Abhiroop Das
Created by Sharon Horgan, HBO’s ‘Youth ‘begins with Alex, a literary agent, finding herself in the proverbial sandwich generation as she approaches 50 years of age. With her son, Ruari, having a hard time in college, and her parents dealing with their own share of troubles, Alex finds herself under pressure virtually at all times. More than that, though, she feels emotionally and sexually frustrated, and thus begins her arduous journey of reinventing herself. In the previous two episodes, we get a layout of who Alex is and what her tastes are, be it in literature or life. Episode 3 of the romantic comedy series, titled ‘Welcome to the Rat’s Nest,’ takes her out of her comfort zone, in an unfamiliar setting full of vaguely familiar faces. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Alex and Company Struggle to Make it Big in Frankfurt
‘Youth’ episode 3 begins with a trip to Germany, as The Laville Agency‘s top two agents have been invited to the iconic Frankfurt Bookfair. While for Sam this is the definitive time of the year to bag as many deals and network with as many people as possible, Alex thinks of it as somewhat of a family trip. With Ruari not going back to college anytime and Larcon trying his best to avoid his son, Alex has no choice but to bring him with her. At the fair, she reunites with some interesting figures, including Karen, Charlotte’s publisher, who doesn’t yet know that she has been secretly replaced. Then there’s Lars, a German agent who has a fling with Alex every time she’s in Frankfurt. However, with her son around this time, things are bound to get messier.
After checking in at the hotel, Alex finds herself staring blankly at the phone, as deep down she’s still missing Patrick. Ever since their awkward breakup, the two have been on formal chatting terms, but Alex clearly wants a break from that. The following morning marks day 1 of the fair, and though Alex hopes to get as many international deals for ‘Wagon Burner’ as possible, the market seems to be shifting elsewhere. Fewer and fewer people are interested in the racy, and also very racist, works of an older writer, as the new talk of the town is none other than ‘Goblin Seed,’ by Malcom, the same writer Alex ditched as a client not so long ago. As she feels her own editorial instincts slipping, Alex also catches a glimpse of Charlotte’s niece talking to Cole, from Nobel Harriet & Cole Publishing.
Alex and Lars Have a Bumpy Date Night
While Charlotte’s family seems to have been looking for new agents for quite some time, the blow to come so suddenly can be a major hit on The Laville Agency, and it prompts Alex and Sam to double down on their efforts. To top things off, Alex returns home later that night to find out that she’s menstruating, a full year after her last time. At 50, she was already convinced that she had hit menopause, but this adds to the list of her worries. As day 2 arrives, the buzz around ‘Goblin Seed’ seems to have doubled as well, and Alex soon finds herself in the middle of an author session involving Malcolm, who is quick enough to spot and publicly humiliate her for the fallout that happened months ago.
With her faith in her own predictive abilities shattered, Alice decides to do some ground-level networking at a spot no one might expect, the post-book fair night parties. Her ticket to enter one of them, of course, turns out to be Lars, who fully believes that all of this is romantic. However, Alice manages to quickly slip out of his sight and crush her competition overnight, only to be distracted by a flirty text message from Patrick. Before she can react to it, though, Patrick deletes it, and this turn off is what leads her to kiss Lars, out of frustration if anything. Things still don’t go her way, though, as she begins bleeding right in the middle of sex and has to bail out of the party. When Lars later arrives at her room with menstrual pads, things almost seem to be heading somewhere again, until Alex gets an ominous message from her son.
Alex Learns the Truth About What Went Wrong at Ruari’s College
While Alex has been focusing on work or her personal problems, Ruari got a relatively free slate, spending most of his time with older hippie men with eccentric and exotic pets. After lying to Alex about meeting college kids at a club, Ruari sneaks out with one of the hippies to get extremely drunk and hang around old graveyards. It is during this venture that he accidentally typed out some ominous verses about being surrounded by death and then sent them to his mother. Reading them, Alex jumps out of bed and tracks Ruari down, and at long last, they have no choice but to talk things out. When she confronts him about his collegemates calling him a pervert, Ruari reveals the truth about what happened.
On their first night of college, Ruari and Bridget seemingly got blacked out drunk, only for him to wake up with his hand below her waist. Though Ruari claims that Bridget brushed this incident off as no big deal, whatever she shared with her friends quickly spread all throughout college. Later, when Ruari tried having sex with another student, he couldn’t keep up an erection, and feeling hurt, the girl seemingly started the rumor of him being a pervert. Though this account seems suspiciously one-sided at first glance, Alex chooses to believe in her son’s words and promises him that he no longer needs to go to college if he doesn’t feel like it. On a more professional front, though, Malcolm reveals that he is still interested in rejoining The Laville Agency, and Alex realizes that not only is this an attempt to get back at her, but it is also an offer she cannot refuse.
Read More: Is Youth Based on a True Story? Is Alex Based on a Real Literary Agent?
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