The third season of The L Word: Generation Q is upon us, and I’m here recapping every single episode. Whether it be the epic rekindling of everyone’s favorite (or least favorite) romance, a sexy affair sure to end in disaster, or the return of one of my favorite original L Word characters, I will be talking about every key moment and giving you all a chance to chat about it in the comments.
It’s spooky season!!! I cannot explain how exciting it is to be getting a themed episode of The L Word. It’s been so many years without a single clear indicator of time or season, and now this season we are coming in with a strong holiday timeline. I love it. Episode 4 is not traditionally a super action-heavy episode, and this one was no different. It was mostly filler, but in the best way. So many of my favorite L Word episodes are filler, because that’s when we actually get to see people having personalities.
Right from the start we get a throwback to the original series. Finley and Sophie are getting coffee at a daytime Dana’s cafe as they chat and wait for Dani to walk through the door as though none of them have jobs, very a la The Planet. The hangout at the end of last episode must have gone well!
Sophie expects Dani to be struggling, but she actually rolls in looking and feeling amazing. Her friend Roxy is coming into town tonight, and she’s ready to go out and party. Roxy is Dani’s “bad friend”— hot, fun, and down to end up at an orgy. Sophie’s worried that they’ll get arrested, and Finley jokes that Sophie already knows how to bail them out.
On the other side of town, Taylor is waking up from a deep sleep— at Alice’s house. They’ve been in bed together for 2 days straight, but that hasn’t reduced any of Taylor’s insecurities! She feels like a ghoul who doesn’t even need a costume and is too shy to ask Alice if she has any contact solution.
Based on Alice’s timeline, it’s the third day of them in bed together, and I can’t help but wonder if either of them have jobs they’re required to attend? Either way, they decide to stay in and watch scary movies together rather than go out for Halloween.
At Shess’s Tess found a Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz halloween costume she thinks her mom will love. When she makes it to the kitchen, Shane has already dressed her mom up as Dolly Parton. We then get a very awkward scene where Tess ignores Shane, and Shane walks around the kitchen looking hot and dejected in an outfit that I absolutely must have.
Shane and Tess have plans to go to n/naka for dinner that night, which some research has informed me is a 2 Michelin Star Japanese restaurant with four dollar signs on Google. The third time Shane asks, Tess confirms the plan.
Micah has a whole list of questions on parenting, and he’s planning on getting them all answered tonight when he and Maribel meet up with one of Maribel’s coworkers, a nonbinary parent with a trans male spouse. They’re the only trans/nonbinary parents that Micah and Maribel know, and while Micah is clearly stressed, Maribel is dressed up as an avocado for Halloween without a care in the world.
These two are quite literally never on the same page!
Angie is bopping to some music in giant over the ear headphones as she heads off for class when her roommate bursts through the door to share that she got her first ever paid acting gig! It’s one night only, but Angie isn’t able to go because she’s “studying”.
By studying, she means fucking Hendrix, who she has been seeing despite him being her professor. I hate this so infinitely much. Why didn’t she drop the class! There is no way this will end well!
Night time has arrived, and one half of an avocado and Micah show up to the trans parent’s and their children’s Halloween party. Right away, a small child throws up on Micah’s foot, and he proceeds to swear a whole bunch of times, much to Maribel’s dismay.
We won’t get too far into that, because who emerges from around the corner but MAX. THE MAX. As in, DANIEL SEA from the original series! He is happy and married to Maribel’s coworker Reese (Armand Fields) and they have four children together. This was truly the most delightful surprise. It’s also a bit ironic that these are both the only trans parents Micah knows, and the only trans people who have made more than a one episode appearance on The L Word, but we’ll take what we can get!
Hendrix and Angie are all dressed up and headed to a haunted house. Hendrix is insecure about being there, but Angie is excited to be themselves in their absolutely foolproof costumes that surely nobody can see through.
At Dana’s, Roxy, Dani and Sophie have come out to party, and Roxy immediately sets her sights on Shane. Dani says she has a serious girlfriend, but Sophie says she’d probably sleep with her anyways, which Finley, who’s working behind the bar, is not a fan of! Tess and Shane are practically married and Sophie should not spread lies!
Personally, if someone with no stakes in the matter told me they saw someone cheating I’d believe them, but then again if I was an alcoholic I wouldn’t work at a bar, so Finley and I make lots of different choices.
We’re back at Max’s, and Micah and Maribel are having a sit down chat with Reese and Max amongst the noise of children running about. Notably, Max is now using they/them pronouns, which is very cool and also accurate to how Daniel Sea himself identifies.
The children call Reese Dama, and they call Max Nibi. These are absolutely adorable names for parents and I may or may not be stealing Nibi. Maribel makes a joke about her dad being made up, and Reese and Max, being the well adjusted happy trans people they are, recommend getting over her daddy issues with therapy. Maribel prefers humor, and makes a couple of jokes before awkwardly leaving the party early.
Angie and Hendrix are making out at the haunted house when Angie’s roommate, Bella, spots them. The haunted house was quite literally her acting gig and Angie went anyway! She makes up an excuse that Hendrix is just “some guy she met in line” and they go their separate ways.
Hendrix wants to know if it’s weird that he’s her teacher, and the answer here, impressionable young kids, is YES! It is absolutely weird and unacceptable. But Angie says it’s not, because that’s not how they met, and because she’s 18 and doesn’t know any better, and that’s enough for Hendrix to continue onward.
One person who won’t be getting any tonight is Tess, who is unable to leave the house because the agency sent a new nurse to take care of her mom and she doesn’t want to leave. The n/naka reservation will have to wait for another day, but no plans are made because Tess fully hangs up on Shane.
While Dani and Roxy quite literally rip apart Sophie’s outfit to make her hotter, Shane sends Ivy a “u up” text (notably sans rainbow emoji) and starts drinking alone.
Sophie convinces Dani that Roxy is into her, and Dani makes instant moves. She’s ready to go from friends to lovers, and Roxy is fully on board. They’re going home together, folks.
Alice and Taylor are watching a scary movie, but Taylor hasn’t exactly seen much of it because her eyes are closed. She’s not sleeping, though; her contacts are burning and she can’t get it out. Taylor starts to have a serious conversation about her insecurities, but there’s a loud banging sound and they get distracted by the sound of someone trying to break in. Personally I find it relatable to assume that every sound outside is a break in, but then they lost me when Alice’s phone was all the way in the kitchen rather than right at her side where it belonged. The horror comedy is so perfectly played by Alice here.
Shane goes outside to fuck in Ivy’s car, but there’s some things Ivy has to do first. She got Shane a pair of hairdressing scissors with her initials on the inside, and she also has to move her baby seat from the back of the car. A quick readjustment, and they’re good to go!
These two are very hot and I just wish Shane would be poly already!
Unfortunately for Alice and Taylor, 911 is busy and Alice turned her panic room into a wine cellar against her mother’s advice, so there’s no escaping. Taylor decides to go check it out (since she can’t see her own death coming anyway), and when she starts screaming Alice grabs a wine bottle and comes to the rescue.
It was just a talking pumpkin head! These two have an adorable bonding moment, and I’m so happy that Alice is finding a genuine connection. Taylor’s still worried that Alice is perfect, but Alice just didn’t think they were at the level where she could do that yet. Now they are, though, and Taylor finally gets that damn contact out of her eye.
In a scene that would be emotionally devastating if I had been given any reason to care, Tess tries to get her mom out of bed to use the bathroom while her mom fights her. Mom doesn’t want to be Tess’s patient, and she calls for Victor.
Mom just wants her daughter to stay her daughter, not her nurse, and she begs to be sent to live in a nursing home. My heart truly breaks for Tess because she’s just trying to do the right thing, and it can’t be easy caring for your mother in that state, but also— serves you right for being rude this entire season?
Sophie and Finley have what is almost a cute coupley scene, but then Sophie apologizes for not telling Finley about Shane earlier. Unfortunately, Finley still doesn’t think Shane did anything, and this causes Sophie to become the resident cheating expert.
Finley comes at her for her “pattern” of cheating. On her ex with Dani, on Dani with Finley, on Finley with Dre while she was in rehab. This fight kind of came out of nowhere for me, but I’m glad all of these issues are out in the open so that they can start working through it.
Sophie goes to the bar to close out her tab, and a girl comes up to offer to buy her a drink while she’s there. Sophie says that she has a girlfriend, and leaves. Is this supposed to be growth because she was upset about not getting attention literally an hour earlier? I am not sure.
Shane and Ivy are still fucking in the car, and I’m waiting for someone on Twitter to brighten this scene so that I can actually see what’s happening.
The only one who could see this scene? Finley, who’s bringing out the trash. Turns out Sophie was right about everything, and our girl Finley is not happy about this.
Back at the house of children, everyone has left except Micah, who’s hopeful that he and Max can go out for a drink and chat more. They have a beautiful bonding moment where Max says that they’re happy to talk because he’s “the one who gets to tell you how great it’s gonna be. Your whole life”, and I am fully sobbing, because unlike Micah I am not on T, I am on my period.
At Dana’s, Finley is waiting to confront Shane. She says that she idolized the relationship between Shane and Tess, and now her image of everything is broken. I relate to this speech so much as a baby gay who looks up to literally every older lesbian couple I’ve met in my life.
There’s something so inspiring in gay couples who have what I hope to have one day, and to quote Finley, it’s “really fucking disappointing” when they don’t live up to the vision I held for them.
Dani and Roxy are making out, they’re laughing, they’re making out, they’re being super cute super hot friends who’ve been waiting for this moment for a while. Dani tops Roxy on the couch and the action comes to an end when an earring sticks into Roxy’s leg.
Looking at the earring is enough to make Dani realize she’s still in love with Gigi, and Roxy is there to let her cry. This is one of the most realistic portrayals of queer friendship I’ve ever seen on this show all about queer friendship. One second they’re about to hook up, and the next Roxy is there to be Dani’s entire support system.
Alice is taking her relationship to the next level by showing off all of the things that are wrong with her. She wears a mouthguard to bed, wears earplugs, and enjoys watching The Voice: Australia to destress. For the first time, Taylor is seeing Alice as an equal, and I’m so excited to see where this relationship is going to go.
Shane is standing in the back room at Dana’s looking moodily at a text from Ivy that says she’s at the bar. She grabs her phone to head out, walking quickly through the crowd when suddenly MAX SEES HER. A MAX AND SHANE REUNION!
Viewers of the original will note that Shane was the only one who was even remotely nice to Max, so I’m glad that it’s her that gets to lead the reunion. Max shares all of their life updates, and asks if Shane is still “being Shane”. She says she has a girl while mentally questioning everything, and then she apologizes for the way everyone treated Max back then.
I’m assuming this is the show’s way of apologizing for the way they treated Max in addition to Shane saying that, which is nice, but I’m more happy about the fact that Daniel Sea and Leo Sheng get to hang out together and do scenes with other queer trans people!
Max is there to answer all of Micah’s panic questions, and I’m so fully here for this relationship.
Sophie is home eating Halloween candy, and Maribel arrives for the two to have some bonding. Maribel was told by a “smart ass” to resolve her daddy issues, and Sophie is worried she’s exactly like their dad.
The two talk about how neither Micah or Sophie is their dad, and it’s a cute moment of growth for both of them. Sophie tells Maribel that she could be nicer to Micah, and thank god someone finally said it because she really has been mean this season!
It turns out Angie spells “night” like “nite” and just like that her cool factor goes down by 500. She finishes texting Hendrix this abomination when Bella comes back to the room and demands to know everything about the boy Angie was kissing.
She tells her, including the fact that he’s her creative writing instructor, and I’m SO GLAD she did. Relationships like that can become toxic so easily if you’re forced to keep them a secret, so at least this ill-fated romance is doing something right.
We finish the episode by spending a couple of minutes with all of our potential couples. Roxy shares that she’ll move to LA permanently the second Dani is ready to make her her wife, and the two dance around the kitchen together. Finley tells Sophie that she was right about everything, and she wants to know all the details of Sophie’s hook-up. Micah wears the avocado costume for Maribel, and she promises to be nicer.
Then we go to Dana’s, where the combination of Finley and Max have convinced Shane to end things with Ivy. Fortunately/Unfortunately, Tess sees the whole thing. This woman has been having an absolutely horrendous night! Tess throws her drink in Shane’s face and storms out.
And that’s the episode!
