passion = truth: "The L Word"

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

"The L Word" series finale? Lez than fulfilling. Whoo!

I know - it's just a television show.

So was MASH, Seinfeld and The Sopranos. Seems "The L Word" creator Ilene Chaiken has pissed off millions of faithful viewers of her popular Showtime drama that made lipstick lesbians in West Hollywood chic for six seasons. And I don't blame them. The viewers, that is.

I missed Seasons 3 & 4 (I think...the whole Dana cancer storyline) because I didn't have Showtime, which sucked because Dana was my favorite character. The series finale was built up to monumental status..."Who Killed Jenny Schecter?" You were made privy to the fact that she died in the first episode and the rest of the season was devoted to "flashbacking" the events that lead up to Jenny's death.

The problem is that in last night's series finale, the question, "Who Killed Jenny Schecter?" was never answered with any finality. Quite frankly, all the characters had a motive to kill Jenny. I had a motive...Jenny was a bitch and I wanted her dead since last season. (The character turn that Jenny took was too sudden and unbelievable for me. I blame the writers for that.)

Everyone has their own theory on what happened, but no one really knows for certain. I, for one, think Jenny committed suicide. It was really the only honorable thing left for the bitch to do. And I don't think any of the other lesbians are "killers" in the purest sense of the word. The only for-sure clues the audience is given are the following:

1) Bette was the last person the audience SAW with Jenny - ripping her a new one on the stair landing where the railing was yet unfinished. This was during the day.

2) Alice was the one who entered the living room announcing Jenny was dead (floating in the pool). Where she was just prior to that we don't know. All the main characters were present in that room. There was no indication how long Jenny had been in the pool and it was evening out. Oddly, Chaiken's new pitch, "The Farm", is about straight women and lesbians in prison and the lead character is Alice. Why is Alice in prison? Could it be that in "The Farm" we'll find out she killed Jenny? Chaiken said that premise would not necessarily be the correct one. Odd.

3) Alice's girlfriend, Tasha, enters after Jenny's body has been shipped off to the morgue and the cast is sitting around in shock with the police.

4) Nikki (the actress) is found in the bushes near the pool by police. No - it's not even clear cut that she did it. She was on her way to the party, saw the cop commotion and hid. That's what she said anyway.

5) There's talk of an "L Word" movie, which may be another reason why the series (and the who murdered Jenny) were not wrapped up so tightly.

Here's the problem I have with taking a cop-out approach. On SheWired.com, Chaiken was asked why was Jenny Schecter killed at all? And Chaiken said, "I think the entire season is dedicated to answering that question. So I think that I would be doing the show a disservice if I were to answer it. I mean, really you're meant to want to know the answer to that throughout the entire season."

And yet, we didn't get the answer. I don't understand why writers and producers feel the need to be cute and mysterious? I don't mind "twist" endings (as a playwright) - at least there's some finality. I think it comes down to selfishness (creators) and greed ("The L Word" movie). It's akin to a guy manipulating marionettes - or puppets. Control and power - there's your answer. 'I created this series and I can end it anyway I see fit'. Chaiken even admitted on camera that had she known the public outcry over Dana's death would be so deafening she may have rethought that plotline. During the one-hour special leading up to the series finale, Jennifer Beals (Bette) and Laurel Holloman (Tina) were lauding the viewers about how that without "our" support the show would not have been possible.

Considering her "questioning" Dana's death, why then did Chaiken give all of "us" who helped keep "The L Word" alive such a bullshit finale, one she had to know would piss her core viewers off?

Separated at birth...with a twist? The Keener Sisters versus Mei Melancon & alter-ego "Psylocke".

The "twist" here is that Elizabeth (top left) is Catherine's (top right) younger sister. So they aren't really "separated at birth". Still with me? What is odd is that Elizabeth appeared on several episodes of Showtime's The L Word last season. I thought SHE was Catherine. I'm thinking, ' wow, they must've made up Catherine to get a different look'. And there WAS something different - it wasn't Catherine.

Elizabeth's character isn't on the show anymore. Enter Mei Melancon. She not only looks like the Asian version of the Keener sisters, but she sounds EXACTLY like them. Well, you have to watch her on The L Word but just take my "L" word for it...sounds exactly like the Keener's.

Very odd. Now that weird, sexy character is Mei as "Psylocke" in the movie X Men: The Last Stand. She's sorta separated at birth from Mei. Sorta. I like Psylocke. You?

Jenny's dead.

The last season of Showtime's The L Word started off with a bang (or I should say, a "gurgle, gurgle") - specifically, Jenny's death by drowning. The remainder of the season is a flash-back leading up to her demise. Someone wanted her dead - but who? WHO I SAY???!!!

Good. Jenny turned into a raving bitch and she deserved to die. I wrote on an L Word message board last season that I was a bit confused and taken aback by Jenny's personality turn and that it leaned more toward a caricature or a stereotypical "raving bitch" - and thus, not believable to me.

Jenny's dead. That's a good thing. But the actress who plays her, Mia Kirshner, is very much alive. That's a good thing too.