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The L Word Gen Q Episode 5 – Summary and Comments

By 17 Comments

Aired January 5, 2020

 

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jennifer Beals Jennifer Beals … Bette Porter
Katherine Moennig Katherine Moennig … Shane McCutcheon
Leisha Hailey Leisha Hailey … Alice Pieszecki
Arienne Mandi Arienne Mandi … Dani Nunez
Sepideh Moafi Sepideh Moafi … Gigi
Leo Sheng Leo Sheng … Micah Lee
Jacqueline Toboni Jacqueline Toboni … Sarah Finley
Rosanny Zayas Rosanny Zayas … Sophie Suarez
Stephanie Allynne Stephanie Allynne … Natalie ‘Nat’ Bailey
Jamie Clayton Jamie Clayton … Tess Van De Berg
Freddy Miyares Freddy Miyares … Jose Garcia
Lex Scott Davis Lex Scott Davis … Quiara Thompson
Carlos Leal Carlos Leal … Rodolfo Nùñez
Latarsha Rose Latarsha Rose … Felicity
Olivia Thirlby Olivia Thirlby … Rebecca Dowery

Storyline

Bette feels guilty about lying to Angie; some unexpected news throws Shane for a major loop; Alice, Gigi and Nat find common ground; Dani and Sophie deal with a bombshell dropped on them by Dani’s father; Finley bonds with Tess and Micah grows closer to José.

 

SUMMARY BY @BAT2012

Here is episode 5 that I had already posted in the comments on the site. In case you want to move it to the Summary.

Shane’s wife Qiara (Q) returns with news that she’s pregnant (using a donor). Shane was adamant that she does not want children and that seems to be the reason why they separated and filed for divorce. Q’s response is that she doesn’t need Shane to raise her baby, she just wants them to be partners and be together. In Shane’s words “What does that look like?” However, they seem to have an unconventional marriage so who knows. Sex is good between them and it appears neither one really wants the divorce.

Dani’s father delivers a prenup agreement to the couple that states any children that Sophie gives birth to will not be recognized as his grandchildren. He will only claim children for inheritance that Dani gives birth to. This is the final straw for Dani. She confronts him on the stairs of his office building with Sophie trailing behind her. They have a public argument, she throws the papers in his face and when he tries to reason with her, she tells him “Fuck you” and storms out leaving both her father and Sophie with their mouths hanging open.

Dani has finally stood up to her father and Sophie is proud of her but the enormity of what just happened hits Dani as they are driving home. She pleads with Sophie to just give her space and time to process things, but Sophie is nagging and insistent that Dani talk to her. Finally, Dani tells her that she needs to be alone, so she drops Sophie at home and goes to Bette’s campaign office to get her mind off her troubles by working.

Naturally she can’t focus and breaks down and cries at her desk, and this is how Bette finds her.
Dani is surprised that anyone is in the office that late, especially Bette and she’s embarrassed that she’s in such a vulnerable state. She apologizes to Bette for being unprofessional, but Bette tells her that after what they’ve already been through together their relationship has already crossed the line. After much cajoling Dani tells Bette that she’s upset about her father. In a compassionate move Bette takes Dani into her arms and hugs her rubbing her back and telling her to just breathe to calm her.

Earlier that day Bette met with Felicity in the parking lot of some discreet location to break off the affair. She explains that it’s hurting her chances in the mayoral race. Felicity does not take the rejection well and tells Bette how much she sacrificed and lost including her job and her marriage to be with Bette and that she loves her and wants Bette to fight for them. Bette is resolute and basically tells Felicity that there is nothing to fight for, it’s over.

After consoling Dani, Bette attends a play that her daughter Angie and friend Jordi are in. Apparently, Jordi’s parents could not make it to the play and it was important to Angie that Jordi have someone in the audience so Bette invited Shane and Alice. Shane shows up with Q, and Alice shows up with both Nat and Gigi.

They agree to try being a “trouple” as one big happy family except it’s not looking too happy as Nat is having issues with Gigi having the best of all worlds when she was the cheater in their relationship. Also, I guess eventually they have to explain to the kids about having three mommies sleeping together.

As they are leaving the theatre, Felicity’s husband appears drunk again calling out Bette for sleeping with his wife. Bette, Angie and Jordi are standing at the entry of the building and he climbs up the stairs and makes a move to grab Angie. Bette pushes him away to protect her daughter and he falls down the concrete stairs.

He appears to have hit his head or injured his back. Bette makes sure Angie is OK then attends to the injured man by calling 911. In the meantime, a crowd has gathered, and everyone has a cell phone taking pictures. This is how the episode ends.

Other storylines –
The priest (Rebecca) breaks up with Finley and tells her to get her shit together. The girlfriend of the woman that Shane slept with is an alcoholic. She can’t handle the pressure of running the bar by herself so she starts drinking again then hooks up with Finley who is also an alcoholic. They party and drink at Shane’s Bar then end the night having sex on the same couch that Finley slept on after Alice, Nat and Gigi had their threesome on it. That’s just nasty.

Jose slips and tells Micha that he loves him after they spend the night together. It gets awkward and Jose leaves then later they get together and talk. Micha apparently wants to try vaginal sex with Jose – at least that’s what I think it was (not sure) but Jose was all over it. In case you missed it Micha used to date Dani when he was a lesbian.

Angie admits her attraction to her friend Jordi and gets dating advise from Uncle Shane.

 

Leave your episode comments on this post :-)

Comments

  3. If you have not read the interview with Marji-Lewis Ryan, please look it up and read. I think it explains a lot about the approach Gen Q has for this season.

    Reading between the lines, its would appear to me that Ms Ryan is young – 34 years old and has designed a show for the under 35 group. In my opinion, she connected with Chaiken for the reboot rights in order to appeal to the long standing fan base of The L Word and that show’s established success. She then contacted the former stars and offered them a reboot role and for those who signed on, a executive producers position on the billing. She then wrote in storylines for the returning stars and the older group to transition to her new cast and storyline.

    An executive producer is the position which is responsible for the business and legal affairs of the project. They generally have no dealings with the day to day affairs (story line, writing, casting, directing, filming, etc.). Their main purpose is to obtain financing and convince a studio to take on the project by associating their name and reputation to a project. Chaiken, Beals, Moening, & Hailey are four of the executive producers. It is my opinion that none of these have any say as to the story line this program is pursuing.

    Beals, Moening and Hailey have also signed contract to be actors in the project. A typical contract allows some actors some flexibility in how they portray their character but little or no influence on the story line or the dialogue or the situations. The exception is only where written in the contract, for example: Beals has a no frontal nudity on screen clause. They also have some responsibilities to provide public appearances to promote the project in some positive light. Of course they are all actors, therefore they are only going to say positive things about the character or the film whether they personally believe what they are saying or not and they are going to look sincere when they say these things. Its beneficial for their future career.

    Back to the interview. Ryan said that basically the new actors relationship with the older actors is through their employment. I conclude from that is that there will be no personal friendship between the older actors and the younger actors unless there is some romantic relationship involved. So….if the older group is to remain on the show for a multitude of years, then romantic liaisons are inevitable. You can count of Bette having an affair with Dani or as soon as the election is over, there is no relationship between Bette and Dani unless she is hired in some other capacity. If Alice loses her show, there will be no connection between Finley and Alice. Shane now has a bar so she may assume the role of acquaintance to the younger set, So long term, I see Bette, Alice and Shane all disappearing from Gen Q and the storyline proceeding with the new cast of characters.

    Ryan has managed to dispose of Jenny, Kit and Tina. She has paid homage to Dana by naming a bar after her. Even though Jennifer Beals says in interviews that there is a possibility of some of the others returning, I believe that possibility is slim and none. In Ryan’s words: This is my show and I determine who plays and who doesn’t. And I see that to mean anything that was Chaiken’s creation will not be on her most favored list. Her objective is to create something which belongs solely to her.

    Ryan says that her job is to provide the viewers with something to scream at the TV about. And in fulfilling that responsibility, she promises that in episode 8, the final episode she plans to deliver. What do you predict she is going to do?

    • Hi Martha,

      You have posted this exact comment before. I have read the Ryan interview and I can still honestly say, I’m not impressed. I’m not so old that I don’t remember my late 20’s and early 30’s, and she does so many of those women an injustice by once again portraying them just as many straight men would…sex addicted women who are all sleeping with each other, and not a one happy or faithful relationship in sight.

      Really, we had six years of that, now we are having to put up with it again? I watched the first five episodes, not sure if I will watch the rest.

      Don’t get me wrong, Finley reminds me a bit of myself when I was 19 – 24, but that doesn’t mean ALL lesbians were acting like me. I knew many happy, faithful lesbians at that time, but clearly The L Word has never wanted to represent to the world those relationships.

      We should know what kind of a show it will be just by the fact that Ryan thinks her job is to write something that will make us angry. Why not write a show that will entertain us…be fun, sexy and thought-provoking at the same time. And while this show has elements of that, they are overpowered by the gratuitous and stereotypical sex scenes.

    • Reply from @dbff who is having an issue replying:

      Interesting comments, Martha3128. I believe I may have read other interviews but had similar feelings about Marja Lewis-Ryan’s intentions. In the first interview that I read, she gave me Ilene Chaiken vibes, in that she identifies with all the new characters … all of them have something of her. She is the executive producer and the main creator, just like IC was. When all the new characters are this personal to one writer with so much power, things don’t go well. We saw how Bette, Tina and Jenny were mishandled throughout the 6 seasons, with too much attention given to Bette’s pain and Jenny’s craziness, and almost no attention given to Tina, who should have been the second most important character in the story. This created an imbalance in the Tibette relationship, even if not intentional, which was only overcome by the fans’ desire for a lasting romantic relationship, and the effort of the two actresses to maintain their chemistry.
      IC was more of a producer than a writer when she created TLW.

      I also felt that, perhaps because Lewis-Ryan doesn’t have experience in the TV world, her message was not that of inclusion. She was joking about the fact that she, a lesbian, had all the power and men in the set didn’t. She is mainly concerned with the LGBTQ community and not with mentioning that their stories and struggles are in any way universal. She keeps saying that she is writing Gen Q for her sixteen-year-old self. Sixteen-year-olds do not have money to pay for Showtime subscription! I think TLW was more inclusive. How many seasons can we expect from a show that does not attract a large adult female audience, including straight women?

      And finally, I didn’t get a sense that she was excited about the OGs. She basically mentioned that she discussed with them where they wanted their characters to be (Shane as a multimillionaire hairdresser? Couldn’t she just be an L bar co-owner? Alice in a throuple at her age? Bette handling an affair in the same way as Candance’s?). But her excitement was clearly with her own creation, the newbies who are also her alter egos. I also believe that she wants to move on from the past and make Gen Q her creation. She clearly stated that there won’t be any Carmen and mentioned very matter-of-factly that Laurel Holloman and Pam Grier had other interests. Well, we know what she did to Kit … That does not leave much hope for Tina, since we also know that IC moved on from her first marriage and is an autobiographical writer. Unless Jennifer Beals puts her foot down and demands some sort of (implied) reconciliation in the end. Quite frankly, JB hasn’t sounded excited when talking about Bette either, calling her a “hot mess” and not in a good way. It remains to be seen …

      In her latest interview, on Jan/01, I felt that Lewis-Ryan was more subdued, and mentioned more than once that “if she gets another season” … She hasn’t gotten a green light yet, although, if she can keep her current audience, she may get it. And she also said that she likes seeing LGBTQ folks screaming at the TV. Again, she doesn’t seem to want a large audience for her show – just LGBTQ. Do fans scream at the TV when they see Bette and Tina kiss? :-) I think they scream for sure, but not at the TV.

      An interesting thing was the comment about how she paired OGs with newbies of similar personalities. It seems to imply that Dani is the new Bette. Is Dani the closest character to Lewis-Ryan, just as Bette was to IC? How likely would it be for them to have an affair? There is a twenty-year difference, right? What about Dani betraying Bette, instead?

      Then Lewis-Ryan said that her next season would be all about a “hot butch”. She thinks that a hot butch is important. Why wasn’t a “hot butch” one of her characters to begin with? Because her characters are autobiographical? So, there will be a revolving door of characters. Why TLW writers feel the need to tell every story, I don’t know. In the end, they tell none well.

  4. RECAP of S1E5 – This is a complete summary of the episode. Contains SPOILERS. Proceed at your own risk.

    Shane’s wife Qiara (Q) returns with news that she’s pregnant (using a donor). Shane was adamant that she does not want children and that seems to be the reason why they separated and filed for divorce. Q’s response is that she doesn’t need Shane to raise her baby, she just wants them to be partners and be together. In Shane’s words “What does that look like?” However, they seem to have an unconventional marriage so who knows. Sex is good between them and it appears neither one really wants the divorce.

    Dani’s father delivers a prenup agreement to the couple that states any children that Sophie gives birth to will not be recognized as his grandchildren. He will only claim children for inheritance that Dani gives birth to. This is the final straw for Dani. She confronts him on the stairs of his office building with Sophie trailing behind her. They have a public argument, she throws the papers in his face and when he tries to reason with her, she tells him Fuck you and storms out leaving both her father and Sophie with their mouths hanging open.

    Dani has finally stood up to her father and Sophie is proud of her but the enormity of what just happened hits Dani as they are driving home. She pleads with Sophie to just give her space and time to process things, but Sophie is nagging and insistent that Dani talk to her. Finally, Dani tells her that she needs to be alone, so she drops Sophie at home and goes to Bette’s campaign office to get her mind off her troubles by working.

    Naturally she can’t focus and breaks down and cries at her desk, and this is how Bette finds her.
    Dani is surprised that anyone is in the office that late, especially Bette and she’s embarrassed that she’s in such a vulnerable state. She apologizes to Bette for being unprofessional, but Bette tells her that after what they’ve already been through together their relationship has already crossed the line. After much cajoling Dani tells Bette that she’s upset about her father. In a compassionate move Bette takes Dani into her arms and hugs her rubbing her back and telling her to just breathe to calm her.

    Earlier that day Bette met with Felicity in the parking lot of some discreet location to break off the affair. She explains that it’s hurting her chances in the mayoral race. Felicity does not take the rejection well and tells Bette how much she sacrificed and lost including her job and her marriage to be with Bette and that she loves her and wants Bette to fight for them. Bette is resolute and basically tells Felicity that there is nothing to fight for, it’s over.

    After consoling Dani, Bette attends a play that her daughter Angie and friend Jordi are in. Apparently, Jordi’s parents could not make it to the play and it was important to Angie that Jordi have someone in the audience so Bette invited Shane and Alice. Shane shows up with Q, and Alice shows up with both Nat and Gigi.

    They agree to try being a “trouple” as one big happy family except it’s not looking too happy as Nat is having issues with Gigi having the best of all worlds when she was the cheater in their relationship. Also, I guess eventually they have to explain to the kids about having three mommies sleeping together.

    As they are leaving the theatre, Felicity’s husband appears drunk again calling out Bette for sleeping with his wife. Bette, Angie and Jordi are standing at the entry of the building and he climbs up the stairs and makes a move to grab Angie. Bette pushes him away to protect her daughter and he falls down the concrete stairs.

    He appears to have hit his head or injured his back. Bette makes sure Angie is OK then attends to the injured man by calling 911. In the meantime, a crowd has gathered, and everyone has a cell phone taking pictures. This is how the episode ends.

    Other storylines –
    The priest (Rebecca) breaks up with Finley and tells her to get her shit together. The girlfriend of the woman that Shane slept with is an alcoholic. She can’t handle the pressure of running the bar by herself so she starts drinking again then hooks up with Finley who is also an alcoholic. They party and drink at Shane’s Bar then end the night having sex on the same couch that Finley slept on after Alice, Nat and Gigi had their threesome on it. That’s just nasty.

    Jose slips and tells Micha that he loves him after they spend the night together. It gets awkward and Jose leaves then later they get together and talk. Micha apparently wants to try vaginal sex with Jose – at least that’s what I think it was (not sure) but Jose was all over it. In case you missed it Micha used to date Dani when he was a lesbian.

    Angie admits her attraction to her friend Jordi and gets dating advise from Uncle Shane.

  5. I can’t help but love this show, regardless of generation, I’m loving it all. I’m an OG Alice/Dana shipper so I’m moved by all the Dana mentions and Alice…come on, asking the kid if he’s a drunk, eating the cake on the nightstand, telling Nat she had the best night while Nat is telling her it was a mistake…LOVE it. I like that Finley is young and in need of a mentor, I think she has it to a degree with Alice and now Shane has taken her on. I always looked at Bette and Tina as the maternal figures in the family, so I do not see Bette with Dani, I think there is too much there and Bette will take on the motherly role that Dani’s missing. This episode was a bit rushed but got in a bunch of turns that we need to move the story along. I’m really hoping it gets renewed.

  7. Some stories are rather predictable. You can just feel Alice is about to be ditched from the thruple (and I hate that word, too). Shane is soooo wonderful with other peoples’ kids. Hmmm. Wonder where that is going. Bette and GOD why I can’t I remember which one is Dani and which one is Sophie?! LOL! Finley needs to get sober, and what’s her name at the bar needs to get back on the wagon. I guess they’ll do it together. Actually, I’m impressed. I kind of like this deeper look into the seemingly superficial Finley. She’s not. This story is evolving nicely.

    You know what? I’m liking the show. Yeah, the predictability is a bit of a let down, but overall, I am really enjoying it!

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