No Borders Allowed

‘The L Word’, I have been a fan from episode number 1 now a couple of years ago ( January 18th 2004 ). To be honest I can’t believe that it has been that long, but then again it is only 12 episodes per season. It is the number one Lesbian drama show. With a group of awesome women as the stars of the show, among them big names like Jennifer Beals ( Flashdance ), Pam Grier ( Jackie Brown ) and a whole group of actresses who are now well known due to their role in ‘The L Word’ for instance Leisha Hailey, Laurel Holloman and Katherine Moenning.

During the four seasons they had a lot of famous actresses and actors who made an appearance, in the show. Among them Snoop Dogg, Tammy Lynn Michaels ( Melissa Etheridge’s wife ), Rosanna Arquette and Holland Taylor. And supported by some awesome bands who rocked ‘The Planet’ with their music Heart, Tegan and Sara and Sleather Kinney.

Spoiler warning!

Why am I writing all of this down you wonder, well seeing how the fifth season finally started and I love this show and I will make sure that I can watch each episode. I am going to write a review after each episode. So if you have not seen the episode and you don’t want to be spoiled, please don’t read on because you probably will be spoiled. And seeing how I just warned you it is all on you if you read on.

So this past Sunday our patience was finally paid off, the kick off for the fifth season. To be honest I had been patiently waiting, but with the WGA strike ( which I support ) going on and hence to that the lack of new episodes from other television shows and not a very bright future at this moment when it comes to that topic. ‘The L Word’ became more and more important with every passing day, and well the way I look at it. Season 1 and two rocked, I loved every minute of it. But my good faith in the show dropped to a low point during season three. Story lines sucked in my opinion ( and many other fans shared that opinion ) the absolute low point was Dana Fairbanks who died of breast cancer.

I was angry and bitter, when I saw that she truly was one of my favorite characters. But well, I wanted to give it another chance when season four started and to be honest I have never been someone who gives up that easily. So when season four started I was there, and much to my relieve the show picked up again. They added some new characters, some new story lines. And I was back, anticipating and impatiently waiting till Sunday night so I could see the show again. And in my opinion it is a pity that there are only 12 episodes each season. And now finally season five has started and the first episode rocked!

Tina and Bette

From the very first beginning I loved Bette and Tina ( Laurel Holloman ) together, over the course of the four previous seasons they have been through a lot; including miscarriage, affairs, break up, new lovers and finally they seem to be back on the way to friendship. And to be honest there where some glimpse of a future together… Who knows, to be honest I am holding my fingers crossed. Even though Bette ( Jennifer Beals ) is in a relationship with Jodi at this moment, I think that there might be a change. But then again …

Anyway, Bette and Tina are looking into schools for Angelica ( who is by the way the cutest little girl ever ), and well we are talking about Bette’s kid here so they are checking out Ivy League Pre-schools, of course because art and education are important.

Jodi and Bette
It is obvious that Tina feels completely uncomfortable when she sees Jodi ( Marlee Matlin ) and Bette together. On the other hand Bette’s interest in Tina’s sex life and potential partners also shows that she is not over her break up with Bette. But at the same time that I love Bette and Tina together I also really like Jodi and Bette.

As a lot of people might know, Marlee Matlin is deaf and I have always been intrigued by this woman who does everything she wants to do and does not let her disability get in the way of her goals. I think that she is an awesome actress, even if she can’t say everything she wants to say, her face shows so much more. The gracious movements of her hands. She’s good, she is really good.

Helena
Helena ( Rachel Shelley ), from a stone cold bitch she turned into an , in my opinion, awesome character. She was rich, or better said her mother is. And until she was cut of by her mother, after she paid for Shane’s wedding, trips for friends and much more. She needs to learn how to live without a fortune, Alice who is very consumed by her recent break up with Dana ( Erin Daniels ) at that point takes Helena into her house and helps her get to terms about living with a fortune. But the big money has it’s grip on Helena and she can’t pass over a chance at gaining a fortune of her own. In the end she is picked up by the police and thrown into jail, and that is where she is at the beginning of the season … the lonely little jailbird with all the other women watching her closely and probably hoping that she ‘drops the soap’.

Shane

Shane will always be Shane ( Kate Moenning ), she has been around the block, more then a few times. She proved that last season on ‘Our Chart’ which is Alice Pieszecki’s ( Leisha Hailey ) life project. And well after she tried to get married to Carmen, who she eventually left at the altar. Shane went through a rough patch, eventually she hooked up with a woman. But Shane wouldn’t be Shane if she didn’t manage to screw a good relationship up, of course she had to have the Realtor woman that she and her girlfriend where visiting because they wanted to move in together.

Alice

Last season, Alice’s website dream project ‘Our Chart’ became a reality finally. She had been talking about it since the first episode in season one. She hooked up with her soldier girl Rose Rollins ( Tascha Williams ) late in the last season. And then she found out that Rose was being deployed to Iraq. At the beginning of this episode you could see that Rose was at the base when she called Alice and from the way that they where talking it was obvious that she was about to be shipped out. At the end of this episode she shows up at Alice’s door, she didn’t say much just that she missed her girl … We’ll see where that leads too.

Phyllis and Joyce

Joyce, who used to be Tina’s lawyer and then became Bette’s lawyer is now in love with Bette’s boss Phyllis Kroll ( Cybill Sheperd ) who was introduced last season when Bette got the job as a dean. I think they make a cute couple, they somehow fit together.

Max Sweeney

The better we get to know this character the more I like him, especially now that he is not being that jerk that he was when he was taking the illegal medication at a too high dosage. Max ( Daniella Sea ) grew on me during the last season and well I am actually looking forward to seeing the development of this character during this season, though I am still not sure how I am supposed to refer to Daniella Sea’s character as a he or a she.

Jenny

I have not much to tell about this woman, since the first episode I had a grudge against this woman. She just ticks me off, and if you are a fan of her I am sorry but I am pretty sure that I don’t have much to say about her. Except for this and I really hope that they do this; Jenny ( Mia Kirshner ) in my opinion is totally wacky … and I was not surprised to see that this year she is even wackier then last.

You know the show has musical support in ‘The Planet’, and I would really like to push Terra Naomi forward to do a performance. She is awesome, her voice rocks, her lyrics are so cool and she is a beautiful woman. What more can we ask for on this television show. Well just one teeny tiny thing, she could play the song ‘Jenny’. Cause that song could have been written for this character, it fits perfectly.

I am looking forward to watching the rest of the season, the kick off was good and it promised a lot for the next couple of episodes. And I will be providing reviews for each episode.

Source:
The L Word Online
The L Word