So, you just finished binging seven seasons of Younger and your brain is probably doing backflips over that final scene at the bar. It was a total déjà vu moment. Liza and Josh standing exactly where they met 83 episodes earlier. She’s trying to flag down a bartender, fails miserably, and the tattoo artist with the heart of gold swoops in to save her.
"I didn't see you there," she says.
"Really?" Josh replies. "Because I've been right here, by your side all along."
People are still arguing about whether this was a "happily ever after" or just a sweet nod to where it all began. Honestly, the ending was kind of messy, but it was also incredibly real. If you’re Team Josh, you likely saw it as the ultimate victory. If you’re Team Charles, you probably felt like the writers just threw seven years of character growth into a paper shredder.
But let’s get into the weeds of why this relationship actually matters beyond the "hot guy with tattoos" trope.
Why Liza and Josh Still Matters (and it's not just the chemistry)
The central hook of the show was always the lie. Liza Miller, a 40-year-old mom from New Jersey, pretends to be 26 to get a job in publishing. It’s a survival tactic. But when she meets Josh, the lie becomes a living, breathing thing that threatens to suffocate her.
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Most people focus on the age gap. That’s the easy part. The harder part is the power dynamic. When they first start dating, Josh thinks he’s on equal footing with a peer. He doesn't know she has a daughter, Caitlin, who is literally only a few years younger than he is.
The Consent Conversation
There’s a growing segment of the fandom that looks back at the early seasons and cringes a bit. There’s a valid argument that by lying about her age, Liza took away Josh’s ability to give full consent to the relationship. He thought he was building a life with a millennial who wanted to grow up with him. Instead, he was falling for someone who had already lived the life he was still dreaming about.
But here’s the thing: Josh is the only person who actually loved Liza for all of her.
Charles Brooks—the "age-appropriate" choice—fell in love with the version of Liza that loved books and lived in his world. But Charles struggled with the lie. He was judgmental. He was petty. Josh, on the other hand, found out the truth at the end of Season 1 and, after a brief (and totally fair) freak-out, he chose her anyway. He became the keeper of her secret.
The Evolution of the "Expiration Date"
Liza spent years telling Josh they had an "expiration date." She felt she was robbing him of a "full" life—meaning marriage and biological kids. This was her biggest insecurity. She saw herself as a roadblock to his future.
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Ironically, Josh ended up getting exactly what she thought she couldn't give him. He had a baby, Gemma, with Claire. He became a single father. He grew up. By the time the series finale rolled around, the "age gap" didn't feel like a chasm anymore. Josh had more life experience as a father and business owner than he did when he was just the guy playing dodgeball in a Brooklyn bar.
The Problem With the Charles Breakup
To understand why the Liza and Josh reunion felt so jarring to some, you have to look at how the writers handled Charles. In the final season, Charles and Liza break up because he wants marriage and she doesn't. After years of the show telling us they were the "intellectual soulmates," they suddenly couldn't make it work because of a piece of paper?
It felt like the writers were forcing a path back to Josh. Nico Tortorella even mentioned in interviews that they had been "accosted" in grocery stores by fans who were ready to throw their TVs out the window if Liza didn't end up with Josh. The pressure was real.
What Really Happened in the Final Scene?
The finale didn't explicitly say "they are getting married tomorrow." Darren Star, the creator, loves a bit of ambiguity (just look at the end of Sex and the City).
However, the dialogue in that final scene is key. When Josh says he’s been there "all along," he’s acknowledging that while Liza was chasing a "perfect" life with Charles, Josh was the one who actually saw her. He didn't care about the prestige of Empirical Press or the "traditional" New Jersey life she was trying to escape.
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He just liked Liza. The 40-something version and the 26-year-old version.
Nuance vs. Fantasy
Let's be honest: their relationship wasn't perfect. Josh could be impulsive. He sometimes used Liza's lie as a weapon when they fought. He "flip-flopped" between being all-in and running away to Montana or Ireland.
But compared to Charles, who often felt like he was "hiring" a partner rather than loving one, Josh felt like home.
Actionable Insights for the "Younger" Fandom
If you’re still reeling from the finale or debating the merits of Team Josh vs. Team Charles, here’s how to look at the Liza and Josh dynamic with a bit more perspective:
- Watch the Pilot and the Finale Back-to-Back: The parallels are intentional. The show suggests that despite all the lies and the corporate climbing, Liza’s most authentic self was the one that walked into that bar on night one.
- Analyze the Subtext of "Inkubator": The joint business venture between Josh and Kelsey was a bridge. It kept Josh relevant in Liza’s professional world, proving he wasn't just a "fling" from her fake youth.
- Acknowledge the Growth: Don't view Josh as the "younger" option anymore. By the end, he was a business owner and a parent. The power imbalance that existed in Season 1 was largely gone by Season 7.
- Accept the Ambiguity: The ending isn't about who she "picks" as much as it is about Liza finally being honest. She isn't the wife from New Jersey anymore, and she isn't the 26-year-old assistant. She’s just Liza, and Josh is the one person who always knew what that meant.
Next, you might want to re-examine the specific scenes where Josh confronts Liza about her honesty—it’s often where the best acting in the series happens. Or, check out Nico Tortorella’s interviews about filming that final day, where they and Sutton Foster reportedly broke down in tears because the "full circle" moment was so heavy.