The L Word S5 Ep 9 - Liquid Heat

Was this episode an homage to the Coppola family or what?

Starting with the L-Word version of the Godfather, with Don Bette and Sonny Kit as her sidekick. All we needed was a horse’s head in Bette’s bed once Jodi finds out what’s really going on. And the end of the episode only required different lighting since the music was already there, et voilà, a Sofia Coppola movie. OK, I’m exaggerating, but still.

Let’s get down to business. Literally. As the last 5 minutes or so were all about getting down (and dirty?).

Welcome back Max for starters. Maybe I won’t be making friends here but I actually thought that was hot (to quote next season’s new guest star, Paris Hilton). I admit to being puzzled at first: let’s face it, Max made his entrance into the L-world as Jenny’s boyfriend, then transitioned, then did Billy (albeit under the influence of the hormones), then shifted back to Grace and now is with Tom. And for the first time, also a bottom instead of a top, as was the case with Billy. I had the odd sense that for Max it was quite liberating to be with somebody who really was interested in him, after overcoming the whole gender issue.

On to Alice and Tasha: it is getting hotta in here. Alice is seemingly back to normal again and it is quite cute to watch them. Especially the scene where Tasha is ‘feeling’ the humdrum noise of the rush hour. Mind you, if I lived there, I’d have to move. Waaaay too much noise.

I really felt sorry for Shane at the end. This is the straight crush that won’t go away, but it has also put Shane on the receiving end for once. Her just desserts, some might say. Do you feel as if she is nothing else but a sexperiment for Molly? Who just wants to drive her mother back out of the lesbian world and into her father’s arms? We’ll see.

Jenny/Nikki/Adele: teen sex and an incredulous Nikki locking lips with Adele. A lot was made of the letter that Jenny had written, but what if Adele had re-written it?

Kit is in overdrive this episode, although the scene where manages to keep her baby sister under her thumb and immediately reads Bette like an open book is quite touching.

Jodi is getting the short end of the stick, whichever way you look at it. In that sense, this episode was rather strange, if you look at Bette’s scenes.

The scene by the pool: Jodi leaps into the pool, liberated as she is (visions of Marlee Matlin in children of a lesser god). The scene with Bette and Jodi by the pool was cruel. I can see why she wouldn’t be so happy about Jodi’s attentions, excessive as they are. A bit of overacting there, I think. That said, saying ‘I love Tina’, while knowing your lover can’t here you, is downright unpleasant. The scene in the elevator is quite revealing at another level, as they don’t actually discuss feelings, but limit themselves to superficiality (you surround yourself with beauty, we have the same friends, etc,). I also have a pair of comfortable slippers, but at the end of the day, I’m not married to them, if you see what I’m getting at. A relationship is about much more than that, and the ‘I love you’ seemed so hollow, and added on an afterthought. Also note that Tina says affair, while Bette wants to come home. Add to that that Tina is still chatting up the AD and what do you get? Two ships in the mist, albeit some hot mist.

Love in an elevator(1): I know, I know, give me one chocolate and I want the whole bar. It had been built up in such a way that I expected a major explosion. It was a minor bang. The previews led me to expect more, for some reason; there have been better scenes between these two in the past. But as my SO remarked: I hate the Tina character, but I find that I can watch her when she has onscreen time with Bette. These two are simply made for each other.

And finally: double D’s rumble at She-Bar. I’m not familiar with Miami customs but I did find this scene a bit strange. Does this mean that you can’t survive in WeHo if you’re not in with Bette and her crowd? I also got the feeling that Fuck no, Denbo was still in the driver’s seat as the new kid on the block. Although her lover Cindy seems to want to dispute that. Laughed at Jenny’s comment (she’s pyschotic).

Weirdness:

- Nikki’s nipple tape.

- Molly’s ‘weird, boobs’ comment.What a major turn-off.

- Visions of Olivia Newton John in Grease every time Jenny was in the picture. And what’s with the identical shoes for Adele? Is Jenny that blind?

- How interesting to play a lesbian in a lesbian series, and watch your real-life daughter acting getting her freak on with another woman, while both of you are straight?

- Fun: the shot of Phyllis upside down from Molly’s perspective.

- A thought: looking at the excess fabric around Laurel Holloman’s waistline, could it be that she is once again with child? (Which is why we are careening towards a happy end for Bette and Tina, going for baby number two in the next season?)

* A shout-out has to go out to Joyce Wischnia for wearing that tank top and giving Phyllis a dose of her own medicine.

* Refrigerator scene: how many of you wanted to be that tub of ice-cream!

!! Photo courtesy of Dorothy Surrenders.

(1) Aerosmith brought out this song 13 years ago. I'm feeling very old all of a sudden!