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.

And Marina, Jenny’s first.

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.”

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.

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.”

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?

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.”

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.

The L Word: Season 6, Epi.7 – Last Couple Standing

The L Word: Last Dance

Jamie’s all night dance-a-thon fundraiser at Hit had a decades theme: 70s, 80s, and 90s. There were three contests: Best Dance, Most Money Raised, and Last Couple Standing, all of which Alice was determined to win. Some of the music really took me back, especially Back to Life by Soul II Soul. A few friends and I butchered that song, a capella, in our 10^th grade talent show, before breaking out in a crazy Kid N’ Play style dance. Yikes!  When Alice, Tasha, and Jamie donned asymmetrical wigs and kicked it to Salt N’ Pepa’s Push It, I cringed, but only because their performance was WAY better than ours.

Best Dance: I was pleasantly surprised to see that almost everyone in the cast had dance skills. Bette and Tina weren’t bad, even Jenny and Shane were okay. Marlee Matlin’s character, Jodi, totally rocked it, winning Best Dance.  What I think will be her final appearance on the show gave her Dancing With The Stars fans a treat and her relationship with Bette some well needed closure.

Most Money Raised: Tina gets a job offer in New York and she and Bette are both ready for a brand new start. Bette really wants to get away from Jenny, who is threatening to tell Tina that Bette hooked up with Kelly while she was out of town. Bette keeps trying to tell Tina about the misunderstanding before Jenny does, but can’t find the right time. In an effort to get away from Jenny, Bette runs up on stage and pledges $1500 to the cause. Alice is down, but not out. She may still be able to win this contest.

Jenny talks Niki into placing herself up for auction to raise money. Niki does it, only to have Jenny bid $25,000 for her. Jenny takes the microphone and explains to Shane and the rest of the club that she doesn’t have to sneak around the have sex with Niki. She can have her whenever she wants because she bought Niki for her. Everyone is shocked, no one more than Alice, who realizes that she can SO not beat Jenny’s pledge.

 

 

Last Couple Standing: Tina and Bette get stood up by the birth mother, who was supposed to  move in with them before the adoption, which leads me to believe that they will be adopting Max’s child. Let’s hear it for the boy! Max’s child will get a loving home and maybe Max will finally get his surgery!

Helena and Dylan are back together and pretty boring.

Kit finally learns the truth about Sunset, whose real name is Sonny. He is a “straight man who loves his gay and lesbian family,” but to Kit, he is just another man who betrayed her trust. She thinks he lied to her about who he was and she is confused, angry, and especially embarrassed because she told him things she would have never told a man. He wants to take her out to dinner, get to know her better, and share more of himself.  Visibly shaken, she says she has to think about it.   Come on, Kit!

Throughout the course of the night, Alice begins to get a weird vibe from Jamie. She asks her friends if they see it too and the only one who tells her she should be worried is Helena. Alice decides to confront Jamie, who admits to having feelings for Tasha but promises that she would never act on them. During the last dance of the night, Alice tells Tasha that she has never loved her more and that she just wants her to be happy. Then she asks her if she has feelings for Jamie. All Tasha can say is “I’m not ready to let you go.” They hold each other tightly, as they share what is probably their last dance. They are the last ones on the dance floor.  Alice finally won a contest.

Looks like all hell will break loose next week in the finale. Shane learns about the letter Molly gave Jenny (the one she hid in the attic), Tina may find out about Bette’s misunderstanding, Helena and Dylan finally get some action, and of course, Jenny dies.

The L Word airs Sunday at 9pm on Showtime, but tune in an hour earlier for a series finale special with an overview of the series, highlights, and never before scenes.

 

The L Word: Season 6, Epi. 3 – LMFAO

The L Word: Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Alice’s initial reaction to Shane and Jenny’s hook up was priceless. As the smoke cleared, you could see the state of her mind right on her face: confusion, shock, more confusion, disbelief, and finally, disgust. How could Jenny even ask Alice to keep what she saw under wraps when Alice’s business was telling people’s business with The Chart? By the way, The Chart totally needs to be updated.

 

The L Word: Season 6, Epi. 2 – Least Likely

The L Word: Labor of Love

We’ve got our first official threat against Jenny’s life. Niki goes off on a rampage after being used and dumped by Jenny. “Jenny Schecter is a liar and a user. Trust me, you are not going to get away with this. You are dead meat, Schecter. Dead.”

Unfortunately this threat only made me discount Niki as a real suspect. Dead meat probably means that Jenny is SO not one of her myspace friends anymore and at worst, Niki will probably write some shit about her in a random bathroom stall. Next!

Alice and Tasha:

The odds are stacked against me, I mean them. As much as I am rooting for them, I have to face facts, it ain’t meant to be. If their pros vs. cons list wasn’t proof enough, Alice’s overbearing Chatty Cathy monologue during therapy was. That said, as they both have acknowledged, they do have great chemistry, but is that enough to make a relationship work?

Bette and Tina:

There is no way I would have waited in the wings to be introduced if I were Tina, especially with Bette swooning over her old “friend,” Juicy Wentworth (Elizabeth Berkley). I would have been like, “Hi, I’m Tina, Bette’s partner and baby’s momma. Yes, we are expanding our family AND our house,” but not in a bitchy, jealous, overprotective way, of course.

Helena and Dylan:

I think Alice did a great job of breaking down the history between Helena and Dylan for Tasha and for viewers who may not have seen what went down between them in Season 3. (Dylan pretended to be gay and hooked up with Helena. She and her boyfriend then sued Helena for sexual harassment. Turns out Helena turned her out and now Dylan is gay and back in town.) I really was expecting Helena to use some of her prison moves on Dylan when she walked up on her in the club. No, not those prison moves, some beat down moves. Disappointingly enough, it was only a rough shove, but the exchange between them in the parking lot totally planted the seed for those other prison moves. You know they’re coming.

Max and Tom:

Can a brother get a break? Damn! Max was SO close to getting his reassignment surgery, only to be told that he’s pregnant by his homosexual male lover, Tom. Did the doctor really have to call him out and break it down by calling it “vaginal sex?” Poor Max. For those of you who may not know Max’s history, Max used to be Moira. Since he is pregnant, obviously he still has Moira’s “girl parts.”

(At least now we know why the police officer referred to Max as a woman in the scene three months from now,  he’ll be 7 months pregnant!)

Phyllis and Joyce: Older lesbian love is cute.

Jenny and Shane:

First off, I love how Shane gives it a week. A week of apologizing, car-washing, waffle-making and she is done. Second, we SO called it, people! We knew Jenny was talking to Shane about breaking her heart and we knew she was in love with her.

Now I don’t think Shane is in love with Jenny, but I do think that Shane passing up a girl, any girl, is like the big bad wolf passing on a pig. Not gonna happen.

The two of them hooking up? I have to say that my heart’s not in it. I’m not feeling it. It seems forced and like a last minute, last season, last ditch effort to me.

So what do you think about Shane and Jenny getting together?

The L Word airs at 9 pm Sunday nights on Showtime.

The L Word: Season 6, Epi.1 – Long Night’s Journey Into Day

The L Word: Loyalty

Creepy, dark, eerie, and did I mention creepy? That’s what the opening scene of the Season 6 premiere was. The mist on the police cruisers, the lights, the sirens – it was all too much for me. It reminded me of the kind of thriller movie I try my best to avoid. Then I remembered that death isn’t pretty, as the paramedics rolled Jenny’s body through Bette’s living room. They found her body in the pool. *shudder*

Although the movie-like intro had me expecting Morgan Freeman to step on the scene, the detective on the case was Lucy Lawless, (that’s right, Xena and for you BSG fans, D’Anna aka Number 3). As Sergeant Mary Beth Duffy, she had some questions for the seven women in the room: Bette, Tina, Shane, Kit, Helena, Alice, and Max. Did anyone else find it strange that the officer who debriefed the sergeant referred to Max as a woman?

They flashback to the Lez Girls wrap party, three months earlier, where all is calm and thankfully bright. Now here’s the show I know and love! We pick up where we left off with Jenny telling either Shane or Niki that she has broken her heart. We are also reminded that the movie executives want to change the movie and give it the old Hollywood Hetero ending it “deserves.” Emotions are running high; Tina is upset over the turn of events in the movie, Bette is defending Shane and her betrayal of Jenny, and Alice and Tasha are on the verge of breaking up.

Jenny is rightfully pissed off at Shane and Niki and raking them over the coals. And Shane is begging for forgiveness and getting nowhere. After Jenny kicks her and her “skanky” clothes out of the house, Shane tries to crash with Bette and Tina who have a feverish Angelica on their hands. Because they were too busy and too judgy (Tina) to deal with her, Shane goes to Alice’s. Bad timing; she and Tasha are in the middle of a huge fight. Alice comes clean about her friendship with the fashion designer she met last season. She explains to Tasha that Clea Mason (Melanie Lynskey) was easy to talk to, that they had a lot in common, BUT she didn’t cheat. To Tasha, things are black and white, thinking is cheating, and she is out! Alice’s best line, “I mean, I didn’t even really kiss her, at all.” What? That’s like being a little pregnant. Either ya kissed, or ya didn’t!

Poor Shane was all alone with nowhere to go. Took me back to Season 1 when she was staying out all night, hooking up with random girls, being a dick, but at least there was remorse this time. Shane finally goes to The Hit Club (Helena and Kit‘s new club), gets loaded and then proceeds to get really great advice from Kit. Don’t let Jenny go without a fight. Fight to the death for your friendship.

We also learn that Shane is in love with Molly and the hurt over their breakup and the fact that Jenny and Niki were on a break is what led her to hook up. Shane was promising all kinds of stuff in return for Jenny’s forgiveness. “I’ll be your slave, your assistant.” What she should have offered was free hair services for life! Jenny wasn’t buying it, and later told Molly that Shane and Niki were together and had been for months. Does she really believe that or was that her way of making things worse for Shane and Molly? Why hide the jacket and Molly’s letter to Shane in the attic — why not burn the letter and throw jacket out on lawn with the rest of Shane’s stuff? It’ll be interesting to see if Jenny forgave Shane before she died. Jenny tricks Niki into one last romp, then curses and kicks her out. We learn then that it was in fact Shane who had broken her heart. Awwwh…

The next day at The Planet, were battle lines drawn or what? The division of the friends was very telling. Shane, Alice, and Bette – the cheaters. Jenny, Tasha, and Tina – the cheatees. So are you Team Shane or Team Jenny?

Also, wasn’t it great to see Papi again?

The L Word airs at 9p.m. Sunday nights on Showtime.

The L Word: Season 6 Teaser

Starting next week, along with the Mommy Monday blog, Sophie (my best friend and co-conspirator) will be posting a review of Showtime’s The L Word. Please stop by every Monday and show her some love, and by love I mean leave comments and engage in conversation about the hit drama entering its final season.

- Nina

The L Word: Left Field

When I heard there was a murder on the final season of The L Word, I have to admit I thought it was a stretch. I thought they were closing the show on a jumped shark. But then I watched the 10 minute teaser, Who Killed Jenny Schecter?, and realized that I could buy it. Killing the character who brought us into this world of femme fatales, transsexual friends, dueling club owners, and provided an intimate look into the lives of lesbians could work.

When Jenny (Mia Kirshner) stepped on the scene, all doe-eyed and innocent, she knew nothing of this world and neither did most of the viewers. The extent of my experience with lesbians was 1) my best friend thinking I was one because I kept my (hetero)sexual encounters close to the vest and 2) the aforementioned best friend’s brief but stalkerish friendship with a lesbian porn star.

Over the next five seasons, I watched Jenny learn the ropes, deal with her troubled past, write a novel, direct a movie, betray friends, fall in love, and piss off quite a few people along the way. Jenny’s is a cautionary tale; don’t move cross country to be with your corn-fed boyfriend, cheat on him with one of his lesbian acquaintances, and let him walk in on you two legs akimbo. And maybe it’s not such a good idea to let your ego blow up to the size of a West Hollywood coffee shop and alienate your friends.

Who Killed Jenny Schecter? included scenes from the upcoming season, as well as interviews from the producer/writer and actors and their take on Jenny’s death. Katherine Moening, who plays Shane McCutcheon, says, “I can’t foresee anybody killing anybody on this show, but there is that twist to it now.” Looks like I wasn’t the only skeptic.

We’ve got suspects, we’ve got suspects! Suspects include, but are not limited to, Jenny’s circle of friends: Bette, Tina, Shane, Alice, Helena, Max, and Niki. That Jenny may have been killed by one of her friends is a horse of a pill for me to swallow, but I’m willing to play along. From the few scenes they showed of the upcoming season, it looks like Jenny is out of control, and I mean, more than usual. Whatever Jenny does, would it really push one of her friends to murder?

The last we saw of Jenny, it seemed as though she should be the one doing the killing after walking in on Shane sticking it to Jenny’s love, Niki (Kate French). It’s going to be interesting to see how it all plays out and how she went from jilted lover and betrayed friend to… dead.

I have my theory as to how she died, but I’ll sit on it for now. If you think you know, post it here or cast your vote at: sho.com.

Let’s face it; Jenny was a hot ass mess. But she will be missed.

The L Word premieres Sunday, January 18th at 9pm on Showtime.

If you want to catch the teaser, Who Killed Jenny Schecter?, it airs on the following dates and times:

Jan 12 – 11:05pm

Jan 16 – 2:35 am

Jan 16 – 10:50pm

Jan 17 – 1:50am

It’s also available on Showtime On Demand.