The L Word

The L Word

Obsession Level: I Have My Own L Word For It: LOVE!!!

Warning: Massive Spoilers Ahead

So since I've been on a marathon L Word kick for a while, I thought I'd finally write about it.  Here's the kicker, though, you'll be getting the story and the character breakdown from my point of view.  It's my blog, I get to do that.  

I'd like to add a disclaimer.  I may very well get someone's name wrong (I'm bad with names) and I may misspell them.  I will also admittedly be leaving some characters out since they just don't interest me as much as the others.  I do invite you, however, to comment on some of your favorites, especially if I left them out.  

The obvious problem is figuring out where to begin, so I guess I'll just begin with the most obvious character:

Jenny

So Jenny is pretty much the backbone of the L Word.  She's the crazy writer who is later responsible for Lez Girls, and she's always causing some kind of drama from the beginning until the very end.  After all, the single most asked question about the show is "Who killed Jenny?"  Unfortunately the world  may never know...everyone has their own suspicions, though, and everyone certainly had a reason to kill her.  Jenny was one of the characters on the show that drove me nuts because she made me feel like I was bipolar.  I felt like during each episode she would do something to make me say "I love Jenny" and then a few minutes later she'd do something to make me say "I hate Jenny."  It was a rinse, lather, repeat kind of situation.  

Now when we first met Jenny we weren't really aware that she was crazy.  She was the new girl in town and she came to L.A. with her boyfriend, Tim.  

Tim

So that brings us to Tim.  He was one of the few male characters on the show, and you had to feel sorry for him.  He was hooked on Jenny, and Jenny wasn't exactly the most dependable girlfriend. Other than his role as Jenny's tossed aside male interest, I didn't find Tim particularly interesting. The poor guy was an emotionally stressed out swim instructor.  I'll admit, I almost forgot completely about Tim by the time I got to season 6.  He was, in my opinion, just a flat character that existed to explore Jenny's transition from straight girl to lesbian.

So that brings us to Jenny's big change of heart...or at least the start of it.

Marina

Marina was the one that brought about Jenny's change of heart.  She was Jenny's first lady love and one complicated cookie.  I have to admit that though her appearance on the show was limited at best, Marina was one of my favorite characters.  She had her own bag of surprises, and I was definitely thrilled to see her reappear after Jenny's book publication and during the production of Lez Girls, but we'll get back to that.

So Marina was an exotic Countess.  She was European, we assume, but good luck pinning down exactly where Marina was supposed to be from.  Her dialogue was sprinkled with Italian, French, and Spanish, not to mention that she alluded to any number of exotic places and "cultural knowledge."  It doesn't really matter where she was from, though, it just matters that she was exotic and captivated Jenny.

So Marina shows Jenny that she has an inner lesbian and sticks around through Jenny's initial drama of figuring out what she wants in life.  When Jenny finally gives up on Tim, though, Marina throws her for a loop when her long time lover, Francesca, returns from her trip.  It's then that we find out that Marina is in an open relationship with Francesca, who she spends very little time with, and she only has to dedicate herself entirely to Francesca when she's in town.  

Needless to say, this crushes Jenny who then REALLY begins to be crazy.  It's not the best thing that happens to Marina, either, since she is obviously unhappy with Francesca and later attempts suicide at a hotel, sweeping her off the show.  Her abrupt disappearance also leaves The Planet, the beloved coffee shop where all our girls spend much of their time up for sale.  That's when it lands safely in the hands of a previously alcoholic, struggling singer.

Kit

Ahhh, Kit...she brings us lots of adventures and new faces from her often strange and failed relationships.  Kit is nothing short of a hot mess in my opinion.  She's the resident straight (sort of) female of the group.  She's a struggling musician that was apparently very famous when she was younger, but we can assume that her alcoholism ruined that.  She does record one song (or was it supposed to be an album?) during the time of the show and it was quite possible one of the worst songs I've ever heard in my life.  What's worse is that they played that song over and over again as though it were really wonderfully.  

So, since Kit's music career is pretty much over, she decides to take over as the owner  of The Planet now that Marina has fallen off the radar.  That's when Marina's father shows up to handle the sale and drops us one more little piece of the Marina mystery.  He's not her father, he's her husband.  Yep.  Marina is married.  If you weren't shaking your head at that moment from the sheer complication of the situation, then you're immune to drama.

So, Kit wants to buy The Planet, and that's a great idea, after all she needs work and The Planet can't possible shut down or the girls won't have anywhere to meet and rehash the latest things that have happened in their lives.  There's one catch, though, Kit is pretty much broke.  She needs money.  Luckily she knows just where she can get it.

Ivan

So then there's Ivan.  Ivan is a drag king that woos Kit for a while.  Ivan treats Kit like a queen and Kit becomes smitten.  There's really only one problem...Ivan is not actually a man, and Kit seems to start to lose sight of the fact that Ivan might not be exactly what she sees Ivan as.  It's then that things turn sour.  Kit becomes too comfortable with Ivan and enters Ivan's apartment while Ivan is getting ready (I'll admit, I'm repetitive because I'm avoiding gendered pronouns here).  

Ivan becomes outraged by this intrusion/breach of privacy and breaks it off with Kit.  Kit doesn't entirely understand what she's done wrong, but she hopes that Ivan will still be willing to go halves with her on The Planet until she can buy out the remainder.  

This is where I'd like to break in for a minute.  I was as confused as Kit as to why Ivan was so upset with her.  I'd like to be enlightened if anyone has any insight.  I understand that by seeing Ivan out of costume it destroyed the performance that Ivan put so much effort into performing well, so I can see Ivan being upset by that, but logistically I'm not entirely sure I understand the complete meltdown.  Ivan gave Kit the key and invited Kit to use the apartment whenever she wanted to.  Also it was beginning to look as though Kit and Ivan were in a relationship and possibly headed quickly to an intimate relationship.  Wouldn't, then, Kit have had to accept all aspects of Ivan and not just the "stage performance?"  I may not ever understand Ivan's blowup, but maybe someone can explain it to me at some point.

Anyway, digression aside, Ivan pays for half of The Planet.  In fact, Ivan pays for 51%.  That's important, we'll be back to that later.  The good news is that Ivan wants nothing to do with The Planet, so it's left entirely to Kit to run it.  That means Kit has a visible means of income and her sister doesn't have to worry about her so much, because she has enough to worry about.

Bette

So Bette is Kit's sister, or rather her half sister.  Believe you me, that leads to a little drama here and there as Bette often accuses Kit of saying that she's not African American enough.  There's also some drama from other characters who, from time to time, suggest that Bette's light skin allows her to move in and out of racial categories to suit her needs.  

Bette is a pretty central character to the entire show.  She's cultured and very obsessed with art.  She's a link between many of the characters on the show, and her connections just keep growing as the series continues.  She's Jenny's neighbor, Kit's sister, and she's also the source of much of the relationship drama that happens throughout.  

Bette has grown on me throughout the show, but I have to admit that there are many times that I just want to choke her because she gets involved in situations without fully thinking them through. She's very smart, but she doesn't always act like it.  She's like a hub for drama.  

You see, the main repeated drama throughout the entire series is Bette's relationship with Tina, her partner of seven or eight years with whom she eventually has a child, Angelica.  Bette and Tina are the classic on again/off again couple.  Some people think they're meant to be together and they're the ideal couple.  I don't actually buy into this.  If they were meant to be together then I don't think Bette would have messed up their relationship by cheating.

Tina

So there's Tina.  She's Bette's long time partner.  She's also a little bit of a train wreck throughout the show.  She's probably my least favorite of the "likeable" characters on the show.  I feel like her character is very whiny, and I can't absolutely can't stand her nasally while that she uses when delivering certain lines.  I'm sure it was adopted to show some kind of emotion when she speaks about certain parts of her life, but it drives me nuts.

In my opinion Tina is a character who has no idea what she wants.  She wants Bette, but she doesn't want Bette.  Bette is her first lesbian lover, and after her initial split with Bette it becomes clear that Tina is a wild card.  Is she straight?  Is she gay?  Is she bisexual?  It's really anyone's call.  

Now, in Tina's defense, the initial breakup between she and Bette came about because Bette cheated on her.  Who can blame her for that?  It's really all that happened later that made her annoying...well, and the fact that she just annoys me.  

So Bette, going through whatever emotional crisis she was going through at the time, decided to cheat on Tina, and she did that with Candice.  

Candice

So Candice, a character who is an important part of the show, but really doesn't have much of a part.  She's known after the affair merely as "the carpenter".  She's attracted to Bette and she wins Bette over in one of her moments of weakness.  They hook up long enough to split Bette and Tina up and begin the dramatic carousel ride that will be the Betina/Tibette relationship throughout all 6 seasons.  

This isn't Bette's first time cheating, however, and it won't be her last.  We find out that Bette was cheating when she landed with Tina.  She was with Alice, and then met Tina, beginning their long term relationship, but luckily not ending her friendship with Alice.

Alice

From all of the blogs, fan sites, and discussion topics I've seen on the show, it's clear that Alice is a fan favorite.  She's also one of my favorites.  Who wouldn't love Alice?  She's funny, quirky, and all around loveable.

Alice's claim to fame is her radio show (and later television show), her podcasts, and of course THE CHART!  The chart is born of a belief that Alice has that all lesbians, or anyone who has ever had a lesbian relationship, is ultimately tied together.  All you have to do is figure out how many "steps" it takes to link you to someone else.  The show surely attests to this, though I'm not sure if the chart would be as successful as it is in the world of the L Word.

So Alice may have been dating Bette prior to the show (in the storyline), but she's not dating her when the show is rolling.  Alice starts out the show as a self-declared bisexual who tries to make it work with men, but finally gives up and accepts that she's not going to make it happen.  (Remember Lisa, the lesbian identified male?  Yep, that was what I think finally convinced Alice to give up the idea of pursuing men.)

Of course, if you're going to talk about Alice, you cannot forget her best friend, Dana.

Dana

For everyone who has seen the show, I'm sure you just had a moment where you said "I miss Dana."  We all miss Dana.  

Dana started out the show as a very closeted lesbian who was afraid that if it became known that she was gay it would ruin her tennis career.  Her friends harassed her about her fake heterosexuality, but they ultimately supported her.  

Dana was shy and, it seemed, permanently single, but then she met Lara and everything began to change.  

Lara

Lara is the first person that we see Dana in love with.  She's a likable character that seems truly in love with Dana.  She's a chef that throws everyone for a loop at first because they just can't pin her down.  Finally, though, she lets it be known that she's interested in Dana and they're cute together.

I would have liked to see them stay together, but it wasn't in the cards.  Dana couldn't bring herself to come out and Lara couldn't handle being pushed away constantly because of Dana's fear of losing her tennis career.

However, things did eventually change for Dana and she was asked not only to come out, but to be the out spokesperson for Subaru.  That's when she moved on to other people, and brought one of my least favorite characters to the group, Tonya.

Tonya

In my opinion Tonya was one of the most annoying characters in the series.  She started out as a manager/assistant for Dana.  Basically, she wanted to hook up with the newly outed superstar and she succeeded.

Ton-Ton was simply put cray-cray.  I'm still convinced she killed Dana's cat.  So in their crazy relationship it was clear that Tonya called the shots.  Enjoying her first out relationship, Dana did everything that Tonya wanted, and it soon began to difficult to tell the difference between them since they dressed the same and everything that Dana did or said revolved around what Tonya wanted.  I'm surprised that no one in the group ever killed Tonya.  The big question in the early part of the show could have easily been "Who killed Tonya?".

So Tonya and Dana were going to get married, and that's where it turned out lucky for all of us who hated Tonya.  While preparing for the wedding, Alice and Dana were left alone together to put together gift bags.  That was the night that their long hidden desire to be with each other came out, and the two of them began what was, in my opinion, the sweetest relationship of the entire series.  

In fact, this entire relationship ran until we lost our beloved Dana to cancer and Alice, heartbroken was left for a brief rebound with Lara.  Yep. Put that on the chart.  

Speaking of the chart, let's talk about someone else...someone who we all believed to be the hub of the chart.  The lesbian that all lesbians could ultimately be traced back to.  That's right, Shane.

Shane

So Shane is the hub of everything (or so we think).  She's the impossible to tie down lady who everyone loves.  She's a great friend to all the girls in the group.  There's really no one that Shane doesn't get along with, but that gets her into plenty of her own problems.  

Shane is a funky, charismatic hairdresser.  She doesn't believe in monogamy and surely believes in spreading the love.  She gets mixed up with quite a few characters in her time, but she always remained one of my favorite characters throughout it all.  Shane may have not been good at committing to romantic relationships, but she was good at managing her friendships.  

As I said, Shane ended up with some very interesting characters throughout the series, but there are three that pretty much stand out for me.

The first one was probably her first big mistake.  Shane was often running from various women, but the one she really should have been running from was Sherry.

Sherry

So this woman is pretty much borderline insane if not completely insane.  She was married, she wanted to be with Shane for what I thought was just one of Shane's typical married woman flings, but then she held on. 

She constantly appears and reappears and it seems to be at some of the worst possible times.  She always brings drama with her and I can't be sure if it has to do with the fact that (maybe?) Shane really loved her?  

She pops up at the most bizarre times, and almost always when Shane is starting some kind of new (possibly stable) relationship, or when Shane is going through it because a relationship has fallen apart.  One of these instances was when Shane, afraid of being like her cheating father, runs away from her wedding with Carmen.

Carmen

So I'm sure you all remember Carmen.  She was truly in love with Shane and their relationship had the promise to be great.  I'm sure I wasn't the only one that had my fingers and toes crossed that she could convert our wayward Shane into a monogamous individual, and for a bit it looked like she had it covered.  She actually got Shane to agree to marry her, ignoring Shane's cheating ways and accepting that Shane was willing to change for her.

Carmen was a DJ and her family totally adopted Shane, though they ignored for the beginning of their relationship that Shane and Carmen were a couple. They were later to come to accept it and to prove it by showing up at the wedding.  It was tragic then, that they had to accept Carmen's sexuality just in time to see her stood up at the alter.

I don't think Shane would have stood Carmen up, and I think Shane truly regretted it, but her father's sudden reappearance and dealing with the fact that he always was and always would be a cheater made Shane question her own ability to remain true to Carmen.  Her flight from the wedding also landed her back at the house of Sherry, where she tried to use cocaine and booze to mask her regret and her own self-doubt.

Maybe the wedding is a good place for another digression, since the wedding was also the root of many problems for our dear little, so far unmentioned, British sweetheart.  The bad financial decisions about the wedding and the fact that she gave Shane's father the money that he would use for his affair, is what lead to our dear Helena being left penniless and having to learn to live like the common folk...which also sent her story spiraling more out of control.

Helena

Helena's story was a long and complicated story.  I love Helena, but I have to admit that I don't remember all the details of her story.  She appeared when Bette needed money, I do remember that.  She is a Peabody, and therefore the heiress to the fortune, and it was up to her to decide where the grants went.  Bette wanted one of those grants.

Then Helena had her relationship with Tina.  That I also remember.  The then single and pregnant Tina got involved with Helena who seemed in love with her more for the possibility of the baby than for Tina herself, or at least that was my take on the situation.  We also can't forget Helena's ex, Winnie, who wanted to step in and help complicate things any way that she possibly could.

After Tina was Dylan.  I admit that I can never remember much about Dylan.  Every time I rewatch the seasons I have a moment of "Oh yeah, Dylan," but she doesn't leave much of an impact for me.  She does Helena dirty, I do remember that, but that's about as far as it goes.

Helena, making one bad decision after the other, ends up financing Shane and Carmen's wedding (as I've already mentioned) and gives a sizable sum to Shane's father for a supposed wedding gift which he uses to fund his cheating ways.  That's when her mother decides that she needs to teach Helena financial responsibility by cutting her off from the family fortune.  

The now broke heiress then moves in with our good friend Alice and begins looking for work, something she's totally not prepared to do.  She even has a short period where she works at Shane's hair salon and provides us with a good deal of comic relief because her abilities there are less than remarkable.

But then Helena finds her nitch...and that's where things start to turn sour with her.  She finds out she's a regular "lady luck" and hooks up with Catherine, a rich gambler.  

Catherine

Catherine was one of Helena's worst decisions.  She provided Helena with the lifestyle that she was accustomed to, one with lots of cash on hand, but she also used Helena and forced her to be at her beck and call for everything from folding her underwear to winning a poker game to keep feeding their funds.  Everything she had was hers, and everything Helena had was hers.  

It was after losing everything she (Helena) had in a horse bet with Catherine, she finally snapped.  She decided to take what was hers...and that's what landed her in jail.  Arguably being in jail is not the best thing that can happen to anyone, but it was actually a good thing, I think, to happen to Helena.  It was in prison that Helena started to finally figure out how to get her act straight.  It's also where she met Dusty.  

Dusty

Dusty was Helena's would-be murderess cellmate.  She's actually in for tax fraud, and though she is a woman of few words and eats in a most disgusting manner, she does actually stand up for Helena and protects her from the other prisoners.  They have a torrid affair which ends in Helena apparently falling in love with Dusty.

When Helena's mother springs her from prison (actually against her will) and insists that she go into hiding while her record is being taken care of, Helena runs away to get the money she stone from Catherine and spring Dusty from prison so that the two of them can run away to an island together and go into hiding.  

So now, let's step back in time a little and catch up on some of the individuals that we've missed along the way.  You remember Jenny, right?  How could you forget?  Well, when Tim is finally out of the picture and she's without Marina, she ends up finding Moira.  Moira would be a staple in the show, though she would later be known as Max.  

Moira/Max

Moira transitions during the show to become Max.  Max takes testosterone, but never actually has any surgery to completely transition.  The show ends before we know what is going to happen in his future, but anything is a possibility.

Jenny dates Max for a short period, but more than anything they are just good friends who live together.  After the failure that was Carmen and Shane's wedding, Jenny informs Max that they just don't work together.  Max wants to be a man, and that's not what Jenny is looking for in life.  Although, let's face it, it's hard to really ever know what Jenny is looking for in life.  This would be the point where I have to decide where to go next.  There are connections to be made here, but we'll do them in my order since the blog gets to go where I want to take it.  

We'll follow Jenny for a few minutes, but we'll shortly be leaving her to come back to her at the end.  There are others that we need to pick up before we finish with Jenny's story completely.  Also, don't forget about Max.  He's always present, living with Jenny and working with Alice, and the Max saga has yet to reach its end.

So, Jenny, not satisfied with Max has a short stint with Claud.  Claud is worth mentioning simply because she brings us back in touch with a blast from the past.

Claud

Claud is only with us for a short time.  She meets Jenny while they're both at the ski resort where Helena is footing the bill for Shane and Carmen's wedding.  The two share a night together, and then when Jenny returns home from the wedding, Claud shows up a few episodes later to visit.  This visit causes tension between Max and Jenny (since we later find out that Max considers Jenny to be cheating with Claud).  

Claud stays only a short time on the show.  She is there for the release of Jenny's book, the signing that follows the release at The Planet, and the reappearance of our long lost Marina who comes to town with a dancing troupe.  That will be mentioned later.  The significance of the entire episode with Claud, for me, is when she asks Jenny if she thinks that Marina will engage in a threesome with them.  They go in search of Marina to find out if she's willing, but it turns out that Jenny is the only one not down with the scenario.  She can't handle the idea of this reconnection with Marina and backs out gracefully from the encounter, leaving Claud and Marina (we assume) to finish what they started.  

Let's go back for a moment and check on our friend Bette.  The last we heard of her she was split from Tina, though always nursing some kind of strange relationship between the two since they are now parents of daughter, and often feuding over what to do with her.  She starts a new job and that's where more fun and excitement begins, and also where more links are added to Alice's chart.

Bette starts her job as a Dean at a University, and there she meets her new boss, Phyllis, who has a few surprises of her own up her sleeve.

Phyllis

Phyllis, or "Heads Will Roll Kroll," joins the cast as a middle-aged, married woman with at least one daughter who is studying to be a lawyer.  She's important, we'll see her again.  Phyllis is, at least at first, a no nonsense boss who expects a lot of Bette and is apparently unpredictable in the academic world.  She has a reputation for firing people for not doing what she wants, and Bette isn't trying to get fired.

Phyllis throws a monkey wrench into everything, though, and actually becomes a character that I really enjoy on the show.  She tells Bette that after a long marriage she has finally come to realize and accept that she is a lesbian.  She wants someone to listen to her, someone to help her, and someone to assure her that it's not too late for her.  Unfortunately for Bette, that someone is her.  

So Bette has a job to do beyond her already stressful job as a Dean of the Arts.  She now has to mentor our budding Phyllis who wants to relive her adolescence all over again.  Bette takes her to a party where Phyllis discovers her first love, Alice.

After the relationship with Alice, which was going well until Alice actually comes face to face with Phyllis' ex-husband while Helena is catering a dinner party gone bad for Phyllis, Phyllis is on the market again.  She ends up with the strong spirited and witty lawyer who works for both Bette and Tina (talk about a legal mess, but she gets double the money): Joyce.

Joyce

Joyce, who is the legal council for Bette and Tina, cannot represent Phyllis in her divorce because it would be a conflict of interest.  That interest is that she has suddenly become smitten with Phyllis.  I'll admit, the relationship between the two was cute to me.  It just showed that life doesn't end at a certain age.

Joyce adores Phyllis and treats her like a queen.  The only problem is that Phyllis feels like it's too fast, it's too much, and she wants to enjoy her new adolescence as a recently out lesbian.  She starts getting stars in her eyes and wants to play the field.  Joyce tries to talk her out of this, but alas, in the end gives Phyllis her freedom to go and do what she wants to do.

The relationship is short lived, but while it lasts its a good one.  I would have to say that it's not one of the "necessary" relationships in the program and if it had been left out I don't think the series would have suffered any great setbacks, but it was fun while it lasted.  

Again, we have reached a crossroads.  From here we can continue to play the remember that person, remember this one game and connect several characters together here, but I'm going to go my own route.  

Let's go back to Kit and see what she's up to.  She's all over there, happily running The Planet, but there's more there than just coffee and scones.  For a short while Kit ends up with another struggling musician like herself and we meet, in my opinion, one of the cutest and sweetest guys that makes an appearance on the show: Angus.

Angus

I will be the first to admit that I thought Angus, although an odd match with Kit, was the best thing that ever happened to her.  He was introduced to us as a struggling musician who needed money.  He met Bette and Tina in Angelica's playgroup and they hired him to be their manny (that's a nanny, but male).  From there he meets Kit and the romance blossoms.

He suffers setbacks and problems with his own career, yet he's always looking at how to get Kit back on track and help her career to take off again.  In fact, he's behind the production of her newest album and that terrible song that we were forced to sit through.

It seemed like there was nothing wrong with Angus.  He was sweet and sensitive.  He had a good sense of humor and was willing to crack jokes at his own expense if it helped ease tension around those that he cared it about.  It seemed like the only thing in the world that was important to Angus was what Kit wanted or needed in life.

At least it seemed that way.  Then Angus let us all down.  In what I can only guess to be a moment of weakness.  He, now being Bette's manny, ends up having an affair with Tina's (actually her boyfriend's) nanny.  Tina and the man that she would be unhappy with for a while, who clipped his toenails and put them in the dish on the coffee table (gross), see Angus kissing the nanny and later let the information escape to Bette and Kit.  Mind you this is at a time when Bette certainly can't handle anymore stress in her life and it drives Kit back to the drinking that we only last saw her struggling with when Ivan was around.

And then Kit has a rebound which surprises us...

Papi

Remember Alice's chart?  Remember how we thought Shane was the lesbian hub which all lesbians could be traced back to?  Well, it turns out that there's someone who has even more conquests to boast about than our beloved Shane.  Her name is Papi.

Alice first discovers Papi on the OurChart website when she notices that this individual has an entire solar system built around her.  In fact, she's hooking up so fast that her numbers are jumping up by the hundreds daily.  Alice goes in search of Papi, and she finds her.  Papi kindly teaches Alice all about her expertise, and then later that evening gives Helena a chance to experience the same thing.

From that point on, Papi becomes a staple in the group and she's also important for a few of the other connections that are made.

Papi has one more person in the group that she's going to hook up with, though, before it's all said and done and that's Kit.  Now, I think for whatever reason that Papi cared about Kit.  She was also a little bit of a rebound from the entire Angus affair.  The biggest thing that I think the moment long relationship between the two did for viewers, though, was to erase any doubt that Kit might actually be a lesbian and not realize it.  Papi has no effect on Kit, and it's pretty much a guarantee that if Papi can't get to you, then nobody can, at least in L.A.

From Papi, and her conquest with Alice, it's easiest to go from there and have a look, then, at what Alice is up to.  When we last saw her she had ended her relationship with Phyllis.  Now she has to meet someone new, someone that will be a true love for her.

Tasha

Papi has a friend that we meet at a party.  The friend is the strong, silent type.  I can easily say that I was not impressed with Tasha at first, and I have a terrible time (for whatever reason) even remembering her name on a good day.  The real reason that I don't really care for Tasha is that she always seems angry and that doesn't make her endearing.

Alice, however, did not agree with me.  Alice and Tasha seem to fall in love very quickly.  The problem in their relationship, however, is that while Alice is out and proud, Tasha is in the military and Don't Ask, Don't Tell is very much a part of her reality.

When Tasha's military career is threatened, Alice shows how sweet and adorable she is (once again) by offering to go into hiding and become a secret girlfriend for Tasha.  It's touch and go for a while since Tasha is being persecuted by a threatening military lawyer and Alice is forced to go in for questioning, admitting that she would do anything for Tasha since she hasn't been in love like this since Dana.  In fact, even our belated Dana comes back in spiritual form to advise Alice and make her fight for her relationship.  It looks, at first, like Alice is going to save Tasha's career when she unknowingly threatens the persecuting lawyer with the possibility of outing her and the lawyer wants to play a game of Let's Make A Deal.

Tasha wins our hearts a little later, though, when she confesses to being gay.  She would rather sacrifice her military career than live a lie and watch the woman that she loves be under questioning.  From there the two may have their rocky moments, but they've found true love and we can leave them happily with each other.  

That's not the case with all our ladies, though.  We need to visit a few more people before we reach the end.  Let's have a quick visit back to Bette.  

So, Bette is the Dean, and Deans need assistants.  When Bette starts interviewing assistants, however, is when she ends up finding out that not everything is always innocent in academia.  She hires Nadia, and the fun at the University continues...

Nadia

Nadia is a character with a very short appearance time on the show.  I admit that I only find her character amusing because I'm also a Grey's Anatomy fan and recognize her as the girlfriend, and later wife, of Callie on the show.

She's a student who has a certain interest in our Dean, and she doesn't let down until she finally gets what she wants.  Bette gives in, finally, to Nadia's advances, but it's only a one time deal.  When Nadia begins to be obvious in class and even dares to touch Bette's butt as she passes by her "to get her attention", Bette quickly becomes the professional that she's supposed to be and ends the affair before it causes a scandal or costs her the job she has.  

Nadia disappears from the radar...but it's not Nadia that will have most of Bette's attention at the University, it's a visiting art professor that will later become a permanent professor at the University because of her involvement with the Dean.  

Jodi

Cue Jodi, and my favorite character by far.  She's the deaf artist and art professor that would steal Bette's heart.  The two start a relationship which I find very interesting.  Bette, who has proven herself (I say with sarcasm) to be a very loyal partner, asks Jodi (who at first does not want to be monogamous) to give up seeing other people because she cannot stand it.  Jodi, in love with Bette, obliges.  She moves from NY to L.A. to be with Bette.  Jodi, who also does not like children, also accepts Angelica and begins to teach her sign language, which Angelica uses in later episodes to signal that she has grown attached to Jodi.  When there are conflicts at the college which threaten Bette's job because of her relationship with Jodi, Jodi also offers to quit her job in order to keep Bette from possibly losing hers.

As the final icing on the cake, Jodi believes that people can be friends with their partners.  She also believes that Tina and Bette should get along for the good of Angelica.  Time and time again she shows her acceptance of Tina, her desire for Tina and Bette to be friends, and her willingness to welcome Tina into her life with Bette.  That's really where Jodi went wrong.

Bette, being Bette, then cheats on Jodi with Tina and Jodi is forced to find out in an abrupt manner during the Breast Cancer Awareness bike ride that she is taking part in with the group.  After that, we see Jodi (angry and hurt) from time to time, but she never really able to forgive Bette for breaking her heart.  The truth is, neither am I.  

Now that we have Bette settled back down with Tina, and Jodi disappears with her broken heart, we can add a little more drama that stems from Jodi by way of her interpreter, Tom.

Tom

Tom has a somewhat small part in that his main role is to follow Jodi around in the professional setting and interpret for her.  He can also be found spending time with her at The Planet every now and again.  That's where his major importance comes in.

Tom becomes smitten by a handsome young man.  That handsome young man, he hopes, is gay.  The fact of the matter is that the handsome young man is Max.  Now in a twist, the once lesbian Moira turned straight guy Max is now turned into gay guy Max.  Max and Tom start a relationship that ends with not one, but two twists.

The first and most shocking twist, at least in my opinion, is that Max finds out that he is pregnant. After struggling with trying to decide what to do with the situation, we are left without an exact answer, but it appears that Max is going to have the baby and choose to be the best father he can possibly be. 

That, unfortunately, is Tom's greatest contribution to the show.  Shortly after the whole Max is pregnant and Jodi is out of Bette's life fiasco, Tom disappears, leaving Max a single parent if he doesn't decide to give the baby up for adoption.  

But no, we're not done yet.  Now we need to turn our attention back to Shane...actually...back to Phyllis, Bette, and Jodi.  

Phyllis, newly out of the closet, seeks the help of the (then) happy couple of Bette and Jodi.  Her daughter, Mollie, isn't accepting her new lifestyle very well.  She wants Bette and Jodi to take Mollie under their wings for a little while and show her that a lesbian couple can be stable and happy.  She wants her to see that lesbians are normal and responsible (since Mollie caught her mother dancing topless on a diving board and may not be sure if this is normal protocol).

While Bette is babysitting Mollie, she introduces her to Shane.  That's where the fun with Mollie begins.  

Mollie

So, Mollie meets Shane and becomes determined to avoid what she perceives as Shane's advances, being well informed about Shane's womanizing nature.

Shane, however, does not seem to want to put the moves on Mollie.  It actually seems like Shane is looking for something meaningful with Mollie.  The two eventually end up in an amorous situation (the same night that Bette and Tina are getting back together and Tom and Max are kindling their romance) and are caught in the act by Phyllis who is angered by the situation.

You see, Phyllis isn't mad necessarily that her daughter is a lesbian.  After all, she's recently out of the closet herself.  What angers Phyllis is that she sees Shane as less than Mollie and fears that if Mollie forms a relationship with Shane she'll be throwing away her future.  All of this might have been fine, except Shane overhears Mollie's conversation with her mother and becomes hurt at the thought that Mollie might consider her some kind of dumb person that she can use.

Still, as viewers who might be rooting for the Shane/Mollie match, we are pleased to see the two reunite on the same bike ride where Jodi learns of Bette's betrayal.  The two later split, however, and the reappearance of Mollie is hidden from Shane by a jealous Jenny...thus making Shane very angry with our resident nutcase.

To save us from recounting all the drama of the six seasons, we'll skip some classics like Paige, Dawn Dembo and Lover Cindy, etc.  who may be explored in later blog posts and we'll instead cut back to the chase.  

Shane and Jenny or Jenny and her drama.

Adele

Adele appears as an obsessed fan of Jenny's that ends up being Jenny's assistant because the ones hired to be her beck and call girls can't seem to hang with the demands of Jenny.  You see, Jenny's book Lez Girls is being turned into a movie and is one of the great causes of tension between Jenny and the other characters at the end.

The character of Adele is an important character in that she is the one that essentially brings about Jenny's loss of directing her movie, but I have to admit that I'm unhappy with the character. I feel like Adele had a lot more potential than she lived up to.  She was a pretty flat character and went from mousy girl to the queen of sabotage without any of the character development that would have been key.  I also felt, however, that much of the ending of the show was guilty of this.  I'm guessing that they just got tired of writing at some point.

Basically, Adele reveals the relationship between Jenny and the actress in her movie, Nikki, and that gets Jenny removed from the movie (which gets totally changed) to keep the actress from losing her job.

And that takes us to Nikki, which concludes this briefing of the story.

Nikki

Nikki is the actress that plays Jesse (Jenny) in the movie for Lez Girls.  She also has a love affair with Jenny that looks like it could be very serious.  The two have one major problem, though, and that's that Nikki must keep her lesbianism under wraps in order to keep from threatening her movie career.

Through a rocky relationship the two battle through this problem, including lots of pitfalls along the way.  However, because of a tape that they make on the bike ride we've already mentioned, Adele gets the ammunition she needs to blackmail the producers and land herself in the position of director of the movie.  

The biggest betrayal, though, is when Jenny, who has gone to give a speech at the party celebrating the movie, comes out to find that Shane (who has become a  love interest of Jenny's) and Nikki (someone she had fallen in love with) are shamelessly having sex in a place where she can see them.  It's more than she can bear...and possibly a reason to commit suicide?!?

So there you have it.  A very quick rundown by myself of the who's who and the what's what of the L Word.  I won't say that the topic won't be revisited...or at least that certain characters or actors/actresses won't be revisited, but you have my take on things.  As I mentioned before, I did not mention everyone that appeared.  In order to do that I would need many more days and would have to write a formidable novel.   I welcome your opinions.  Did I leave anyone important out?  Who were your favorites?  Who do you think killed Jenny?