Welcome back to Off the Chart,
Season 2: Gen Q edition.
This season, we're watching The L
Word: Generation Q with you,
bringing you our unfiltered take on
the new series reboot every
Monday—because we still can't get
over those L.A.
lesbians.
I'm Erica Lenti, senior editor at
Xtra, and I'm back!
I'm back from L.A.
I was babysitting Angie; she's doing
well.
Good. I'm glad to hear it.
And I'm Michelle Turingan, managing
producer of video at Xtra, and I
would like to be sitting in *that*
row at Angie's school play.
You'd be a stage mom.
Okay Chelle, we're in the latter
half of the season already, which
feels like it came way too
quickly.
Very quickly.
What big themes stuck out to you
this time?
If Episode 4 was about asking
what do you want, then I think
Episode 5 was all about asking, what
do you need?
So when Alice and Nat and
Gigi are talking openly about the
threesome and the real possibility
of a throuple, Gigi asks Nat, like,
"What do you need me to do now?"
Finley learns about the horrible
things that she said to Rebecca
while she was blackout drunk and
asks Rebecca, like, "What do you
need me to do now?" Bette asks
Felicity, "What do you need to hear
right now?" when Felicity has
trouble accepting that their affair
must end.
Sophie asks herself, "What do I
need to do to make Dani open up to
me?" while we see Dani be completely
vulnerable with Bette?
Quiara tells Shane, "I don't need
you. I just want you." So there's
a lot of contrast between needs
and wants, desires and
responsibilities.
Lots of tension as we get to the
second half of this season, which is
great. What did you think?
Sort of further to your point, I
feel like there was a lot of discussion
of like guardianship this episode.
So like, who is responsible for
whose needs? How to care for them,
how to love them and so on.
We have this thrown quite literally
at us with Shane, who learns of
Quiara's pregnancy, and she kind
of contemplates her position on
parenting. We have Bette, obviously,
who stands in as the dope mom for
Jordi when her parents can't come
to the school play.
But it's also sort of flicked at a
bit with Tess, who tries to help
Finley through her issues.
Sophie, who desperately wants to
take care of Dani.
The show keeps reminding us that at
its core, yes, it's about love
and desire, but it's also about sort
of our responsibilities in our
relationship.
Right.
It's not all about fucking.
Not all about fucking.
OK, Lez Recap!
Chelle, talk about
Sarah Finley.
So Tess finds Finley sleeping
in the back office at Dana's
and when a hungover Finley wakes up,
Tess decides to ditch work for a
little bit to bring Finley to get
some hangover food.
And over brunch, Finley admits that
she sometimes gets blackout drunk
and Tess reveals that she's broken
up with Lena. So they bond over
their respective issues around
alcoholism.
And Tess hires Finley to cover
for Lena's shift when she goes AWOL.
Later that day, Finley goes over to
Rebecca's to apologize for showing
up drunk the night before.
But Rebecca calls Finley out on
what she actually said to her and
can't remember:
Do you remember what you said to me?
No.
You need to work on your own shit.
Finley's pretty distraught.
And in this moment of upset,
she calls her dad, who quickly
dismisses her off the phone.
Finley shows up to her shift at
Dana's and tells Tess that she
actually doesn't know how to
bartend. And Tess pours them shots
and they decide to drink, breaking
her sobriety.
And after hours, they play
a rousing game of Never Have I Ever.
Your favourite game.
This show just loves this game.
And then they inevitably hook up,
which is hot. But what's happening
with these two?
So Finley,
it seems as the season has
progressed, just wants to be numb
all the time.
But we still don't know why
she's trying desperately to forget
about or run away from something.
Erica, do we have any theories of
what that might be?
I still think there's something
around the church, her family,
possibly conversion therapy.
I think that scene where she calls
her father and realizes that
her sister is engaged, they're
having an engagement party for her,
and she had no idea, and
then she just starts bawling, was
like so gut-wrenching.
Yeah, I think I think there's
something there.
Like, what is she doing?
Why is she doing this?
And like. Tess!
Test was sober for two years.
Decides to break her sobriety for
fucking Lena.
Not worth it.
Super upsetting.
Well, I don't know. Damaged people
seem to like attract each other,
so they're commiserating together.
For her to make a mistake
this big, I feel like the trauma
must be as equally
as horrible. And I just hope that
they tell us soon what it is.
So, Erica, tell us what's going on
with Dani and Sophie.
Things just keep getting rockier for
these two.
I don't know if they're gonna make
it. So Dani's dad sends
over some chocolates—and a prenup
because of course.
Because those go together.
And in the prenup is a clause that
Sophie's children would not be part
of the Nunez family trust because
they would not biologically be
Dani's. Dani, of course, flies into
a rage and confronts her dad about
it. She tells him that she won't
sign the prenup. She's rightfully
upset, but she won't talk to Sophie
about it. Instead, she goes to work
and gets comfort from Mama B,
who just happens to be there. I
don't blame her.
How do you predict this relationship
is going?
It feels kind of predictable that
it's gonna go up in flames before
the wedding, but also too
unbelievable that they'll make it to
the altar unscathed.
So I don't know what they're going
to do here that will make it
exciting.
To me, it feels weird that
they haven't already sorted out this
kink in their relationship.
Like you two are engaged and you
don't ever talk about your feelings
or your issues or like big,
important decisions in your
relationship? Like,
shouldn't you have sorted this out before you got down
on one knee?
How they'll get out of this, I have
no idea.
OK, if this does go up
in flames.
Who do you think is going to stray
first? Is it gonna be Sophie or
Dani?
What a question.
I mean, we know Dani has her daddy
issues, so I wouldn't be surprised
if she goes to Daddy Bette.
Right.
I mentioned last week that I feared
that the writers might take Dani
down that path.
Dani confides in Bette over
Sophie very easily
and readily.
And I just like, please, please
don't hook up with Bette.
It's too contrived to me.
Yeah, I agree.
I don't know. We'll see.
We'll see what happens there.
All right. Let's talk a bit about
Micah.
So Jose is leaving Micah's place and
he says "I love you" accidentally,
which is cute and throws
them both off. When they talk about
it later that evening, Jose says
that he's never connected with
anyone like this before.
And Micah says it's OK that they
don't know exactly what they want
yet. They just want to enjoy
whatever is happening, whatever that
is. Micah seems willing to
be vulnerable and try something
out that it seems like he's not been
able to do with other partners
before, which is exciting to see.
And I thought it was like a really
nice representation of
a sex scene with a trans guy.
I know that we talked so much about
Max and how that was represented
in the last iteration of the show.
But it was just so nice to see Jose
be like, "is this OK?"
And like, I'm just so grateful to
see that this made me really happy
that we've got some awesome
representation, at least.
Absolutely. So, Erica, tell us
what's going on with Bette Porter.
Okay. Never mind Bette.
First of all, most importantly,
Angie's back and she and Jordi are
starring in the school play.
Angie doesn't want Bette there
because she's a teenager.
But Jordi's parents can't come.
So Bette is going to play Mama B to
everybody, apparently this episode.
But she also dodges Angie's
questions about who's calling her in
the car. It's Felicity, obviously,
and she feels really guilty.
So she officially breaks things off
with Felicity. The affair is
allegedly done.
Angie's play is really weird and
adorable and basically everyone
but Tina shows up to cheer
Angie and Jordi on.
These two are so in love, so
and teenage love, I love it so much.
But then as Bette and her fam
are getting ready to leave the
school, Felicity's husband shows
up again. He shoves Angie
to get to Bette.
And then Bette retaliates like the
true Mama B and shoves him.
Then he falls down the stairs and
he's not moving at the end of the
episode.
But never mind Bette.
I want to talk about Angie and Jordi.
Love it.
This relationship is just like
everything.
So cute.
It reminds me so much of like
teenage Erica falling in love
in high school with the cute girl.
You know, there's no big revelation
around Angie's sexuality, which I
think is kind of nice and novel that
we're not just focusing on like a
coming out storyline for a teenager.
I don't know about you, but I feel
like it is maybe a queer person's
rite of passage to maybe a fall
in love with your best friend at
some point in your life.
So that's adorable.
It'll be interesting and cute to see
how the writers play
that relationship out if they do.
In those rainbow Converse.
And ninja suits.
Okay, what's going
on with Alice?
Okay. So lots going on with
Alice! Alice and Nat and Gigi.
all wake up in bed together, hungover
from the night before.
But before they can get into that
conversation, Eli starts knocking on
the door and Gigi has to frantically
sneak out through the patio door.
Alice and Shane are with Bette at
her campaign office, calling voters
and catching up as friends do.
So you're a throuple now?
Wait, wait.
What? What are you saying?
Throuple.
It's a couple plus one.
Quiara's pregnant.
What?
Okay. Well, that's bigger than my
thing.
Bette drops a killer line about
choices.
You make a choice because there is
no right choice.
Only choices.
I feel like that was directed at me
somehow.
Later that day, Alice asks Nat and
Gigi if they want to talk about the
threesome. Nat reveals how
heartbroken she was by Gigi's
infidelity and Gigi will do
anything to be in Nat's life.
So she offers to leave, but Nat ask
her to stay. And Alice assures
her that it's OK.
So the three of them show up to
support Angie's school play, and
Alice holds both Nat and Gigi's
hands while Bette and Shane look on.
So there's a really fun scene where
Alice and Nat and Gigi are
discussing what ifs—all these
hypothetical scenarios and how
they would deal with them.
What happens when we go to the kids'
swim meets or of one of your parents
call or we're on a red carpet?
Like, how do we handle this?
There's a real genuine curiosity
and I think exploration of what
a throuple could look like,
which I've never seen on TV.
No, I haven't either.
Like. So what do you think of this?
I really like it.
I think it's like a fun exploration
into like polyamory and what those
kinds of relationships look like.
The L Word has always explored these
different kinds of queer
relationships.
I mean, I still have this
fear that it's going to blow up and
that Alice and Gigi are going to
fall in love and Nat's going to get
left out of the equation somehow.
I hope that doesn't happen because I
would really love to just see like a
successful throuple.
I love the throuple!
I love how the show is approaching
this topic.
I'm interested to see if it'll
work out or not.
All right, Erica, tell us what's
going on with Shane.
So we kind of start this episode the
same way we did in the last episode,
which is with Shane and Quiara
getting it on. Except this time it's
real! Yay And
no biggie, but Quiara's pregnant.
She wants to be with Shane as a
partner.
She tells you she doesn't need to
raise her baby.
Not entirely sure how that's going
to work. Alice hilariously says:
I think that's what I do.
The show, meanwhile, gives us a
really nice glimpse into Uncle Shane
with Angie, who is navigating her
crush on Jordi, of course.
Shane as a parent keeps coming up.
And we've talked about this in the
first few episodes before we even
knew about Quiara and this
pregnancy. I think she's arguably
the best parent of
the cast.
Why do you think she's so averse to
it?
I mean, I think Shane is averse
to it because she had shitty
parents. Somewhere deep inside of
Shane's core, like she doesn't want
to repeat the sins of her father.
So it makes sense to me that she
doesn't want to have her own, even
though she's great with them.
Do you think that she's going to end
parenting Quiara's kid?
Like, how can you not?
How will you explain that to the
child the older it gets, right?
So I don't know.
I guess we'll see them play out—like
they'll have their fun at least and
then end up in the same place.
Who knows?
And also, Daddy Shane.
It's time for our Superlatives
Round!
Each week we'll crown our favourite
moments from the episode.
It's like reading through your
high-school yearbook all over
again—maybe just a little queerer.
Chelle, what are your picks?
So Honourable Mention for Best Music
Drop goes to Janelle Monae's "I Like
That," which plays after Bette and
Felicity secretly meet and Alice and
Nat and Gigi are hanging out.
But the Best Family Moment
goes to Shane—Uncle Shane—and
her niece Angie when they talk
post-performance about Andrew's
feelings for Jordi.
This conversation is simple,
easy, honest and full
of love and their secret snap
handshake at the end is everything.
It's such a beautiful moment.
I love this scene.
Man, I would have killed for an
Uncle Shane when I was a teenager.
God, Angie's so lucky.
What's yours?
Okay. Honourable mention for Most
Dangerous Lesbian Processing goes
to Sophie and Dani, who are fighting
about Dani's dad and all of their
feelings while Dani is operating a
motor vehicle.
Could they have just waited or maybe
pulled over or gone to a coffee shop
or something to process?
But Best Performative Accent
goes to Shane McCutcheon's weird
southern drawl while calling voters
on Bette's behalf.
She confidently proclaims that
people love southern accents.
And I think it's true.
It's true.
I love Alabama Shane.
OK. That's it for this episode.
Will Bette stay in the mayoral race?
Can Dani open up to Sophie?
Is Angie in love with Jordi?
Yes.
And how is Finley going to deal with
all of her fuckups?
Tune in next week when we process
Episode 6.
I'm Erica Lenti.
And I'm Michelle Turingan.
Off the Chart: Generation q is
produced by Michelle Turingan.
Our executive producer is Rachel
Giese. And our music is by KidKulit.
If you like what you're hearing,
please review us on iTunes or
wherever you get your podcasts and
feel free to get in touch with us on
Twitter @XtraMagazine.
Until next time:
So you're a throuple now?
Wait wait, what? What are you saying?
Throuple.
It's a couple plus one.