It was always Charles

This is definitely a response to an earlier post made in this sub that claims that "it was always Josh" for Liza. I don't see it that way at ALL.

From the moment she met Charles, he was the one for her. He was the one she couldn't get out of her head however much she tried. He was the one she couldn't push to the side or ignore her feelings about.

Her relationship with Josh was doomed as soon as she had that conversation with Charles about the Achebe books. Charles is her person. They're both huge nerds. They both love books more than breathing. They're both devoted parents to their children.

Nothing about Liza's relationship with Charles was safe or convenient. QUITE the opposite for both of them, in fact. Their professional reputations were constantly on the line while they were pursuing each other and while they were together. Charles was dealing with a messy and public divorce and Liza saw her Charles-related interests and her Kelsey-related interests conflict on several different occasions.

And yet. And yet Charles is the one that she fights for. Charles is the one that she can't shake. Charles is the one that she was racing to the airport to stop from flying off with another woman in the literal penultimate episode of the series.

Think back. Can you think of a single example of Liza actively choosing Josh over Charles? Has she ever done that at any point in the series? She hasn't. But she chooses Charles over Josh time and time again. Why? Because she's in love with Charles. She may love Josh and lust after Josh, but she isn't *in* love with Josh. He isn't her soul partner. That's Charles.

Her love for Charles is nothing like her former love for David. The only thing that Charles and David have in common is their age. Charles is a totally different breed of human than David, and he's the breed that's right for Liza.

I like to pretend that the show ends after the Season 5 finale. That episode concludes with an uncertain ending for Liza & Charles, which feels realistic and honest to me. That's a place for a real soul-bonded couple to dig in and start doing the work. That was the end of Liza and Charles' honeymoon phase and the start of their real life as a couple.

Season 6 and Season 7 were sad COVID-infected shadows of what they could have been. But if we DO have to accept the Season 7 finale as canon, I like to imagine that Charles returns from Yaddo with his finished manuscript, he gives it to Liza to edit, and the two of them rekindle their romance when they realize that they complete each other.

That's how I feel, and I will die on this hill.