Back at the Dana Fairbanks Memorial Tavern, Shane’s shoved into a booth with Tess and Cherrie and the inquiry begins regarding their knowledge of one another. Cherrie says Shane used to do her hair.
We actually had a famous swimming pool-adjacent strap-on lesbian sex scene in Season 3 that ranked #5 on Autostraddle’s list of “Every L Word Sex Scene, Ranked”
I think we can all agree that everyone at this table has been in a famous strap-on lesbian sex scene
Shane is like, “Come on. We had an affair. An intense, destructive affair. She was married, it did not end well. Did it?” Cherrie dodges the question but shares that Shane was a notorious homewrecker, which Shane points out is all in the past now, she is completely reformed! Just in case Tess was wondering about that wink wink! This is a big moment for Shane to be calm, collected and comfortable in her skin while Cherrie still radiates destructive energy in everybody’s direction.
Cherrie thanks Shane for being her root because now she is divorced and “gloriously and aggressively out of the closet.” Then I thank both of them personally because their affair in Season One was actually MY root.
MEMORIES SWEET MEMORIES
MORE FOND MEMORIES
(Is it just me or does it feel like this show forgot that Shane and Cherrie have seen each other three times since the end of their affair and that Shane has been aware of her divorce since 2006?)
Shane invites Cherrie to join that evening’s Poker in the Rear Game and Tess, attempting to glide serenely through this terribly awkward love triangle and maybe dissolve into the carpet, escapes to the back room to say “FUCK” over and over to herself. But Finley’s back there, and she needs advice. “Sophie said she’s not together with Dani anymore,” Finley explains, “But then she used the word friends to describe us, but I do think that could mean friends for right now, and then eventually lead to something more, right?”
Please just tell me exactly what I want to hear and I will get right out of your hair
Tess, who understandably was clearly not listening, tells Finley that if Sophie told her that she just wants to be friends (she didn’t), Finley should believe her, and go out there and find someone who knows her worth!
Back in therapy, Micah gives Angie the floor, and Jordan Hull steps into the spotlight and absolutely crushes the scene. She’s been thinking about everything happening with Black Lives Matter, and what it’s been like for Marcus to move through this world — and how nice it’s been to speak with Kayla about “race stuff.” She can do that with Bette, too, but it’s different.
Angie: You know that the two of us walk through this world differently, Mom.
Bette: I know. I mean just because some white people mistake me for Italian or whatever that doesn’t mean that I don’t know who I am. And you know who I am.
Angie: I do. But it doesn’t change the fact that you experience more privilege because of the way you look.
Bette: I know that.
Angie: Kit looked more like me, and I can’t talk to her anymore. So. I guess it’s just really nice to talk to Kayla because there’s a kind of shorthand with us, and um I guess I don’t want that to go away.
Now we are all crying! Angie doesn’t wanna lose something bigger than her that she is a part of. Micah tells them to sit with this for a bit and they can re-discuss at a later time. Bette reaches for Tina’s hand and holds it.
We then descend into the bowels of a parking garage, where Carrie has some complaints and needs, like tea and a hot tub. Carrie loves Angie, but Bette’s a “tough one” and Carrie doesn’t know how Tina ever married her. Tina does not care for this Bette slander!
Lesbian Squabble #21: The Ex-Factor
In the Ring: Carrie vs. Tina
Tina dislikes Carrie’s tone. “I just got verbally beat up by your ex-wife and you wanna talk about my tone?” Carrie asks, which is a fair question. We’ve become numb, as a viewership, to the slings and arrows of Bette Porter Discourse but my G-d she was a beast in that room, and Tina should address this with Bette instead of being a Tina. Carrie’s okay being a second to Angie, but she won’t be third to Bette.
Tina: “Look I love you, you belong here, okay?”
Carrie: “Yeah you keep saying that.”
Who Wins? Carrie. Also the Lyft driver who just got a ride from a lesbian who probably over-tips because Carrie’s going back to the office instead of riding along with Tina.
Back at The Aloce Show, Sophie’s interviewing a very cute old lesbian couple about their very cute relationship, and how they met and courted each other at a time when it was not okay to be gay and they triumphed over adversity to be together!
The girl who loves me also triumphed over adversity by interrupting my wedding to tell me that she loves me and she thinks I love her too
She did what?
They tell her the “real deal” doesn’t come around that often but when it does, you hold onto it and you fight for it! Sophie and Alice promptly project this situation to their own lives. Sophie asks Alice if it’s true about the real deal not coming around that often. Alice says she can count on one hand the people she has loved, which feels unlikely, but I will accept it.
We then journey over to Dani’s box-filled Castle in the Sky, where Gigi and Dani are drinking wine and sharing the easy banter and emotional intimacy of two women destined to have sex.
Just a little bit of poison
Dani says she has to believe that her Dad is innocent because she can’t lose him on top of losing her Mom and Sophie. Also, Dani tells Gigi that she saw Sophie in Ojai and at first it was strange and then really great but then at the end, Dani felt relieved. A part of her knew they weren’t right together. “I don’t know why we lie to ourselves like that,” Gigi says. “Self-preservation I guess.”
So when you said you were interested in trying to power bottom did you mean… with me?
I sure did!
I thought so
Gigi’s tendency to strategically dig into the below-the-surface emotions of the women she speaks to never worked with Bette — she’s just walls upon walls — but it works with Dani, because she’s got so much she needs to say but kinda has to be tricked into saying it. She has to feel seen, first. And Gigi seems to see her.
We then return once more to the legendary Dana Fairbanks Memorial Tavern, where Shane and Tess are giving Finley permission to leave work early to fuck a person she just met.
This chick wanted me to ask you “Hey are you guys back there growing a lime tree and harvesting potatoes to make vodka from scratch or will my drink be ready in the next 5-10 minutes?”
Shane and Tess are bumbling around each other behind the bar. Shane says Cherie was a lifetime ago and she’s not gonna get in their way, Tess says it’s fine she just has a lot of things in her head.
Shane: Did you tell [Finley] to move on?
Tess: Yeah, she can’t keep pretending to not see what’s right in front of her.
Shane: That’s true.
Tess: You think I’m wrong.
Shane: I didn’t say that, I just think — I think people are complicated and I think timing is complicated. Life can be complicated. What do I know?
Tess: True. But she can’t expect Sophie to change and she’s made herself pretty clear, so.
Shane: I’m sorry but what the hell are we talking about?
Tess: Finley.
Okay FINE I won’t stick my entire hand under a stream of boiling water and scream “WHY AM I DATING SHANE’S EX?” while we have customers
First of all, WHEN WAS SOPHIE CLEAR? Everybody is just walking around quoting Sophie but nobody is talking to Sophie.
Micah returns to FiSoMi’s after a long hard day at work and texts Marbiel to see if she can come over, citing a “mild emergency.” Mild emergency, thy name is Bette Porter.
We then sojourn across many blocks or miles to find Alice is at home when Nat calls to, it seems, cancel the dinner Alice was preparing. While condoning her flowers for being stupid, she knocks over the vase and it shatters into a million little pieces, which is, as they say, the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Ok so if a small housecat happened to eat one of the purple flowers, how bad would that be on a scale of 1 to “dropping $800 at the emergency vet”
Tom texts her to tell her that her publisher loves the manuscript and, overwhelmed by conflicting emotions, Alice stars sobbing.
Maribel shows up at FiSoMi’s looking hot to trot because she cancelled a date to come over for Micah’s mild emergency. He’s immediately alarmed because not only did he just express a desire and assert a feeling, but now he is having that desire and those feelings addressed.
Micah begins rambling about his day and how he felt bad at his job and he just needed to see her and talk about nothing or eat vegan pizza but it’s okay it’s totally fine and she is like, “Micah….”
HEY-O!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Genuinely confused when exactly Maribel figured out that Micah is interested in her but ummmm THEY GO UPSTAIRS TOGETHER TO MAKE OUT MORE!!!! LET’S FUCKING GO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Speaking of bisexuality, Tom has come to the rescue at Alice’s home because he knows his way around a broom and a dustpan! He is HORRIFIED to come across two live lobsters in Alice’s sink, which she admits she was going to murder and serve to Nat for a nice fancy dinner.
Everything’s better down where it’s wetter, take it from me!
Well, if they’re not gonna EAT the lobsters, what are they gonna do with the lobsters?? Too????
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I just want to say that I’ve been refreshing the website all day waiting for the recap. Right now my excitement level for the recaps is almost the same as for the actual show and my The L Word experience is not full if I don’t read the recap (and later listen to the podcast).
just want to say that i love this for us both
I too was refreshing this page all day (sad for me, complimentary for Riese), especially since I have no one in real life with whom to discuss all my feelings!
Same to both of these!! I have no one irl to talk to about it so I eagerly await the review and podcast!
IT IS A PLEASURE TO BE HERE FOR YOU ALL
1000% agree!!
what a waste of a lobster! also not cutting the bands? wtf. so strange and unnecessary lol
i was thinking about the bands that whole time i was like wow i hope they cut those off and when he asked her if they remembered to cut off the bands i was like fuck they didn’t do it did they
haha truly same I found it very distracting and had to rewatch the scene again to absorb any of it. Threw a small wrench at my Talice ship
I swear it looked like they did, but what do I know about lobsters.
Not cutting off the bands was upsetting and cruel. Who would think to do that. The scene would have otherwise been sweet.
I really hope next season gets more episodes so literally any of these storylines could breathe. So much of it is interesting (well. maybe not whatever’s going on with Sophie’s dad.) but I feel like there’s so much that I actually want to see (like literally everything Angie referenced when talking about her relationship with Kayla) that would help me like…care?
(but also, a morsel of character development for Bette via Micah? amazing.)
right, shows with ensembles this big need at least 12 eps, it’s weird how seasons have gotten shorter and shorter over the past few years. i often forget that season 6 of the original series had 8 episodes because now that’s like… a normal season. and at the time we were like WHAT A SHORT SEASON
If you’re looking for me I’ll be snail mailing my glands, sweetbreads, and variety meats to Gigi. I might be back in time for next week’s episode, or I might be climbing a mountain in tights I’ve been wearing for an indeterminable amount of time.
just be sure if someone offers you mushrooms that you say yes
I haven’t had a chance to read the recap yet but I’ve been waiting all day (sad for me) for your post so I could vent: If 204 made me tear up multiple times, 205 was just painful to watch. Am I the only one who felt like I needed to re-watch Angie’s declaration to Jordi or other positive moments from earlier episodes?
Ahhh. If Sophie so desperate to absolve herself that she takes Finley’s flat, pained affect in the opening sequence at face value? I guess the answer is yes. There is so much construing and missed connections that could just be avoided by actually communicating.
I don’t know about you, Riese, but I’m holding onto Sophie’s voiceover line from the S2 trailer – “I just got scared and I promise, I’m going to try not to be so scared anymore” – and Drew’s observation on the podcast that in a show like this the longer we have to wait for happiness/closure the more likely it is so be substantive and long-lasting… Right? Right?
(Also, is someone finally going to directly acknowledge Finley’s substance abuse issues, please? I find it hard to believe that Micah wouldn’t at least say something, given how attentive his character is to the others?)
I have to assume as episode 5/10 this is the pivot hinge in the season’s narrative pacing? Please, Marja?
On another topic: I was disappointed by what felt like a rushed and rather flat consummation of the budding Micah/Maribel relationship. I think wanted it to be more …. drawn out? Written to be more meaningful? It felt like it happened so (too fast).
Could we just not have Cherie return? Please?
Gigi saved this episode. I appreciate how S2 is fleshing out Dani into a fuller character, in part through the dynamic with Gigi, which I appreciate how it’s charged but also evolving and unpredictable.
Perhaps most importantly: Jordan Hull is so, so good. She saves scene after scene of questionable character behavior and dicey narrative choices in the writing. I was happy to see her bring up race, her experience of Blackness, and privilege. That is not where I thought the therapy conversation was headed but it was a welcome surprise, and also revealed once again that Angie is the most emotionally mature person in the room and gave more depth and complexity to the character’s interest in cultivating a relationship with her donor’s family.
yes!! that voiceover line!!! also “it’s you and me”
re: micah/maribel yeah i was wondering what it is that made maribel even realize/accept micah was into her since she obviously did not pick up on a single signal in prior episodes
I figured Maribel had probably picked up on it but wanted to wait until Micah was sure?
Jordi (for the three scenes we’ve seen of her) is a completely different character this season, both in looks and personality. I get that teenagers change up their style and vibe but she just seems worlds away from the edgy rebel that Angie fell for. Ignoring her girlfriend for her prom queen campaign? For real?
Caitrw it’s refreshing to encounter someone that isn’t bowled over by Cherie. I didn’t like her in the original and her absolute disdain for Shane (and joy in enabling Shane to repeatedly fuck her life up) nullified any “hotness” from their sex scenes. I know I bang on about Tess in my comments but I’m so angry that this is her lot – Shane fucks her girlfriend, triggering a brief relapse, then she starts to find chemistry with Shane, and now the person she’s seeing turns out to be Cherie fucking Jaffe? For real? I was so hoping it was gonna be Helena walking through that door.
Just realised I used “for real?” in two separate paragraphs in two separate contexts. I am suitably ashamed, for real.
Agreed: I do not understand the Cherie defenders, in the OG or now. I also adore Tess and regardless of the outcome of her relationship with Shane (whether it does/should remain friendship/business partners vs romantic) she deserves so much better than this dumpster fire.
A lot of this show feels like people explaining conversations/relationships they are having but we haven’t seen (like Angie and Kayla) or explaining other people’s feelings despite us having never seen why they’d know those things (like Tess and Sinley).
I’m not sure if it’s a way of managing the cast or it’s a writing choice, but I’d much rather actually see the things they’re talking about rather than hearing about the second hand.
I love Carrie though and if Tina breaks her heart, I swear I’ll go back to how I felt about her the first time I watched the show.
yeah it is weird that the one kayla/angie talking-out-loud scene we’ve seen has been, at best, small talk, when there are apparently so many more interesting conversations being had too. the first scene occurring in complete silence behind a glass wall was…. a choice.
i do feel like w/r/t marcus being ill, the choice to have angie reveal it in pieces — to shane and then in therapy instead of us seeing her find out about it was a good one, an effective slow reveal of a mystery for maximum emotional impact.
but like with tess and finley, it would be nice to know if tess is: 1. giving bad advice based on misinterpreting finley’s stories about what sophie has said, 2. giving bad advice based on projecting her own experiences onto finley’s, 3. giving good advice based on her prior conversations with sophie or someone close to her, 4. simply not really paying attention to what finley is actually saying. because those are all very different scenarios!!! and i think that’s hard about the original series and this one (and most tv shows except the REALLY good ones), you never really know what’s intentional and what’s an oversight.
I also thought about Jenny’s writing when Bette said that!!! I feel so validated right now.
Me too! It’s too bad Tim didn’t accept a kidney from Jenny and then forward it on to Marcus Allenwood to resolve this situation.
I know we coulda nipped this RIGHT in the bud
If “for us as lesbians” is the best thing to come out of this season, I’m fine with it.
i think we should make a sticker
The Cherie plot line is even worse than I thought it would be, and my expectations of this show are exceptionally low.
So Tess only just met Cherie the other day and has no real attachment to her, learns that Cherie had a tumultuous relationship with Shane, observes Cherie touching Shane’s leg, decides to leave early over this, and then has sex with Cherie in her workplace after all that? Really? In what universe would this sequence of events occur?
Not only did this make absolutely no sense for Tess, but can the L Word not do better for Shane than recycling the Cherie plot yet again? She already had her post-divorce comeback, there’s nothing left to explore between them.
I was amused to see all of Jordi’s prom competitors named, can’t wait to see where this epic plot goes. One can only assume that bitter rivals Bethany Thompson and Alexa Faggiano will be kidnapped by a gaggle of vampires, German snipers, and demons, who they will have to kill one by one with kitchen implements, only to arrive for the unprecedented double crowning of Jordi and Jessie Yang.
the last paragraph of this comment has murdered me and it is from the great beyond that i say i genuinely have… no idea why tess was still down to hook up with gigi besides maybe like…. low self-esteem and wanting to feel like cherie did still want her and not shane or simply to prevent cherie from hooking up with shane?? this is me trying to put myself in her shoes lol
I love that you accidentally wrote Gigi, that woman is on ALL of our minds
Thank you for that most excellent Buffy reference <3
ok already an a+ member but just donated another $50 to pay tribute to this outstanding bit of comedic critical literature. I beg at your knees.
THANK YOU SO MUCH SINDEELOU2
This episode was painfully boring and emotionless. Easily worst of the season.
Can we all agree we have seen the Daddy Warbucks goes to jail, meets with offspring, discusses company 1 million times too many already? Stop wasting my attention span with this, Gen Q.
On that note, the actress playing Angie’s ability to elicit emotion through her performance is truly the only thing saving the dying biological father subplot. It feels like a strangely complicated and boring way to back into a broader discussion about systemic racism.
Speaking of unnecessary subplots, Cherie. No. Just no. No one asked for this. Let Shane live without imploding for once. Also the more screen time Tess gets, the more confusing her character’s motivations and behavior become. What is the backstory of this human?! What are her values? Her behavior is all over the map and the acting is so poor that it’s all uncomfortable to watch at this point. Can we please let Shane leave this bar and this flat scene partner to explore the light of day!?
Re: partners – totally here for Micah and Maribel but can’t say I felt a single emotion watching them connect so hastily. Just saying, writers, could you have reallocated some of this excruciating Finnly/Sophie build up to an ounce of foreplay for MM? Apparently YESTERDAY she was setting him up and today she’s just ready to bone. Did I miss the step where she connects the dots and reciprocates any amount of emotion or energy before dropping a smooch on the man?
Alice/Scrubs – yes, okay, like this progression.
WHY is everyone on Carrie’s case? What has this woman ever done to any of you other than offer up her steamy buns? More Carrie, always more Carrie.
Can we skip right to the Gigi/Dani sex, because discussing daddy’s finances is killing my boner.
All I can say is that the inevitable Sinnley make up sex better be worth this endless swapping of transgressions, Gen Q. This is 90% of why anyone is watching this show.
SOPHIE THAT IS YOUR SISTER. I AM HORRIFIED BY THIS.
I hate to be harsh, but the actress playing Tess just isn’t very good. The storyline suffers as a result. I also don’t think Micah or Maribel are particularly good. I also hate Cherie coming back. I want more Carrie, more Sophie, more Gigi…let them carry a heavier amount of the story. They have good skills and training
I literally just got dumped today and the first thing I did afterwards was checking if the recap was up because priorities.
I’m not really sure how I feel about this episode (or about anything). I’m not really liking how things are going with Shane and Tess (and Cherie now I guess). It got so messy and it just doesn’t make any sense. Sinley is also a bit of a trainwreck, but maybe by realizing Finley is not just gonna wait lost-kitten-on-the-highway style then maybe Sophie will finally make up her mind on how she feels about her? I’m also hoping they’ll address Finley’s relationship with alcohol soon.
Also, Bette honey are you okay? If being with Gigi is so damn uninteresting to you I can think of a million other women who can gladly fill in for ya, including me lol let me dream…
I gotta say though, I’m loving Dani and Gigi’s dynamics. I love how Gigi is able to bypass Dani’s avoidance in her sexy straghtforward way and everything just flows so well between them. They seem like they are able to be much more real with one another than Dani with Sophie or Gigi with Bette. I’m really looking forward to see how this is gonna evolve!
i want to say simply that i fully support your priorities and i am sorry about your breakup!
and obviously i agree about dani and gigi, aka gini
If I weren’t almost pathologically incapable of crying more than quarterly, Angie would’ve had me bawling this ep. Between Kit and the desperation to just connect with people who really get what she’s going through and not being listened to by anyone but Carrie and Micah…man, the most emotionally mature person on the show is really going through it.
Micahbel! I’m thrilled to see them hookup, but I really wish we’d gotten like three more scenes of them moving in this direction? Or like one scene where Micah had to verbally ask for what he wanted between them.
I’m very into Alice and Tom and very stressed about the banded lobsters.
Also, Gigi uttering the word “space” in Dani’s proximity qualifies as foreplay for them actually. In theory, I want other characters to have more screentime but not at the expense of theirs, as I could watch them sip wine and talk for maybe 5 uninterrupted hours.
Almost forgot, but justice for Carrie! I love her and I hope that she never softens in her resistance to being disrespected by or for Bette.
I’m not pounding the pavement for more Tina scenes but for me, that character will only grow when she allows herself to stop being Bette’s keeper, and puts some small fraction of that energy into protecting Carrie (with enough leftover to be a good mom and a whole person).
yes! it feels like tina has gone backwards w/r/t her deference to bette. idk if this is giving her too much credit for deep character work, but the only explanation to me for why she seems less capable of standing up for carrie in bette’s presence than she did in oh, idk, season 5-6?, could be her guilt for moving away from angie to get space from bette.
You know what I love about Carrie? She’s so real. Like, I’ve met a lot of lesbians who remind me of Carrie. I haven’t met that many Bettes. This show needs some real dykes to round it out and bring some good energy. I want more Carrie giving good hugs and tough advice
Yes yes this, so much this. Carrie deserves better and I hope that Tina actually listens and acts on what Carrie is telling her. I’m worried that what will happen instead is that Tina will keep on putting Carrie third and so gets written off the show.
I agree with all of this. Keep up not tolerating being Bette’s floor mat, Carrie! Although I love Rosie O’donnell in general and as Carrie specifically, and I wan’t her in the show, Tina needs to do better by her! I was never a Tina apologist, and for sure not when Rosie O’donnell is involved!
Also, I am here for Gigi and anyone, of course. But I don’t like her with Dani. It’s nice, but she needs someone more sophisticated and more communicative. She would get bored with Dani in a fortnight, I feel. I liked Gigi and Bette, but Bette is too caught up herself to deserve Gigi. Gigi needs someone real, someone experienced and smart. Someone who demands respect, and who needs to be seen and valued. Someone like Carrie?
omg you just opened my third eye. I like Dani/Gigi personally, but if it didn’t work out and Gigi decided it had run its course…
Riese, question—can we do some math and figure out how many days have been implied to have passed since the season start? Because each episode seems to be occurring the next day. Has it been 5eps of drama over what…like a solid work week? I’m so perplexed by the timeline in universe.
Alice has edited a whole book (to your point)?
Gigi bought an apartment and moved out?
Angie sent and received the results of a 23andme?!
Shane established and built apparently a robust client list for what appears to be nightly poker games? Is Dana’s Tavern and Backroom Sex Lounge only open to the public like once a week?
What is time on this show?!? I’m so disturbed by this.
Also… Sophie hasn’t seen Finley for a few days since standing her up for ex-sex in Ojai, but Shane and Tess’s almost kiss was… yesterday?
I seriously think that The L Word having absolutely no coherent sense of the passage of time is canon, and the Gen Q writers are honoring the original series by sticking with that.
Dani and Gigi’s dynamic is my emotional support animal
I love how much Alice and Turk (I know his name is Tom but I still call him Turk) can be so dorky around each other.
I was so happy for Micah and Mirabel although it definitely escalated faster than expected. I guess that’s the thing with this season; this timeline is just all over the place?
Finally, can Dani and Gigi just happen? The chemistry is just there in every friggin’ scene.
Dani & Gigi is the only interesting thing.
Bette’s attitude towards Gigi was inappropriate and unfair.
And Alice’s story is so boring…They must give her a new girlfriend or they must bring back Tasha
Also not here for the Bette slander.
Truly, if you had told 2008 Riese that in 2021 she would be sitting here rooting for Alice to date a boy, she would probably be like…… “wait how the fuck is that show still on.”
thank you this is everything
I can’t believe that I’m saying this… but I think that we should cut Tina some slack lol. It’s kind of an impossible situation to be caught between Angry!Bette, Angie, Micah, Marcus Allenwood, and Carrie. And to be fair, she was gone for some of Bette’s harshest attacks on Carrie.
It was also telling that throughout the episode, Carrie was all like: “Let’s make a break for it. *I* need a massage. That was horrible for *me*.”
Which, yes, Bette was awful to Carrie. But in the grand scheme of things, Carrie’s comments tended to center herself and her relationship with Tina. And yes, Carrie is Carrie and engayged to Tina… so naturally that makes sense. But if the writers wanted to make the point that Carrie is a long-term member of this family… I’m not so sure. Perhaps they would have had Carrie show more concern for Angie’s emotions/situation… or, again, Tina’s impossible situation!
Bette’s deficiencies (and Carrie’s responses) are a separate question from the most pressing matter at hand: Angie’s donor, Marcus, is dying and she has a lot of feelings about it!!
YES! I haven’t seen anyone else address this but Carrie really did make a lot of it about her. Instead of being sympathetic about how it might be affecting Tina, she just complained about how hard it was for HER. That really bothered me. I wish we had gotten to see a little more happy Carrie and Tina before the wheels came off the bus. But, here we are. They are not long for this world, but I hope they find a way to keep Rosie in the mix somehow.
Okay yes this is fair, it was a lot that she was immediately centering her own reactions to everything that happened instead of talking to tina about how she felt about what just happened
I just watched the episode and going through comments and finally someone! thank you!!!
This episode felt like a return to Gen Q’s signature features: odd narrative choices and rushed storylines. Why on earth would Black Lives Matter make Angelica want to give her kidney to her donor? It is so clear there are no Black people on the writing staff, lol. Y’all noticed how she couldn’t even say the word “Black”? “I look more like Kit than you.”—I’m sorry, but that line is so silly. In one fell swoop the writers have allowed a Black girl to make a nonsensical decision to save someone they elected to kill (there’s no reason Marcus has to be dying, except that he’s Black, lmao) while ignoring the boundary T and B set with Marcus years ago (i.e., Angie won’t reach out til she’s 18.) Oh, and Kit is still dead because they fridged her to advance Bette’s doomed mayoral campaign (sorry, scheduling conflicts are not a good enough reason to kill a central character, and the only Black main character from the original series). Kill it with fire.
Micah and Maribel’s hook up was cool but it felt totally unearned. As with Micah’s relationship with Jose, we have no sense of their connection. Yes, they joke around together. We still don’t know enough about either of them in terms of past relationships, aspirations, etc.
Tom and Alice have no sexual chemistry whatsoever. The Cherie thing is played. Gigi is amazing, but does Dani *deserve* her? As in, has she done the self-work that will allow her to enter into the kind of mature, elevated partnership that Gigi is capable of? Survey says no.
Tl;dr—This show is so frustrating!
Seamless references to both A League of Their Own AND The Little Mermaid in a single recap?! Bravo, Riese.
THANK U SO MUCH
i’m reading all of the comments and feel like i completely disagree with everything everyone else is saying and now i’m just overall confused about the way i watched the show.
i find carrie absolutely infuriating and just wish her character would stop being on the show. she interrupts and centers herself at the weirdest times without any respect for the fact that she barely knows Angie and is not responsible for speaking up in a group setting like that. Then she suggests running away and ditching the therapy session– the whole thing felt so weird to me and every time her character is on screen i resist the urge to fast forward.
I love tom and alice together and think they have great on screen chemistry. plus, alice finally being okay with dating a man is a huge development for the show and feels very realistic.
I personally love Tess as a character, and maybe i’m distracted by how hot she is but i honestly feel like she brings the most to all of the scenes with her in it. her reactions were a bit confusing in this episode but i felt it was intentionally left unclear to be revealed in a big explosion later.
i also loved cherrie in the original and think she’s one of the main people i’d want to see back so i’m happy!
First of all, thank you Riese for these recaps!
Last week when Tess mentioned she had met someone, combined with the prospect of another poker night, combined with the prospect of Rachel Shelley’s return, I had my hopes up for it being Helena. While I liked Cherie in the OG series, I can’t imagine this story line evolving into something intelligent for both Shane and tess’s character development..
And omg Carrie, totally agree with J!! Why on earth would anybody want to be in a relationship with a Carrie. She’s so self centered and whiney. Also, I don’t see the chemistry between Rosie and laurel.. With the way Tina responded to Carrie (“you are the one who wanted to get married”), I am curious where this is going. BTW love Tina as a co parent and abfab mom.
Hate the way Bette treats Gigi, but it’s in character and I do feel it’s centered around them both (eventually) growing from it. Or is that wishful thinking..? Or just utterly naive…
Have a lot of thoughts about everybody else, but will spare you my ramblings..
omg wow it didn’t even occur to me that it could’ve been helena!
Thinking way too much about fictional characters here:
Tina has been Bette’s handler for a long time- so long that she’s continuing to do it even though they’re not together. As sweet and kind as Carrie can be, I was glad to hear her stand up for herself. She may love Tina, but she needs to be treated with respect.
I’ve always been TiBette, but with the hope that Tina would start prioritizing herself. I thought the relationship with Carrie was great in that it got her to see another life where she had a voice.
Riese those stock photo profiles were all dreamboats my god
THANK YOU
Coincidence or not: The writers echoing Carmen’s love confession (thanks Mark!) from “Late, Later, Latent” in the OG series in that discussion with the older couple?
I WONDERED THAT TOO!!!!
I loved that faux dating profiles riese made up with these odd fave things combo in the taglines…funny thing is these woman with these kind of taglines in their profile are really out there… Lol’d so much bravo ,riese. But why are
vegans triggering for alice?
I thought vegans were triggering for everyone. No, jk of course. Wasn’t that lady Alice was dating in the first season of the original vegan? She tasted Alice badly? Can’t remember her name. Gwen? Gabby! Otherwise, I don’t know.
because of jamie!!! from season 6. she was vegan. she was the girl they met at the LGBTQ center who ended up having feelings for Tasha and vice versa.
Great recap as usual, Riese! This was great, and I loved you putting those pictures of Jenny in, talking about her organs and sweetmeats. Thanks. I also LOVE Micah and Maribel! That was such a great scene, and giving the person using a wheelchair a romantic interest (and on-screen sex) is the right thing for this show. I’m all about Micah and Maribel! She’s funny.
I would like to ship Gigi and Carrie, immediately, just so you know.
Thanks again!
“Don’t use my bat! Use Marla’s. It’s heavier!”
HAHAHAHAHA!
Such a great episode but this recap was EVEN better!
Wow, Nat is dating Brenda now? The heart doctor with augmented breasts?
(Had to go back and check my details on this character, and no wonder Alice doesn’t remember Brenda! She had skipped the opening night of SheBar to go to that secret gay party with Tasha and was busy taking photos of Darryl Brewer.)
Unlike (almost) everyone else here I really liked this episode! This is the kind of chaos I’m here for!
I have actually donated a kidney (it’s great, I highly recommend it) so I’m always interested to see where a kidney donation storyline goes. They are usually so badly done! Riese is right that they would never let a 17-year-old donate. Is there really no one else who would be able to donate? You don’t have to be related to the recipient! Also if Marcus Allenwood is in such a bad shape that he is already DYING he would probably not be a good candidate for a kidney transplant anyway. But here we are. I’d love to see one of the adults step in and donate on behalf of Angie!
i feel like the short seasons mean that they are not giving quite the right amount of timing to anything, and that’s why the micah/mirabelle thing seemed rushed — but i don’t mean they needed another episode, i think they literally could have just given micah’s speech another few seconds of “and i just wanted you, i just needed to come home and talk to…you” and mirabelle sits there realizing and kisses him.
last episode, or maybe the one before, they also needed to give bette’s moment looking at pippa’s art in the museum more room to breathe, in order to give us an actual measure of impactfulness that would rival the moment in peggy peabody’s hotel suite from the original series. all we need are seconds! the editing is just too rushed.
“‘you sure you remember how?””
ngl this line is kind of homophobic and weird about bi people. Like, yeah he just had a boyfriend and hooked up with a guy, so what? That doesn’t mean Micah doesn’t remember how to have sex with women.
Really? That was like my favourite line!
i didn’t think it was biphobic- he’s clearky not exclusively gay, women with disabilitiesz are actual women, not some third asexual gender. (nothing wrong with being a 3rd gender, ppl who identify that don’t often call themselves ‘women’ and we have no indication Mirabel is anything but cishet.) I interpreted it more as a joke about how much more often she dates/hooks up than his sulky ass.
This article lead me to the all time sex scenes list led me to watching the Alice/Tasha scenes in Lexington & Concord, which is officially the only L Word I’ve ever watched in my life and also WOW this show is just really hot or really awkward softcore porn with excuses huh?? a lot of conversations with other people where they talk about lesbians being catty cheating sex-driven skinny white girls suddenly make a STUNNING amount of sense in the hindsight where this was the only exposure they had to queer women in media when they were teens
anyway I subscribed to A+ because of this piece thanks for writing
21 SQUABBLES goddamn I didn’t even realize this season was that full of arguments
I’m a lifelong lover of the L Word and its drama, but think this season’s doing way too much! Just gotta vent a tad. The family drama storylines don’t have room to exist & make sense with so many breakups & new relationships happening simultaneously. Maybe they could’ve saved some of that for (🤞🏼) season 3? Every storyline just seems underdeveloped & lacking feel-y & fun moments that MAKE the L word. Carrie frustrates me & seems overstepping, but apparently she has this unique relationship w/ Angie we hear about but don’t see. I want to see it! Also yes Cherrie’s kinda the worst lol, but I think her moment would’ve been more fun if we weren’t already exhausted by other plot whiplash moments.
Still excited to see what they do w/ the season’s 2nd half! Maybe this is just Gen Q’s season 6 and we’ll look back on it w/ a collective cringelaugh after a many seasons run ;)
I want Dani and Sophie back together but at the same time I don’t because they both don’t really open up as much as they should. But I feel bad for Finley because it seems like she’s there as sophies friend and when sophie wants her as more than a friend she’s there but then her hopes get high and then Sophie goes back to keeping her just as a friend.
But I really want Sophie and Dani back together but it shouldn’t be rushed it should be one of those where it starts going slower. They start talking about their feelings more and Dani should be a little cautious around Finley I don’t judge her for that but that’s why they should go slow to re build trust and everything so they can go back to being in a better relationship.
I miss them together
I want Dani and Sophie back together but at the same time I don’t because they both don’t really open up as much as they should. But I feel bad for Finley because it seems like she’s there as sophies friend and when sophie wants her as more than a friend she’s there but then her hopes get high and then Sophie goes back to keeping her just as a friend.
But I really want Sophie and Dani back together but it shouldn’t be rushed it should be one of those where it starts going slower. They start talking about their feelings more and Dani should be a little cautious around Finley I don’t judge her for that but that’s why they should go slow to re build trust and everything so they can go back to being in a better relationship.
I miss them together
Ppl keep commenting that they’d be more okay with Mirabel/Micah’s sex scene if the show had drawn out flirting, then kissing, then foreplay then sex. And yet how many times on both OG and Gen x do couples have sex the first time they hook up? Even when thry’d literally never met before? I ay a good 90% Are ya’ll sure you don’t need some pearl-grasping time to steel yourselves before that being- as several commentors said, “forced” or “thrust” (haha) on you?
Also I’ve read several post calling Mirabel Sophie’s “?little sister”. Do we know for sure she’s younger? Cuz she’s supposed to be a high powered lawyer and Sophie just got offered her first real gig. Obvs careers can be zig-saggy but I’m curious what prompted ppl to conclude that birth order.
came here two months late just to say, gurl, sophie, OBVIOUSLY if you leave your bedroom door open you’re going to be able to hear your housemates having sex!! give yourself a fighting chance, jesus!!!