After seven long and wonderful seasons, the hit TV Land/Paramount Plus series “Younger” wrapped up its run. However, fans can watch all of the episodes from the first one to the last one on streaming platform.
“Younger” is about the personal and professional life of Liza Miller (played by Sutton Foster), a divorced 40-year-old woman with a teenage daughter and a failed marriage that collapsed due to her former husband’s gambling addiction. She decides to pass herself off as 20-something Millennial to re-enter the industry of book publishing. During that time, she befriends co-worker Kelsey Peters (played by Hilary Duff).
For the seventh and final season, an after show discussion accompanied each of the episodes on Paramount Plus. It was posted on the streaming platform on June 9, 2021. Here is part of the discussion about the final episode:
Moderator Taylor Strecker: “After seven wild and wonderful seasons, we’ve come to the end of the ride. We’re about to go behind-the-scenes of the series finale of “Younger.” This is your final Getting Younger After Show.”
She introduced the guests which included the show’s main cast members Sutton Foster, Peter Hermann, Nico Tortorella, Debi Mazar, Molly Bernard and show creator and executive producer Darren Star. Absent from the discussion was actress Hilary Duff who played Kelsey.
Moderator Strecker: “You guys…no!!!! I can’t do this. I’m crying, it’s too much. I was getting ready for this, I was watching the show. I have been crying for the last 24 hours. I was going over the script last night and my fiancee was like, ‘Are you okay?’ I was like, I’m not well. Let’s start with that final scene where we find Liza and Josh right back where it all began. Darren, did you always know it was going to be Josh in the end?”
Creator and executive producer Darren Star: “It’s not necessarily Josh. That’s not the intention of the ending. The intention of the ending is that Liza and Josh have remet each other at the moment where Liza’s journey began and the story is opened. She’s not with anybody but she’s got her dream. Her dream was to succeed at work. She is running Empirical. She has both of these men in her life but the romantic question is not resolved.”
Peter Hermann: “I also think it started out as Liza was going to be this person who was going to be fulfilled by either one of these men. I think, as the story arched towards completion, I think they are both beautiful human beings who are in her life but they don’t complete her. She is complete onto herself. I think that’s really the beauty of this story.”
Moderator Strecker: “I will say fine. This is a me issue because Peter, you know I love you and you know I love Charles. But I have been Team Josh since the beginning because it reminded me of my life. I wouldn’t be a good audience member if I didn’t project my entire life onto the show.”
Creator and executive producer Darren Star: “I think it will satisfy everyone in the audience because you can project your own ending to this show.”
Nico Tortorella: “The thought that we wound up exactly where we started in that scene. What an incredible button on this story. I have a question, Darren, when did that hit you? That was the scene you were going to bring back?”
Darren Star: “That happened last year, over a year ago, in March in the writer’s room right before the pandemic hit. There was this epiphany let’s end the show here this way. But not really having the idea of the path of how we were going to get there. If we could make it happen, it would be a lovely way to end this whole show and just feel there was something magical about the way it ended. There were about 15 ways to end this but I think we found the right one, I really do.”
Moderator Strecker: “Sutton and Nico, how did it feel to come full circle with that scene?”
Sutton Foster: “I remember reading it because I read it before you [Nico] did and I just said, it’s you and me. It’s you and me at the end. It felt right. It felt satisfying. I was so thrilled that Liza and Charles were able to have one more moment together then it felt right that it was with Josh.”
Nico Tortorella: “We were shooting that scene where we are carrying Maggie’s art into the studio and Sutton looks at me and goes, it’s your read and then the end and then cut to us filming the scene which also happened to be my last day on set. Darren was there also. I was just like not there. I pulled it together finally for the scene.”
Sutton Foster: “During rehearsal, we could barely look at each other. I was like avoiding eye contact. It was just so emotional and like remembering the pilot.”
Darren Star: “For me, the symmetry to it was, this was where Liza’s journey started where she met Josh where he mistook her for being in her 20s which gave her this whole idea. For the two of them to meet each other after they’ve gone through seven seasons of whatever they’ve gone through.”
Nico Tortorella: “Josh has always been here, right? It made not be this perfect example of what we think a stereotypical relationship is but that was never what they were looking for from each other. You know what I mean? It’s a younger relationship.”
Moderator Strecker: “Sutton, Peter and Nico, you were part of this love triangle for seven years. How are you all feeling after seeing where it ended?”
Sutton Foster: “Lucky, grateful, you know? Like it was awesome. For me, how lucky it was to be able to fall in love with two wonderful human beings and to be able to have the storyline for so long. It was awesome, it was so wonderful.”
Peter Hermann: “What if all love triangles would be filled with this much affection? I think there was onscreen so much drama played out and conflict and breakups and togetherness and all of this. And then behind the scenes, there was a proposertous amount of love and support and just respect for each other. I am whole heartedly Team Josh, Team Sutton, Team Nico in all of us. It’s not just affection—we all just really hoped for each other in our lives. There’s something about this cast and this group…there is so much goodness in all of it. It was a love triangle, an affection triangle, a support triangle, and a hope triangle.”
Moderator Strecker: “Molly and Debi, what were your reactions to the finale?”
Debi Mazar: “I was also on the set when we got the script, we were carrying my artwork, we were on the street. I didn’t have time to read it, I had dialogue and whatever. I remember looking at Sutton and seeing her face, closed the script with a ‘wow.’ When I saw her face, all of the emotion, she was so calm and there was this confidence. We didn’t discuss it. Me personally, I loved it because at least, she made a choice, finally. Of course, I’ve always been Team Josh.”
Molly Bernard: “I love the ending because I’m a sucker for a book end. The elegance of the storytelling visually and also after seven years of what fans of the show have been through together. I’m really a fan of Charles’ end. I think we see, this season, a depth of character. He’s kind of in a little bit of a crisis with himself and it was really moving to me. I like that Liza understands, ‘yeah, this is not the moment for this’ and that Josh kind of re-enters as a father. He’s kind of a Liza at the end. They are meeting each other in this new realm. I think it’s so beautiful.”
Peter Hermann: “You mentioned that word elegant and I think, Darren, that’s the word that I’ve used to describe the writing on this show. It was so raunchy and envelope-pushing and of the moment funny as it has always been. We all have these writers crushes on what you all have done. I just can’t thank you enough, really.”
It was a great joy to watch all seven seasons of “Younger.” I know I will miss it greatly and I know the fans will too.
All seven seasons of “Younger” can be streamed on Paramount Plus at https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/younger
Photo credit: Paramount Plus / “Younger” 
Photo credit: Paramount Plus / “Younger” 
Photo credit: Paramount Plus / “Younger” 
Photo credit: Paramount Plus / “Younger” 
Photo credit: Paramount Plus / “Younger” 
Photo credit: Paramount Plus / “Younger”