Photo: Paul Michaud/Showtime
Nearly four years after Sex and the City shimmied off HBO, gays across the country (OK, well definitely this gay) are still mourning the loss of the near-flawless show that had us loving then shunning sugary pink cocktails and mammoth floral broaches. I'd say, "Get over it, the movie is on its way," but, frankly, I know it still stings like we've been whipped mercilessly by a Manolo strap.
While the cashmere-donning, workaholic, not-so-dimensional gals of certain other shows stumble their way through their lackluster lipstick jungles, my complicated L Word ladies are smoothly sailing through tense tete-a-tetes, ace one-liners, and smoldering friction between the sheets. Though they're not quite filling the void Carrie and Co. left us with, Showtime's sapphic dolls are throwing the best Sunday night femme-fests since the beloved foursome celebrated Miss Bradshaw's return home from Paris in SATC's sad but inevitable finale.
Case in point: Bette and Tina's long-awaited rekindling romance, which began two weeks ago with a shocking lip lock at the newly opened rival lesbo hangout SheBar, and really heated up this past Sunday when Tina swept Bette away from the stove and into the boudoir. Frankly, I haven't been this stoked about an affair since Carrie and Mr. Big cheated on their respective lovers in SATC's racy third season. Carrie's sordid turn as the other woman resulted in one of the most nail-bitingly awesome arcs ever on television, and I'm hoping for some of the same complex drama in the next few weeks of The L Word.
How long will the star-crossed (?) lovers fool around until Jodi finds out? Should they just come clean? (Not yet!) What will distinguish this prickly, betrayed-lover storyline from that of SATC is that it's actually tough to hate any of the characters involved. Sure, Bette gets a bit grating with her constant anxiety and Tina a bit self-important with her film projects, but, come on, would you ever wanna see Jodi take a topple down the stairs and chip her tooth a la SATC's loathsome Natasha?
And then there's the show's sartorial sweetness, aptly following Fashion Week. Insisting that their look reflect the tone of her fashion-filled movie Les Girls, Jenny, The L Word's resident bitch-on-heels, took her shrinking violet of an assistant, Adele, to get a makeover. Little does Jenny know that Adele has cunning little plans of her own to sabotage her. And what do we think of Adele's new hairstyle, a blatant ripoff of Jenny's own signature 'do. Umm, Single White Female much? I'll say it yet again: This lesbi-chic series has been crafted for us, homos!
I'll conclude my argument that The L Word is rapidly approaching SATC's smart, stylish splendor by affirming that its darlings and villains are capable of delectable bons mots, too. Take the genius line from jealous SheBar owner Dawn as she threatens Shane and declares war on The Planet, claiming it's a "wannabe Peach Pit of a shithole." Yowsa! Ain't nothin' like a sour jab that references one of our favorite soapy '90s dramas, featuring another frosty queen by the name of Brenda Walsh.
SATC may have given us a well textured, perfectly manicured blend of wit and sudsiness, but The L Word is on the verge of delivering some hard-edged, heavy-duty histrionics, its talons out, fully sharpened, and ready to claw at anything that stands in its path.
-- JASON LAMPHIER
Previously: The L Word gets baked
The four women in SATC, 99% of the time had relationships/sex with MEN! In a lot of cases, hot nearly naked men. Where do we get that now?
Posted by: jim | February 12, 2008 at 07:06 PM