There’s no small irony in the fact that Showtime’s groundbreaking “The L Word” will return quietly for its second season Sunday–a little more than a week after all that attention was paid to a kiss between two women on Fox’s “The O.C.”
For those who may have missed it, reams were written about the lip lock involving troubled “O.C.” rich girl Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) and bisexual bartender Alex Kelly (Olivia Wilde).
Not to knock how “The O.C.” handled this particular storyline. It didn’t happen abruptly, didn’t feel gratuitous, and it came off as kind of sweet, given Marissa’s often fragile emotional state.
But it didn’t come off as particularly real or erotic. For the real deal, you have to jump over to “The L Word” (9 p.m. Sunday), which last year became the first TV drama set in a lesbian community.
On “The L Word,” the sex is lusty and unapologetically raw. The women on this show live complex lives that include active, if rather messy, sex lives.
But before “The L Word” comes across like one of those late-night soft-core porn flicks you stumble across on Cinemax, let’s make it clear that the series is well-produced, emotionally engaging and aware of its place in TV history without being deadly serious about it.
“On the surface it’s just television,” “L Word” creator Ilene Chaiken said last month. “But I get that this is the first lesbian show ever made. To simply go out and proclaim our existence is meaningful.”
The large cast is very strong, with particularly compelling performances from Katherine Moennig as the predatory Shane McCutcheon, who loves sex but hates commitment; Leisha Hailey as bisexual journalist Alice Pieszecki; and Erin Daniels as Dana Fairbanks, a big-time tennis player who just came out of the closet.
But there were a few bumps and false steps during the first season.
The series got some deserved criticism for having characters who are all very, very good-looking. The “is she or isn’t she gay” storyline involving the confused Jenny Schecter (Mia Kirshner) got a bit tiresome after a while.
But “The L Word” comes on strong in its first episodes this year, taking on deeper issues than it offered the first time around and making room for delicious guest performances by Kelly Lynch, Sandra Bernhard and Camryn Manheim. And yeah, there’s still a lot of sex–and we’re not talking the occasional smooch on the beach.
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale ([email protected]) and Victoria Rodriguez ([email protected])