Welcome back to Off the Chart,
Season 2: G 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, L.A.
senior editor at Xtra and I still
maintain that I killed Jenny
Schecter.
And I'm Michelle Turingan, managing
producer of video at Xtra, and
my pickup game is about as good as
Finley's.
Probably worse.
I've not seen this pickup game, so
I'll take your word for it.
So Episode 2: What stood out to you
this week, Chelle?
So for me, this episode was
all about the consequences from
decisions made in the series
premiere. Dani took this new PR
position with Bette's campaign, but
neglected to consult with her
fiancée first, which makes Sophie
really upset.
And then when Dani tells her dad
that she's leaving the company and
that she's engaged, Papa Nunez
is not impressed.
Shane absent-mindedly welcomes
Finley into her home, only to have
her accept divorce papers that Shane
has been trying desperately to avoid
receiving. And after going rogue
with Bette Porter's appearance,
Alice's TV execs make
her hire an annoying bro-y senior
writer.
So, Erica, what did you think of
Episode 2?
Yeah, the episode had me thinking a
lot about like communication
and who needs to know what and what
they're trying to avoid.
You know, Dani doesn't tell Sophie
about her new job working for Bette,
and that causes a lot of
friction—rightfully, I think.
You know, Bette has to unload
all these deep, dark secrets—which
we will definitely process later
on—for the protection of her
campaign.
Shane's MIA wifey files for divorce
even though Shane has been trying
to avoid it, as you said.
Micah and his new hot neighbour
Jose have the sort of awkward start
to the day when Jose brings up that
Micah's trans.
So there's a lot being unsaid in
this episode. It's a guessing game
here, which is a little frustrating
as a viewer.
But I guess we'll wait and see
what happens next.
Yeah, they're really stretching it out.
It's my favourite time of the
episode: Lez
recap!
Chelle, start us off
with Finley.
Of course. So it appears that Finley
has taken up Shane's offer and is
now staying at her place.
And while Shane is away, Finley
accepts a package on her behalf,
unknowingly serving Shane divorce
papers.
Rattled by this exchange, the two
decide to go out for drinks where
Finley makes Shane pay for
everything, and then she proceeds
to hit on every single woman in the
bar with absolutely no game—until
Finley meets Rebecca, played by the
amazing Olivia Thirlby.
Things get pretty hot and heavy with
the two, but they need to pump on
the brakes when Finley begins to
feel ill.
Now, at one point in the show,
Finley kind of alludes to only being
able to have sex while she's drunk.
And we watch her have this somewhat
panicked moment when she is making
out with Rebecca. So like a what's
up with Finley?
Yeah. I don't know.
This episode made me more interested
in Finley than the first, I'll be
honest, because as we said in the
previous episode, they played
off Finley as the sort of goofy,
obnoxious kind of character.
And this I think brings a bit more
depth.
And I think that we'll watch
her grow a bit more.
And to me, that's more endearing.
I don't know how you felt about
that.
I mean, I already found her
endearing, unlike many other people
on first watch.
So
I'm a Finley ride or die.
Damn, that's strong.
I mean, I told you, I just like
I have a strong affinity for her.
But what I'm curious to know is,
like, what is this reason?
Like, why did she need to get drunk?
Like, why is she awkward with girls?
I think that's what we'll see play
out as we continue to watch.
So, Erica, why don't you tell us
about Dani and Sophie?
Yeah. So Dani is starting her first
day as head of PR with Bette.
Sophie's pretty pissed and I don't
blame her.
Dani made a massive career change
without even thinking to talk to her
fiancée. Red flags!
Like you guys have been engaged for
one day.
They host a huge engagement party.
Sophie's family doesn't seem totally
convinced that this is the best
idea. I don't know how many times
Sophie's mom has to tell
her that she doesn't have to go
through with this marriage.
It's getting a little heavy there.
It's all really beautiful and dreamy
and all that. I'm not convinced
it's going to last or remain this
way. But what I found really
interesting about the whole
engagement party was these
depictions of Sophie's large Latinx
family in juxtaposition
of what we had seen in the original
series with Carmen.
What do you think of that?
I have to be honest. I was kind of
disappointed in how they've
portrayed Sophie's family so
far.
They seem a little contrived.
They seem a little like stereotypes.
Whereas I felt like when
I watched Carmen's family and their
interactions, that to
me felt authentic.
I certainly can relate to
kind of seeing big fam jams where
everyone's like talking over each
other and like getting ready for
dinner. And I just didn't get the
same kind of vibe from Sophie's
family. What did you think?
Yeah. And I felt kind of the same
way. And so I'm Italian
and I have a huge Italian family,
and so watching the scenes with
Carmen in the original series
where they're all sort of talking
around the fact that Carmen's
gay and there with her girlfriend.
I've been in that situation.
I'm always in that situation.
So I liked that.
I didn't get that same sort of
feeling. I agree with you.
But I did like that the show, I
mean, is trying to obviously be
more diverse.
One of her sisters has a disability,
so there have a lot more
representation there.
So what about Micah?
So Micah and Jose go on
their date.
It's adorably awkward, as one would
expect on a first date.
Micah mentions he has something to
confess.
But when Jose assures Micah that he
knows that he's a trans man,
Micah actually reveals that his big
secret is that he's using a gift
card for their very fancy dinner.
So a little awkward.
But despite the miscommunication,
they really seem to hit it off and
they end their date making out in
the pool.
So do you think that the show is
setting up Micah to start
this exciting new relationship or
are they setting him up to get
burned by Jose or burned by
Tinder dates or burned by whoever
happens to come his way?
I'm really rooting for
Micah to have a happy ending.
I think we all want to see that.
Yeah. I mean, like especially to
bring back the conversation we had
last episode about Max, where
every single one of Max's
relationships ended in
darkness and despair
and hopelessness.
It would be really nice just to see
a trans guy and his cis
gay partner get along and go
through the usual sort
of hurdles and obstacles of a
relationship as opposed to things
just becoming deeply depressing.
Like a shitshow. Like, yeah, like
just a nice navigation of what that
looks like would be sweet.
Yeah, that would be lovely.
But we'll see what they do.
So Erica, what's going on with Bette
Porter?
Yeah. Bette's campaign is in triage.
And now that it's known she fucked
a married woman, who was also an
employee of hers in the way that
only Bette could, you know, she has
to unpack a bunch of
not-so-flattering secrets
about herself, including the fact
that she cheated on Tina.
Angie still pissed off, but she's
forced to join Bette at the campaign
office because she skipped school
with her friend Jordi.
But in the end, Bette ends up on top
of everything in the episode.
She speaks to an LGBT center and her
empathetic conversations there go
viral. Someone films them, of
course.
Yay Bette... Except she ends
up meeting up with Felicity, the
fling, again.
There are so many red flags in this
episode.
Bette, c'mon!
So my favorite part of the episode
in exposing all these skeletons in
her closet.
Looking ahead.
Is there anything else I need to
know?
Meaning?
Is there anything else people could
use against you?
Bette tells Dani that Jenny killed
herself at her house in 2009.
Ten years later, we finally have
Jenny clarity.
How do you feel about it?
I mean, I
have so many feelings around Jenny.
Yeah, I think like a part of me
had really hoped that Mia Kirshner
would come back as Jenny Schecter in
some way, shape or form, whether it
was like in a flashback even.
But I don't think that's going to
happen. My hopes are dashed.
Yeah, I mean, when we were
discussing how Jenny died and
all that are in our Season 6 recap
in the first season, we all kind
of agreed that we thought Jenny
killed herself. So it's
nice to have closure.
The fans finally have closure
after like 10 years.
Yay, Jenny.
Alice, what's going on with her?
So the cold open is a
flashback to two years ago when
Alice and Nat were first dating.
And we are introduced to Nat's
ex-wife, Gigi, played by Sepideh
Moafi, where she goes
completely bonkers on Nat in the
middle of the night, leaving her
wedding ring nailed to the front
door.
Fast forward to 2019.
Alice is pleased with Bette's
appearance on our TV show, but her
TV execs don't agree.
So they hire this senior writer,
Drew Wilson, who has a lot of
experience but his silly ideas
are not in alignment with
Alice's vision. So Alice gets pulled
away from the office unexpectedly
when her stepson, Eli, gets sent
home from school for being sick.
And then later that night, Alice and
Nat have an argument about the kids.
And Alice basically tells Nat, I
want you to believe that I am
capable of caring for these
children. We end with Alice and Gigi
having a very nice heart to heart
about parenting.
So like, what do we think of Alice
Pieszecki being a stepmom?
I'm going to say it again: Shane's a
better stepmom.
I mean, we know that.
Shane aside, like, how do we
think Alice is handling this?
I think she's doing pretty well.
I wouldn't let a kid puke in my
crockpot necessarily.
He's gonna blow any second!
But I think by comparison to the
first episode where, you know, the
opening of the episode and Alice is
like, oh, we're still waving at them
or whatever, right? She seemed kind
of annoyed. She seems a little bit
more empathetic and a little bit
more warm toward the kids,
especially Eli.
So that was kind of nice to see.
It seems like she's done a lot of
growing up, which I like.
Yes. Yes.
And like, it's becoming clear to me
that, like, Alice really loves Nat
and her kids are part of
the package.
So if she wants to make it work, she
has to make it work with them as
well.
And we see that she wants that when
she has this conversation with Nat.
Everyone assumes that Alice is
incapable and she's
pleading with her partner, like I
can do this, just trust me.
So I would like to see more
interaction with the children in
future episodes.
So what's going on with our
favourite fuckboy?
Sad boi Shane is sad.
So she gets her divorce papers in
the mail.
She decides to just ignore it 'cause
Shane.
Broken Hearts Club, yay!
She heads to a bar with Finley.
It used to be a lesbian hangout, and
now it's a sports bar.
So she ends up defending a bartender
there when she's harassed by this
drunk guy.
So there's a lot of wheels turning
here. Shane says there's no longer
any lesbian bars in the city.
She's got a lot of money.
What's a rich lez to do?
TBD?
But I really liked...
There's a line where Shane's
called "the living legend."
Everyone in the city knows who you
are. You're like a living legend.
How do you feel about this
assessment?
It's been 10 years.
Does her reputation really hold
up for a decade?
Yeah. And she was married for
like... We're presuming that she's
been married for a while.
Like what? I don't know.
I don't really buy...
Shane as a living legend?
I don't know.
With that haircut still
OK, it's time for our Superlatives
Round. Each week will crown our
favourite moments from the episode.
It's just like reading through your
high school yearbook all over again,
just queerer.
Chelle?
So the most pretentious moment,
of course, is awarded to Bette
Porter, when she casually
name drops feminist artist Judy
Chicago and her art installation,
The Dinner Party.
Dani is, you know, getting ready for
her first day at work and she
catches a glimpse of a piece of
artwork on the wall.
And then they have this conversation.
And Bette drops her art world
knowledge on her.
Just so pretentious.
So Bette.
Honorable mention for Best Ride or
Die Line goes to Finley when she
says to Shane, I just want you to
know that I would help you hide a
body.
I love this line.
I have been saying this line to my
BFF for decades,
so it really hit home for me.
I loved it. Yeah, I kind of like
the Shane-Finley,
dynamic, their sort of foils. It's
nice. Yeah.
For me, I'm going with the Saddest
Display of Pickup Artistry.
You know that distinction belongs to
Finley. I really, as I just
said, I really appreciate the
writers contrasting our living
legend Shane to sad
puppy dog Finley.
So I started kind of watching that
scene laughing.
And then I ended up like physically
uncomfortable in my chair once she
got to, like the 15th woman in the
bar.
I liked it.
It was funny.
Finley need some more game?
I just watched you introduce
yourself to five other women.
I'm very friendly.
But you know what? I think that
Finley's game is just fine because
after going through this series of
women, she finally ends up at
Rebecca, who's been watching her
hit on like all of these women
the whole time.
And, you know, she's still around.
So she perhaps finds it quite
endearing.
I think the bigger question here is:
what is wrong with Rebecca's
judgment?
That's it for this episode.
Tune in next week for our thoughts
on Episode 3 and more
of Shane's trademark impulsivity.
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.
Girl, I know who you are.
Everyone in this city knows who you
are. You're like a living legend.