TV Review: The L Word Episode 3.04

Sunday, January 29, 2006

From SHO: Jenny freaks out after Moira disappears all night; Bette takes on Capitol Hill; Carmen spins for Russell Simmons; Billie Jean King interviews Dana at a tennis match; Kit wonders if she's made the right choice with Billie as The Planet's new charge des affaires; and Helena falls for a documentary filmmaker.

My Rating: 4 out of 4

Tonight's episode called Light My Fire was the best episode of this series all season. What a difference a couple of weeks makes because when the third season began, I truly wasn't happy with the turn this series had made since middle of season two at all. It felt like a totally different series, and I had felt disconnected from it. That disconnection had only gotten worse with the start of episode three. Alice had gone crazy. Jenny was off and hooking with Moira, and not even in Los Angeles. It seems with her return things began to click back into place last week. Our girls definitely appear to be better together.

Tonight's episode opens with Jenny in the backyard burning her manuscript. Moira enters, and Jenny immediately questions her on where she has been. Moira's disappearance has certainly put Jenny on edge, and you have to wonder if the old Jenny is still there underneath the service. Moira being out of touch, even for that short amount of time, has pushed Jenny a bit close the edge. The immediate result is a negative attitude about her writing. This is nothing new to fans of this show. Jenny isn't Jenny if she isn't talking about her writing or how bad it is.

Her negative attitude only continues on when Moira and her are invited to a small get together Billie is having at his place. The girls attend, and Billie automatically starts talking to Moira about her aspirations about becoming a man. This is a first for Jenny to hear, but it was a natural progression of things with the conversation being had. One of the others at the party is telling them about a screenplay he did about a girl turning into a boy. This train of thought isn't followed further, but we do see Moira a bit more at ease with herself. She even attends Shane's opening night party dressed comfortably as man. It looks like we might get to see more of Max, Moira's male alter-ego, in the future.

As for Shane, it is the opening of her new place at Wax, the skate board shop. However, the night of the opening, Carmen is offered a job that could literally set her career on fire. Russell Simons calls Kit to ask about Carmen dj'ing a party he is having that same night. Carmen wants to drop the job and go to Shane's party. Shane talks Carmen into taking the job, and when Carmen is missing at Shane's opening it raises a few eyebrows. Jenny even mentions it to Alice how wrong it is Carmen isn't there. It's small moments like this that always make me wonder if the writers behind this series are foreshadowing a future hook-up between Shane and Jenny. You never know. It is possible. Carmen does show up at the party, and she has Russell Simons in tow. "She has her priorities straight," Russell says. Carmen also has a surprise for Shane, a mix she made especially for her and her party.

A good portion of this episode does focus on Tina and Bette. Tina is now at work full time, and it is obvious the stress is already getting to her. It's only her first week too. Bette is still trying to work on getting funding back for the Patriot Act. Once the woman that is set to speak at the senate hearing injures her back, Bette needs to fly to D.C, to take her place. This causes a tense moment between Tina and Bette, who doesn't understand why she has to go. Plus, the two are now doing what they said they wouldn't do by depending on their nanny to raise their daughter.

Bette does go to D.C., and she testifies in front of the senate committee. Dana Delany comes in as one of the senators on the committee, and she is quite impressed with Bette's speech that basically puts one of the committee members in his place. She likes Bette so much, she invites her to a party that night and then back to her place. The senator puts the moves on Bette, and she calls Tina to tell her what is happening. Tina shows no care what Bette does. She basically gives her permission to sleep with the senator, who is married but has an arrangement with her husband. Nice arrangement, if you ask me. Bette doesn't sleep with her, and in fact she leaves immediately after she calls Tina.

This couple is in the most trouble this season, and that is the one surprise of this season that I'm still not all thrilled with. Things seemed to be getting back on track at the end of season two, but at the start of season three it is clear things have fallen apart. What has happened in the six months between now and then? Why the changes in the relationship? Is it just the birth of the baby? The changes seem to be a bit much if that is all we have happened during the off-time of the series.

Dana in this episode wins a big tennis match, which sets her career back on track. She does seem a bit ill on the court, but she pulls through. All her friends watched her win via television, even Alice. At Shane's party, she is the center of attention of all the girls, and once again Alice talks to her, but it seems finally crazy Alice is gone. She's still hung up on Dana, but seems to be handling it better. However, her rant on George W. Bush and his penis probably got her fired from The Chart. We learn Dana's fate on the biopsy on next week's episode.

Lastly, we saw Kit and Angus cozying it up again. He finally makes his move, even if Kit is old enough to be his grandmother. She quickly douses the flames by telling him she is going through menopause. On another romantic front, Helena seems attracted to a new documentary producer. She hasn't made her move yet, and I think Tina may have gotten the wrong person. from the previews for next week.

This really was the best episode of The L Word this season. It had more of a season one feel to it, and this a good thing. Season one this series held nothing back. It was provocative and fun. The characters made us want more, and with this week's episode I can't wait to see what happens next week. You can find a download of the preview for next week's episode here courtesy of Titan on MediaBlvd.com.