Alex and Ruari might finally be back home after their whirlwind trip to Frankfurt. However, their return has brought a fresh string of trials and tribulations for the mother and son. Sharon Horgan’s HBO series Youth began with a locked jaw, a small protest, the return of an old flame, and mounting career troubles.

The last episode saw Alex finally confront her son, Ruari, in Frankfurt and find out the truth behind what led him to drop out of university. Meanwhile, she is back to square one on the career front, too. The new episode brings a few moments of joy for Alex, swinging her from one emotional high to another, only for an unexpected hurdle.

After Ruari told the truth about the whole incident and the rumor about Bridget to Alex, she made peace with his decision to drop out of university. She even suggested that Ruari take up a job. The fourth episode of the show Youth began with Alex and Sam at Frank's bar discussing their life and work. 

Meanwhile, Ruari can be seen working in the bar. While Ruari's life finally seems to take a turn, Alex has fallen into new hurdles in professional and personal life. During their conversation, Sam reminded Alex to get Malcolm back in the company.

This deepens the frustrations and misunderstandings between Alex and Sam. She begins to feel that Patrick began talking to Cara after he found out about her and Lars. Back at work, a frustrated and angry Alex almost sends away a potential client and best-selling author, Rachel Lash, by annoying her with discussion about her relationships.

While she objected, arguing that she was propositioned by Malcolm at the sauna in Frankfurt, it could not convince Sam, who is determined to get the author back in the company. Meanwhile, Alex tries to get back with her ex, Patrick, after their previous fight, but they quickly fall apart. When she visited Patrick unannounced, she found him with his young friend Cara.

The situation quickly makes her upset and angry. She gets into a brief conversation with Patrick and Cara and tries to escape. Later, Alex tries to dodge Patrick's calls until she gets one text. Patrick reveals that Sam has already told him about her fling with Lars.

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But when Sam finds Alex talking about her relationship issues with Rachel, she confronts her. And finally, this opens up one knot for Alex and Sam. When questioned by Alex, Sam revealed that she told Patrick about Lars and Alex after finding out that he got with Cara.

Later, Alex agrees to go on a date with Michael. During her conversation with Sam earlier, she refused to go on another date because of the age gap. While Alex is in her 50s, Michael is 67 years old. However, she quickly warms up to Michael’s sweet talk. Later, she invited Michael to her home for dinner.

During their conversations, Alex opens up to him about her issues with Sam. To her surprise, Michael consoled Alex and guided her to do the right thing. While she avoids getting intimate with Michael, she slowly gets impressed with how Michael, who is someone older, supports her. During the dinner Michael also formed a connection with Ruari.

Later, when he is about to leave, Michael suggests that his son is already grown up, so he wants Alex to rely on him, and he can help out with guiding Ruari too.  And things seemingly take a turn for Alex, who later manages to get closer to signing Rachel as well as Malcolm. Later, she also tries to talk to Sam for a partnership role in her company, although that did not seem to work out for her.

However, this is where the trouble begins for her. During her date with Michael at her home, her sister drops off her parents. And the sudden, unexpected guests quickly end up annoying Michael. Later, Alex’s parents constantly ask for Michael which quickly frustrates him. Later, Ruari, who seemingly begins to feel close to Michael, starts to tell him about his issues.

He begins to tell him about experiencing pain in his testicles. Quite clearly, Ruari had begun to get attached to him; however, that further frustrates Michael. At the end of the date, when Alex invites Michael to join her on a trip to Ibiza, he refused and further suggested that they should stop seeing each other.

When Alex asks for the reason, he reveals that he is already old and cannot take things slow. After a heated conversation, Michael breaks away from the relationship and leaves. Things do not look good for Ruari either. He has been facing pain in his testicles. Later, he runs into Bridget and her friend, Mia, at Frank’s bar.

When he tries to talk to Bridget and clear up the misunderstandings, her friend ends up hitting him before Frank breaks off the fight. The episode ends with Alex revealing her breakup with Michael to Ruari and suggesting leaving for Ibiza together. Now, perhaps some new trouble awaits the mother and son in Ibiza.

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Have you watched Youth episode 4? Let us know your take in comments.