Liza Miller’s scheme on the TV drama Younger is either incredibly silly or absolutely brilliant. It might even be both. The show, which has aired for six seasons thus far and is getting a seventh soon, revolves around Sutton Foster’s forty-something character pretending to be in her twenties. She lied about her age in order to snag a publishing job, but now that she has the literary career that she has been dreaming of, what happens next?
The show is definitely a fun ride, and the characters make a lot of crazy choices along the way. Here is every main character on Younger, ranked by intelligence.
Thad Weber
Dan Amboyer’s Younger character, Thad, may not be around anymore, but when he was Kelsey’s boyfriend and then fiancé, he was tough to watch. Thad wasn’t very intelligent at all, and he wasn’t a good person, either. His tragic death was shocking but not that upsetting because he was cheating on Kelsey.
Thad could have been considered a “bro” as he never wanted to think or talk about anything serious. He was selfish and didn’t care about what Kelsey wanted or needed.
Lauren Heller
Lauren Heller (Molly Bernard) is a charming, good friend of Kelsey and Liza’s, and later Josh’s, but she’s not the smartest person in their friend group.
While Lauren knows a lot about certain things, such as the public relations industry that she’s totally obsessed with, she doesn’t really understand people very well. She gets annoyed when things are too traditional, and she expects everyone to be as cool and hipster as she is. Most of the time she acts in a ditzy manner, and she can get carried away when planning parties and events (like when she throws Kelsey an engagement party and doesn’t realize that she’s doing what she wants, not what her friend wants).
Caitlin Miller
Tessa Albertson’s Younger character, Caitlin Miller, is Liza’s daughter. While she definitely thinks that she’s brilliant, her pretentious personality makes her the opposite.
Caitlin isn’t a bad person, and Liza definitely does her best to teach her the right things to do, but Caitlin seems self-centered and gets carried away by her youthful enthusiasm. She wants to act first and think later, and that’s not intelligence.
Zane Anders
Zane Anders (Charles Michael Davis) appears on Younger from the fourth season on, and he’s a rival editor who has a crush on Kelsey. They have a juicy on-again, off-again romance, but he’s kind of mean-spirited, and he always wants to win, even if it hurts her professionally.
As Zane seems singlehandedly focused on winning no matter what, that doesn’t make him seem very smart, landing him at number seven on this list.
Diana Trout
Diana Trout (Miriam Shor) is the head of marketing at Empirical Press. She seems very cold and standoffish at first, but as Liza gets to know her better, it becomes clear that Diana loves Liza, and truly cares about her Empirical family. She’s brilliant at making tough business decisions, and she soon learns that she needs to be open to having more of a personal life, too. Diana is both street smart and book smart, and she’s also aware of the things that she needs to change about herself, which can’t be said of everyone.
Charles Brooks
Charles Brooks (Peter Hermann) is so much more than a stuffy guy in a suit. He and Liza fall in love, and after sitting with her secret for a while, Charles knows that he can’t let an age difference get in the way of their relationship.
He is ranked at number five because he can act smart in some situations, but also lets his ego get the best of him in others. He knows that Kelsey is an invaluable part of Empirical and that she deserves a lot of responsibility, but sometimes he makes silly business decisions, like when he decided that his ex-wife’s book Marriage Vacation shouldn’t come out with Millennial Press.
Liza Miller
Liza has her moments of being super smart, but she also doesn’t seem to realize at first that pretending to be a millennial is going to get really messy.
She is phenomenal at her job, helping Diana promote books and authors, and working with Kelsey on their imprint. Liza is also a huge reader and has extensive literary knowledge. But she’s not great at managing her personal life, and she hurts a lot of people in the process, including Josh and Kelsey because they don’t like that she was lying to them. Liza definitely needs to be a bit more self-aware.
Kelsey Peters
Hilary Duff’s Younger character, Kelsey Peters, is at number three because she’s more intelligent than people might think at first since she’s a bubbly, fashionable girl. Ever since Kelsey spent her childhood reading as many books as she could, she has dreamed of having a thriving editing career and making authors’ dreams come true.
Kelsey is much more intelligent and aware of herself than Liza. After losing Thad, Kelsey knows that she’s not ready for a serious relationship, and she would never lead someone on or lie to them. She can hold her own in any business meeting or situation, and when Charles promotes her and gives her the publisher position at Empirical, she rises to the challenge.
Maggie Amato
Maggie (Debi Mazar) and Liza are best friends who live together. Maggie is the second most intelligent character on Younger because she knows who she is, she would never change, and she doesn’t get caught up in material and unimportant things.
She knows herself well enough to keep away from serious committed relationships for a long time, until she meets someone that she realizes that she can’t lose. Maggie helps and supports Liza, and she would do anything for the people who she cares about. She’s also a wise friend to Josh, and often gives him excellent advice.
Josh
Josh (Nico Tortorella) is absolutely the most intelligent character on Younger. Some people might not see him that way because he doesn’t read, but there’s a lot more to being smart than having a stack of library books on a bedside table.
Josh can really feel situations out, and know the right thing to do. He wants to be with Liza even after she lies to him about her age, and he takes on the challenge of being a father when his Irish love interest Claire (Phoebe Dynevor) tells him that she’s having their baby. Josh knows that relationships and being happy are the most important things in life, and for that, he’s the smartest character on the show.
