chybee23

This show is exhausting. For a show that’s supposed to be about female friendships, they sure can’t seem to let go of the back and forth between the two men. And what they’ve done this season to keep the triangle alive is awful. Liza and Josh have been broken up for, what, nearly two years? And have barely had any interactions? Yet, Liza suddenly can’t trust herself around him after she not blinking in his direction for over a season? And Josh, somehow, knows her better than anyone because they dated on and off for a year. I know the writers think its romantic, but they way he constantly undermines her feelings and the lack of respect he has for her choices is really gross. And for supposedly being a strong character, they sure let him get under her skin and made her annoying inside of herself and indecisive. I guess because Josh is ‘deep,’ that makes him more grounded—never mind the years of experience she has on him (even if they’ve regressed her character criminally), but he comes across as whiny and entitled. If he really cared about her, he wouldn’t manipulate her into saying she cares about him more than the man she’s currently with. And then he has the nerve to say she’s “abandoning” them when he couldn’t even be bothered to fight to be in his daughter’s life an episode ago so he could stay behind and pine after his ex. It’s toxic. They took a heartfelt letter and one of the more mature things Liza’s done this season and crapped all over it. And while the writing for Liza/Charles has paled in comparison to previous seasons, it’s unfortunate they’ve reduced her relationship with Charles to being ‘age appropriate’ after Liza spent most of her relationship with Josh drawn to him and most of the series portraying them to have chemistry, common interests, a deep understanding of each other intellectually and pretty happy when they’re together. They’ve completely thrown away the narrative they built. Not sure why being good ‘on paper’ is a detriment. And I wouldn’t exactly call it safe considering the work dynamic and the ex-wife. Not even Diana can make up for this crap. Not sure who we’re supposed to root for anymore—it’s hard to find anything to enjoy. Can’t wait for the inevitable cliff hanger to end the season next week.

That’s not the point, though. He was willing to do that because he was that committed to the idea of them. Meanwhile, Liza’s going on motorcycle rides with her ex (yet acted like it was the end of the world when Charles showed up on Quinn’s Instagram) and looks sick whenever faced with the possibility of being all in. Whether or not they ask anything of each other doesn’t change the fact that, emotionally, the level of commitment between them is very lopsided and that was the problem in both relationships. They’re making her flaky as hell and she needs to be single. Anyway, Charles has done much more and expected much less than Josh when it comes to Liza owing either one of them.

I never thought Liza was all that happy with Josh after season one. After he found out her age, there was a lot of uncertainty wnd worry that resulted Josh not being comfortable with her secret, and usually Liza was the one on the outside while he grappled with it. And as their relationship progressed and he spent more time bringing up a future between them, she looked liked she dreaded every conversation and what I’m turn she was possibly depriving him of. They had moments that were fun, there was underlying uneasiness that was constant. For all the times she contemplated ending things, I saw it as equal parts selflessness and wanting and her needing to be reprieved of the stress. And maybe that contributed to her having feelings for Charles, but in that same token something was clearly missing for her. I guess I see a lot more merit in her level of comfort, which I see more of in her relationship with Charles. And I find their dynamic a lot more appealing—outside of work, I find their partnership to much more equal than the one she had with Josh. I think Liza feels she can be more honest with Charles and stand her ground, and that he’s demonstrated more respect for her needs than Josh. With Josh, I feel like she doesn’t want to hurt his feelings and holds back as far as her wants are concerned. And I’m uncomfortable with the way he continues to chastise her and bring up her pst transgressions. It’s her job to set boundaries, but I find it toxic and manipulative. When we’ve seen Liza and Charles together for more than a few episodes, and in an open relationship, it’ll be easier to judge whether or not they can have as much fun, albeit a different type of fun that’ll be probably more aligned with what she finds enjoyable. But she looked very happy to me so far prior to what happened this past episode outside of intrusions of Pauline and Kelsey’s complaints that weren’t indicative of how she feels being with Charles. There are much less opportunities to show the two of them amongst themselves with the commitment to serving other characters with storylines in a way they didn’t have to in earlier seasons.

Diana is always a bright spot. I could do without seeing Caitlin ever again - she's pretty awful and meddles too much and she and the professor were just obnoxious - but, the scene we got out of it between she and Liza was very well done. It's nice getting to see her be a mom every now and then. Josh has zero business berating Liza about what's real. It just felt to me like another instance of him manipulating her propensity for feeling guilt hoping she'd fall back into his arms, and she always just stands there and lets him scold her. He's serviced better away from Liza so I'm so freaking glad they've indicated him moving on because the idea that his world began and ended with Liza is silly and detrimental to his growth. He's got his whole life ahead of him. It's not a good time for Liza and Charles for two reasons: 1) Everything Charles has on his plate and 2) They caught each other at time in which she's ready to unburden herself of the lies. A season ago, I think she would have been more sensitive to the situation and his reasoning. One of aspects of their relationships I really do like, though, is that he might be the only person on the show she stands up to. Glad she knows her worth. I think Charles genuinely wants to be with her, and I don't think he's wrong for he's wrong for wanting to keep work and their relationship separate because anyone should, nor do I blame him for being hyper aware of the implications their relationship will have on different aspects of their lives, and they've communicated, but he probably should've waited to be with her until it was manageable. On the other hand, his passiveness was considered a problem, so I'm not sure that waiting would've been a good look either? Looking forward to them working through it in the next couple episodes.

I've been really enjoying the episodes these past few weeks. The Enzo/Diana plot went how I expected - very happy Diana didn't have any major issues with it. Appreciated Enzo's point about not being in his twenties and coming with baggage. Oh, and god, I thought his honk was an alarm when we first heard it, haha. Also, I'm all for any opportunities to but her and Lauren into scenes together. And Kelsey - pot calling the kettle black, much? I understand her concern and frustration about Charles buying the book, though, she sleeps with authors with no regard for how it'll affect the imprint which isn't just hers - Liza's brand is also on the line every single time. She's another one with piss poor judgement who hasn't earned a 'long leash' imo, and she was being unfair to Liza. She's also very comfortable to speaking to her boss any kind of way. For Charles' business faults, I think he handled the situation professionally and in a very classy way while having every right to remind her his personal life is none of her business. I'd rather Liza didn't say she would always choose Kelsey, (I feel like that's a one way street) but that was so, so in character. Kelsey's speech gracious - by that point, I wasn't moved, but I'm glad what Liza said resonated. Personally, I thought the scenes between Charles and Liza looked and felt very natural. There's definitely the vibe of two people figuring out what their new dynamic was like, and the kitchen scene was simple and kind of refreshing - especially seeing Charles so relaxed (and man, that scruff). And they may not be playing dodgeball, but Liza looks at ease and like she's have a great time so it's just nice to see these two happy after the way the first half of the season went. It's also nice to see them actually addressing issues that arise; it's really mature and I find them to be on equal footing. Preferably, they wouldn't have to keep their relationship a secret, but I can't blame them for wanting to actually work out the intricacies first, like, at all. I really do believe he'll end up stepping down at the end of the season and the work dynamic will be squashed. And it was awesome seeing Redmond again.

Across the board, this was one of my favorite episodes the series—it was heart warming and mostly everyone was portrayed very humanistically. I’m also a sucker for Christmas in July. I think Liza and Charles are really good for each other so I was very happy with how that happened—they went for a cheesy, romcom type of plot and it worked for me. Charles had a change of heart the moment he saw her with her daughter, no differently than Josh and Kelsey, and as a parent himself I imagined it resonated more. Hoping for more a conversation next week about the lie and his reaction, although I think the scene at the coffee counter was a nice preview of other things to come. There is absolutely issue to be taken with their positions, and I do believe that’ll be address since they’ve been hinting at it all season, but rarely do I see anyone say that it was creepy for Liza to be into a 26-year old who didn’t even know he was dating a 40yo for a period of time or cite it as one of the reasons they shouldn’t get back together, so I’m not sure what to make of that arguement. Josh was objectified significantly more early on. Then again, I don’t believe it was shown to ever really be about her age. By calling herself 26, she didn’t magically make herself more attractive, and I’m not sure the plaid diapers she wore among other things were that alluring either. And besides her having to lower her compentancy about things like marriage, she didn’t give off 20somethings energy in the conversations they had. She could barely pull it off in the conference room.

I enjoyed the episode and it’s lightness. The Diana-Enzo storyline has been surprising to me in a lot of ways, and I’m definitely invested in that story. It’s wonderful to see Diana confident, yet being pushed outside of her comfort zone. Extremely happy Maggie is finally getting her moment and I would’ve loved to seen more of it. I think Jake has added a much needed to wrinkle to Kelsey’s storyline, but I agree that she needs to think. She recognizes that it’s bad, but she won’t put an end to it and it’s a wonder that her bad experiences from sleeping with other authors hasn’t resonated yet. Patiently waiting for Zane to drop his act and to hear more than tongue-in-cheek from him. He was absolutely right in that scene in her office, though. I missed seeing wacky authors on the show so I found the storyline refreshing even if it was ridiculous that she had an advance and refused to turn the book into her editor. I thought it was implied Charles knew the author pretty well, so it was odd that he didn’t know how to handle that. Good on Liza for being able to recognize what needed to be said to get that manuscript. So bummed that we already saw the entirety of that scene in trailers, but it was still baddass and Charles needed to see her in that way, and we needed to see her stand her ground with someone she has history with. Clearly a stark contrast to what he was accustomed to with his ex-wife. I think it’s apparent Charles isn’t turned off by her age, but her lie (and no, they weren’t together, but she was an active participant in their emotional dance and therefore they both deserved transparency from each other), and it’s about time his walls finally started to crumble. I was dissapionted that we didn’t get to see her explaining herself and that he left. The two of them being away from everything else should’ve been the right time to clear the air, but there was progress. As frustrating as it been, I’m probably in the minority in thinking this is a fairly paced progression in terms of their relationship, and that a combination of legnth of the episodes and the wait in between that has made it feel unecessarily drawn out. It looks like seeing Liza with Caitlin next week will be the turning point for Charles. And I do believe witnessing that is it a realistic catalyst as opposed to him just being told her reasoning. It’ll be akin to Josh having a change of heart when he saw the slideshow Liza made him.

I wish the show would go with the idea that Diana’s known all along, but that wouldn’t be the drama they want. It’s pretty interesting that every man besides Josh that’s been interested in her is 40, though—maybe 27 year olds see right through the age thing and don’t approach her. I really don’t think they can address it though since they never made Liza macking on a 26 year old a big deal. It’d be a double standard at best.

No one’s arguing Liza didn’t have a good reason, but her lie has affected other people now. Not just the men in her life, but someone like Kelsey whose imprint can lose all credibility at a drop of a hat and that part of it isn’t excusable. Of course she has other options. I’m just offering some counterpoints to the argument that Charles’ characterization has delegitimized his feelings for her. At the end of the day, she’ll pick who she wants to be with, if anyone.

He did say, “Part of me is relieved she’s 26.” I don’t see how being attracted to someone’s qualities and being disappointed when someone does wrong is mutually exclusive. Josh is always reminding her that she hurts the people she loves—does that mean he doesn’t care about her? And yes, she did lie to him. Marriage, children—that’s all integral to a person and their history. She passed herself off to him as a millennial, not a 40-year old. That’s dishonesty. Never mind the harm it can do his company, and when you’re responsible for other peoeple’s jobs, no, it’s not selfish to think about that. And it’s kinda human to be “butt hurt” about someone you love, who also reciprocates those feelings, pretending to be something else for period of time. Ironically, he probably wouldn’t have made a fuss if he didn’t care about her. And had he had the luxury of hearing it from her, I’m sure it would’ve been easier to listen. I don’t know, though, maybe it’d preferable for him to say he’s committed to her and then “ghost” an episode later as opposed to working through his feelings so that they don’t have those issues when they get together.

How can we see Charles hasn’t accepted her for who she is? He hasn’t accepted the fact that she lied yet, yes, but I don’t see that basis yet for claiming he doesn’t love her for who she is. She’s put on a facade around him, (I personally think she’s been very authentic in regards to her passions and interest, just not in the sense that she’s trying to present herself as a well-versed millennial.) but is presumptions to assume that he won’t accept when that’s done with, or discount him because he hasn’t been given the chance yet. Other than his reaction to the lie so far (and don’t forget Josh called her a lunatic and ‘told her to have a nice, fraudulent life’ when he first found out) he’s sung her praises plenty of times, and it’s been made very clear that he was drawn to her personality and her passions in the first place.

The plot didn’t advance much, but there were a lot of good one lines, and for having so many stories, it didn’t feel too crammed either. Thoroughly enjoyed how Liza handled the Vanity Fair fact check and I actually really enjoyed her scene with Caitlin. Jake doesn’t really stand out, but it seems like Kelsey has a decent guy for once and I’m looking forward to see how this storyline helps to flesh out Zane, though she does get involved with too many authors. Josh is insufferable. He can’t have her so every stupid decision he makes is her fault or her responsibility to stop. He takes advantage of her loyalty about him so he can whine and air out his grievances and people give him a free pass for his ‘emotional maturity.’ Yeah, she’s a liar, but if you can’t trust her and she’s somehow made everything good in your life disappear since apparently he has nothing, stop calling her like she owes you. He was never as accepting and understanding as they try to present him as with this revisionist history anyway—he broke up with her or ghost her a number of times. And he didn’t have to be understanding of her lie, but he’s the one who chose to stay involved with her. And Liza needs to stop coddling and mothering him so he can figure things out on his on and form some kind of identity. He’d be better served without his story revolving around her. That romantic relationship peaked in season 1. It’s a just a weird, imbalanced, familial dynamic now.