Younger season 5, episode 4 recap: Will Liza ever win back Charles’ trust?

As Diana reconnects with a former flame, Younger throws Liza into the fire of Charles’s discontent. Can a new love interest settle the score?

It’s all about games and power moves in the latest episode of Younger as a murder mystery party stirs the pot for Liza and Diana in surprising ways. While Diana winds up dining with a one-time love interest in Staten Island, Liza calls Charles’ bluff with a bold (but foiled) resignation from Empirical. Will anything, even an ill-advised attempt to quit, rebuild trust between Charles and Liza?

As Liza’s quickly learning, it won’t be as simple to smooth things over with Charles as it was with Kelsey. And to make matters that much more complicated, another contender throws his hat into the ring. Christian Borle guest stars as Don Ridley, a journalist who manages to charm Liza in the midst of her ever-mounting personal madness. Is this the official end of Liza and Charles?

Don Ridley steals pork chops… and Liza’s heart?

At the very least, he’s giving the latter a fair shot. But can anyone else really sneak on in there when Charles and Josh are still on the field? Now might be the best time for Liza to jump into a new relationship considering Charles still refuses to hear her or her truth out (Oh, we’ll get there.)

While attending Diana’s murder mystery mixer, a.k.a. the hottest ticket in town, Liza meets journalist Don Ridley (guest star Christina Borle). He invites her to People’s Ones To Watch party and later pitches a book at Empirical, which Charles denies in retaliation to Liza’s lies. But here’s the real question: Why is Don swiping pork chops from Diana’s party, and is he good news?

Diana has a date with destiny.

More from Comedy

• Get ready for laughs: Here’s who’s hosting Saturday Night Live tonight
• What time is Ghosts UK on CBS tonight? (November 16, 2023)
• The CW’s culture of pulling shows continues as Everyone Else Burns and Run the Burbs are removed from the schedule
• Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12 to premiere in February 2024
• The White Lotus season 3 gets frustrating release update as fans brace for longer wait

After Diana’s game of mafia didn’t land her a date with an eligible bachelor, her clogged toilet picks up the slack. The plumber arrives, and he’s Enzo, who Diana had a fling with back in Season 3. They patch up past miscommunications and make plans to have dinner together. When Enzo picks up Diana, she’s surprised to travel to Staten Island in his plumber van, but one bottle of $500 red wine and a rekindled flame later, she barely cares that she left Midtown.

Meanwhile across town (hello, Carrie Bradshaw), Kelsey and Zane continue to bicker back and forth with the most compelling sexual tension on television, and Josh breaks his sex and alcohol fast intended to reset his life into some kind of normalcy. He sleeps with the owner of an abandoned dog and shares a drink with Maggie. We have to wonder: Is Josh friendships with Maggie and Lauren the new best part of Younger?

Next: Younger season 5, episode 3 recap: All’s unfair in lies and book tours

Charles won’t get to know the real Liza.

As it turns out, Don’s rather desperate to find work. He used to write for Vanity Fair and Vogue, but now he bides his time writing those clickbait articles that will probably give your computer a virus. Still, Liza plays his games and jumps into his free spirited world. Is that something she can afford at the moment? She needs a jolt of fun, sure, but with Charles still asking questions but refusing to hear her side of the story, she should avoid any further trouble. And Don’s dine-and-dash scams seem like heaps of trouble that will only drive her further from earning Charles’ forgiveness.

What do you think, Younger fans? Should Liza ditch Don and stay true to her feelings for Charles? Sound off in the comments!

Younger airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on TV Land.