Ever since watching the trailer for season three of Generation Q, I’ve been asking myself, “Will they or won’t they?” Will Tina and Bette get back together? Will Sophie and Finley survive after Finley goes to rehab? The premiere touched on all of these questions and more, and while we don’t have answers to all of them, the first episode certainly did not shy away from the drama.
Season two of Gen Q concluded with another classic end-of-season cliffhanger. As Bette is on her way out the door to meet Pippa, Tina knocks on Bette’s door and asks, “can I come in?” And then the screen fades to black.
In season three, the Gen Q writers waste no time getting to the drama. Rather than drag out Bette and Tina’s conversation, Tina immediately asks: “Are you in love with me?” and Bette says, “Yes.” When Bette promises to make things right with Tina’s ex-fiancée, Carrie, Tina says: “I can’t be with her because I’m in love with you too.” The screams that came out of my room while watching this scene – I swear my roommate probably thought something was wrong with me.
After addressing the Tibette elephant in the room, we fast forward to one year later to see what the original The L Word crew is up to. Alice is having sex with a semi-influencer who is much younger than her, though she later calls it off because she is “more of an 8 pm bedtime person.” Shane and Tess are taking care of Tess’s mom, and discuss the possibility of buying another property next to the bar. And Bette, Tina, Shane, and Alice drop Angie off at college, where she is dumped by her girlfriend, Jordi.
With the newer Gen Q characters, there’s just as much going on, if not more. Dani tells Gigi she wants to move in together, but Gigi says she has to talk to her ex-wife, Nat. Micah proposes to Maribel, and Maribel says she doesn’t want to get married – she wants a baby. This episode also includes a visit from lesbian heartthrob Kehlani, who plays a young makeup artist named Ivy. She fits right in with the rest of the characters – but almost too well, as she flirts hard with Shane, threatening my beloved #Shess.
Unfortunately, Shess isn’t the only couple at risk. For all you Sinley fans, a lot happens in this episode, and Gen Q does a fantastic job of tackling alcoholism in the queer community. At the end of season two, Finely goes to rehab, and after the year-long time jump, she returns – this time, with brown hair and a set of amends.
While Sophie, Shane, and Tess are quick to accept Finley’s apologies, not everyone is so forgiving. When Finely tries to talk to Dani at a fundraiser, Dani yells at Finley and tells her she’s “fucking annoying.” Sophie quickly comes to the rescue, and before you know it, Finley and Sophie escape the party for some highly entertaining strip basketball.
But all is not resolved so easily. Earlier in the episode, Sophie tells Micah that her and Finley were “on a break,” which we know from Friends can mean different things to different people. When Finley and Sophie are snuggled in bed at the end of this episode, Sophie gets a text from someone named Dre that says “u up,” and my screams return.
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