This week’s episode of The L Word: Generation Q, titled “Lake House,” helped the series achieve a level of emotion we have yet to experience in the Showtime reboot. The sequel series has of course been sexy and drama-filled just like the original, but had yet to reach that stage of pulling at viewers’ heartstrings like its predecessor–until now. There were several examples of this throughout the episode, and they all have to do with things that occurred during the original series. By diving into these past events, the series not only pays homage to the original, but also to the legacy fans who have continued to support the series through the new reboot.
Bette (Jennifer Beals) and Tina (Laurel Holloman)’s daughter Angie (Jordan Hull) finds out that her biological father, whom she’s never met, is dying. Too afraid to mention anything to her moms, she turns to her Aunt Shane (Katherine Moennig), with Angie confiding that she feels like she needs to see a therapist in order to sort out everything going on in her life. Shane is supportive of Angie talking to her parents about seeing a therapist, and also offers a cautionary tale of being careful what you wish for–especially when it comes to fatherly relationships.
For the first time really since it happened during season three, Shane talks about leaving Carmen (Sarah Shahi) at the altar, after reuniting with her father who brought out the worst parts of herself. Shane confesses that she allowed him to get into her head and convince her that she wasn’t going to be able to change in order to be faithful to the woman she truly loved. The acknowledgement of this mistake, as well as the toll it has taken on her life, shows just how much Shane has grown over the course of both series.
The other emotional touchstone in the episode centers around Alice (Leisha Hailey), who is working with her editor Tom (Donald Faison), on putting the final touches on her autobiographical manuscript. Over dinner, Tom states that everything in the book is looking good, except for the chapter about Dana (Erin Daniels) looking a little “thin.” While Alice is reluctant to discuss the details about her relationship with Dana, who died after succumbing to breast cancer, Tom offers up a personal story about his brother dying in a car accident when he was younger. This seems to help Alice, as she opens up about her feelings about Dana:
“I see her when my eyes are closed, but I also see her when my eyes are open. I can hear her laugh. Smell her smell. I…can feel her. And I miss her so much sometimes, the emptiness is like….but there’s nothing I can do about it because she’s gone. And I do not want to dwell on the fact that she was taken from me, and robbed of a life because of some fucking disease.”
Hailey does some of her best work as Alice during this scene. The impact that Dana had on her life, how she still constantly thinks about the love of her life, and the anger she feels about having Dana’s life ripped away from her, is palpable. The fact that Alice still goes through life smiling and joking, while having so much pain and anguish existing just below the surface –with no one the wiser– is a credit to the craft of Hailey’s acting ability.
You can view a portion of the Alice and Tom scene here.
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