Does Liza end up with Josh at the end of Younger?

The final season of Younger included the ending to the years-long love triangle between Liza, Josh, and Charles. But, although the season brings the storyline to a close, it does not play an integral role.

Instead, most of the season is devoted to Liza dealing with the aftermath of her break-up with Charles in the season opener. A disagreement about marriage is the culprit for Charles and Liza’s downfall. The episodes that follow have the duo awkwardly attempt to be co-workers in the face of knowing their romance has ended.

However, Liza still spends plenty of time pining after Charles and being concerned about his romance with Quinn, especially when Liza believes Quinn has ulterior motives. Liza spends so much time thinking about Charles that it does not seem the love triangle is active at this point, especially considering how little time Liza spends with Josh in comparison.

In the penultimate episode, “Make No Mustique,” Charles finally puts aside his desire to get married in favor of choosing to be with Liza in any way she wishes. But, instead of allowing Liza and Charles to walk into the sunset in Younger’s final hour, the series finale, “Older,” sets up one last set of problems.

Lack of trust becomes a poignant part of the finale when Charles tests if Liza will tell him the truth. While the ability to trust each other is essential to a successful relationship, it is very late in the season to set this up as an obstacle.

Had trust issues been the reason for their initial break-up at the beginning of the season, that could have been a more exciting set-up. Liza and Charles could have remained together and tried to work through their trust issues, or season 7 could have them deal with the understanding that Charles and Liza are not the right fit, although they may wish to be.

Portraying their dynamic either of these ways would have allowed Younger to tell different and more exciting stories rather than spend so much time devoted to setting up a romance that was doomed to fail.

Still, that doesn’t even cover the Josh of it all.

Josh spends most of the season with small story arcs that do almost nothing for the show and even less for his character. As a result, Josh is wasting time until the finale, where he swoops in to remind Liza he has always been there for her.

Josh and Liza’s last scene relies more on nostalgia for their first meeting than legitimate build-up for a romance between them. Although the finale does not confirm Liza and Josh get back together after the credits roll, the scene’s implications suggest they may go in that direction.

Had Josh and Liza spent any time together throughout season 7, then perhaps this could have worked. But, instead, Josh spends most of his time with other characters, not having any substantial time with Liza.

Josh could have been used as a catalyst for Charles’s trust issues with Liza, given Liza and Josh’s history. Josh also could have been a reason for Charles and Liza’s break-up to hint that Josh and Liza had unresolved feelings.

However, Josh never tries to get back together with Liza. Between that narrative choice and Josh having nothing to do with Charles and Liza’s break-up, his presence in “Older” teasing the return of Josh and Liza’s relationship does not feel as built-up or earned as it should.

Sadly, Younger relies more on the hope the audience remembers Liza and Josh’s history instead of making any attempts throughout the season to suggest that Josh and Liza could be leaning toward getting back together.

While Liza did not need a romantic endgame to have a happy and fulfilling conclusion, Younger had spent years building up this love triangle, and it could have gotten a more epic ending in the series finale.

At its heart, Youngerhas always been a story about Liza following her dreams and the friendships she forges along the way, but that hasn't stopped us from obsessing over all the dramatic love stories. While Liza has dated a handful of men throughout the series, her most intriguing romance has always been her love triangle with Josh and Charles. The series first started with her dating the charming tattoo artist, Josh, but over the past few seasons she has developed a relationship with her Empirical Press boss, Charles. There have been a lot of debates over whom Liza should end up with — with convincing reasons for each side — and in the series finale on June 10, we finally get our answer. And let's just say it's pretty disappointing no matter what team you're on.

After reuniting with Charles in the previous episode, their relationship is tested yet again as Charles finds out that Kelsey and Liza are working on taking Inkubator outside of Empirical. Instead of asking Liza about it, he uses it as a way to "test" her to see if she will be honest with him going forward in their relationship. She eventually comes clean, revealing that while Kelsey wants to leave the company, she plans on staying; but the damage is already done. As the two lie in bed together later in the episode, they realize that while they want to work things out, they will never be able to move forward since they can't trust each other. Though they break up, they are still on good terms as Charles eventually asks Liza to take over for him at Empirical while he finishes his book.

After breaking up Charles and Liza, the series does a complete 180 by seemingly putting Josh and Liza back together. As Liza and the gang celebrate Kelsey moving to LA to start Inkubator, Liza runs into Josh at the bar. While they recreate their entire first interaction in the pilot episode, the show teases that their love story isn't over, but simply restarting. As Liza apologizes for not seeing Josh at the bar, he quips, "Really? Because you know what, I've been right here by your side all along." And that's how the show ends: with Liza and Josh staring lovingly into each other's eyes.

Having watched the series since it first premiered, the ending not only feels rushed, but completely unsatisfying. As a Team Charles fan, I felt like the show completely ruined his character this season. After setting up his romance with Liza the past few seasons, they undid everything they've been working towards by splitting them up and putting him together with Quinn. Pairing him with Quinn was not only frustrating, but really out of character for him. Just as I enjoyed watching the slow burn of their initial relationship, I would have rather seen Liza and Charles slowly grow apart instead of the whiplash of having them break up, get back together, and break up again.

While I'm Team Charles, I also get the appeal of Team Josh. He was Liza's first big love on the show, and it's understandable why fans are so passionate about their relationship. They have great chemistry, they are super supportive of each other, and they make each other happy. But pairing Liza with Josh at the last minute is also a huge disservice for Team Josh fans. This whole season Josh barely had a storyline, so it seems completely out of left field to suddenly put him back together with Liza. Similar to Charles, I would rather have seen a slow burn and watch Liza and Josh slowly find their way back to each other. Recreating their first interaction, though cute, also felt like it was simply for the nostalgia factor. It ties everything up in a nice little bow, but still leaves us with a lot of questions. Are they actually together, or not? After seven seasons, I want more. The lovable characters deserved a better send-off.