"The L Word" season finale

Cafe Society
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Well, the season ender was on last night. Anyone watch it?

As expected, some major storylines were somewhat resolved and others were left hanging or seemingly ignored.

We had Shane and Carmen starting to act almost like a normal couple; of course for the past couple episodes Shane seems to have been making an effort to avoid casual sex, presumably out of respect for Carmen. I’m still kind of peeved at Carmen for stringing Jenny along, especially in light of how emotionally fragile Jenny is (as this episode showed). Shane is still my favorite character on the show; even though she had her own breakdown earlier this season, she still comes off as the one who has kind of been through the ringer and is therefore quicker to forgive and sympathize with others (note that she has apparently already forgiven Mark for the hidden camera thing and they are back to being friendly-it’s like all she needs is to sock him in the jaw and have a brief outburst of distress and she gets over it.)

Speaking of Jenny, the show seems to keep strongly hinting that Jenny was abused as a child; guess we’ll have to wait till next season to get that story. They kind of let the writing class and biography storyline just die, apparently. I am glad that she started to warm up to Mark again.

Yeah, Mark screwed up big-time, but I think the point was to show that there is a redeemable character within him, after he learns his lesson. I hope he sticks around a while next season for at least a little while.

Compared to most of the other storylines, the Alice/Dana storyline seemed to be rather minor and dead-ended. The worst that they had to deal with after Tonya left the picture has been Alice’s jealous insecurities about the relationship and Dana’s initial timidity about Alice’s fantasies and fetishes. Not that these aren’t real everyday problems that couples face, but in comparison it seems rather plain vanilla. They introduced the whole thing with Dana’s ex a little late in the season and little seemed to come of it; I didn’t really think much of it at all. Hope that something picks up for them next season.

The storyline with Bette and Kit and their dad was interesting and thankfully they didn’t let it drag on too long. The way the story was told, it gave the sense that Daddy Porter finally seemed to accept Tina and Bette’s relationship (he finally called her “Tina” and died looking at the picture of Better and Tina, which I suppose could mean any number of things)

I couldn’t find much of anything about Kit’s storylines this season to be interested in. I didn’t really care much for her affair with whatsisname, for example. The early part of the season where she was dealing with Ivan seemed far more interesting to me. Guess I missed the meat of that story from last season.

Bette/Tina/Helena…well, I never really liked Helena from the moment we met her, honestly. Her line to her new girlfriend (something like, “I think you’d look amazing pregnant.”) made me think that Helena just likes to latch onto pregnant lesbians or convince them to become pregnant…something about wanting lots of kids, apparently…but it made me think that she really didn’t care about Tina much at all. I haven’t seen anything so far to make me like Helena, so if she’s not back next season I wouldn’t cry too much. I’m quite glad that Bette and Tina got back together. Now, of course the writers have left open the possibility that Tina will not be back next season; the last we hear of her, her blood pressure is dropping, she’s put in intensive care, and then during the final scene she’s still nowhere to be found. Makes me wonder if the actress is considering dropping out next season; this kind of ending leaves open that possibility. I actually was expecting some doctor to come up at the last minute and tell Bette that Tina went into arrest and died.

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Well, I guess I’ll “bump” this thread.
I’m a recent “L Word” fan. I am heterosexual male which I don’t think should matter as to whether you watch this show or not. (It seems that most guys seem obliged to state their sexuality when they post anything about this show.)

Anyway, I was wondering what Bette’s story line might be for next season. When she got fired by her sleazy, spineless boss she said she’d like to murder someone. Wonder if she’ll pursue that literally or maybe do her best to destroy that dipshit’s life. (Not that I’m vengeful person. heh heh heh :smiley: )

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Well, thanks for bumping it! Another hetero male fan here, BTW.

If Tina is gone, I can imagine that Bette’s storyline would pretty much revolve around her trying to raise Angelica (that was the kid’s name, right?) on her own, struggling to find a source of income, and finding support in her friends. Actually, even if Tina does come back, I see Bette having pretty much the same struggle except that Tina would be there to take care of the child while Bette tries to find work. And of course it could be that Helena tries to lure Tina back to her with her ability to provide for the little girl. I can see that bothering Bette quite a bit, but I sincerely hope they find another angle, because it just seems like a continuation of this season’s theme; Helena flaunts her wealth and fame, Bette takes exception, Tina looks at both of them uncomfortably, etc.

I’d like to see the writers give Helena another angle, because quite frankly right now she just comes off as a villain and something of a predator. Maybe next season will be the story of Helena’s redemption. Here’s some wild speculation: if Tina doesn’t come back and Bette is left to raise the child herself, maybe Helena will be drawn to the situation by guilt or regret; perhaps she and Bette will have to struggle to reconcile their differences for the sake of the child. Of course Bette would be very resistant to take any ‘charity’ from Helena. Again, though, I think this could get tired pretty fast.

Thinking back on the abandoned storylines; whatever happened to the woman that Shane was working for, the one played by Camryn Manheim?

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Anyway, the storyline about Jenny is getting pretty weird. (Stripping, childhood sexual abuse, self-mutilation). Wow they showed her as pretty fragile in previous shows. Things seem to be getting even worse for her.

Well I was hoping that some other folks would join this topic. No one else wants to talk about a season finale of a show ?
If nothing else, “The ‘L’ Word” has to have one of the best-looking casts of any TV show.

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yay, I’ll contribute!

well, I’m enough of a fan that I keep up with the related gossip and speculation, so I can tell you now whether or not Tina will be back next season simply based on whether or not the actress is returning. see below if you want to know that, and whether or not any other character will be returning.

the actress playing Tina will be back, and has confirmed in some magazine or other that Tina and her baby are going to be fine. in fact, everyone that was on this season will be on for the next.

that said: I rather liked the finale. a lot of fans are complaining, saying it was a “waste of an hour”, but I really found it refreshing. for once it wasn’t so rife with drama as to be nearly suffocating, and that’s a welcome change in my book. drama keeps it interesting, but lately there just haven’t been enough lighthearted moments to balance it out. the finale wasn’t a complete exception to this, but it leaned a little less to the angsty than usual.

I thought Shane/Carmen this episode was really sweet. it’s good to see Shane growing up a little, and I think really that Jenny’s been a direct influence on that, by sort of forcing Shane into a parental role. Jenny’s so fucking weird that Shane a lot of times ends up having to guide her, comfort her, make sure she’s ok, and maybe that’s made her a bit more responsible and mature overall. Carmen, eh, she’s not as bad as all that. seems silly to place all the blame on her for ‘stringing Jenny along’… all three of them were stupid to let that relationship happen. Carmen was stupid to date an ex’s roommate, Jenny was stupid to date a roommate’s ex, Shane was stupid to agree to it. musical girlfriends is not cool, even when permission is granted, unless Jenny and Carmen had been in love when it started, which was clearly not the case.

as for Mark, eh, I could care less whether he stays or goes or what he does in between. he’s not an incredibly interesting character to me, though he is a cutie, and I appreciate that. I’m sorta the same way about Kit, except I’m not at all attracted to her. I haven’t been the slightest bit interested in her since Ivan (whose exit, btw, was very poorly done). Jenny needs to straighten her shit out or take a fucking flying leap. she’s such a contrived character. get over it, die, I don’t fucking care.

Dana & Alice, I agree, have kinda gotten stuck on the back burner. to me it’s understandable, though; at first they were sorta the (much-needed) comic relief in a sea of angst, and that was cool… it would’ve been rather too much to give them a meaty storyline, what with everything else that was going on. now that Shane/Carmen is starting to resolve itself, and Bette & Kit’s father’s gone, they’re getting a bit of drama to themselves. I can see where they’re going with this, I think… Dana just got out of this too-much-too-soon thing with Tonya, so she’s trying to take it slow and make sure she’s in it for the right reasons. Alice is already a little perturbed by this, and then Dana’s ex shows up, which only fuels her insecurity and drives her to constantly seek reassurance, which is most likely going to alienate Dana and nudge her in Lara’s direction. this is a good thing, though: Lara/Dana basically ended because Dana wasn’t out, so now that she’s out, that relationship’s kind of sitting there unresolved. my prediction is that Dana/Alice will break it off soon, Dana/Lara will get back together and eventually end for other reasons (thus resolving that relationship), more stuff happens, Dana/Alice learn and grow and eventually become ready for where their relationship was heading, and ultimately get back together. whee, our very own Rachel & Ross.

Bette & Tina, OMG, finally. pretending not to know whether Tina will live, I have to say that if she doesn’t, I find the prospect of Cuckoorex’s Helena/Bette/guilt situation interesting. I really do hope they find some way to redeem Helena next season, because yeah, right now she’s basically just a one-dimensional villainess, and it’s annoying. she’s too hot for that. also, wtf is her deal with pregnant women? I think she feeds off the souls of babies. I kept expecting her to like take a bite out of Tina’s belly every time she got near it. shudder
(still pretending) if Tina lives, there’s no doubt Helena would make Bette & Tina’s life a living hell in any way she could. her money controls both their jobs, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see her yank Tina’s out from under her too, or at least attempt to use it to coerce her. does anyone else think she’s in some way responsible for Bette getting fired? I think she somehow oversaw the addition of Leo to the team, and made some agreement with him for her money, so it looked like he had succeeded where Bette failed. something’s fishy, and she’s got money… I probably think about this show too much. #_#

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Good points, nevermore, especially about Shane playing the role of Big Sister to messed-up Jenny. I do hope that they don’t drag out the “Jenny in therapy” premise, if they end up going that way.

You’re probably right about it being unfair to place the bulk of blame on Carmen, but it seemed to me pretty clear that Carmen never really had anything long-term in mind with Jenny and she should have been up front about that, IMO. It seemed to me that Carmen also was treating Jenny like a kid (other than the hot, occasionally kinky sex, that is.)

Since I haven’t seen the previous season(s?) of The L Word, I don’t really know the background behind the Lara/Dana pairing; was it good (ie., healthy, fun, etc.)?

I was also expecting the writers to make greater use of Alice’s new radio show as a vehicle to move the narrative or advance some storylines; maybe we’ll see that next season, eh?

Of course, I read your spoiler. :wink:

One problem I see with Helena is that right now there doesn’t seem to be any regular cast members that would make sense as a love interest. Of course, maybe my thinking is too formulaic; maybe what she needs is to not have a love interest at all, maybe her “journey of redemption” will require her to examine why she is so drawn to pregnant women…hmmm…interesting thought; maybe Helena herself is unable to bear children, but wants them desperately?