Younger Recap: What the Flock?

After last week’s breakup with Josh, “The Good Shepherd” opens with Liza baking in Brooklyn. Literally. Apparently baking pies is what Liza does when relationships go bad. (She did the same when her marriage went south.) And though Maggie, Lauren and a newly engaged Kelsey are enjoying the sweet treats, they see that their friend is wallowing.

To lift her spirits and get her out there, Lauren and Kelsey have signed her up for online dating, but during a Tinder tutorial Liza happens upon Josh’s profile. She immediately swipes left as we cut to a shot of Josh doing the same. Feeling even worse about her life without Josh, Liza heads to the Farmers’ Market (with Maggie in tow) for apples and an apartment exit strategy.

While wandering amongst the makers and the fresh produce, she gets a text from Josh.

“Tinder already?” he asks.

“It was a joke,” she replies.

“Me too,” he says. And you kind of don’t entirely believe him because he’s a 26-year-old dude who just got out of a relationship.

But before Liza can think too much about it, Liza is drawn to a tent called Potter’s Hollow, which is run by a very hot shepherd named Sebastian (Matthew Morrison) who left Brooklyn a few years ago to live a life of seclusion and simplicity on his farm in the Hudson Valley. After some flirting, she buys one of his very soft wool blankets and takes a pamphlet before saying goodbye.

She’s as impressed with his pamphlet writing as she is with his wool, so Liza pitches him to Kelsey, who is in the midst of a prenuptial crisis.

Despite posting her ring on Instagram, Kels isn’t seeing much interest in her engagement to Thad. In fact, her avocado toast at brunch got more likes. And it seems the reason is Thad’s lack of likability.

Liza meets up with Kelsey’s friends to celebrate the engagement, and they take advantage of the bride-to-be’s tardiness by telling Liza that Thad is the guy you date before you find the one you’ll marry. Liza couldn’t agree more, and when they ask for her support in telling Kels as much, she agrees. But when Kelsey arrives, they throw Liza under the bus, forcing her to tell their friend her feelings without backing her up. Kelsey is hurt and says she knows Liza must have some sour grapes after her breakup with Josh (ouch), but she would have expected more support. Never trust a gaggle of millennial mean girls.

But the girls aren’t the only ones with reservations about this engagement. Despite changing her own status to “engaged,” Thad has not done the same. He claims he has some loose ends to tie up first.

Using the prosaic writings from his pamphlet, Liza tracks Sebastian down at his farm and pitches him a chance to write a book. But he’s one step ahead of the flock and has already done just that—in the form of a hand-written leather-bound journal documenting his five years on the farm. Liza wants to bring it back to the office, but Sebastian insists wherever the book goes, he goes. So Liza shepherds him—and his memoir—in to Millennial.

Kelsey and Diana are as sold on the book as Liza, and any questions the latter may have had about marketing a book written by a shut-in shepherd are answered when she’s sees him.

And since he’s already in New York, it seems silly not to take Sebastian out for a meal in his old neighborhood. As he and Liza sit and talk about the pros and cons of a life off the grid, Liza begins to relax. She doesn’t need Tinder. She has IRL skills.

But her dream date is interrupted: Josh and Greta (the rude creative director from the photo shoot that broke them up in the first place) are dining at the same hipster hotspot. And after an awkward exchange, Liza is ready to start her own life off the grid. As Sebastian points out, when you live on a farm, “you never run into any of your exes.”

Ex (and possibly current) paramours are the topic du jour for Kelsey and Thad, who are weeding out his Facebook friend list. But the real issue is not who’s poking him online, it’s who isn’t aware of his timeline in real life: His parents. He hasn’t yet told them about the engagement.

In Brooklyn, Maggie points out that getting under the hot shepherd may be the best way to get over Josh. So when Diana instructs Liza to head back to the farm to have him sign some legal papers, our girl doesn’t hesitate. And after a little kissing over wine and documents, Liza remembers her professional manners and stops the makeout sesh before it can go too far. She needs to get back to the office, but promises to return.

In the city, Thad tells Kelsey his parents are in the know and changes his own Facebook status to “engaged.” Kelsey is happy, Diana is noticeably envious and Liza is ever supportive.

But hold up, there’s one more happy ending about to be had. Diana asks Liza to turn the car around and get one more document signed and Liza seizes the moment. She arrives at the farm to no sign of Sebastian. She calls for him with no answer until she hears sounds coming from the barn….where she finds him engaged in some more than friends behavior with a sheep. She runs from the barn with Sebastian chasing after her, shouting that he was just grooming her. But his undone pants and guilty look say it all.

Apparently some stories are better left off the grid.