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The L Word Season 3 Episode 6

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9.1

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AIRED: 2/12/06

Bette gives Tina her consent -- and a possible ultimatum -- to explore her feelings for men. Jenny meets with a publisher about her manuscript for a book, Billie makes Moira a tempting, but shady offer, Kit gives in to Angus' advances, and Carmen lays down the law to Shane regarding their relationship. Alice offers her support to Lara and celebrations are cut short when the girls finally find out the truth about Dana's condition.moreless

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (6)

I cried so freaking much!

9.6

By arkiux, Sep 02, 2006

Oh my gosh this episode was too painful for me to watch! The episode itself was quite good, but the one thing I do want to comment is about Dana’s sickness. It’s too hard to see her die! She used to be really perky, really quirky clumsy and so funny! I loved the old Dana so why are they doing this to her?

I cried like a baby, I don’t think I’m gonna like what’s coming next. I’m sad.moreless
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8.2

By Shana868, Sep 01, 2006

This epsiode was an average one in my eyes - not nearly as good as last week, but then, it would be hard for anything to live up to that!

I'm confused about Dana - I thought she was expecting to have one breast removed, but now it seems as though that was a shock and she's iller than she was? Unless that means she still has cancer...anyway, they should explain that better. The whole story-line is being handled very well. It was lovely when Lara called Alice, and Alice was just fabulous in her few minutes at the hospital - consoling Lara, telling off Dana's parents - her best screen-time yet all season in my opinion.

Tina wasn't as unbearable as last week. Though Bette was brilliant with her. Tina's 'straight' speech to Helena was acted quite well.

I'm enjoying Angus and Kit as a couple though I didn't like their first conversation this episode. Bette reacted perfectly, as did the guilty couple, when she returned home to find them - the look on her face as she ordered them to change the sheets was superb.

Am I the only one who doesn't think Alice's 'vampire' would be the committed relationship type?

Helena is growing-on me, she was really lovely this episode, though I can't see anything in the woman she likes.

I also found Jenny bearable, which is hopefully a good sign. No doubt she'll go crazy on us again soon though. And, no publisher would have flown that distance! I also don't remember who Rebecca is :oops:

Moira's bit seemed a biy pointless this episode. It's good to see Shane and Carmen work through things so quickly, they're a great couple. Though surely Shane has been monogomous to Carmen for quite some time now anyway, and so knows that she can cope with it?moreless
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"Cutting-ede" indeed... begging for more.

9.0

By olvidadero, Feb 24, 2006

The most heart-breaking episode of the season so far. I'm still paralized by the beauty and emotion of the last scene.

This was a very slow-paced episode of "The L Word", however it dealt with very relevant and emotional issues, such as Dana's operation and the later consequences. It was well-constructed, perfectly written (as usual) and all put together in a very intelligent and natural manner.

If you don't fall in love with "The L Word" after seeing this episode you won't probably ever do it. I can't imagine a better episode, and we're still halfway through the season. It felt like a finale, and that's what's great about "The L Word": they take so many risks, they don't mind delivering the important stuff before the final episodes. I'm sure there's still a lot of action that will go on in the next episodes.

The label "cutting-edge show" was always a promotional tactic for me (I always thought about "Queer As Folk": if this is innovative and cutting-edge...what's "Queer As Folk"? It's a pioneer right? We seem to be forgetting about that). But "The L Word" has proven to be very different (I'm not saying better, I still adore QaF), much more than an original and unique show. It should be used in the future to teach how to create the perfect drama show. The feelings and behaviours of these women are so true that it hurts as if they were your own family. Maybe that's a statement that's been said about many drama shows, but with this one, you actually feel it. The last scene in which "the gang" visits Dana was a proof of that (it actually felt like a cohesive and close group for the first time since season 3 premiere).

The acting is one of the strongest points in this show. Leisha Halley made me cry, Jennifer Beals' look was actually miserable and Sarah Shahi made me tremble in emotion. Those three women deserve an Emmy. Mia Kirschner is one of my favourite actors in the show, I loved her talking to the publisher, so sweet and real. Lara's character had a bit of developement at last and that was one of the elements that made this episode round. You could actually put yourself in her position and feel her desperation.

So, that's it, another great L episode that leaves you begging for more and more. I can't wait to get the whole season and watch the entire thing altogether to fully appreciate the show's essence in its totality, since each episode depends on each other so much and it's hard to wait a whole week to get into the story again.

So, it's a fact, isn't it? Season 3 of "The L Word" is a triumph.

Best: Almost everything (as stated above), especially the last scene.

Worst: Some predictable reactions on behalf of some characters (Jenny screaming in The Planet, Carmen throwing pizza at Shane).moreless
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Lifesize uh.... in this epidsode looks like its very complicated. Bette wanting to be with Tina so bad. Dana's serious conditions. Lara relationship with Dana.Then there's, Shane's ex affair involving Carmen's love for her.moreless

9.5

By mscelebgossip, Feb 17, 2006

I really kind liked this epidsode. I'm very surprised how Alice acted at the hospital she acted very adult like dealing with her obsession in all. The Carmen and Shane thing wasn't all that depressing. Carmen started to throw pizza everywhere wasn't really necessary. I know she was upset but it wasn't all that serious. But, it was funny when Carmen sprayed that foam stuff on Shane. Everyone knew Shae was going to mess up somewhere. Kit seems very happy with Angus I'm very happy that she has someone. Dana's parents were very disrespectful to Lara at the hospital. Bette and Tina are the most boring couple in lesbian histroy now. I don't even have a comment on them yet.Jenny caught Max in the back room. I knew something like that was going to happen.moreless
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Are you even ready for the best episode of The L Word since "Limb From Limb"???!!

10

By IceMachine213, Feb 16, 2006

Wow.

Season 2 was so such a letdown after the phenomenal Season 1, so I was glad when the third season started picking up (somewhere around...episode 2?)

But now we finally have for the first time since season 1 a fricking FANTASTIC L word episode!

The writing is dead-on. We have the serious drama with Dana, and the Shane-Carmen plotline to be explored, which is all handled beautifully.

Leisha Hailey as Alice shines in her usual comedic quips, but also in her very dramtic scenes.

The scene where Tina and Bette discover Kit and Angus in the house is priceless.

All in all an amazing installment, and really sets the bar back up for the rest of this season.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

EDIT

Erin Daniels	Dana Fairbanks
Jennifer Beals	Bette Porter
Katherine Moennig	Shane McCutcheon
Laurel Holloman	Tina Kennard
Leisha Hailey	Alice Pieszecki
Mia Kirshner	Jenny Schecter

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Callum Keith Rennie	Danny Wilson	Guest Star
Michael Hogan	Irwin Fairbanks	Guest Star
Barbara Kottmeier	Young Bette	Guest Star
Lauren Lee Smith	Lara Perkins	Recurring Role
Alan Cumming	Billie Blaikie	Recurring Role
Alexandra Hedison	Dylan Moreland	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (4)
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- Deleted Scene: Dana and Lara driving in the car
  This is a short scene with no dialogue in which Lara is driving Dana to the hospital. The girls don't speak and when Lara touches Dana, she just turns her head away.
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- Goof: In the closing credits photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's name in incorrectly spelled as Mapplethrope.
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- Opening Teaser:
  New Haven, Connecticut -- 1985: A young couple are at a dorm room at Yale University, looking at a book of art photographs. The picture they're looking at depicts a nude male and the young man, perhaps unwillingly, gets an erection. They have sex but it seems oddly dispassionate.
  The Connection: The young man is Coleman, the young service station guy from the opening scene in the previous episode. And the young woman is Bette, confessing to her boyfriend Coleman that she has sexual feelings about her female professor. Coleman and Bette form the sixth link in The Chart.
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- Jenny's publisher's name is Simon & Schuster. Earlier in the series Jenny used the pen name Sarah Schuster in her writings.
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QUOTES (11)
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- Bette: (to Kit) I can't believe I even have to say this, but out of all the men in Los Angeles, cute little boney ass or not, you have to go after the only man in our daughters life?
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- Shane: Carmen?
  Carmen: Yeah?
  Shane: I made a mistake. And I can't say that it won't happen again without being a fuck up and a liar. But I wanna try, and you're the first person that I wanna make that promise to.
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- Alice: (after Carmen sprays Shane with a fire extinguisher) Still tryin' to get her to quit smokin'?
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- Carmen: Okay, monogomy is a noun. It is the condition or practice of having a single mate during a period of time.
  Shane: I get it, Carmen.
  Carmen: Wait a minute, I just wanna make sure that you and I both know what we're talking about here. Um, ... Oh, listen to this monogomy is common amoung birds.
  Shane: That's great, 'cause I love birds.
  Carmen: It is the practice of having a single mate during a period of time. Does that mean anything to you?
  Shane: I'm willing to try. Okay, is that not enough? I'm willing to try something that doesn't come naturally to me, and that I don't understand but I'm willing to try.
  Carmen: Mmhmm. Right, birds, Shane. I'm talking about a goddamn fucking bird. I'm asking you to be as civilized as a goddam fucking bird.
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- Bette: Hey, Tina, I think you should explore it, this Josh thing. I mean, you really need to know what this is about, and frankly so do I.
  Tina: This is so screwed up, are you telling me to sleep with him?
  Bette: If that's what you want to do.
  Tina: I don't know what I want.
  Bette: Well, you need to figure it out. And you need to know that I can't promise that I'll still be here once you've got you're answers.
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- Kit: (after Tina and Bette catch her and Angus making out) We're just...
  Bette: You're just what?!
  Kit: ... Dating..?
  Tina: And making out like a couple of teenagers. Which I think is great, as long as you still baby sit.
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- Kit: Okay, so we had a couple of good rolls in the barn.
  Angus: Uhh, I counted four, actually.
  Kit: Okay, four fantastic orgasms, thank you very much.
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- Angus: What, I'm just your boytoy, is that it?
  Kit: (chuckles) Would that be bad?
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- Tina: I only dated men before I met you.
  Bette: So what was I, some kind of eight-and-a-half-year aberration?
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- Bette: We need some rules.
  Kit: Rules?
  Bette: Yeah, rules. Like, no sex in front of the baby.
  Angus: Of course not!
  Bette: Kit!
  Kit: (reciting) No sex in front of the baby...
  Bette: No sex in our bed.
  (Kit and Angus look at each other, shifty-eyed.)
  Bette: (disgusted) Ugh!
  Tina: (off-screen) Will you go change the sheets, please?
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- Moira: It's just that he made me feel like a real guy. You know? It wasn't just like some girl with this... thing in her pants.
  Jenny: Okay. Okay, it's okay. Don't hide.
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NOTES (4)
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- Original International Air Dates:
  Czech Republic: March 18, 2012 on Prima LOVE
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- Jenny's publisher, Simon & Schuster, is a real publishing house. It's owned by media conglomerate CBS Corporation, the same mother company that owns Showtime.
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- Music Featured in This Episode:
  - Christine by Siouxsie and the Banshees
  - Sermonizer by Cranky Jam
  - Wrapped Up by Othello 9
  - Ageless Beauty by Stars
  - Jumpers by Sleater-Kinney (performed at The Planet)
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- Unlike Laurel Holloman's (and Tina's) pregnancy, Jennifer Beals's pregnancy was not written into the script. This is why there are no clear and unobstructed views of Bette's middle section in Season 3. You can briefly see Jennifer Beals's protruding belly when she is unloading the groceries from her car.
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ALLUSIONS (3)
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- Jan Martin: (to Jenny) Not since Bastard Out of Carolina have I been so thoroughly convinced.
  
  Bastard Out of Carolina is a 1993 novel by Dorothy Allison about a poor girl who has been sexually abused as a child. Other themes in Allison's work include lesbianism and feminism; she herself is in a committed same-sex relationship. In that sense the comparison to Jenny and her writings is quite accurate.
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- Robert Mapplethorpe
  The photograph young Bette and Coleman are looking at in the opening scene is Derrick Cross (1983) by Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989). He was an American photographer, famous for his black-and-white photographs of male nudes. In his life, he had both heterosexual and homosexual relationships, and died of AIDS-related complications in 1989.
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- The t-shirt young Bette (Barbara Kottmeier) is wearing in an homage to the shirt worn by Jennifer Beals (contemporary Bette) in the movie Flashdance (1983).
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