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The L Word (2004-2009) was the first television show by queer women, for queer women. It sought to tell lesbian stories and show lesbian sex from a female gaze rather than the straight male gaze. Ilene Chaiken (co-creator, writer, and executive producer) discussed the reasoning behind beginning the original series and explained that she wanted to be able to show this unique environment of queer women. (( “Ilene Chaiken: our fairy gay godmother.” PANTS from Spotify, 5 August 2020 )) This had not yet been done in television, nothing had ever even come close.
She insists that the original series was merely a guiding light for others to follow, making the idea of lesbians on television less taboo. The series failed in this regard, lesbian characters became more prominent as side and background characters, but no one took the initiative on creating a show centered around the queer community, or at least not the queer woman-aligned people. So Chaiken, once again, brought this onto herself. Thus, the revival was born. (( “’The L Word’ Creator Ilene Chaiken on What Fans Can Expect from the Reboot.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 17 Feb. 2019, )).
The L Word Generation Q (2019- )
The L Word Generation Q (2019-) seeks to right the wrongs of the original series, airing during a more accepting time with more opportunity. The first episode showed that our tried-and-true original characters are grown, rich, and successful and we’re introduced to a new mess of characters navigating the professional queer world of Los Angeles. Bette (Jennifer Beals), Shane (Kate Moennig), and Alice (Leisha Hailey) are navigating their new successful lives, relationships, and in Alice’s case- children. The original characters fell into these lives wonderfully, the time jump from the end of the original series to the beginning of the new series was virtually seamless.
In the first episode, we’re introduced to Dani (Arienne Mandi), Finley (Jacqueline Toboni), Sophie (Rosanny Zayas), Nat (Stephanie Allynne), Gigi (Sepideh Moafi), Micah (Leo Sheng), and a teenage Angie (Jordan Hull). These characters provide us with an array of representation (could there be more though? Always.) This representation and display of a new personality brought a breath of fresh air to the show that we desperately needed. But the characters are just as messy as we expected them to be.
For The Love Of Finley
Finley (Jacqueline Toboni) is introduced as the chaotic, lovable lesbian who just needs someone to love her. She lives in a studio apartment with five other women in Koreatown but starts crashing in Shane’s beautiful new home almost immediately. She works as a personal assistant on Alice’s talk show alongside Sophie and seems to be friends with everyone and loved by everyone. Immediately she is loved by the audience. But, we begin to realize her issues with alcohol rather quickly. In the second episode of season one (“Lean on Me”), Finley admits that she has never had sober sex and she needs that “liquid courage.”
In season two of the new series, we witness Finley’s alcoholism take a turn for the worst; everything comes crashing down in season two, episode seven (“Light”). After insisting upon her sobriety, Finley begins to drive her and Sophie home but is quickly pulled over by the cops. In the following episode (“Launch Party”) Finley is charged with a DUI and jailed. The alcoholic arc is disheartening but necessary. She struggles with her deep-seated familial issues and catholic upbringing. We witnessed the church trauma in season one when she dated the minister, Rebecca. Her need for alcohol in order to have sex with another woman is demonstrative of her deep-seated guilt wrestling with her identity and desire. After mishandling the beloved Kit Porter’s addiction within the new series stating that Kit had passed due to overdose, the show gives a better insight into what Finley is feeling and her issues surrounding addiction rather than writing her off as a relapsing drunk. This was a mistake that was made in the original series with Kit, while she was a fan-favorite character, we rarely got insights into Kit’s struggles and instead witnessed Bette “cleaning up” after her relapses.
Finley’s alcoholism is a very real character flaw but reflecting on why it was written in is important. Marginalized communities have been struggling with alcoholism for decades, it is the easiest and most accessible coping mechanism. Albeit, unhealthy but accessible. Finley has faced multiple hardships as we’ve already touched on and it’s important to realize that these flaws reflect the pressures that society puts on queer people (as well as other marginalized communities.) Rather than viewing this in the context of the show and its characters, we need to see this as a real issue that the show is bringing to light. We need to recognize that it is disappointing yes, but it is very real despite the fictional circumstance.
Alice Falls In Love (With A Man!)
Alice’s struggle with her bisexuality throughout the first and second seasons of The L Word: Generation Q is hard to witness after the bisexual erasure and belittlement within the original show. In The L Word we witnessed the women teasing Alice over her bisexual identity. Eventually, in the fifth season, Alice swears under oath that she is a lesbian in a military hearing surrounding her ex-girlfriend Tasha’s sexual identity and relations. And with exception of teasing surrounding Alice’s bisexual “past” that’s the end of the conversation.
In the new series, Alice begins a serious relationship with Tom, her book editor. Her struggle with her bisexuality flares up again and this time it is amplified by the fact that she has gained fame over her lesbian identity. Alice relies on her lesbian identity, quirky personality, and willingness to delve into taboo subjects to gain a following in her TV show. It’s hard to see her struggle with this very real, very valid identity but it is also necessary to understand the struggles with redefining sexuality within the LGBTQIA+ community. The show, while not always handled with the most grace, covers this very real struggle through Alice. Identifying as a specific sexuality for an extended period, only to discover you fall under a different label is a difficult realization to come to terms with. You have to go through the “hard stuff” yet again, but for Alice, this is amplified by the fame she’s gained from a specific identity. In the second episode of the new series, her podcast producer even clarifies that he bought a “lesbian brand.” When Alice eventually outs herself by telling an interviewer that her girlfriend is a man named Tom, everyone goes quiet.
Out With Max And In With Micah!
We all remember the messy character of Max (Daniela Sea) from the original series (as much as we’d like to forget.) Ilene Chaiken took a step back when rebooting the series, handing it over Marja-Lewis Ryan who serves as the showrunner and an executive producer. In an interview, Chaiken reveals that she chose Ryan because of her attunement to today’s generations and issues of representation and inclusivity, and she is doing a fairly good job in this regard. (( “’The L Word’ Got Trans Men Wrong. the Sequel Plans to Make It Right.” LATimes.com, Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2020 ))
So let’s meet Micah (Leo Sheng), an adjunct professor and social worker known for his gentle and kind soul. Sheng discusses his qualms with Max in the original series, fueling his willingness to dive into the new series, right this wrong and provide representation within the television series. Micah’s authenticity is due in part to Thomas McBee’s contributions in the writer’s room. Chaiken and Ryan sought to include transgendered writers in the room to add more authenticity to the story of these characters and McBee are one of three transgendered males in the writer’s room. Micah serves as the primary trans representation within the main cast. Quite a few transgendered actors fall into the main cast but only Sheng’s character is trans (within the main cast.) Micah serves as the wise and levelheaded character on the show. In season two we witness him gingerly discuss the tokenism that Nat was initiating by matching him with only trans clients to mentor. He mentions that “it’s a fine line” but still addresses that it is an issue.
Brian Michael Smith portrays Bette’s expert political strategist, Pierce Williams, he is great at his job but thus far, we haven’t heard much about his personal life. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to discover this in season three. But he is portrayed by Smith, a transgendered actor who has sought to expand trans representation by taking on this role (among his other television roles.) And now onto everyone’s favorite, swoon-worthy bartender: Tess. The character is portrayed by trans actress, Jaime Clayton. Tess is written to be cis-gendered, and this was Clayton’s suggestion. Tess runs the iconic lesbian bar, Dana’s, that Shane has purchased.
Shane and Tess eventually become an item and for once, we witness Shane behaving maturely in a mature relationship! How exciting! I’m not sure we’ve ever seen Shane so happy and contented in a relationship. Last, but certainly not least is Sophie Giannamore, who portrays Angie’s BFF to lover, Jordi. Giannamore is a 16-year-old trans actress but her character was written as cis-gendered. We witness Jordi struggle with her feelings for Angie, her popularity status, and normal lesbian teenage things. Her parents are seemingly absent, so she virtually lives by Angie’s side. It is refreshing to see Angie and Jordi navigate high school and teenage girl dramas as two young queer women.
Much of The L Word’s fan base is of older generations so it’s heartwarming to see how things are changing for teenagers. All in all, there has been a surprising amount of trans representation within the cast (compared to the original show.) The show itself could use some other transgendered characters but they are moving in the right direction and the representation is drastically better than the Max storyline in the original series.
Was That… Was That Supposed To Be Polyamory Representation?
The L Word: Generation Q season two touches on Nat’s polyamorous identity. While the representation is actually (sadly) some of the best polyamorous representation in television, it does hold a lot of issues. By this episode, Alice and Nat had agreed to open up their relationship in order for Nat to explore polyamory. This decision is one that Alice seems to be awfully reluctant towards but moved forward with anyway. It also would have benefitted the show’s audience to hear the conversation that needed to be had for them to get to this point. This conversation would have shown a better representation of polyamory and approaching polyamory within a relationship.
Alice seemed to have opened the relationship because it was better than the alternative, losing Nat. This makes their relationship a ticking time bomb. But this was one of the first times a polyamorous relationship has been taken seriously and not (just) brought up as a joke. Though there is a lot of joking surrounding it, the joking seems to be Alice’s coping mechanism but it’s not so great when it comes to such a rarely handled subject. At the end of the episode, Alice determines that she can’t do the polyamorous relationship with Nat, but she doesn’t expect Nat to change (good!) but then Nat begs her to stay, promising she’ll change and that Alice “doesn’t need to do it.” Nat seems to be struggling with this realization about her identity which makes sense with her hesitancy towards accepting it fully in the beginning. But the show had the opportunity to handle this topic and address it and failed to do this. There will be an opportunity in season three (based upon how things were left with Nat) to better explore it, so let us hope this happens.
Los Angeles Is More Than Just White Gays
The newly introduced cast in the new series provided some much-needed racial and cultural representation. The original series lacked representation and when it had representation they fumbled with stereotypes and bad tropes. In the new series, we witness characters make connections based upon culture or language. We witness what goes into an identity outside of sexual orientation, something that is rarely touched on in television shows.
We’re finally seeing the Persian side of L.A. and witnessing characters connect based upon a shared language or culture with no attempt to make others understand or even translate the Farsi conversations. Rather than catering towards white queer women, the show begins targeting itself to a wider audience with the reboot. At first, I didn’t understand why the Farsi conversations weren’t translated, and then I realized that’s because they aren’t for me. And that’s okay.
Jillian Mercado Is Carrying The Weight Of Disability Representation
Jillian Mercado, a physically disabled actress portrays Sophie’s sister, Maribel Suarez. Maribel becomes an integral part of the plot and receives a fully developed storyline. She’s also incredibly likable, she’s very forward and oftentimes puts other characters in their place.
Mercado shows viewers what it is like to live with a physical disability, date, and have sex. Something no show has ever done so gracefully. Mercado herself is an activist, using her platform to speak on disability. All I have to say on this matter is that there can always be more! It’d be wonderful to see more disability representation within the show. Physical disability affects a decent portion of the LGBTQIA+ community and it is important that the media we consume reflects this and normalizes it.
This Is Great And All But…
The L Word: Generation Q seems to be on an uphill climb when it comes to fixing past mistakes and addressing modern inclusivity within the queer woman-centered world. Ilene Chaiken, Marja Lewis-Ryan, and the rest of the team are taking the necessary steps in order to educate themselves and their audiences on the LGBTQIA+ community. They address real issues and problems within the community but they have also fumbled a couple of times within their representation. Let’s look forward to season three in hopes that they continue working towards righting these mistakes and misrepresentations. (( Turchiano, Danielle. “’The l Word’ Creator Ilene Chaiken on Importance of ‘Thoughtful’ and ‘Sensitive’ Collaboration.” Variety.com, Variety, 8 Apr. 2019 ))
