TV Review: The L Word Episode 3.09

Monday, March 06, 2006

From Showtime: Dana meets Dr. Susan Love and looks like she's on the road to recovery; Carmen comes out to her family; Helena gets slapped with a law suit; Jenny goes to an F to M transsexual support group to deal with Max; Bette keeps struggling to find inner peace.

My Rating: 3 out of 4

Tonight's episode titled Lead, Follow or Get out of the way lacked the strength of a true episode. It felt more like a set-up episode, preparing us for things to come. It did have its moments though, and it was an improvement over last week's episode. Tonight, the opening sequence once again took us back to an earlier time in the lives of our lesbians, this week continuing the scene from last week in which Dana and Alice ended their relationship. We see Dana turn to Lara, but not as a lover. Dana makes it clear she didn't leave Alice for Dana. The break-up appears to have been difficult for both of them.

Now let's move on to the present time. First let's talk about Bette. Last week, she left Los Angeles for a silent retreat. She is still there, and she is still having difficulty finding her own inner peace. We don't see her much this episode, but we do cut away to her at the retreat a few times during the episode. Most of the focus this episode is on Tina. This week, we see her makes friends with a man that joins Angelica's swim group, Henry. He has a young son, and it is the little boy that joins the group which consists of Angelica and Helena's two children. We can see sparks start to fly. He calls her so they can go out on what appears to be a date. The date turns into a daytime event to dinner and then to sex up against the door of her bedroom.

Now I've mentioned how unhappy I've been with this Tina and Bette story line this season. This unhappiness continues this week. I don't believe for one that Tina would hand her baby off to a man she just recently met. I also didn't think Tina would be the type to just jump into bed with a man either, but obviously she is. Tina is not the same character and that bothers me.

Another issue I'm having with the The L Word at the moment is the passage of time. We learn in the opening sequence that it has been seven months since Dana and Alice split, which means it has only been a month in real time on The L Word. All this has happened in a month. In the past, I've been confused by the passing of time in television series, and I mentioned this a great deal in reviews I've written for another site on Queer as Folk. A lot of the events this season are just unrealistic when you look at the month long time frame. They just don't fit.

Now let's move onto Jenny and Max. This week, Max is throwing a fund raiser in order to raise money for his top surgery. He is a bit on edge, and Kit tries to talk to him about things. however, he gets a bit snippy with her, telling her how she doesn't understand. If any of the characters on the series would understand, it is probably Kit because of her dealings with Ivan in her past. Ivan lived as a man, but he was still a woman on the outside. He learned to be happy that way. I think Kit was trying to make this point to Max, and he just didn't understand that.

As for Jenny and Max, there are some more tense moments between the two. At the fund raiser, Max goes off on Jenny when she is dancing with another guy. Jenny stands up to him, and when Max starts to go after Jenny, Shane makes it clear that Max better not hurt Jenny. The two talk though, and things seem fine until the next day when Max sees how much he didn't make at the party. The two get into it again, and that is the last we see of the couple. Rumor is Tim returns next episode. I wonder what he is doing back, and for how long he will stick around.

Let's move on to Shane and Carmen. Carmen is annoying me more than the Tina and Bette story line are. She's not the same girl of last season. I know Shane has been a little off lately, but Carmen is making an even bigger deal out of than it needs to be. On tonight's episode, Carmen goes so far as to out herself to her family. This gets her and Shane thrown out. Once they are home, Shane and Carmen end up in a heated discussion, and Carmen even goes so far as to tell Shane what does she know about family. Definitely a low blow in my book.

As for Dana and Alice, Dana has some good moments at the start of the episode. It looks like she is on the way to recovery. Alice meets a woman at Max's party, and everyone talks her into going out on a date. She doesn't want to, but even Dana pushes her to go. When she goes though, Dana calls and Alice rushes back home. Dana has taken a turn for the worse, and Alice takes her to the hospital. She calls Shane while Carmen and Shane are fighting, and she is on her way to the hospital to join Alice. From the spoilers I've read and the preview for tonight's episode, things do not look like they come out good for Dana. next episode.

There were two minor sub plots this episode. first, Kit and Angus talk about marriage, but Kit won't marry him because she doesn't want to do something her own sister can't do. He loves her even more for that, and he suggests they move in together. As for Helena and Dylan, the relationship goes from red hot to ice cold when Dylan tricks Helena into videotaping them in a light that looks very bad for Helena. She then sues Helena for sexual harassment, and it appears to be something that had been planned all along. Poor Helena. I actually feel bad for her, and it looks like the plan was more Danny's idea, Dylan's boyfriend. Dylan actually looked guilty. Could she have developed feelings for Helena in the process?

Like I said this episode really felt like an episode leading up to intense drama for next week. It was a decent episode. I'm just not happy with certain story lines that are being played out, and it is ruining the show a bit for me. I can't wait to see what happens next week though. Showtime calls it the episode that changes everything.