingles on one side every summer for one month”. <shudder>
• I guess we should acknowledge that Josh (Nico Tortorella) and <sigh> Clare (Phoebe Dynevor) are in this episode. This is the true C-plot as the pair struggle with everyday parenting techniques such as clogged breasts and finicky baby sleeping patterns. It’s…fine, but hardly fun or particularly engaging. It’s a good thing that Tortorella looks so adorable with bed-head or this would just be a write-off storyline.
• Finally, did we know that Charles was still the Chairman of the Millennial Board?! This was news to me and makes his financial investment in a competing company a HUGE conflict of interest. I kinda wish the show had let this substantial betrayal play out for just a touch longer, but as it stands the Mercury vs Millennial battle is officially on and Liza is firmly caught in the middle of the warring parties now!