Micah’s taken Jose to a nice restaurant and he’s impressed ’cause Garage Pizza would’ve been okay. But Micah loves forks!
JUNIOR MINTS! JUNIOR MINTS!
Micah: I don’t think I can make it all the way through dinner without telling you something first.
Jose: I know. You’re trans. I saw you on grindr.
Micah: I have a gift card.
Welp! Micah plows forward, not acknowledging the statement about being trans in favor of really worrying about this gift card. Jose is down for fun with menu math and suggests they get all they can for $80, which’ll probs be a bottle of wine, a plate of calamari and a side salad. Micah’s like it’s cool we can ditch this fancy restaurant where we’re about to consume free food and get coffee instead, which’s a bold move to make so late in the evening, and Jose’s like, you can get me coffee tomorrow morning. DAMN OK
Just WAIT until I tell you about this place I have a gift card for where they give you UNLIMITED soup, salad AND breadsticks!
Shane and Finley are SURROUNDED BY HETEROSEXUALS at a Sportsball Brewski Bro Bar and Finley’s telling Shane that even if Shane doesn’t wanna divulge the contents of that manilla envelope, Finley would definitely help her hide a body. Shane tells the tender young millennial to put Tinder away and look around. Fair enough — she shouldn’t be swiping, she should be asking Shane if the envelope contained proof that Shane once owned a hamster — but also… as aforementioned, they’re surrounded by heterosexuals.
Also, I did get high and paint a mural of my favorite page in “The Night Kitchen” in the guest bedroom but it’s all good because I worked through some heavy childhood trauma
Behind the bar, however, we’ve got at least one queer reporting for duty. It’s Lena (Mercedes Mason), who saddles over when Finley orders two shots of “your cheapest tequila,” and attempts and fails to seduce Lena with eye contact. Finley concludes Lena is out of her league and announces she’s gonna “go scout some local talent.” She tells Shane to “watch and learn.” This is like a human telling God to go watch them create the heavens and the earth.
Don’t worry, it’s just poison.
“Mama’s buying,” Finley tells Lena before skirting away from the bar. “Kids,” Shane shakes her head. Lena can barely keep her clothes on.
So here we have two types of people: we have Finley, literally introducing herself to every girl in the room and asking if she can buy them a drink even though she’ll absolutely under no condition actually buy the drink. (Finley’s financial situation is baffling and I’m not sure if it’s a “let’s suspend our disbelief because it’s TV” situation or an “establishing clues building to an eventual explanation” situation.)
Meanwhile a girl who remembers Shane from Ye Olde Shane Days saddles up to the bar with a syrupy “Hey Shane” and asks if Shane still does [whispers sweet nothings into her earhole]. Shane’s response is “not tonight.”
I need you to help me with the New York Times crossword puzzle from yesterday
Across the room, we see Tess (played by trans actress Jamie Clayton!!!!!!) weaving through the tables pretending to care about men before landing back at the bar. Although Shane doesn’t know Tess, Tess knows all about Shane, announcing, “girl I know who you are everyone in this city knows who you are, you’re like a living legend.” (Throwback #11) Tess ribs Shane on behalf of every girl who is skeptical of Shane.
This poison looks AMAZING
Tess tells Shane she’s glad she’s here and wishes “the whole bar was filled with girls like us.” “Girls Like Us” is the name of a queer magazine from the U.K. that’s been out for a while (I have an issue labeled Volume 2 – Issue 1 dated 2010), but in recent years the term is pretty exclusively associated with the #girlslikeus hashtag started by Janet Mock that’s specifically about trans women. It’s odd to have Jamie Clayton, a trans woman, say this line to Shane, who is not a trans woman. She clearly doesn’t mean “girls who are trans,” despite that being the saying, she means “girls who are queer” (which can include trans women, but not exclusively.) This is a weird choice!
Lena tells Shane that Tess is her girlfriend who’s really good with the customers but not so much with her. Lena you just met this person why are you telling her this!
Over at Alice and Nat’s, Eli the half-human is curled up sick and Nat’s assuring Alice, who points out she had to leave a big meeting to help Nat’s son ruin a kitchen appliance, that tomorrow will be better ’cause Gigi’s gonna take care of him. Which inexplicably leads to….
Lesbian Squabble #6: Don’t Tell Mommi She’s The Babysitter
In The Ring: Alice vs. Nat
Content: Alice feels like a babysitter! Nat says that’s not a feeling! Alice says she wants to help and not have Gigi called in to help. Nat asks if Alice wants to watch Eli tomorrow! Alice says she does not! Alice says “you can’t have it both ways, you can’t want me to be in their lives and then call in Gigi when you can’t handle something!”
Who Wins? Um, Eli? Popular kid!
Back at The Sportsball Bar of The Big Game, Finley’s Round Robin has finally landed her on a successful prospect. We know this ’cause it’s Olivia Thirlby, playing a recurring role this season on Generation Q!
Just tell me if the drink I spilled makes me look like I peed my pants or if it’s more like I was washing a lot of dishes and got a little sloppy, because you know, I contribute to the household
Finley: Hi, I’m Finley.
Rebecca: I just saw you walk up to like five other women and introduce yourself in this bar.
Finley: I am VERY friendly.
Rebecca: Is that what it is?
Finley: Yup.
She consents to a drink. Finley asks for her wallet. Finley’s a P.A after all and she bets Rebecca has a job! Rebecca is charmed. I understand. I had an entire relationship that was just this over and over again. It ended poorly on multiple levels.
Back at the bar, a patron’s getting rowdy with Lena over her denial of an additional serving of whiskey. Luckily, Shane’s been punching bags etc for some time now and pushes him off Lena with her super-strength Captain planet power and I’ll tell you what, Lena is smitten as hell.
So it’s once you get all the way inside that you actually try and close your hand into a fist?
Tess returns to thank Shane and apologize because that’s what women do; we apologize for things that aren’t our fault. Lena blatantly shuns Tess’s affection to smile in Shane’s direction. I hate this for them! Shane points out that this bar sucks.
Shane: This used to be a gay bar yeah, right?
Lena: Yeah, eight years ago.
Shane: Damn, times have changed.
Lena: Yeah, Tess is always trying to buy out the owners and turn it back into a gay bar.
Well SOMEONE should buy this bar and let them run it, Shane says, which means Shane is definitely going to buy this bar and let them run it. It’s a good idea to get an on-the-rocks couple to run a business together! Has nobody here seen Gimme Sugar.
Micah and Jose are swimming and talking about math. “That’s not my first gift card,” says Jose. Yikes!
Like one year for my birthday I got like ten gift cards to Best Buy and it was AMAZING
Jose really wants to talk about Micah being trans and Micah really does not want to talk about being trans! Jose asks if Micah was with guys pre-transition and when he transitioned and Micah gently pushes this interrogation into the “let’s circle back to this next year” territory, explaining, “I want to tell you everything about my whole life, I do. It’s just I haven’t met a lot of people who don’t squint and try to imagine what I used to look like, so I just don’t talk about it.” Which brings us to…
Queer Sexy Moment #5: Eyes Wide Open
The Players: Jose and Micah
The Pick-Up: “You can look. I’m not squinting.”
Hot or Not? POOL SEX POOL SEX POOL SEX! Shit gets sultry and wet and the music’s good (“Love is a Bitch” by Two Feet) and the breathing is too. I believe this is the first-evert television sex scene between two men of color in which one of them is transgender!
Dani gets home to find Sophie asleep on the couch next to empty wine glasses and half-eaten plates of cold food and she covers Sophie with a blanket.
Babe babe no I’m totally about to clean up the living room I just need to rest my eyeballs for one sec
Meanwhile Finley is definitely NOT asleep…
Lesbian Sexy Moment #6: You Spin Me Right Round Baby Right Round
The Players: Finley and Rebecca
The Pick Up: Seems like it may’ve been “can I use your wallet to buy myself a drink” but at some point between then and now we are in a room with a bed and there is pawing and the careful/urgent unbuttoning of a shirt and stumbling onto the bed. Rebecca says “you’re so beautiful” and Finley says “nahh.”
Hot or Not? It is until the room starts spinning past what Finley can hold onto and she’s gotta get out of there and into a crock pot before she blows chunks all over Olivia Thirlby!
It’s the next morning. Dawn is breaking, the wind is blowing, my dog is hungry and Bette Porter’s doing a scheduled campaign appearance at the Los Angeles LGBTQIA Center, where she’ll commune with LGBTQIA youth who all have crushes on Bette Porter and are willing to pretend like she’s running for mayor just to bask in her radiant glow. Dani’s called off the press, which alarms Pierce — Dani insists it’ll be better this way ’cause someone’ll definitely film it on their mobile telephone and then it’ll be organic press. Lesbians love organic things!
And this is the snapchat filter where it looks like you’re a bunny for some reason
Surprise: Jordi’s here!
Yes I made this pin myself with my own button maker why do you ask
Angelica must’ve tipped her off. This means she’s gay right because that’s what happens to people at the Gay Center? Jordi says she’s sorry for having Angie cut school. It’s just that her parents are a little different than Bette’s and she knows better now. Jordi’s implying that her parents are in fact the type of parents who are okay with cutting school and smoking dope. I can’t wait to meet them I hope they live in Laurel Canyon and have a yurt out back for sex parties. Also, Jordi adds that Bette has a really wonderful daughter and she loves spending time with her. I NEED THEM TO GO TO THE PROM TOGETHER.
Be honest with me: do your parents raise chickens in their backyard
Bette allows Jordi to chill with Angie for Bette’s event. At the event, Bette tells a group of LGBTQ youth who have likely experienced some housing insecurity that the LGBTQ youth population is disproportionately affected by homelessness. “When I’m elected I will be the first lesbian mayor of Los Angeles and the first woman,” Bette tells them. “But in order to be effective I need to know what matters to you.”
I mean yes, of course I understand that Jodi was an incredible artist and a formidable woman who did amazing things with steel and power tools —
Then why did you cheat on Jodi with Tina?
A youth tells Bette that “it’d be cool to have a lesbian and a real trans ally with actual power.” Haha is anybody gonna leak to the press that Bette consistently misgendered Max throughout the entire run of the original series? I’m confident Max either lives on a farm in Southern Oregon or is making six figures working for Google in Palo Alto. Anyhow, we’ve all grown and changed and learned a lot in the past ten years, including apparently Bette! I love this for her.
A youth tells Bette that their Mother disowned them for being queer and Bette’s like listen, we aren’t the same but also, we are, because Bette’s father was also very homophobic and refused to acknowledge that Tina was her girlfriend. (Throwback 12: S1-S2). Also he had the most incredible zingers of anybody on this show and Bette called him “Daddy” even though everybody was like, “please stop calling him Daddy.”
Everybody claps for the idea that “our love is not less than” and then everybody cries and holds hands and Bette gives The Youth a hug and Jordi tells Angie that her Mom is pretty cool and Angie’s like, “yeah, she’s not that bad.” The youths have their phones out so this for sure is gonna headline the Also Also Also this week.
Would you say Bette looks hotter with the blazer on or with the blazer off or do you think it’s like an “equally hot” situation?
Dani tells Pierce that this is what Bette needs more of — getting into the weeds with the people. But vulnerability’s hard for her, says Pierce, adding, “you still don’t know why she’s running, do you?” YEAH PIERCE NONE OF US DO PLZ TELL US IF KIT IS DEAD OR ALIVE!!!!
Back at Natalice’s, Gigi’s reading to Eli. Alice peeks in on the event and smiles like she’s watching a nice commercial about breakfast cereal.
“Life in this society being, at best, an utter bore, and no aspect of society being at all relevant to women, there remains to civic-minded, responsible, thrill-seeking females only to overthrow the government…”
Eli’s gotten Alice sick. “Kids are like walking germs,” says Gigi. Gigi makes Alice some tea, and there’s no poison in it or a laxative, and after some light Sick Kiddos Discourse, Alice transitions into mining for details on Nat and Gigi’s breakup. Somehow Alice has been with Nat for two years and didn’t know until this moment that Gigi cheated on Nat and was outed by Eli, who called out for Gigi’s mistress. Gigi says kids force you to be honest about who you are and how you hurt people.
If you let me suck on your tongue I could definitely give you a ballpark estimate of your current temperature
They reminisce about the Night of The Hammer and The Nail and The Ring, Alice recalling that she’d thought Gigi had lost her mind. “I thought I’d lost my family,” Gigi explains. She asks Alice if she’s got any embarrassing breakup stories and boy howdy does she, but where will she begin? To tell the story of how great a love can be? A sweet love story that is older than the sea?
“You make Nat really happy,” Gigi says. I can’t wait til we get to see that in action!
It’s time for the engagement party! Sophie’s family has turned out in droves, tables are piled high with food, music is playing, everybody’s happy about how love is love. Dani’s a bit withdrawn — things remain tense with Sophie, who responds to her sideways glance with a downwards pivot. She lets go a bit when Sophie’s Mom and Maribel and Virginia find her. They ask where her Dad is and she says he couldn’t make it. “You’re our family now,” Virginia says. AWWWWWWW.
Do you think if Sophie sees us hugging that she’ll stop giving me the silent treatment who cares let’s just give it a whirl Who’s scared not me I’m chill LOL
Sophie’s Mom brings her daughter upstairs to deliver the ring her great grandmother wore from the day she got engaged until the day she died. She was supposed to give it to her first grandson but also, Sophie looks great in a button-up shirt, so it’s close enough. “But if you give it to her, make sure you mean it,” Mom kindly suggests.
Sophie’s family is truly the best — they’re supportive of her happiness, making lots of room for her to explore and learn and love and grow and change, too. “You’e not your father. We raised you to be strong, and you’re strong enough to leave if you need to, we know that,” Mom says. “But it takes a lot of strength to stay.”
So like, long story but basically, Marvolo Gaunt gained possession of the Resurrection Stone and set the stone into this ring, which bore the symbols of the Deathly Hallows, which Marvolo thouught was the Peverell coat of arms. Dumbledore really wanted the ring so he could use it to communicate with his dead family, and Gindelwald wanted it to create an Inferi army. Unfortunately, Voldemort caught wind of the ring’s origins and used it as a Horcrux, unaware of its additional magical properties. So anyhow it’s yours now good luck!
Back at the party, Finley’s taking advantage of this open bar by having a strategic number of shots and is surprised when Rebecca texts, despite Finley’s failure to remain sober enough for sex the night prior. Micah spots Jose walking through the party to his apartment, and feels instant guilt for not inviting him. Seems like the party is raging pretty loudly right in what is basically Jose’s front yard, so on the other hand, even if Jose was alone in his apartment he’ll probably feel like he’s at the party! This is why dating your neighbor is hard!
Anyhow, Micah’s ready to MAKE A TOAST to his two favorite people by reading a poem by queer spoken-word artist and activist Alix Olson! I wish he was doing performance art.
Remember that trip we took to Miami with the boys? And they were working the entire weekend and we just sat at the pool and ate peanut brittle and drank wine and I learned to trust people again?
As he reads the poem, we are treated to a little montage. First, Sophie and Dani, surrounded by people who love them separately and together, step forward but stand apart. Dani looks right at Sophie and mouths, “I love you.”
Please tell me there’s a Super Plus tampon left in that little grey box in the upstairs bathroom
Of course there is.
Meanwhile, Shane’s teary-eyed while hanging out with her Petition for Divorce.
Wow this is next-level Shenny fan art!!!
Also meanwhile…
Lesbian Sexy Moment #7: Living, We’ve Learned, Can Be Both Sloppy and Precise
The Players: Nat + Alice // Finley + Rebecca
The Pick-Up: Nat (big spoon) rouses Alice (little spoon) from slumber, and without a word Alice rolls over and Nat settles in up top and their mouths meet // Finley’s behind Rebecca, her hands pressing urgently underneath her bralette, her mouth on Rebecca’s back, and Rebecca turns to kiss her and then we cut again —
Hot or Not? Yes
Back at the engagement party, the power of poetry has made Dani and Sophie love each other again!!! Now they can dance to “Ojos del Sol” by Y La Bamba and they can kiss, and Sophie can mouth “I love you” back. The kiss is a hit. Everybody here loves girls kissing! Just like we do!
Okay don’t move I’m gonna start counting your pulse in T-5 seconds
It’s so important to have a Latinx lesbian couples like this on television. Until recently, it was very rare for a qpoc female character to date another qpoc female character, let alone a qpoc character of the same race. Often in these cases the qpoc character’s story can have almost an assimilationist tone, conflating queer culture with white-centric queer culture. Things have changed a lot over the past two years specifically and we’re seeing more non-white couples now (and we have Vida now!), but not nearly enough. So this is fucking rad. As Carmen wrote in her review of the series, “Dani and Sophie’s relationship together deftly digs into class conflict and racism internal to Latinx communities that are almost never explored on screen.”
Bette’s sitting on a bench looking out over the city, hopefully thinking about what an ideal location this would be for a MURDER and ensuring she’s prepared to escape the Zodiac Killer, should he arrive. Then guess who shows up!! IT’S FELICITY ADAMS!
Hello. My name’s Forrest. Forrest Gump.
Felicity thanks Bette for meeting her. Bette says she’s glad Felicity called. They both sigh. Felicity shrugs, turns to Bette.
Felicity: I miss you.
Bette: I miss you too.
Hold on tight, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride
And that’s the show, my friends!
The Round Up:
Sexy Moments: 4 this episode, 7 total
Squabbles: 3 this episode, 6 total
Throwbacks: 6 this episode, 12 total
Quote of the Week:
“Judy Chicago loaned it to me” – Bette Porter
— dani | janae (@figwidow) December 15, 2019
Pages: 1 2 3See entire article on one page
I haven’t been able to watch this episode yet because Canada, but I’ve decided this is my wishlist for the reboot, in no particular order:
1. For Jamie Clayton to have a central, significant role and not just a token part
2. The Return of Rose Rollins
3. For all the characters to learn the difference between cheating and ethical non-monogamy so that everyone can make healthier relationship choices for themselves
Building off of this, I would also love there to be more fat characters & disabled characters with central, significant roles. I hope they change these things for season 2 (if they get one)!!
what is rose rollins doing!!! not one thing!! get her ON THE SHOW PEOPLE
It’s on Crave in Canada – about $10/month. And the episodes drop before they air on cable.
Yeah I have Crave :) but the eps dont turn up for me til Monday morning? Or at least the first one didn’t
Slouching towards your living room
God bless you for these recaps Riese! I love them. I have been an AS reader for years and registered for the first time just to say this. They are perfect, please keep it coming! I am also loving seeing queer ladies on the beat in the Vulture and AV Club recaps, and Drew and Analyssa on the podcast. It’s like a giant queer convo so good :-)
Oops rookie here, meant this for main thread
Love love the recaps (and format!)
I had a leftover third of a bottle of champagne and I decided to play a little game where I would drink every time a straight white man spoke. I was very pleasantly surprised by how few times I drank! Like I had to ditch the game because I wanted to finish the champagne …
I MADE YOU A SEX BENCH
The question is, who’s gonna stain it.
So far I’m kinda loving these truly wacky people.
HEY O
Thank you for your service, Riese. I also have a tip for my fellow Straddlers: Consider avoiding reading these Highly Excellent recaps while drinking any beverage that you do not wish to exit your body via your nostrils.
IT’S A CLEANSE!
The New Neti Pot: Generation Q Recaps By Riese
wow i hate alice this season????
why does she hate her life with this girlfriend so much??? i feel like if alice didn’t want to be with someone with kids she would probably have figured this out in the last couple of years?? the kids seem like a surprise every time. also this girlfriend’s entirely personality is “i have kids” briefly sprinkled with a dash of “i am also a therapist.”
I have to agree, Alice seems like she wants to be kidless.
Yeah! I’m really torn about this because I have a similar vibe with my friends kids like “I love you and I love your kids I’m just terribly awkward with them and don’t know what to do.” But Alice is leaning toward “I don’t know what do with your kids but I kinda don’t want to know anyway.” Just show me that she actually likes the kids and maybe I’ll buy it. Otherwise that relationship looks pretty doomed.
Half the time Alice is on screen I just shout “you don’t seem to want kids?!” like, shouldn’t she have thought about that before moving in with her partner who has kids???
My alternate take is that Alice entered this situation with clear willingness but literally no preparation- which means learning on the ground! However, girlfriend and other mom are already seasoned professionals and they aren’t giving her the space to do so, leaving her in a very shitty position. It’s hard to do your best when no one is expecting you to be any good and they don’t need you to be anyway.
I normally despise sunglass inside. But Alice in her yellow blazer and sunglasses, this is a level of Mommi energy I aspire to.
There are some representation issues (or lack thereof more accuractly) and seedings of possible storylines to fret about, but somehow, I really love the reboot.
I love Sophie and Micah and Finley. Currently on the fence about Dani; it is truly bananas to change jobs and presumably income level, without consulting your partner. That there is a big red flag.
I love Sophie’s family!! They are so pure and wonderful and real. I loved Jillian Mercado, she was wonderfully cast. I am so glad that they did not make Maribel’s defining character trait her disability. I also thought it was super real to briefly mention how their dad left after Maribel was born.
Once again this recap is everything I wanted and more. Plus, the captions!!!
Agree about changing job without consulting partner being a red flag (slash pretty unrealistic?). There wasn’t even any resolution to that.
Okay so I had a really bad week, and seeing that you took my suggestion about tracking throwbacks is making me unbelievably happy. I’m so glad you liked the idea!
So this is only the second season of the Aloce Show, and they bought the podcast, which means Alice was doing the podcast for like 10 years in total and was STILL CALLING IT A PODCAST IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2017??
I am ready for Dani to Google Jenny S-C-H-E-C-T-E-R and discover Lez Girls and pass it around to all the new characters. Did the film ever get released? What did end up happening to the negatives?
Bette’s list of indiscretions definitely should’ve been way longer. “Kidnapped infant daughter,” anyone?
Is Jordi actually a homeless LGBTQ+ youth and hangs out at the center regardless of Bette coming? That’s my prediction.
Loved the contrast of Finley’s line about Sophie and Dani both wearing dresses versus Sophie’s family asking if she’s going to wear a white suit.
When will Finley find out Who Shane Is (to the lesbians of Los Angeles, I mean).
How does Finley afford all this TomboyX underwear? (Jk, she probably did what I did and got Iceland Air to reimburse her for it when they lost her suitcase for a week.)
Ooh that would be an interesting twist with Jordi. All I was thinking was how saying that your parents “just have different values” is probably the last thing you should tell someone’s mother whose shit list you may already be on because you and her daughter made bad decisions. 😂 I was thinking that saying they had a momentary lapse of judgement inspired by Angie’s stress over school might have been a better excuse. 😬
The answer to the question in caption #42 is yes, although “trying” isn’t really necessary since anatomy naturally makes it happen.
I’m still cackling about Bette telling Angie to “fucking cool it with the fucking f-bombs.”
see Alice, that’s how you parent.
I also thought the “girls like us” line was odd! Could it be that Tess was referring to Shane being poly and Tess is also poly? The way Lena talks about Tess being “really good with customers” but not with her could support that.
I’m glad we didn’t have to wait too long to get resolution for the Jenny storyline. Implausible as it may be.
Whatever the Thing is that is the reason Bette is running – and I do think it has to do with Kit – it’s weird that she wouldn’t disclose that to Dani along with everything else.
Love the recaps!
It’s weird that people don’t know if it was Kit! Kit was famous in-universe, no way it wasn’t all over if she died of an opioid overdose. Or at least easy to find via a quick google of Bette.
That’s true, good point!
I actually read the “girls like us” line as Tess mistakenly thinking Shane was also trans. I think the poly theory is interesting though!
Same I thought Tess thought Shane was trans because that was the only way I could figure out this weird line??? But Riese’s explanation of Tess meaning _queer_ women I guess makes sense.
tess and shane aren’t poly though (unless shane had that revelation and actually is in a poly relationship, my assumption is that she is in a monogamous marriage but they’re broken up right now) and that would be a weird thing to assume or to say in a bar? i don’t think “girls like us” has ever referred to polyamory, right? like she’s either talking about trans girls or queer girls. cuz also! boys and nb people can be poly too. why would tess want the whole bar to be filled with poly girls, especially bc poly girls can also be straight, you know?
if tess knows about shane already, she knows she’s not a trans woman SO SO SO in conclusion i’m like 99% confident she was referring to queer women cuz they talk about how she wants to turn it back into a lesbian bar!!!
“Whatever the Thing is that is the reason Bette is running – and I do think it has to do with Kit – it’s weird that she wouldn’t disclose that to Dani along with everything else.
HARD AGREE
This. So much.
The likely hurt underneath a cringe-y comment is real, but on a lighter note, this made me curious about “the pond of existential despair/hope known as Lesbian Wedding Instagram”…
Agreed the “girls like us” comment was weird coming from Jamie Clayton to Shane. At first I thought she maybe thought Shane was trans? But her other comments about Shane being famous doesn’t line up with this.
I am so disappointed with the Alice romance. I have always been team Alice and I just want her to be happy. Especially after that heartbreaking Tasha/Jamie/Alice love triangle that ended the OG run. This relationship doesn’t seem to have much in the way of shared values other than them clearly enjoying the sex.
Maybe I’m alone in this but my dislike for Kit was on par with my dislike for Tina and Jenny (circa season 6) so I would happily have her NOT return. They were great actresses all around… It’s not Pam Grier, Laurel Holloman, Mia Kirshner’s fault that their characters and characters’ storylines were actually (mostly) the worst.
I would looove it if it were Tina who had the opioid addiction though it sounds like that’s not the case. I would have a tough time believing it was Kit as she seemed to have a handle on her sobriety. I may be remembering poorly, but I thought they did a good job with her re: challenges and successes of sobriety.
I feel like I’m in the minority with this, but I love Finley and I love her friendship/mentorship/whatever with Shane.
But I’m also very sad for Shane. Can she just get a happy storyline for once?
It makes the most sense to me that Jenny killed herself. There’s no way any of them would have murdered her.
I also love Finley/Shane and their like, growing domestic partnership!!
I also love Finley and I’m in the minority in my watch-group. I think it may be because I LOVED Jacqueline Toboni as another hot lesbian in EASY? She’s an excellent actor.
haha! I too have been wondering if I like Finley more because I like Jaqueline Toboni and loved her in Easy
I do think that may help me have more patience for her, plus all the thus far not teased out references to her childhood/rejection from her parents, it indicates layers that we will get to see later on but right now she’s just getting way too drunk and trying to over compensate
I like Finley too. She’s goofy. My girlfriend hates her for some reason, but I don’t really get the hate.
Also Team Finley. She’s cute and sassy and vulnerable and trying to create a New Don Juanita for these roarin’ gay times.
i love finley and shane too! finley was on my list of favorite tv characters of 2019 and i love her dynamic with shane, it’s really funny.
I like Finley too and I think I like her because she’s so much like Shane yet their pain manifests itself differently. Shane’s always been moody and brooding, wearing her pain out in the open, never feeling worthy and only able to connect (or disconnect) through sex. Finley is the same except she hides hers behind that perpetually peppy goofy puppy-like eagerness.
i also really like finley and shane! i think it’s cute that they seem to be setting finley up as the younger version of shane this go-around, except far more clumsy and misguided. and i like the idea of them tapping into shane’s generally caring attitude toward other people and especially those needing mentorship. i hard-cringed at finley’s drinking and saying that she can’t have sex sober, and i feel so bad for her. but i think they’re setting that up to be something her relationship with shane helps her work through? i know, high aspirations for the l word, but it does seem like they’re trying to build in more room for some deeper character arcs this time around.
Damn it’s only a second episode, and I’ve already bought myself three power suits. Few more scenes with Dani and Bette and I’m gonna be the best power-dressed-but-also-completely-penniless lesbian in the neighbourhood (assuming I’ll still have a place to live after that splurge).
i am one episode away from buying sixteen jumpsuits
I had to stop my a+ membership due to financial reasons but hell, this show being back made me remember how freaking important this website was to me when I first saw the original.
Happy to be back!
HAPPY TO HAVE YOU BACK!!
I did not want this to end. Hilarious. Also, I especially loved this line: ‘“You make Nat really happy,” Gigi says. I can’t wait til we get to see that in action!’
They honestly have no chemistry/Alice seems to have no desire to be in this relationship?!
I’m shocked Drew’s name wasn’t Mark.
Josh. I was expecting Josh. I’d definitely accept Mark. Such bro names.
But Drew is one of us so BACK OFF !
we are really at record lows w/r/t mark visibility
Mark Summers is still on tv somewhere does that help?
am I the only person who really likes Nat and thinks Nat and Alice are kinda cute? I want way more of them…
I want to like them, I do, but Alice does not seem into it and I think they might be doomed. :\
Alice seems super weird in this relationship. Like she stumbled into it 5 minutes ago, relunctantly.
yeah so far i haven’t really felt like they have anything in common besides enjoying lesbian sex
yeah, i agree the timing (?) seems off. like, it doesn’t seem like they’ve been together two years…
still, i’m enjoying seeing a different side of alice, and i like nat.
Love these recaps!!
LOVE IS LOVE
Heyhoooo, if anyone has any suggestion as to how to watch this while not living in the US, please let me know ;) #nothingtoseehere #movealong
In Poland it’s surprisingly available on HBO GO, but I have no idea if that’s any help when it comes to other countries.
Canadian here. I started a free one week trial with Crave. Downloaded the app and that was that. After the week it’s $10/month.
I think Nat and Alice and Gigi are headed into a poly three way co-parenting nightmare and honestly I am SO HERE FOR IT
That would be soooooooo much more exciting than the Alice cheating on Nat with Gigi storyline i am anticipating
hard agree
Just some background on Bette choosing Judy Chicago for her office. The podcast didn’t really give her justice :) I thought it was a perfect choice. Chicago was the only major female artist that came up in LA’s golden age of artists in the 1960s. She wasn’t included in “The Cool School” of male artists who hung out a Barney’s Beanery with a sign that said “no f*gs allowed”. It’s 100% on brand that Bette would idolize her work. She’s going through a major revival and has had a few shows this year in the city. She literally started the entire school of the Feminist Art Program and Woman House, a legendary art space where every room was a different contemporary female artist in the early 70s. I love that Bette shared this little piece of LA history and culture with Dani
I loved it too! it was perfect!
also i asked marja about it because i know ilene chaiken was a big art person and that’s how they seamlessly integrated all of those art references. marja was like “my art knowledge begins and ends with judy chicago” because she wrote a thing about her at some point, i think. but there’s another artist in the writers room who’s gonna get more art references into the show!
It’s also perfectly Bette “real trans ally” Porter to talk about how inspiring Chicago’s “The Dinner Party” is, despite that work totally ignoring the existance of trans women.
This is awesome. Thank you for sharing this wonderful information about Judy Chicago
Came for the discourse on the Aloce Show, stayed for the Battlestar references
Meanwhile, as soon as Bette Porter started Bettesplaining art I wanted to mute my television.
Separately, I’m having the hardest time suspending my disbelief re: Jacqueline Toboni NOT being an extremely Shane-level hot commodity?!
I think the writers were very conscious of not wanting Shane 2.0, which is why they’re making her the complete opposite of Shane in almost every way. (To me, the same goes for all the characters and their would-be comparisons.)
yeah i think arika is spot on like… they’re trying to make the new people distinct from the old in very specific ways… like they seem similar on the surface but are very different once you get into it.
i also agree that finley would be VERY successful romantically/sexually in this town!
Agree Jacqueline Toboni is hot as hell, but Finley’s personality is totally different than Shane’s and that is my theory as to why she’s not Shane-level in the community.
I feel confident that Finley will reach Shane level with time. I find her insanely attractive …except when she asked Olivia Thirlby to buy her drink 🙃 Mooch
“…as they were supposed to be “slowing down,” a term which means basically nothing and is not expanded upon”
THANK YOU, couples on tv always have these weird expositional fights about the state of their lives/partnerships, but particularly often about whether/how much one partner will work, which always feels super out of touch with the way literally anybody (outside of wealthy people) lives????
yes, this is lingering frustration over tina resigning from her career in season 1 to “prepare her body for pregnancy”
YES. THANK YOU.
Omg yes!! And was she out of work for *seven years* for this purpose, given what Bette days about being sole breadwinner for this long in S2?? What did she do all day? How does this make sense? Do I have the timeline wrong? Aaaaaargh!
Haven’t watched an episode yet but I don’t care: LOVE the recap and the whole discussion. It’s a gift.
The bridesmaids reference made my week! THANK YOU!!!
you’re welcome!!!
Random thoughts
– I hate Drew already. That said, I’d watch a whole show about the Aloce Show
– I like Finley but I understand that in large doses that can be exhausting
– Was that the conclusion that detective Xena Warrior Princess arrived about the S-c-h-e-c-t-e-r case?
– I honestly don’t care about why Bette is running for mayor. I just want Kit to be ok (I don’t think she is..)
YES. THANK YOU.
I didn’t see Finley stopping the sex as an alcohol thing at all. Didn’t people see the part where she was completely thrown off-kilter by Rebecca calling her beautiful? My read is that it triggered her somehow and then things got too real and she had a panic attack. Am I alone? I really love Finley so far.
i mean she says she’s spinning and the next night she says she has to drink less to avoid getting sick with her again, yeah?
Because she was feeling self conscious and scared and was trying to cover it up.
I read it as a panic attack as well. I thought that, combined with her comments about her parents throwing her out and the one about Sophie and Dani both wearing dresses being gross, meant to indicate she has some internalized homophobia stuff going on
oh wow this is… v interesting and fascinating
That’s exactly how I read it too!
Also – that she’s coping with by drinking a lot of alcohol in a way that just feeds into the shame.
It could be both a panic attack and the spins from being drunk! I have panic disorder and alcohol makes panic attacks way more likely for me. I would imagine that all of these things are wrapped up together pretty tightly, given how trauma often plays out.
That’s exactly how I read it–like I feel like she actually has a really complicated relationship with sex and that’s part of the reason she has to be drunk to do it, but something about this hookup triggered her anxiety anyway. She just blamed the alcohol to save face. Because the whole player thing is definitely a front, right? Like she’s actually really uncomfortable with intimacy but hoping if she keeps trying she’ll get over it?
But probably I’m just projecting my own baggage!! Who knows!!
no i think this is a really good point! i feel like in the podcast i talked about this a little bit but didn’t get all the way to where y’all have gotten with it…. there’s a lot of shame around her religious upbringing, being disowned by her parents, feeling a lot of internalized shit around actually having sex with women
I also read it that way. Either a panic attack or some other kind of bad emotional reaction mixed with the alcohol.
but i could also absolutely be pushing my own issues onto finley’s story!!!
So did I, deffo panic attack symptoms. The second she heard ”you’re beautiful” it tipped from ”just” a fuck to something real, and that was it, boom.
I interpreted it in the same way! I was surprised it didn’t occur to other folks. Maybe it’s because I was watching with subtitles – I saw Finley responded to Rebecca saying she was beautiful with “Nah…” and then, spinning out.
ahh yeah we don’t have subtitles on screeners so i’m sure we miss some things!
Same, i read it as them starting some sort of trauma-related storyline for her, internalized homophobia or like sexual violence in her past or something. But also seems like they are making a big deal of her drinking, so hard to tell.
I was only watching while I did chores so kind of missed a bit but I totally thought somehow the kid with the flu got Finley sick with Shane as the vector. 😂 or at least it seemed like that for a few minutes.
My girlfriend and I had that thought too! Our current Finley sex theories are: trauma history, body image or self-esteem issues, intimacy/panic issues, or alcohol issues.
The way the scene was filmed felt panic attack-y to me, but I could 100% be projecting here.
As a recovering alcoholic with a history of panic disorders and weird internalised phobias around sex and issues with taking compliments… Yeah that’s one hundred percent how I read it.
i read it as both finley’s got an alcohol problem and she was uncomfortable/triggered being called beautiful. and just deeply uncomfortable with sex in general, which is contributing to her drinking. the comment actually hit me weird in the moment, maybe i’m alone in this perspective but i assumed it would trigger dysphoria in finley. finley’s not that butch, but is the butchest main character this time around so far, and her experiencing some level of dysphoria wouldn’t surprise me. it actually reminds me of a scene shane had in the original where she and carmen were talking about why she only tops.
I interpret Finn’s comment about the wedding dresses to be more like a joking “ewww, love is GROSS” thing, but it definitely didn’t come across that way at first. But I still find her really funny and relatable, please add me to the fan club.
I appreciate the comparisons of Finley to various dog breeds, because from about 5 minutes into the first episode my wife had determined that Finley is a yellow labrador in human form and makes various dog noises whenever she appears on screen.
ALSO as Shane is very clearly going to buy the bar for the hot bartender couple, I want to know if she’s going to randomly stick a single barber’s chair in there and call it Planet Wax
ALSO could we start getting counts of how many times Bette stares out of a window and then turns and looks over her shoulder, because it feels like this happens multiple times per scene.
ALSO did anyone else think “that’s a really big door” re: Shane’s house
you know what they say about girls with big doors
They have big sex benches?
I hope Planet Wax happens, if only because I really enjoy the guitar noises Carly makes whenever Wax is mentioned in the podcast.
THANK YOU DANIELLE :: guitar riff ::
How many times Bette stares out of a window and then turns and looks over her shoulder
Definitely sounds like a majestic drinking game
Finley: Are you guys both gonna wear like, dresses?
Sophie: Why you gotta say it like that.
Finley: I dunno… I’m grossed out.
I hope they make this line into a learning moment that better supports femme and dress wearing godxesses out there. SO MUCH INTERNALIZED HOMOPHOBIA AND TOXIC MASCULINITY. Not okay no matter who delivers the line.
As a more masc non-binary humanoid, this line left with me feeling bitter and disappointed.
I think it is Tina and not Kit with the opioid issue. Obviously she is not dead, but her addiction lead to their break up. Would explain 1. what happened between Bette and Tina which they haven’t explained yet after two episodes and 2. how the famous Kit Porter could be dead but nobody knows/talks about it being the reason Bette is running for mayor 3. why Bette has full custody of Angie.
I like that idea, but didn’t Bette in episode 1 say I’ll send you to mamma t? Or was it Angie asking to live with her. Also, if Kit was alive wouldn’t Tina want to leverage her star power for votes?
OMG I think you have cracked the case!!
The part I thought weird about Kit suddenly dying via opiate OD, is that she has been surrounded by every sort of substance through her life as a recording artist, being in the scene as she she was.
By Kit’s age, after decades of recreational drug use, people usually have a propensity for what is their “drug of choice” (and especially if we assume she’s tried a lot of them). She never showed interest in opiates before. She has expressed interest in cocaine, and her problem substance was alcohol. I just don’t see it likely for her to develop a post-menopausal opiate addiction out of nowhere…unless she started taking them after some sort of major accident or surgery. 🤔
Lastly, as people mentioned, how could a relatively famous recording artist manage to overdose, in LA, and there he no publicity at all? I don’t think it would be a secret. It would have definitely come up when going over the scandals for the campaign, it would have probably been all over the internet. Honestly, Kit would have had an Instagram/Facebook for her public persona of artist and venue owner and there would certainly be mention of such an untimely end on her social media.
I think it may be Tina too!! How could their possibly be another reason Bette has Angie 24/7 and Tina is…clearly nowhere near LA.
Hono yes that makes sense! It could also explain Bette’s “do you want me to tell Mama T what you did today” which apparently immediately put an end to Angie’s threat that she wanted to go and live with Tina? And I agree that Kit’s death/connection to opioids wouldn’t be a secret in LA.
But ALSO: I feel like Felicity is somehow connected to Bette’s secret or knows about it?
I think you nailed it
it’s not tina
i don’t know if it’s kit or not but i do know that it isn’t tina
also is it annoying when i do this (indicate things i’m aware of because i’ve already seen episode 103) (although to be fair this info is available in other articles about the show) would you guys rather I let you speculate
do i mark this as a spoiler
how do i live
how do any of us live
eta: i feel like probably i should not do this lol
well then, RIP Kit
Riese I am so impressed that you haven’t imploded yet with all the spoilers! But yes it is very fun to speculate, and I for one am not reading anything else about the show except your wonderful recaps, and the reason for that is because I trust you. So please no spoilers because your writing is addictive and I will just laugh at your spoiler warning and read every word and then regret it.
Hard same
ok i will not do the spoilers i promise i promise
speaking as someone without ANY knowledge of ANYTHING happening in 103, hono you have a solid theory ………
So are we supposed to pretend that Bette doesn’t know that the Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation purchased The Dinner Party and donated it to the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum?
RIGHT?! Thank you for pointing this out.
Just wanted to say I thought you guys were exaggerating about Finley’s bad shorts on the podcast but they were actually pretty bad, which I appreciated because a lot of her clothes are clearly like, from wildfang or whatever, and would be too expensive for someone who can’t afford her own drinks.
Also I loved when Dani made the Bette-looking-at-art face when she was looking at Bette’s art.
I feel like the image on Bette’s phone during the NOT-a-murder-in-the-park-scene where Bette and Felicity touch hands is a clue to Bette’s secret? What is that photo? Could anyone make it out?
I too am here for the inter-generational butch buddy comedy. Shane and Finley living together is giving me such life.
Agreed. I would watch just a show if Shane and Finley being messy and mentoring.
YES THIS
Episode was pretty good, but what were they thinking with that Finley character? If they were trying to make her likable, then they failed. First impressions are important, and I can’t stand her. She’s trying way too hard to be a badass when really she’s ridiculous and not funny at all. Also I know they are trying to make her like a mini Shane but let’s be honest here, there will NEVER be another Shane, so they might as well stop trying.
i like finley!
Maybe Angelenos just immediately understand Finley better? Who of us doesn’t have a Finley in our lives? Bright, happy, slightly blazed covering up layers of undisclosed trauma and alienation which led them to leave their Red State/ small town and move to The City of Angels and Dreams. Usually with a side of addiction/alcohol dependence and messy drama. I predict that Finley will go through the LA “I’m detoxing and getting my life together!” phase too with some meditation/yoga/retreat, juice fasting and giving up alcohol/cigarettes only to relapse into despair
Some of us are a Finley. Some of us date a Finley.
I love her! I don’t think we’re supposed to see her as a mini Shane, more a good-natured lovable fuck up.
Pressing question for our good friends at Showtime, how soon before Alice mentions Autostraddle on the Aloce show?
Finley being described as a King Charles Spaniel made me laugh so hard I scared the cats.
anyone else notice that post Judy Chicago moment, Bette & Dani are both wearing dark blue and pink but on opposite ends. So Bette’s shirt is pink and match Dani’s pants which r also pink. And the pink & blue are actually a visual reference to the Judy Chicago painting? And they’re wearing the same shoes in that scene.
ps Natalice have 0 chemistry. 🥚
yesss i mentioned it in the recap!
“Clearly he has not done the math regarding how much free morning time L Word Lesbians have. These ladies can wake up, have morning sex, shower, don trendy apparel, do full hair and makeup, drive to The Planet, find parking, drink coffee, process somebody’s entire breakup, say something passive-aggressive, definitely leave whatever food they ordered at the table and make it all the way to work in Canada by 9am.”
I love this and this entire recap so much!
I’m mostly enjoying this reboot/sequel/whatever, but even if I wasn’t, the recaps would make up for it (tho tbh I wouldn’t be mad if the junior mint thing got retired). It’s just so NICE to have so many queer people on my screen at once, it makes me feel fuzzy. Also here for all the jumpsuits. I dunno what Jordi’s whole deal will be but I hope they have time to explore it. And just get Alice away from those kids since they make her so miserable.
Please help me out here- why do you call it The Aloce Show? Thanks!
b/c the “I” looks like an “O” in the logo
Can someone tell me the name of the poem that was read at the engagement party please?
http://www.alixolson.com/
Source: https://www.autostraddle.com/to-l-and-back-l-word-generation-q-podcast-episode-102-less-is-more/
Episode wasn’t as good (though still real good!) as last week’s, but I think this recap was somehow even better? Loved it. Laughed lots. Lived better.
In an interview, Jennifer Beals expressed a desire to see Pam Grier return to the show and to work with her again, so there’s a glimmer of hope that Kit is still alive!
Another excellent recap!
After this episode I really like Finley now. I thought her acting was a wee bit forced in the first episode, but this episode had me laughing a lot. Finley is endearing.
I realllly don’t want bartender (forget her name?) to cheat on Tess with Shane. Especially annoyed because they have great chemistry so I for sure want them to get it on at least once but I do NOT want that to be because Tess is getting cheated on! Unless that would mean Tess and Alice somehow get together – that would be freaking adorable! I just want everything beautiful and magical for Jamie Clayton (fully intending to love Tess like I love JC). Thankfully if it doesn’t happen here I can always rewatch the sheer magic that was Nomi/Amanita in Sense8.
the corset