* SPOILER ALERT *
WARNING: THIS CONTAINS -SPOILERS- ABOUT SEASON 6 OF THE L WORD! YES, THAT'S RIGHT: SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The L Word: Fifth season.
Okay, hopefully all those who hate surprises have departed....
With the premiere of season 6 fast approaching, what will happen in The L Word’s last season?
The teaser doing the rounds on YouTube offers very little.
Will Bette and Tina get back together?
Meanwhile, will Alice and Tasha stay together?
What will happen with Shane? Jenny?
Question, questions...
* SPOILER ALERT *
WARNING: BIG, BIG -SPOILERS- BELOW! BEST TO AVOID IF YOU WANT TO REMAIN IN THE DARK.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The spoilers doing the rounds indicate that - gasp! - Jenny dies. Drowning in Bette's pool. Was it an accident? Was it intentional? It seems Shane might be involved.
If Jenny is found floating in Bette’s pool, what does that say about The L Word? Some fans are lambasting the storyline claiming it plays on tired, old stereotypes of the tragic lesbian meeting her death à la The Children’s Hour. If Shane is to blame for Jenny’s death, you then have the lesbian-turned-murderer stereotype to draw on. It’s raining clichés! Grab an umbrella!
Back when The L Word launched, Chaiken said in an interview for Hollywood networking group POWER UP! that “Jenny, although not me, certainly reflects a little bit of my life experience. Jenny the writer who comes to L.A. and then discovers, or reckons with her sexual identity”. The first few seasons were doing just that – allowing Jenny to discover and come to accept her sexuality.
And now? She’s dead. One cannot help but think that it’s a less than great message to send to viewers (especially the curious) – come out and end up as a corpse. But then again Chaiken has repeatedly said that television, particularly melodramas such as The L Word should not be a place for politics.
So what does Jenny’s death mean? With The L Word often being regarded as a soap opera, Jenny’s death draws on similar themes from old favourites such as Melrose Place. In this context, her death seems only fitting. Maybe we should look past the politics and just see it as light entertainment? But then again, we are lesbians and that seems impossible...
As Jenny’s storyline was the impetus for The L Word at the beginning, with her death, maybe the show is seeking some kind of morbid full cycle? Maybe it’s Chaiken bringing about closure for the show and her old shelf as embodied by Jenny? Although that sounds a bit artsy...
What do you think about Jenny’s death? Good riddance? Tragic? If nothing else, the character certainly polarised the opinions of fans.
- C
POSTSCRIPT: Hmm, I wonder if a movie version is in the works like Sex and the City. Now that would be interesting. But what about Jenny? Bring her back from the dead? Or maybe draw on that staple from other soap opera’s and introduce Jenny’s long lost twin? Hmm, but then that has already been done, kind of, with the introduction of Adele.
The L Word: A fourth season cast shot..
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
* SPOILER ALERT *
WARNING: YES, -SPOILERS- ABOUT SEASON 6 OF THE L WORD ABOVE! SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS.
