what if pam was a lesbian?
We used to have a guy in The Eagle sports department who was a fellow "L-Word" fan, and we used to deconstruct the episodes every week. "What's Tina going to do next?" we would muse. "Can you believe Jenny? Augh! And Bette -- I never expected that from her."
Now that he's moved on to another job, I miss gossiping with him about all the crazy drama on Showtime's lesbian soap.
Especially because this season has been amazing so far. It really has. I was skeptical, because Season Three was really hit-or-miss, and I was afraid maybe it had just outrun any chance of ever being good again. But Four started off strong, and it's only gotten stronger in the three episodes that have aired.
For one thing, they've returned somewhat to the cold-open format of old: Originally, the show would open with a scene that related somehow to the episode, but didn't necessarily contain any of the characters and wasn't even necessarily in present day. It was more a reflection of the themes of the episode, or of the mood. It was very ambitious and probably pretentious in an artsy-fartsy kind of way, but it worked for the series. And then, somewhere, they kind of dropped the opening, or it fell apart somehow. And as it did, the show did too.
But now it's back in the form of Jenny's film: Because her script is based on the girls around her, each show opens with Jenny and her team playing with a scene from the movie, tweaking the action and popping new people in when the dynamic is wrong. It's very self-reflexive, very industry-insider, very wink-wink ... and very fun. Last's night's "Charlie's Angels" spoof was hilarious.
For another thing, well ... the show is fun again. Last season, there was a lot of drama, but it felt like no one was having any fun with it. There were fun moments, and I was hooked enough to keep watching, but most of the time I just wanted to jump through the TV screen and kill Jenny.
For another other thing -- finally, you're definitely supposed to want to kill Jenny! YES! I've always hated her, from the first season, when she was supposed to be the innocent, wide-eyed ingenue. I always saw her for the cold, selfish, manipulative ... uh, witch she is. But now that the writers have embraced her inner witchiness, it's fun to hate her again; it used to be that there were so many subplots that I'd forget about her, and when she appeared on screen I'd groan. Now I can laugh with glee, waiting to see what outrageous thing she'll do next.
There's only one way they can mess this show up for me, and I'm afraid they might do it: getting rid of Helena. She's been my favorite character since Dana died, and now that she's going on the lam with Dusty, I just hope the cameras take a detour now and then to check in with them. Or I hope the writers find some way to keep Helena in L.A.
I suppose we'll find out next week ...