TV Review: The L Word Episode 3.11

Sunday, March 19, 2006

From Showtime: Alice steals some of Dana's ashes; Bette thinks about fighting for sole custody of baby Angelica; Lara arrives home too late; and, Max finally lands a job where Moira got turned down.

My Rating: 4 out of 4

Tonight's episode of The L Word titled Last Dance dealt with the events of last week's episode. Last episode, we saw one of the cast's main character leave the series when Dana Fairbanks died of breast cancer. This week's episode opens with Dana's funeral. Her friends are all in attendance, but it is quickly clear to all that the image the family and her minister wants to portray of Dana is of a straight woman yet to find love. Alice won't allow this to happen. she stands up and declares that Dana was gay before storming out of the church. She does return, and she somehow has swiped some of Dana's ashes, so the group can have their own memorial. They decide to spread her ashes where Dana wanted, at her old camp where she had her first lesbian sexual experience.

Each of the group is dealing with the loss of Dana. The hardest hit seem to be Shane and Alice, which makes sense because these three were the closest. Shane becomes angry and brooding. She also asks Carmen to marry her, but she doesn't receive an immediate answer. Alice is devastated by the loss of Dana. Kit is also visibly affected by the loss of her friend. The group all ventures up to the camp, seeing the cabin Dana stayed in. A good portion of this episode is the individuals sharing stories about meeting Dana or special moments they shared with her. We hear the story of Alice and Dana's first meeting, the first party Dana attended and met the group, the night Jenny and Dana had sex and what happened afterward. Max seems out of place and uncomfortable during this time, but that's understandable because he wasn't there when this group met.

Once their stories are shared they go up to the waterfall to spread her ashes and say their final good-byes. Shane walks away, upset that Dana died alone. The rest of the group remains, each taken turn spreading Dana's ashes. After they are done, Alice is the last one there, and in the waters from the waterfall she sees Dana's spirit, and yes she got her wings because they are clearly visible. We then jump to Shane and Carmen at the bridge overlooking the waterfall. Carmen says yes, and for a flash Shane also sees Dana's spirit. Once again it makes sense because it was these three that were the closest. Alice returns to Dana's, and she finds Lara there. We see these two kiss before the episode ends.

Dealing with Dana's passing might have been the main focus of this episode, but it wasn't all that happens. Max goes in to interview with the same company he went in as Moira. This time he is hired for a job with a six figure income. Jenny wants him to go ahead with a story on sex discrimination, but Max wants to fit in and keep the job. As for Bette and Tina, Tina is dating Henry. Bette isn't dealing with that situation well, she goes to see, Joyce Wishnia , the attorney Tina had hired season two. She wants sole custody of Angelica because she can better understand the bi-racial experience.

The Helena and Dylan story line was also wrapped up this episode. Dylan comes to Helena's and drops off the her footage for the documentary with a tape to Helena what happened. She also ripped up the check Helena paid her as settlement. It appears she was leaving town. In the tape, Dylan explained to her how she did love Helena, but she couldn't deal with her emotions and what she was. Helena keeps muting the tape, so we don't hear all she said. However, I am hoping this isn't the last we see of Dylan. I'd love to see her return season four!

This episode did focus on Dana a great deal, but it did move forward the plot lines that have been developing this season. My one problem here is with Shane's proposal. This story line feels similar to what happened on Queer as Folk at the end of season five. In episode ten, Babylon exploded, and Brian admitted he loved Justin. The next episode he proposed to him. Here on The L Word, Dana dies, and the next week Shane proposes. Definitely a similarity there, and as it happened on Queer as Folk, it just doesn't fit. Shane isn't the marrying kind. Don't force it on her. We'll have to see if it actually occurs next weekend. The next episode looks amazing,. and it is also the season finale. We won't have any more The L Word until Winter 2007.