“It’s not my job to make you a better man” — Jenny Schecter
Whew girl, that is the truth! And there’s a whole lot more truths (and lies) in the second season of The L Word. We recap the love triangles—Bette/Tina/Helena; Dana/Tonya/Alice; and Jenny/Carmen/Shane—as well as some dark truths about our beloved L.A. queer women. We explore the rubble left in Bette and Tina’s explosive breakup—and Tina’s pregnancy; Kit’s alcoholism; Jenny’s traumatic childhood; Shane’s inability to just commit; and a super gross voyeurism/lesbian fantasy plot by Jenny and Shane’s roommate Mark Wayland. We also process some of the season’s lighter (albeit, weirder) moments: Jenny’s Judaic strip tease, Alice and Dana awkward first hook up for the first time, some annoying whispering added in post-production, and a golden shower of sorts.
Episode notes and extras:
- Feminist scholar Laura Mulvey’s bible on the male gaze
- The L Word came out in 2004; in real life, it would have taken Bette and Tina four more years to get legally married in L.A.
- The coming out haircut is still a thing
- The super creepy Mark Wayland is played by Eric Lively—Blake Lively’s brother!
- BuzzFeed’s Shannon Keating recently braved the Olivia cruise, the notorious travel company for queer women, and proceeded to blow up her life
- It’s here! The Betty theme song we all love to hate
Featuring:
Rachel Giese @rachelagiese
Erica Lenti @ericalenti
Eternity Martis @eternitymartis
Michelle Turingan @chelleturingan
With guests:
Carolyn Bergier, stand-up comedian and co-host of Dyking Out podcast @TGICarolyn
Sarah Kennedy, stand-up comedian and co-host Taydar podcast @SarahKomedy
Producer and editor: Corey Misquita @coreymisquita
Senior producer: Rachel Matlow @rachelmatlow
Executive producer: Rachel Giese
Music: KidKulit
Why you can trust Xtra
