Dating younger women (20-22ish, not 17) is like living the movies "Memento" and "Limitless" at the same time. At any given moment, you have absolutely no idea what the fuck she will do, but at the same time, you know the likely RESULT of anything she will do. From my experiences, if this adorable and endearing stage of the human female life cycle doesn't end by 24-25, it never will, and rapidly becomes much less adorable and endearing by age... (mumble).
That said, I can't imagine Dougie here "connecting" with this girl using anything other than his willy. 51 and 17? He's too old to keep up with her, and she's too young to communicate with him in any meaningful way. A 17-year old and a 20-year old may both try to act more "adult", but are worlds apart in the ways they do it, and its effectiveness. (For the psychologically inclined, I think the difference may be the 20 year old being in Formal Operations with both feet on the ground and the dust more settled, but that's just a hunch.)