‘Youth’: Sharon Horgan & Rupert Friend Break Down Patrick’s Pros & Cons List

Just as Youth‘s Alex (Sharon Horgan) and Patrick (Rupert Friend) are beginning to find a promising romantic rhythm, the progress takes a sharp left turn in the latest installment. Warning: Spoilers for Youth Season 1 Episode 7 ahead!

While Alex has been looking for the right fit in a partner, Patrick was beginning to prove that he is more committed than the one-night-stand status he began the season with, but one stray pros and cons list may just foil it all. In the episode’s closing moments, Alex is in Patrick’s kitchen talking to him as he goes off into a different room, and as she comes across a pros and cons list, the con of not being able to have children together was enough to send her walking out the door without explanation.

But is the “con” a dealbreaker for Patrick? “Well, that’s why I think the writing is so brilliant because it’s left ambiguous,” Friend tells TV Insider. “What he puts on the con list is just a fact. It’s a cruel thing, and it’s hard to hear, but he doesn’t mean it to be cruel.”

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As Friend points out, “I don’t think Patrick has a cruel bone in his body. I think he’s desperately trying to understand what it means to grow up and also what it means to fall in love, which is what’s happening to him.”

Despite Patrick’s intentions, Alex doesn’t leave room for a conversation, and Horgan reveals the reason for the abrupt departure, noting, “It is her worst fear, and it’s what she tried to protect herself from originally and what he assured her she didn’t need to be scared of.” Horgan says Alex has “allowed herself” to open up, saying, “It’s very scary to fall in love, because initially all you think about is how am I going to feel when I lose this thing that’s making me feel so good… especially when you start seeing a future for something.”

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As Alex and Patrick push further down the road in their relationship, Horgan says, “She’s so far down the line with him that it’s painful [to have this revelation], it’s a bit of a tragedy, really.”

Is there any hope that Patrick will salvage the romance he and Alex have been carving out since the season began? “It’s gonna be messy, it’s gonna be real, it’s going to be human, and it might be funny, but it might break your heart,” Friend teases.

Don’t miss it for yourself as we look ahead to Youth‘s season finale, and let us know what you hope to see in the comments section below.

Youth, Sundays, 10/9c, HBO and HBO Max