There is often an implicit bitterness when a person calls someone a “Boomer”. It is immediately considered an insult; a rejection of their experience or general point of view. While this is rampant on social media, we also see it replicated in shows like the Netflix reboot Saved by the Bell and Blockbuster, a sitcom that pokes fun at anyone over 30 for their entire personality.
So when Showtime announced a few years ago that it would return to the world of “The L Word,” its groundbreaking drama from the mid-to-late 2000s that focused on lesbians in Los Angeles and reunited its cast OG with a new and young, there was a lot to worry about.
First, the original series, while still progressive in many ways, is very white. It also has an outdated portrayal of a transgender character. So the writers’ potential to have the younger characters in “The L Word: Generation Q” either throw snide comments at their older counterparts or turn them into out-of-this-world quacks (like “That’s it…did) it was very, very big.
But “The L Word: Generation Q,” directed by showrunner Marja-Lewis Ryan, never did anything like that. It also has a more complete representation of weirdness.
Now, as Sunday enters its wonderfully textured third season, it gives its original characters — played by Jennifer Beals, Kate Moennig, Leisha Hailey and Laurel Holloman — the grace to still be flawed and deeply human, to recognize their flaws and to be open to learning. .
And refreshingly, they have candid conversations and friendships with the millennial cohort, including those played by Rosanny Zayas, Arienne Mandi, Jacqueline Toboni and Leo Sheng. They even exchange advice; a simple, mundane thing you’d expect in real life that’s almost completely absent on TV.
Season 2 provides one of the best examples of this. Finley (Toboni), a fun-loving young bar worker, struggles with alcohol abuse, and her partner Sophie (Zayas) helps coordinate an intervention for her. Sophie reunites everyone who loves Finley, including Shane (Moennig), Alice (Hailey) and Micah (Sheng).
It is not just that this gathering represents a spectrum of generations coming together in a common cause. It is also a difficult, honest and serious conversation that includes different voices, perspectives and personalities.
These characters don’t always agree and they all make mistakes, but there’s a respect between them that makes it easier for them to coexist and root for each other.
The third season of “Generation Q”, even in the first four episodes made available to the media, has the same effect. We see this through both the personal and professional friendship between Sophie and Alice, talk show colleagues who support each other when they need it most.
Like when Alice asks Sophie for advice on getting back into the dating world after cutting ties with her ex-partner Nat (Stephanie Allynne), opening the door for a Very intriguing romantic possibility with a certain “Chasing Amy” star.
Or when Finley, fresh out of rehab and struggling to make amends, sits down for a heart-to-heart with Carrie (Rosie O’Donnell), Tina’s (Holloway) ex, who recently relapsed.
In a much-needed moment of release, Finley also has an incredible water fight with bar owner Shane, who in many ways is her older and equally troubled counterpart, as the two Attack, attempt to help Shane’s partner Tess (Jamie Clayton) start a new business. (This scene is very funny and wild until Tess shows up, rightfully upset).
There’s also less-A type partners Bette (Beals) and Tina, who navigate the reality that their daughter Angie (Jordan Hull) is all grown up and in college — and produce their own Gen Z advisor in case their moms have find value in a sweet moment.
Even before that, Shane, who can’t seem to mess up even in his healthiest romantic relationships, is happy to sit down and help fix some of Angie’s relationship problems.
However complicated these unions become from time to time, a necessary reciprocity is reflected. And it’s so ingrained in the DNA of this sequel that you don’t even think about stepping back to really admire it. It’s just there.
But that’s not all that “Generation Q” has, although it’s certainly one of its virtues. Even with its very large cast of characters, none feel hamstrung. True to the essence of the original series, they all search for love, a semblance of life, and career fulfillment in remarkably diverse and meaningful ways.
Micah and his girlfriend, Maribel (Jillian Mercado), have an honest — and rather necessary — conversation about whether they can and should move forward with a child after Maribel blew him (and honestly, the audience) last season.
Meanwhile, type-A PR executive Dani (Mandi), Bette’s obvious counterpart with whom she also works, tries to enter into a fragile relationship with real estate agent Gigi (Sepideh Moafi), which takes a very unexpected turn.
While in a way it makes sense that these characters would reunite on a show that has been unwaveringly focused on the lives of queer people in the City of Angels, it’s still heartening to see people of all generations having conversations and not each other. the other one.
And watching these characters—including one of this season’s series OGs—reveals things whenever someone cares and hurts someone else’s feelings. It’s the humanity and vulnerability of both parties that ground those moments, because they’re not filled with malice.
These are characters who, yes, occasional stealing from each other’s romantic partners (I may never forget Finley breaking Dani and Sophie up) and breaking their hearts or getting on each other’s nerves for not doing what they really do should do or say. But one of the things “The L Word: Generation Q” does well is show its intentionality. And with that, their heart.
