woman giving green gift to other woman
The Bisexual Holiday Gift Guide
December 16, 2022
A woman hugs her girlfriend from behind while kissing her temple affectionately.
Dating Dos and Don’ts for the Winter Holidays
December 21, 2022
sophie and finley

Sophie (Rosanny Zayas) and Finley (Jacqueline Toboni) in The L Word: Gen Q (Credit: Showtime)

I was not expecting Generation Q to hit me in the feels . . . but dang, this episode really got me. So brace yourselves, folks.

As you may recall, last week’s episode ended with Tess throwing a drink in Shane’s face, and this week, things aren’t much better. As Tess is packing up her stuff, she freaks out over a bee in the house. When Shane lets it outside, the two of them get locked out on their patio with no phones, and Tess finally agrees that she is willing to talk to Shane.

Their conversation gets pretty deep, and at one point, I found myself wondering if I was watching an episode of This Is Us. Tess questions why it is that Shane cheated, beyond Shane’s excuse that there was a growing disconnect between them. Tess pushes Shane to take responsibility for her actions, questions whether Shane is a sex addict, and tells her she needs Shane to change. But after Finley rescues them from the patio, Shane says she is just not happy and grabs her stuff.

Unfortunately, it’s not just Shane who is having intense relationship problems this week. When Alice goes to the movies, she sees Taylor on a date with another person, and she is absolutely devastated because she thought the two of them were exclusive.

Later in the episode, Alice shares her dating woes with Shane and says it wasn’t even right with Taylor . . . or anyone lately. Shane responds: “Do you ever think maybe this not right thing has more to do with you?” Are we in therapy now? I was not ready for that level of introspection.

For once, things with Micah and Maribel seem to be going well, and I’m really loving how much screen time and character development their relationship is getting this season. Micah finally tells his mom about Maribel, and the two start to look into sperm donors together.

But things quickly get pretty emotional, as they start to question the ethics of choosing donors with certain characteristics and talk about how unfair it is that cishets can easily make a baby that combines both of their traits. Though intense, it’s an important discussion to have, and reminds me of how the original series was able to brace difficult conversations so well.

With Dani, Finley, and Sophie, we get a classic love quadrangle with a lot of drama. Dani bumps into a really cute stranger outside Dana’s and kisses them, but quickly finds out that it was Dre, the person who slept with Sophie when Finley was in rehab. When Sophie sees Dre singing at the bar, she freaks out and stops having sex with Finley because she is picturing Dre.

Sophie and Dani actually have a few cute moments in this episode, which reminds me of why I loved them so much when they were a couple. In one scene where Dani talks about having a “hot girl autumn,” they complain about problematic casting choices in rom-coms like The Wedding Planner, where an Italian character is played by a Puerto Rican actress. To me, this seemed like a nod to some of the racially insensitive casting choices of the original series, which I’m glad they addressed, even if only implicitly.

Ultimately, Dani tells Dre she doesn’t want to date someone that her ex-girlfriend slept with, though Sophie tells Dani she has full permission to date them. The episode closes with Alice and Shane talking about their relationships. Alice asks Shane if she wants to the “little spoon,” and Shane says that no one has ever asked her that before. AH, MY HEART!

 

Becca’s Rankings

Sexiest Scene: Sophie and Finley in the back room of Dana’s . . . until Sophie starts picturing Dre instead of Finley.

Most OMG-Moment: When Alice goes to the movies, she sees Taylor on a date with another person and calls her out for it!

Funniest Moment: After Micah tells his mom that he is dating Maribel, the two decide to celebrate, and Maribel’s suggestion is to organize the Tupperware drawer.

Best Musical Moment: Dre sings “Dancing With A Stranger” by Normani and Sam Smith at Dana’s, and Dani is loving it a little too much.

How We Know We’re in 2022: Sophie reveals that she met Dre on Hinge.

Who will sleep together next? Definitely Angie and her new boyfriend. After talking to her roommate about how she hasn’t had sex, she buys a sex toy and says yes to going away with him.

 

 

Becca Damante
Becca Damante
Becca is a Smith college graduate with a B.A. in Women and Gender Studies and an Archives concentration. She has worked and written for non-profits organizations such as Media Matters for America, The Century Foundation, and GLAAD, and loves to write about the intersections between pop culture, politics, and social justice. You can find her at @beccadamante on Twitter.