The L Word: Season 6, Epi. 8 – Last Word

The L Word: Last Word

As far as series finales go, I don’t think they always have to be wrapped up in a pretty little bow as a thank you to loyal viewers. That said, I don’t think you need to go the route of The Sopranos either. There is a middle ground and I think The L Word found it.

The final episode begins with Shane in an interrogation room and we learn that Jenny really, really annoys the hell out of her. They continue to flash forward to everyone’s interrogation throughout the episode. Sergeant Duffy, played by Lucy Lawless, is at the helm of the investigation.  Who killed Jenny Schecter?*

Jenny is creating a tribute video for Tina and Bette, who are relocating to New York for Tina’s new job.  The video, that includes farewells from people they met in LA who have since moved away, seems a little over the top for a going away present, but I guess it was the only way to make sense of appearances from former cast members.

Like Tim, Jenny’s ex-boyfriend, the one she followed to West Hollywood. The one who introduced her to the lifestyle to which she’d grown accostumed.

"You guys can totally blame me... seriously."

And Marina, Jenny’s first.

"Yeah, I turned Jenny out."

Alice, Tasha, and Jamie are eating at The Planet. By the way, it is the last time we will see Kit’s restaurant/bar/coffee shop. Waaah – it’s like saying goodbye to the Peach Pit. Alice asks them to be honest about their feelings, to be honest to her, as well as to themselves. Jamie comes clean and says that she has fallen in love with Tasha.  Alice tells them to give their relationship a try and tells Tasha that if she doesn’t call by the same time tomorrow she’ll know that she has made a choice. Jamie’s all, “Don’t break up because of me,” and Alice is all, “Too late, sister. And shut the fuck up,” for good measure. Tasha, who lives her “life with honor and duty,” has some thinking to do.

Bette tells Kit that she is tired of L.A., especially Jenny. She explains that Jenny thinks she saw something and wants Bette to tell Tina about the alleged affair she’s having with Kelly. She also mentions that the railing isn’t done on their new balcony and that Kit should be careful up there.

Shane and Alice talk about Shane’s relationship with Jenny and Shane admits why she’s with her. She feels responsible for her — maybe it goes back to when she walked in on Jenny cutting herself. Whatever the reason, Alice isn’t buying it and tries to break things down for Shane – “The girl’s not even talented. She’s not even a nice person. She’s like a fraud.”

In a nutshell, Jenny Schecter.

Dylan is being shady. Having secret phone calls and racing out of the house. This doesn’t bode well for Helena who has crazy trust issues because of Dylan.

Bette proposes to Tina, who accepts and then mentions that they have to get the railing fixed.

Shane does what looks like the walk of shame right by Bette and Tina just like she did Season One. (Awwwh.) They mention the railing again and dump on Jenny… again. Bette thinks she’s calculated, but Shane just doesn’t want to believe that she is. After Shane comes to Jenny’s rescue, yet again, Jenny tells Shane that without her,  she would kill herself and leave everything to Shane. “You are my family,” Jenny tells Shane.

You feel loved, I feel caged.

Helena finds out that Dylan and Jenny are together at the studio. Apparently, Dylan knew about the test before the test happened. For some reason, Helena flips out and can’t trust that Dylan would have rejected Niki had she not known about the test. Personally, I think she overreacted, especially since she’s the one who did the test in the first place. And why she totally blames Jenny for it all is beyond me.

Shane bumps into Molly and finds out about the letter and the jacket and it’s the beginning of the end of Shenny. I don’t understand why Shane doesn’t defend herself and explain to Molly, the love of her life, that she wasn’t cheating on her with Niki when they were together.

Shane rushes home to look for the letter, which she finds in the attic, along with the stolen Lez Girls negatives.

Kit confronts Jenny about the thing with Bette and Kelly.  Jenny looks so beat down, exhausted and says, “I can see that I’m making everybody uncomfortable. I can see that my friends don’t want to be around me anymore. That they want me to shut the fuck up and go away. I just want to do the right thing.” After a little pressure from Kit, she shows Kit the proof she asked for. Because of the angle at which it was shot, Kit comes to the same conclusion as Jenny.

Bette’s giving the ladies a tour of the house, but before they start, Tina reminds them to be careful because the contractor did not finish the railing.  Kit confronts Bette and tells her about Jenny’s proof. Bette still denies that she did anything wrong.  Shane takes Tina into the attic and shows her the stolen negatives. Tina can’t believe her eyes and can’t believe that Jenny is the one who stole them.

Bette and Jenny have a showdown and Bette tells her that there’s nothing that she wouldn’t do to preserve and protect her family. After Jenny tells her that she would never do anything to hurt her family and that she loves her and Tina, Bette’s says, “All I care about is that you know that I will not abide anyone who threatens my family.” That is the last time we see Jenny alive.

Bette’s Interrogation: When asked to describe Jenny at the police station, Bette says, “Complex. Complicated. Talented. Self Destructive. Sometimes very generous. Complicated. Complex.”

Don't forget dead.

Then Tina rushes in looking for Jenny, threatening to put her out of her misery.

Alice tells Shane that she is willing to make peace with Jenny because she’s alone and she’s with Shane. Shane tells Alice that they are no longer together.

Alice’s Interrogation:  ”What does any of this have to do with who killed Jenny?” Alice asks.

“So you think someone killed Jenny?”  Sergeant Duffy asks.

Uh, what does Alice know?

Oops.

Sounder is whimpering out by the pool while everyone is watching the tribute video. We see Tim, Ivan, Mangus, Jodi, Marina, and Carmen. Yikes! Shane’s bride. Is Jenny that calculating? Uh, yes. Why would she go there? Because she’s Jenny.  Alice goes to look for Jenny and finds her body in the pool. She comes back into the room, freaking out and Bette runs out behind her.

Cut to first scene of the season where they meet Sergeant Duffy. Shane and Bette are wearing bathrobes, which leads me to believe that they jumped into the pool to attempt to save her. The police pull a gun on someone hiding in the bushes. It’s Niki!

When they bring her in, Shane asks what she’s doing there. She explains that she came to talk to Jenny about the short leash she has Shane on. Shane tells her to shut up. Why? Because she’s incriminating herself?

Tasha walks up, shows her Junior Detective badge, and tells Alice, “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” Whew – I can exhale now. Talice is back together!

Sergeant Duffy tells them that they need to come down to the station and we hear a barrage of…

“We’ll do whatever you need us to do.”

“We will cooperate with you.”

“Yeah, we’re a very tight-knit group.”

“And we take care of each other.”

“None of us did anything wrong. We don’t know what happened out there.”

Real tight-knit group

Does that mean that Niki is totally getting thrown under the bus? Did one of the ladies do it and the others are willing to protect her? Was it a suicide? Was it an accident? Was it the pesky railing?

Poor Jenny. Aside from being dead, no one even heard her farewell message, “You guys changed my life. And I’m never going to forget you. So thank you for everything.”

Walking into the police station, everyone had a look on their face like, “We’re taking it to the grave,” and I guess they will.

*I think Jenny killed herself, but if she was murdered,  I’d put my money on Bette.