World Famous Comics: The L Word - The Complete Second Season
The L Word - The Complete Second Season
Directed By: Tricia Brock, Tony Goldwyn, Burr Steers, Ernest R. Dickerson, Jeremy Podeswa Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Showtime Ent. Number of Items: 4 Release Date: October 25, 2005 Running Time: 700 minutes Theatrical Release Date: January 18, 2004
Description: Set in the chic world of Los Angeles, this humor-laced dramatic series explores the lives of a group of lesbians, their friends, family and neighbors. The series takes a smart, sexy and fun look at the hopes, dreams and lives of these people as they deal with things like career struggles, relationships and the pressures of tying to start a family. The second season of The L Word takes off with 13 hotter-than-ever, sexy episodes filled with sizzling new characters. A must-have DVD set for the legions of fans that have purchased Season 1.
Amazon.com: Once a series has broken new ground, where does it go from there? Showtime's The L Word, concerning the relationships of a community of lesbian Los Angelenos, turned heads with its smart, funny writing and fully realized characters. Season Two offers more of the same, with some notable guest stars and experiments in narrative and music. This season, Jenny (Mia Kirshner) fully embraces her sexuality as her ex-husband/roomie (Eric Mabius) departs and voyeuristic documentary filmmaker Mark (Eric Lively) and womanchaser Shane (Katherine Moennig) move in. Shane and Jenny struggle good-heartedly over the affections of new character Carmen (Sarah Shahi), who isn't given much to do plot-wise apart from occasionally spinning records and serving as one corner of the love triangle. Bette (Jennifer Beals) and Tina (Laurel Holloman) start the season on the rocks due to Bette's infidelity; the introduction of the one-dimensionally nasty Helena Peabody (Rachel Shelley) causes further friction between Bette and Tina while playing havoc with Bette's curatorial career. Meanwhile, Dana (Erin Daniels) and Alice (Leisha Hailey) go from being best friends to being a whole lot more, providing some of the most touching scenes of the season. Kit (Pam Grier) takes on The Planet, the seeming center of LA's lesbian universe, converting it into a nightclub where, conveniently, guest-starring bands can play.
Strong points of the season include Bette and Kit confronting the death of their father (the superb Ossie Davis) and Shane's new job as a gopher for a high-powered Hollywood producer (the equally superb Camryn Manheim). Less strong are the distracting, neo-expressionistic passages meant to be glimpses into Jenny's creative mind and the interminable use of the series' theme song--re-interpreted in a number of genres--to the point of distraction. Mark's voyeurism, which crosses all sorts of boundaries as he installs hidden cameras around the house, is a brilliant way to challenge male viewers who may tune in just to TiVo their way to the sex scenes. That said, the arc of that particular story grows increasingly far-fetched as Mark somehow avoids criminal prosecution and instead endures the horrible fate of having Jenny refuse his offer of coffee and a muffin. Despite its flaws, The L Word is a show that deserves to be cheered on, not for its politics, but for the skillful way it conveys complex human entanglements with sensitivity. --Ryan Boudinot
Great Season! The L word complete second season was very good. I enjoyed watching it. All of the characters are very talented.The only story line I didn't like was Jenny's. Her story line is so boring and kinda on the crazy side. Dana, and Bette, are the most enthusiastic actor's that makes this show a success, they are the ones who give it that extra boost.
Buy Season 1 only This show went downhill in a hurry when it summarily dismissed its most interesting character, Marina. I watched the first season and was so intrigued with her. Then the first episode of the second season...well, did they really think we would buy that this smart, sexy and intelligent woman would try to KILL herself over of all people..the dysfunctional Jenny? I got half-way through the second season and found myself bored. The L Word really messed up when the let go its only true woman in the the lot of girls. What a waste of a tremendous talent.
The Best Season Ever!! (Besides Season 4) This is absolutely the funniest, sexiest and most intriguing season of the L Word Series... Its the season when Sole Mates Alice n' Dana build a relationship, Carmen and Shane have sexy love affairs then finally discover they belong together, Bette n Tina divorce, then reconcile, then start their family with baby Angelica, Jenny faces her fears and begins to find her voice, Kit gets the greatest gift-a new beginning and the main reason why I love this season is because its the last few performances of Ossie Davis! But I must say Season 4 was breathless I now own all seasons! Can't wait til Season 6 sad thats its coming to an end. I am however writing a screen play for a Black Lesbian Drama series...maybe you all will writie a review for that.. 1love
Great show Great season! I bought it because this is the cheapest I've even seen it sold.
thanks!
Sappho would be proud At first, this series makes you (or most people, anyway?) feel a little like Alice in Wonderland. Everything that's in the "regular" world is transplanted into the realm of the lesbian lifestyle. We have: lesbian stalkers, lesbian love-triangles, lesbian womanizers, vindictive lesbians, altruistic lesbians, confused lesbians, lesbian couples who want to have babies & much more. Somewhat surprisingly, however, after watching the show for awhile, all of the above stops being so strange and it blurs into the rest of the "regular" stuff in the world. That, I believe, is one of the focal points of the show.
One of the best ways to be introduced to the show is to have an overview of the main characters.
***Bette (Jennifer Beals) is a Type A personality, no-nonsense Ivy league graduate who is a curator of an L.A. art museum. Both her lifestyle as well as her profession draws the ire (not to mention persecution) of religious fundies. Beals is the Sarah Jessica Parker of "L Word" as she's the one actress whom we'd like to see strip down who never does so.
***Tina (Laurel Holloman) is a coy woman who wants to also be a mother. She always tends to have domineering women who try to seduce her - such as Bette, for one.
***Dana (Erin Daniels) is a professional tennis player who is an up & comer in the rankings. She is not as big a name as Marina Navratolova, so season one sees her struggle with keeping her personal & public life separate. By season 2, however, she has found a sponser (Subaru) that allows her to use her sexual orientation to her advantage.
***Alice (Leisha Halley) is the comic relief of the show, and she's also my favorite character. While her hairstyles are not always overly becoming, she's still absolutely adorable. She & Dana team up for some of the hottest scenes in the show. Alice also keeps a "matrix" on her wall @ home which tries to keep up with all the lesbian interactions in L.A. Whether she is straight, bi or lez, Alice would be an absolute BLAST to hang out with - regardless of your gender!
***Jenny (Mia Kirshner) is an import from the midwest, and it's evident that she feels out-of-sorts on the west coast. She moved to L.A. to be with her boyfriend, but she found herself to be sexually confused. She finds that she is bisexual (sort-of?), but more than anything else she is a sort of lesbian loose-cannon. With her gorgeous, mysterious eyes she is arguably the most visually stunning woman on the show (although I much preferred her w/the long hair she sported in season 1).
****My 2 least-favorite characters are Shane (Katherine Moehnning) and Kit (Pam Grier). Shane is a hairdresser who seems to have a phobia about combing her hair. She is a sort of female Don Juan (Donna Juan?) who can "score" with just about any woman at will. Why this is so, I have no idea. To me she looks like a female Johnny Depp. Kit, meanwhile, is Bette's straight sister who is not nearly so cerebral as Bette is. In truth, I find her character to be somewhat superfluous to the show, and I tend to fast-forward through her main scenes.
Many people have compared The L Word with Sex and the City - The Complete Series (Collector's Giftset). I don't think this is a comparison which should be pushed too far as there are some major differences in the timbre of the shows. First off, SITC is a lighthearted sitcom while L Word is a drama. L Word is NOT simply another SITC with a "twist" where the women are homosexual instead of heterosexual.
Secondly, the theme of homosexuality itself is not considered in a thoughtful way in SITC. Carrie has a gay friend named Stanford in SITC, but he's a buffoon who is not to be taken seriously. When 2 of the characters in SITC either engage in or think of engaging in lesbian encounters, it's in a recreational sense. The L Word, meanwhile, is about lesbian RELATIONSHIPS rather than simply some sort of recreational vehicle for women to find joy.
With that in mind, those who are looking for every episode to be filled with one steamy male-fantasy lez scene after another are likely to be a bit perturbed. There's no question that there ARE some smokin' hot scenes, but they go along w/the story as opposed to being contrived.
One of the most refreshing things about The L Word is the fact that, like Girl Play, it's not a show that is about male-bashing. As a man, that's one thing I was wondering about when I picked up the first 2 seasons (I'd never seen an episode on SHOWTIME). Surprisingly enough, it doesn't even take sides in the straight vs. lez lifestyles. It's not a "recruiting tool" to coerce young women to test-out the lesbian lifestyle. Rather, it demonstrates that being a lesbian doesn't "simplify" things @ all. Our lesbian friends have to face off against the same set of relationship difficulties that all people do, be they straight or not straight.
Lastly, those persons (like me!) who are looking for Gina Holden's famous scene with Jennifer Beals, be sure to check out episode 4, disc 1 of season 2. It's good that this show was made for SHOWTIME so it could bypass the FCC. It simply would not have worked if they had tried to make it "G Rated." I'm hoping they never try to water it down into a syndicated show on a regular cable channel, as they did with SITC on TBS.
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