AfterEllen's Alter Ego (That's Me)

Yes, I want to write about The L Word, only I am even more woefully behind than ever.  AfterEllen is the first blog to cover these TV spectacles, and I am the very last.  Just finished Season 3 this week so bear with me.

Just to remind you where Season 3 ends, Dana has died, Shane has left Carmen alone at the altar, post-menopausal Kit is pregnant, and Helena has been cut off from her wealthy family.  Some rough stuff, right?

With characters in, characters out, have your impressions changed?   Who's irritating?  Who's sexy? Who would be your friend? What do you think about Max and the trans narrative? Were you surprised that Shane flew the coop?

Here are a few randoms from yours truly.  Alice is the ultimate lesbian friend. She's funny, smart, loyal, gossipy, and cute.  For some reason, I never had a clear sense of Carmen.  She doesn't stand out for me. On the DVD bonus footage, a bunch of women said Carmen was there favorite character, so I thought that was interesting.  As you may recall, Jenny has always annoyed me.  She doesn't seem like a writer, and her character doesn't ring true for me. Max is interesting to me, in his lostness.  I found the scenes between Dylan and Helena very hot. I'm letting my authority issues hang out in saying this, but Helena is sexy as was Marina in Season 1.  Maybe I'm just a sucker for foreign accents?

So tell me your thoughts! And don't worry about spoiling Season 4 for me.  I can take it.

Comments

[oneofhismoms]

Ok, here goes.
Alice - Love, love, love. Pretty much the only believable character aside from Dana who they killed.
Jenny - Bluch. She gets even worse in the next season. But it is fun to be annoyed. Note that every reality show has a really annoying character on purpose.
Max - I'm glad they are including trannies, but I feel like they could have done it in a different way. The most interesting thing about him is his confusion in the workplace.
Sexy- CARMEN! And I don't think she was in the season you saw, but Papi is pretty hot, too.
Most unbelievable - Bette and Tina's "attachment parenting" at first they couldn't put the baby down to help someone in a wheelchair up the front porch. Now they are never with her and her babysitters are all schtuping each other and her aunt.

The fact that we have an inconsistant, not-believable lesbian soap opera to dish about -- priceless. Thank you, Ilene Chaiken!

[valerie]

My quick thoughts.

I started watching with season 2 and still haven't seen season 1.

Alice used to really annoy me, but in the last season or two she's grown on me.

Carmen was a favorite because she was hot, hot, hot! But Bette is still my favorite.

I don't like the Max storyline. When the character was first introduced, I thought "awesome, a really butch character." Then they made her trans. I have no problem with a trans character, but I felt like they were feeding into stereotypes that butch lesbians really just want to be men. Does that make sense? Shane doesn't count. I know she's supposed to, but to me she doesn't. Don't know why exactly. Maybe my own stereotypes?

Then again, in the fourth season we had...oh, man, what's her name...the girl in the military? Tasha?

I don't like the Tina storyline with the man either. It seems forced and fast. But, then again, I guess it is essentially a soap opera and that's how things work in soap operas.

Oh, but you haven't seen season 4. I can't remember when some of these things started I think most of my comments would relate to season four, so I guess that's all I have!

Regardless of my complaints, I can't wait for the next season! :-)

[elswhere]

What!?! Dana dies!?!?!?!

I stopped watching partway through Season 3; the writing just got too painfully bad and it wasn't even trashy fun any more. Even Alice was annoying, and she's always been my favorite.

I kind of vaguely remember Max and the trans narrative--and guess what? The actor who plays Max was at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival! She and her girlfriend were performing. They were pretty good.

[Lori]

Helena is kind of crazy though...so was Marina. But, hot? Yes, most definitely. Personally, I'm very glad my friends not on TV are way more grounded than all of them and makes it possible for me to watch the inevitable train wreck each week.

[Guusje]

We've seen all the episodes, though I thought season 4 was worse than season 3 which was pretty bad. I keep wondering why none of the women ever seem to work for a living - they have endless hours to hang around The Planet. And Jenny gets more and more anonying with ever passing season - if such a thing is possible.

[Cille]

First of all, hi, my name is Cille. I've been reading your blog for a year now, but I've never left a comment before, so this is going to be a first for me.

Alice is wonderful. She's hot, she's a great friend and she's naturally witty. I like that about her.

Dana was amazing. I liked her a lot and I especially liked her with Alice, so it was hard for me to see her go. Very hard indeed.

Helena annoyed me at first. I like her now that she's penniless though. She seems more real. And like you, I'm a sucker for foreign accents.

Bette is incredible. She's so smart and so well spoken. Every time I'm in a heated argument, I wish Bette was there to defend me.

Tina annoys me from time to time, especially when she's straight.

Max doesn't really do it for me. Jenny is crazy but I like her nonetheless (not so much in season 4 though).

Unlike you, I miss Carmen like crazy. I think she was perfect for Shane. Dylan didn't really do it for me either and I was more than happy to see her go.