The L Word: Generation Q Review: Lose It All (Season 1 Episode 7)

On The L Word: Generation Q Season 1 Episode 7, “Lose It All,” the characters continue to grapple with the way their past patterns of behavior threaten the precarious happiness of their present.

Part of what made the original version of The L Word unique was its dualistic tone — the characters were always toeing the line between selfishness and self-effacement, which gave every scene the potential to feel simultaneously delightful and demoralizing. The drama was juicy, sometimes even borderline farcical, but the emotion underneath it always felt intense and dark and real. 

This episode of The L Word: Generation Q resonates on the same frequency, and no scene demonstrates that dualism better than Bette and Tina having dinner together.

When Tina delivers the news of her engagement to her new partner Carrie, you can see a half a dozen emotions pass through Bette in an instant — the sadness, the love she still feels for ex-wife, the crushing finality of her hopes being dashed. 

Jennifer Beals absolutely nails her performance in this scene. The way she reacts to the news — reaching first for the wine bottle, then her empty glass, then retreating to the kitchen to buy herself the briefest moment of private grief before returning with a fake smile plastered on her face — had me laughing and then tearing up in the span of thirty seconds.

It’s some of the best work that Beals has done on The L Word: Generation Q, and probably no coincidence that it comes opposite Laurel Holloman, her most frequent and familiar collaborator. 

Tina’s engagement would have us believe that any chance of a Tibette reunion is probably dead, but the chemistry between these two feels so authentic and lived-in that it’s impossible to write them off. If Tina does move to LA and continues to spend time with Bette, it seems plausible that the relationship between these two could get complicated again in the future.

Speaking of complicated relationships, the chemistry between Finley and Sophie continues to develop in this episode — culminating in a kiss that, depending on your viewpoint, is either an ill-advised misstep or a sign of a new relationship on the horizon. 

Sophie’s relationship with Dani seems thoroughly doomed at this point, but it’s Finley that I’m most worried about. Throughout the season, Finley has been wrestling with the notion that she’s “broken” because of some unarticulated past trauma — but more and more it seems like the true source of Finley’s suffering is the way other people abuse her friendship during moments of personal weakness and distress. 

For all of Finley’s messy frat boy behavior, she’s a really good friend. She shows up when people need her, putting her own issues on the back burner in order to comfort and care for people whose emotional needs seem more acute.

She reminds me a lot of Shane, who has had similar relationship problems because of her tendency to support everyone else’s needs while resolutely neglecting her own emotional well-being.

The fact that Finley is so present and available means that people are more likely to take advantage of her kindness — which, in Sophie’s case, makes it hard to tell if she kisses Finley out of genuine romantic interest, or just misplaced grief and gratitude. 

On the one hand, friends-to-lovers is one of my favorite romantic tropes. There’s something special about romantic pairings that are born from years of slowly-burn affection and intimacy that suddenly seems to transcend what’s normal in a platonic friendship. 

On the other, Finley is so desperate to be loved — not just because she’s available and reliable and non-judgmental, but because she’s worthy of being desired and cared for in her own right — that if Sophie is leading her on, the fallout will be absolutely devastating. 

The other big storyline of this episode is that Micah’s mom is in town, and he wants her to meet José — but the meeting takes a dark turn when she repeatedly misgenders her son, causing him to storm out of the restaurant. 

Despite The L Word: Generation Q‘s promises of better representation for trans characters, Micah’s scenes remain frustratingly fixated on his gender. 

The problem isn’t that the writing around Micah’s trans identity is bad, it’s that his character has been entirely defined by his trans-ness in a way that seems unfair, given how multifaceted and complex the rest of the characters’ storylines are.

Micah, by contrast, has had no character development outside of the relationship with José — which has also been characterized primarily by fears and insecurities related to Micah’s trans identity. These scenes would play so much more effectively if the audience were afforded more opportunities to learn about the rest of Micah’s life: his career, his friends, his dreams and aspirations.

Unfortunately, he just hasn’t been granted the same level of nuance as the rest of the Gen Q newcomers, and that’s an issue the show will need to fix in future seasons.

Aside from that ongoing problem, “Lose It All” might be the best episode so far of The L Word: Generation Q. It manages to capture the darkly empathetic spirit of the original, while also providing some extremely memorable and conflicted moments for characters like Sophie and Finley.

What did you think of this episode of The L Word: Generation Q? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The L Word: Generation Q airs Sundays at 10/9c on Showtime.

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