The season finale of The L Word: Generation Q aired yesterday and we are left with SO. MANY. QUESTIONS. It’s a good thing we’ve already been assured the gang is returning for season two, because otherwise we might have had to march on down to The L Word offices and demand to know what happened after THAT CLIFFHANGER.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. Let’s go through the final episode of season one of Gen Q before we all have to collectively await the show’s season two return…whenever that may be.
Previously, on ‘The L Word: Generation Q’…Bette’s campaign suffered an attack from her opponent, Jeff Milner, and she also learned Tina is getting remarried, Sophie kissed Finley and decided not to tell Dani about her indiscretion, Alice broke things off with Nat and Gigi after feeling like the third wheel and the network demanded she come up with some sort of viral moment for a chance at having her show renewed, Shane agreed to help Quiara raise the baby, José told Micah he loves him, and Angie started dating Jordi.
You can read our full recap of episode 1x07 here.
And now, onto 1x08 “Lapse in Judgment”…
The big question of the season was always set up to be “Will Bette Porter become the first lesbian mayor of Los Angeles?” We’ll rip off the band-aid right up top: Bette loses the race. The polls are closed at the start of the episode and it doesn’t take long for them to reveal that, despite it being a close race and despite Bette winning two districts she didn’t expect to win, Milner inches out in front and beats her by a thread.
Bette is initially in good spirits — she tried her best, and it’s time to support those around her who are disappointed she lost. Besides, Milner has asked her to spearhead a task force to fight the opioid crisis. But when Dani passes along some info that makes her realize Milner’s offer is just for show and his ties to big pharma are too strong for him to actually help Bette make a difference, she spirals into a depression.
Angie finds her mom sleeping the day away on the couch, and drags her up on a hike to where they spread some of Kit’s ashes. Where Bette wants to be strong for everyone, and always was, through the divorce, through Kit’s death, Angie wants her to know that it’s okay to feel that grief. They wind up screaming at the top of their lungs just to let it all out, in a cute mother-daughter bonding scene.
On the way back down, Bette prods Angie about Jordi (no, they haven’t had sex yet) but gets distracted when they come across Maya (Tamara Taylor), a hot reporter who asks Bette out to dinner now that the election is over. After some urging from Angie, Bette accepts, and her story ends with her showing up to dinner, ready to start a new chapter of her life.
Dani takes Bette’s loss pretty hard at first, but by the next day, she’s ready to divert all her attention back to Sophie, suggesting they go to Hawaii and elope. With no clue that Sophie kissed Finley, she ends up convincing her that this would be the best way to start their family on their own terms, without listening to what anyone else wants.
Daddy Nunez comes to visit, and doesn’t take the news of their impending destination wedding too well. He admits he’s worried that because Sophie comes from a broken home, she’ll run when things get tough because she doesn’t understand stability. Dani fiercely defends her, and demands that he come to terms with their relationship. He appears to relent, and the topic switches to work. He offers Dani her old job back, something that he says is possible because he worked out plans for a corporate expansion with Milner months ago — proving to Dani that Milner is still going hand-in-hand with big pharma and that her own father was betting against her in the election.
But where Daddy Nunez was right to bet against Bette becoming mayor, he may also have been right to bet against Dani’s relationship with Sophie working out. Sophie and Finley chat early on, and decide to just pretend nothing happened. But obviously that was never going to work out. After some awkward interactions on set, Sophie finally tells Finley that she and Dani are eloping in Hawaii…and it leads to the two of them fucking in one of the offices.
This sparks an existential crisis for Finley, who shows up at Rebecca’s in the middle of the night declaring that she’s a terrible person. Rebecca is eager to send her away, but Finley surprises her by apologizing for messing things up, and for hurting her. At Rebecca’s suggestion, Finley sets off to find small ways to take responsibility for the mistakes she’s made, with the ultimate goal of getting over whatever shame she’s internalized that makes her think she isn’t worthy of anyone. The first step? Returning that bike she stole in the very first episode. But the second step is going back home to Missouri to presumably crash her sister’s wedding and try to make amends with her family. She lets Sophie know she’s leaving, and it’s unclear whether or not she plans to come back.
The end of the episode sees all three members of this secret love triangle making their way through the airport. Dani waits alone as the flight to Hawaii calls for final boarding, Finley gets in line to head back to Kansas City, and Sophie runs through the terminal, enthusiastic and confident, aaaaaand the show cuts to black before we find out which woman she was running to meet.
Meanwhile...Alice gets inspired by Bette’s loss — specifically, Bette’s insistence that she has no regrets because she ran the campaign she wanted to run without losing herself — and basically says a big “fuck you” to the network, and writer bro Drew, and their demand for a viral video. After a rousing speech explaining her vision for what may be their final show to her crew, Sophie procures author Roxane Gay for Alice’s final guest.
On stage, they talk about Gay’s book, Bad Feminist, and what the “bad queer” equivalent would be — someone who embraces heterosexual norms rather than bucking those trends as queer society historically has had to do. Alice admits she must be a bad queer, and explains her failed foray into polyamory to her entire audience. She’s heartbroken, and all she wants is Nat. And because of course we were going to get a viral moment out of this after all, Nat has been in the audience the whole time. She professes her love to Alice and tells her she’s going to fight for her — just her.
Shane leaves Bette’s viewing party for the mayoral race after getting a call from Quiara that she’s in the hospital. When she shows up, Quiara’s still waiting to be seen, and Shane loses her mind, demanding a doctor. But it’s no use, Quiara loses the baby. Later, Shane is at home boxing up some baby gifts her friends sent over when Quiara comes out and accuses her of being relieved that she miscarried. They get into a big fight, which is pretty much bound to happen when one person desperately wants a child and the other is just going along with it to be with that person. Quiara ultimately yells at Shane that no one will ever love her because she’s incapable of loving anyone but herself, and throws her wedding ring at her as she storms out of her life.
José has a big art gallery opening and brings Micah along, where he reveals a painting he drew of Micah partially naked. It’s nearly impossible to tell what Micah really thinks of it, but he ultimately tells José that he loves him — a very late return of the words José let slip a couple episodes ago. But everything goes to hell when Micah later meets an unexpected guest among the crowd — José’s husband.
Again: So. Many. Questions.
Regardless of whose storyline you're invested in the most, it's undoubtedly going to be a long wait between seasons to find out what happens to our faves next. But hang tight, maybe check out some other gay shows, and at least sleep easily knowing all these queer kids will be back on our screens again eventually.
And it's never too early to start a rewatch!
