Younger Review: Millennial’s Next Top Model (Season 6 Episode 9)
This season of Younger just might be the best of the series so far. Younger Season 6 Episode 9, “Millenial’s Next Top Model,” takes us into the aftermath of Liza’s age finally being revealed. This episode is an emotional rollercoaster filled with heart.
In the wake of the truth, Kelsey, Liza and the whole team at Millenial must adapt their image and decide how they face this new chapter of their story. Each member of the team has a different take on how to handle this, ranging from Charles’ proactive perspective to Zane’s opinion that they should fire Liza.
It makes sense that Zane reacts the harshest–he has the least intimate relationship with Liza of anyone on the Millennial Team, giving him the least personal investment in her position at the company, and he is essentially the last to know the truth. It also perfectly tracks that when Zane learns that Kelsey knew a long long time ago, that’s where his frustrations truly lie.
I love this glimpse into Zane and Kelsey’s domestic life and I’m so delighted that we’re getting back to their relationship. There’s been a lot of unfinished business between these two and it’s about time Younger addressed this emotional baggage.
It’s beautiful to see them finally being honest with each other. Zane and Kelsey are both people who keep their walls up pretty high in order to protect themselves. Seeing them open up to each other and allow themselves to be vulnerable to another person in the way that only love can inspire is genuinely heartwarming. It’s also such a realistic way for these two to come together again.
Kelsey and Zane had to do the work with themselves individually in order to be able to let themselves love and be loved by each other. This is such a real relationship obstacle and I’m so glad that we get to watch them overcome it together.
Kelsey: Maybe if we were just tougher and told each other the truth about how we really felt, then we wouldn’t have wasted so much time and energy denying that I felt–I feel– the same way, present tense.
Meanwhile, Liza is handling the worldwide revelation of her age with the perfect balance of confidence and bravado mixed with the very real feelings of fear, embarrassment, and anxiety. I’ve long wondered how Younger would have these characters react when the truth finally came out to everyone, and I genuinely couldn’t have dreamed of more perfect characterization through this part of the story.
When “Infinitely 21” tries to back out of their deal with Millennial, Liza stands up for herself against the rampant ageism in this industry and it pays off big time.
Liza: You want some tea Shelley, everyone is pretending to be younger…because the most important thing to be in the whole goddamn world is 27. Should I have told the truth? Sure! But so should you, Millennial isn’t an age it’s an attitude.
Liza’s monologue here not only saves their original deal but gets her an even better one. “Infinitely 21” reaches out to Liza to ask her to model in their ad campaign. I’ll admit, at first, I definitely thought that this was going to backfire for Liza and honestly it still might. But I love the way she’s managed to turn this into another win for herself at least in the short term.
Liza is incredibly talented, her time at Millennial and her experience pretending to be twenty-seven have only given her even more skills. While her lie makes her a villain to some, Liza is a hero in our eyes because she’s always done what she needed to do and she always tries her best to keep it from hurting the people around her.
Unfortunately, Quinn is the kind of woman who will do whatever it takes to succeed without caring who she hurts along the way. She sees Liza’s success and decides to capitalize on it for herself. It’s poetic that Liza standing up for the truth gets her more than what she asked for, while Quinn’s lies get her into hot water.
While I initially wanted more from Quinn’s role in this story, it makes sense that this is where it wound up. Quinn is really only in things for herself and she doesn’t stand for any of the things that the women of Millennial do. I’m disappointed to see her become the big-bad of this season but I’m glad to see how her behavior has only made Kelsey, Liza, and Diana stronger and more unified as a team.
Kelsey has to stand up to Quinn once again and I continue to be infinitely proud of her for standing her ground and owning her power in her new position.
Kelsey: Don’t minimize the strength that I bring to this meeting.
Quinn pulled her funding and now Millennial is completely broke. This company has been in the red before but they’ve always found their way out of it. It will be interesting to watch how, or even if, they’re able to get out of it this time.
I have complicated, somewhat frustrated feelings about Maggie’s story on this episode. As a bisexual woman myself, I find this storyline pretty upsetting. It’s empowering to see Maggie tell this absolute creep off in the end, but it’s strange to see such an established lesbian character go down this particular path, even if it’s for a “talent crush.”
Sexuality is a spectrum that we as a society are just beginning to understand, and while I’m sure Maggie’s experience here is one that some people have definitely gone through, it’s confusing and disorienting for the audience. It feels strange for me to police who anyone sleeps with or what they identify as, but I feel like this storyline might have landed better for me if Maggie didn’t sleep with the guy.
Maggie: I’m still a Kinsey 9.
Liza: It only goes up to 6.
Maggie is still gay and she’s not going to let some creepy “flipper” change anything about who she is. Maggie’s arc this season is the one place I think Younger could really improve if they want to perfect the magic they’ve got going across the board. Let’s give this gal more good content and less creepy interactions with strange men.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
- Liza and Charles playing cards with the girls is so perfectly wholesome. I love this soft family moment!
- Diana and the face-plank tool is completely unnecessary and completely hilarious.
- I love how supportive Charles is of Liza throughout this episode. His love for her really shines through in these moments.
- You all know I am a sucker for Josh and Liza so their soft reminiscence about how they met and fell in love really hit me in the heart. I’m probably never going to stop being weak for these two.
- What do you think will happen when everyone sees the ad campaign that “Infinitely 21” decided to use? Let me know your hopes and fears in the comments!
What did you think of this episode of Younger? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Younger airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on TVLAND.
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Samantha Coley
Samantha (she/her) is a social media specialist by day and a sci-fi junkie by night. As a freelance writer and podcaster, she also enjoys live-tweeting, blogging, good music, and better television. Her current favorite television shows include Star Trek (yes, all of them), Riverdale, and Stranger Things and there will always be a place in her heart for Battlestar Galactica, Leverage, and The West Wing.