Welcome to your weekly Boobs on Your Tube, on today, one of the most sacred of lesbian television holidays, the return of The L Word: Generation Q (which you can watch for free right now on YouTube! It also is free for streaming for Showtime subscribers starting today and will have it’s official premiere on Sunday night on the network). Meanwhile, we have a lot of TV to cover! Kayla thinks that it’s time for two Real Housewives to fall in love. Heather reveled in sweet, sweet fanboy tears over the new Masters of the Universe reboot on Netflix. Those queer girls on Mythic Quest got their nerdily ever after. Owl House just keeps getting more gay and adorable with every term, now making Amity and Luz official–official.

It’s a new month and that means that we have your What’s New, Gay and Streaming on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Showtime and Amazon Prime Video.

And of course, because it is L Word Day, we are celebrating! Here’s what we got:

• On To L and Back, Riese will be joining Drew and Analyssa for all your podcast needs. Ahead of Season Two, they did a special edition recap of everything you maybe forgot from Season One.
• Speaking of which, how about a megapost of Everything We Know About Gen Q Season Two Thus Far
• Carmen spoke with Rosanny Zayas about finding empathy for Sophie and sneaking watching the OG L Word on bootleg cable so her mom wouldn’t see
• And finally, Riese has written your recap of Episode One in the straight up masterful manner of which only she can.
• We are going to have new L Word content rolling out at least once a day through Tuesday, so be sure keep checking us out!

Notes from the TV Team: 

+ After the massive cliffhanger of seeing one of her closet friends being escorted off to murder by her uncle for drug family business reasons, there was surprisingly little for Jukebox this week on Raising Kanan. Her girlfriend doesn’t like that she steals designer clothes to sell bootleg (I mean… fair). Her Aunt Raquel has picked up on her distance from the family and correctly assumes there’s a love interest involved. Raq is already my early favorite character on the show (gotta love a Queenpin) so it’s no surprise that I adored the tenderness in her quiet scene with Jukebox, and I hope we have more Auntie/niece bonding in our future. Of our interest? Raq, seemingly on purpose, never uses a pronoun for Juke’s love interest. I think she’s waiting for her niece to come out to her first. — Carmen

+ Roswell, New Mexico is back! Not too much going on with the queer aliens as of yet, but Isobel did confirm that she’s still dating the lady bartender from last season, even after the year-long time jump (where we blessedly acknowledge but skipped the pandemic), so hopefully we’ll see more of them soon! — Valerie Anne

+ The iCarly reboot remains very cute! Harper has a non-binary manager at the coffee shop she works at, and just uses they/them pronouns for them without any hullabaloo about it. Also she continues to have fun little moments to remind us she’s queer like her low-key crush on Freddie’s ex wife and a joke about vacationing with Cara Delevingne. It’s nice to have casual representation in a wholesome sitcom. — Valerie Anne

The Chi 410: “A Raisin in the Sun”

Written by Natalie

When Jada heard Nina’s confession about her affair, she reminded her that Dre isn’t the type to run away from things… and, to Dre’s great credit, she hasn’t. Even as she keeps Nina at arm’s length, Dre’s there, helping Keisha with the baby and mothering Kevin when he needs it. But Nina’s tired of not knowing what’ll happen between them so she issues an ultimatum: forgive her or move on. Dre’s shocked by her audacity — after all, she’s the one that cheated — but Nina insists she just wants things back to the way they were. Dre laments that things may never go back to the way they were. Nina promises to do whatever she can to get them back.

Later, Dre invites Lynae — a West side girl who’s been kicked out of her home — to come stay with her family. When she runs the idea passed Nina, she’s skeptical: they can barely afford to feed the children that are already under their roof. Dre sees herself in Lynae and won’t allow her to be dismissed as someone else’s problem like she was. Nina, subtley, weighs Lynae’s invitation against a commitment to their marriage: “if our marriage is not in tact, these kids are going to grow up off balance.” Nina pledges that she’s committed to doing the work and they seal their unearned reconnection with a kiss.

Meanwhile, Shaad returns to Imani’s house with Trig and offers an apology for how he treated her. It’s not clear that his apology is genuine — he doesn’t offer it unprompted — but later, it’s clear that Shaad is sincere. A random passer-by bumps into Imani and they exchange words. But before the interaction can get physical, Shaad throws the stranger against the wall, pinning him there until he apologizes. The stranger finally apologizes and questions whether Imani is Shaad’s woman. No, Shaad answers, she’s his family.

The season ends with everyone together: first at Jada’s remission celebration and then at a neighborhood block party. It’s a celebratory moment (with echoes of The Chi‘s first season) that makes it feel very much like a series finale… but, The Chi will return for Season 5. Maybe then we’ll get some resolution to all the stories that The Chi started this season but forgot to finish.

Burden of Truth 401: “River City”

Written by Natalie

The fourth and final season of Burden of Truth opens on an expansive Canadian field, with an indigenous tribe performing a grass dance. For the show, it offers the show’s lead, Joanna Chang, a reminder of the solemn responsibility to protect the earth but, for me, it’s a reminder of this amazing moment that we’re in. Burden of Truth joins shows like Rutherford Falls, Trickster and the forthcoming Reservation Dogs in really boosting indigenous representation on television. I’m hopeful that this is just the beginning and that we’ll continue to see the stories of indigenous people brought to our screen.

And if they could all follow in the footsteps of Burden of Truth and make it gay…well, that’d be great too.

Our queer heroine, Luna Spence, is back for the fourth season and is absolutely killing it. She’s at the top of her law school class and she’s a member of law review. Somehow, outside of her academic obligations, she still finds time to research corrupt board members for Joanna and work at the North End Legal Centre. Oh, and did I mention that she’s got a cute new girlfriend? A fellow law student named Stevie.

The Legal Centre dispatches the couple to meet Adimu, a young woman who’s been unlawfully evicted from her apartment. Luna threatens the landlord with legal action but that doesn’t earn the woman immediate access to her things. Luna rushes back to the Centre to research a solution to Adimu’s problem. She proposes one motion after another to help the young woman get her belongings back. Recognizing how talented her girlfriend is, Stevie recommends that Luna reconsider applying for summer internships but Luna’s content with spending her summer at the North End. But Stevie doesn’t stop pushing: she shares Luna’s resume with one of her dad’s friends at a huge law firm and he wants to interview her for a summer position. Luna’s reticient. Convinced that she won’t believe in the work or fit in, Luna demurs, but Stevie reminds her that it’s just one meeting.

After chatting with Taylor, Luna is convinced to go on the interview but when she arrives to meet the law partner, she recognizes him: Nevin Page, the lawyer who she and Joanna faced in court last season. Luna’s ready to walk out but Page asks her to stay and gives his best sales pitch. He offers her a summer job, an associate position after graduation, a signing bonus and the highest starting salary in the city.

It’s telling that she doesn’t say no right away…but it’s also revealing that she doesn’t say yes either. It’s going to be an interesting season for Luna Spence.

The Republic of Sarah 108: “The Perfect Conditions for Disaster”

Written by Natalie

Not having learned from the last time talking too much got her into trouble, AJ steps in it again this week. Only this time, she doesn’t draw Alexis’ ire…this time, AJ’s mouth gets her in trouble with Alexis’ stepdaughter, Bella.

A blizzard has arrived in Greylock, forcing everyone to shelter in place. After pulling Bella’s bus out of a snowbank, AJ and Bella find refuge at the town’s local diner. Grover’s surprised to see Bella back in town before winter break but she’s home to support her father through his upcoming divorce (!!). Couples therapy didn’t work for Alexis and William, Bella reports, so her stepmother is due to move out this weekend. The teenager sulks in a booth as Grover laments Alexis and William’s impending divorce and AJ pretends not to know a thing about it.

Grover tries to offer Bella a pep talk but it does not go well. Instead, the teenager recalls the last time her father got divorced: at four, when Bella’s biological mom ran off with some other guy. AJ listens — her heart breaking — as Bella admits that she’d hoped that Alexis would be the one to finally stick around. After his first attempt at a pep talk leaves Bella in tears, Grover tries again: this time just listening to the teenager as she reflects on the mess her life is in.

“Alexis doesn’t care about me anymore than she cares about my dad, which is not at all. By this time next week, she’ll probably be on a beach somewhere with her new girlfriend,” Bella surmises. AJ has a visible reaction to the Bella’s revelations but neither Grover or Bella clock her reaction.

Later in the kitchen, though, AJ starts to process Bella’s admissions with Grover. He is his usual sanctimonious self — casting dispersions without knowing the details — and AJ defends Alexis. She realizes that Alexis is protecting her by keeping her identity a secret from William but Grover insists that it’s William that Alexis should be protecting. AJ confesses that she’s the one Alexis is protecting. Grover chastises her for destroying the Whitmore marriage but AJ insists the marriage was broken long before she came along. She reserves her sympathy for Bella who thinks her stepmother doesn’t care for her anymore. In the only right thing he’s said all day, Grover tells AJ to just stay out of it and let the family heal their own wounds.

But when Bella admits to feeling unwanted, AJ can’t help but speak up for Alexis. She recounts all these details about how much Alexis loves Bella but she takes it one step too far — unwittingly revealing a secret — and Bella realizes that AJ’s the one Alexis has been sleeping with. AJ gives Bella some space but then re-approaches her to make one thing clear: she says, “you can hate me, you can hate her but know you’re loved Bella and nothing’s ever going to change that.”

Motherland: Fort Salem 207: “Irrevocable”

Written by Valerie Anne

This week, when Raelle wakes up in a Camaria lab. A man who looks like Nathan Fillion Lite is smiling creepily over her as he starts to cut her vocal chords out. But then whatever is inside her from when she touched the goo reacts and kills the men trying to kill her. When this happens, Raelle finds herself inside her mind, or maybe even inside her vocal chords, to a place a voice tells her in mothertongue is between life and death. But before her body can fully die, Raelle’s wounds heal and she wakes up again. And again and again.

Meanwhile, Scylla mind-fucks Camaria into taking her and Willa to Raelle. On their way, thinking about her reunion with her daughter who thinks she’s dead, Willa looks at Scylla and laments that Raelle will probably hate them both when this is over. But Scylla doesn’t care if Raelle hates her, as long as Raelle is safe. Willa smiles at Scylla and is happy to know her daughter is so loved. It’s very sweet.

After melting a man’s face off to get her cousin’s voice back, Abi crosses paths with Scylla and the two of them watch as Willa saves Raelle from the Evil Dude’s final test: Witch Plague. Willa goes to her daughter and uses her healing powers to take the Witch Plague from her. They get to talk briefly in that in-between space, just long enough for Willa to apologize for leaving Raelle, to tell her daughter how much she loves her. The candle chat Raelle never got to have. And then Raelle loses her mother for a second time.

When Raelle wakes up, memories of her mother flickering in the back of her mind, the girlfriend she thought was gone forever is by her bedside. And I bet baby girl has questions.

Raelle Collar, card-carrying member of the Unkillable Gay Squad.

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!