Sutton Foster is Well-Read & Sucks at Dodgeball in Younger: Episode 9

We recommend wearing a helmet for this week’s Younger recap. Last week, Sutton Foster got slapped with a manuscript. This week, she loses hard in a dodgeball match. But just in time for your summer reading lists, Liza is in full bookworm mode, including reading Anna Karenina in a diner. Here’ what Liza the Literate is up to in Younger: Episode 9.

EPISODE 9: I'm With Stupid

Liza the Literate Talks Tolstoy
We really, really like Charles. He keeps up with Liza’s banter. He gets her literary references and throws some right back at her. He makes it a point to emphasize that he values her work ethic and compassion. He knows where to get good French toast. Unfortunately, this cold open is all we see of him this week: a quick reminder of what Liza could have if she didn’t get lost in a lie—a lie that was originally told for the sake of her career.


Liza the Literate Predicts a Bestseller 
At Charles’ suggestion, Liza takes a look at the slush pile, where all of the unsolicited manuscripts sent to Empirical end up. While laughing her way through the stack, Liza happens upon one that intrigues her: The Scarf. Kelsey doesn’t by it. “You have a better chance at matching with Ryan Gosling on Tinder than finding a good book in the slush pile.” And remember: Hilary Duff knows about Tinder likelihoods. Cut to a montage of Liza roaming the streets of New York while lost in the manuscript and wearing—get this—a scarf.


Liza the Literate is Better Off Reading
As we start to fall for Charles, Josh continues to lose points. After showing zero interest in The Scarf (and the act of reading, he takes Liza to a dodgeball game. If anything, watching Liza get bruised up and hit in the Frida gains her sympathy, which makes what happens next that much more frustrating!


Liza the Literate Knows Collective Nouns
Following the game, Jen, a.k.a. the one who threw a ball at Liza’s Frida, lets her know that, speaking from experience, Josh is “gorgeous, but dumb as a box of hair.” This leads to a spectacular nightmare sequence involving collective nouns, but it’s also the catalyst for this Josh rant: He and Liza share nothing in common apart from physical attraction, and Liza inexplicably takes the blame for that. The hurdles she jumps in the office—the reason she started this whole younger charade—are much more interesting and satisfying than watching Liza convince herself that she too enjoys listening to the J train.


Liza the Literate Tries "Living in Brooklyn"
After finishing The Scarf she has her friend Michelle’s book club give it a shot. The whole gang loves it…and also thinks Liza is a lesbian because she’s living with a lesbian artist. Lorie insists she only came for the cocktails and that she hasn’t read a book since high school, but as it turns out, she has some fantasies of her own about living in Brooklyn. This is apparently a metaphor for being a lesbian. Awkward kiss aside, Liza accomplishes her mission as The Scarf picks up buzz. What’s especially great is that if she succeeds, her big break at Empirical will have nothing to do with her being 26.


Diana's Statement Jewelry of the Week!
Fun fact: the original working title for Younger was actually Younger: Come for Sutton Foster Coming Up With Art History-Based Euphemisms for Her Vagina; Stay for Miriam Shor’s Statement Jewelry. TV Land had to cut it down. There’s a lot going on with this look. The necklace plays with depth and faded tones, but we also want to highlight the earrings. Two mammoth, golden stars to remind us that we all shine a little brighter thanks to Diana Trout.