TV

How Bingeing All 5 Seasons Of ‘Younger’ Will Cure Your Emotional Wounds

There's still time before season 6 is released...

by Lucy Valentine  29 May 2019
Younger Stan season 6

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 Some time last year I found myself sad about the world, halfway into a bottle of 6 dollar Shiraz, on a billionth rewatch of Sex and the City. I was also being harassed by Stan advertising insisting I needed to watch a show called Younger, written by SATC’s own Darren Star.

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I couldn’t help but wonder… could I let a man, who created my most hated protagonist, into my heart again? In a place as cynical as my couch on a Friday night, is it still possible to believe in love at first viewing?

As it turned out, this was exactly the show to fill the giant, Miranda Hobbes-shaped hole in my heart.

Younger is a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously, a rollercoaster ride of extravagant drama with a heart of sequinned gold.

The premise: 40-year-old Liza Miller has been out of the game too long and can’t find work in publishing. Luckily for Liza (the adorable Sutton Foster), she’s really been moisturising because she’s passable as 26, scoring a job at a top New York publishing house.

Of course, chaos ensues, complete with Hilary Duff friendship, and a quantity of romantic entanglements only Darren Star would think is reasonable.

But like so much of the best television, our protagonist’s big secret is really the least fascinating thing about Younger. This is a show overflowing with charm, wit, and well-dressed women doing incredible things — if you can make it through its painful forays into millennial culture.

Hashtag YOLO.

Here are four reasons your weekend should be spent binging every episode of this sparkly, dramatic romp into the publishing industry.

Everyone Is Insanely Hot.

Sweet, beautiful and frequently shirtless Josh. Dreamboat Daddy Charles. Lesbian artist fantasy pin-up Maggie.

We won’t go into who is arguably superior, but I cannot stress this enough: every man and woman in Younger is insanely hot, interesting and impeccably well dressed. You could turn the sound off on an episode of Younger and still never be bored, because everyone is so upsettingly gorgeous, it’ll make you believe in shallow lust-at-first-sight again.

Who knew hot people could have problems too?

The show’s wardrobe is arguably the best on television right now, with help of course from Sex and the City alum Patricia Field.

Which leads me to…

Diana Trout’s Statement Neckwear.

The styling in Younger is consistently flawless, from Liza’s hip-mum-at-a-festival leather jacket and plaid looks, to Kelsey’s glittery corporate-powerhouse aesthetic.

But head of marketing, Diana Trout (Miriam Shor) is an otherworldly masterpiece, a woman who I am both terrified of and in love with.

As Liza jokes in the first episode, Diana Trout has “hit her head on the glass ceiling so many times, she’s got dementia”. A woman who has battled sexism in the industry for a lifetime, come out a cold, hard bitch, and still arrives at work impeccably adorned in necklaces that belong in MoMA.

Perhaps the key to confidence in the high-powered business world is simply throwing a bejewelled swan around my neck.

The Not-So-Subtle Caricatures Of Real-Life Literary Figures.

Tapping delicately at the fourth wall, Younger loves to not-so-subtly feature authors inspired by the real world.

There’s hirsute fantasy writer of Crown of Kings ‘Edward L.L. Moore,’ John Greene caricature Rob Olive, who has written classics like Hashtag I’m Dying, and disturbingly real storylines about YouTube teens getting book deals.

Younger’s painting of the publishing world may be impossibly glossy and full of free champagne, but if we suspended belief to let Carrie Bradshaw buy all those Louboutins on one column a week, this show has just enough real-life snark to make its shimmering world seem real.

Women (And Men) Lifting Each Other Up.

There are so many fantastic relationships in Younger — between friends, family, romantic partners, colleagues, and every blurred boundary in between.

But the show’s real heart is in its messy, warm and most importantly, real female friendships. The outlandish premise really takes a back seat to these friendships between the show’s women, who are all complex, sharp and emotionally astute.

And for once, the men are also doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

The leading men in Younger are some of the only worthy fantasy dream boyfriends on television — emotionally honest and truly compelling. Through all the show’s over-the-top twists and turns, there’s not a Mr. Big being celebrated in sight.

Rather, a cast of intelligent, passionate romantic prospects who bring colour to the show’s more prominent tapestry of women’s achievements.

So, Should You Bother Watching Younger?

Yes. Younger is all at once luminous, sugary and authentic, exploring ageism and sexism — while managing to stay tirelessly hopeful.

Younger seasons 1-5 are currently streaming on Stan.

Lucy Valentine is a freelance writer, political satirist, podcast co-host and all round Melbourne stereotype. She is extremely online and tweeting at @LucyXIV