The L Word: Generation Q S1E6 review: Guess who’s knocking?

This week’s episode of The L Word: Generation Q sees the shocking return of someone from Bette’s past. But will she stay?

Last week’s episode of The L Word: Generation Q found Bette hitting the rockiest of bottoms on the campaign trail after an adorable group outing to Angie’s play. (The gays know how to turn out for theatre.)

This week, we open with the fallout from Bette’s scandal. Seconds into this episode and it is already giving me the drama I’ve been waiting for all season!

Alice is upset because she defended Bette on her show and Bette didn’t tell her the full truth about Felicity. She only gets more upset when she realizes Shane knows and walks out.

Shane, the most solid of all people, comforts Bette and tells her she’ll take Angie to her driver’s test.

For maybe the first time in Porter history, Bette melts down. Just when she decides she’s going to confront the press and quit the campaign, Bette opens her door to find Tina Kennard in the flesh!

TINAAAAAAAAAAAA!

We are shook!

Bette tells Tina everything, only for Tina to get a call and leave the room. Oh man, I’m having 2005 flashbacks all over again.

Speaking of 2005 flashbacks, we get some good old fashioned nitpicking about Bette’s priorities and ambition. Honestly, this goes to show how good these characters and writing are because the same conflict has been mined for almost 20 years now.

By the time I finished the original run of The L Word, I honestly was so sick of Bette and Tina that I didn’t really care if they ended up together or not. They both had done so many horrible things to each other, and the other people in their orbit, that they were pretty difficult to root for.

But not only are Bette and Tina inevitable, they’re the only ones the other deserves.

Tina asks if Bette is still seeing Felicity. Bette says no, but adds that Felicity was there for her when Kit died, while Tina didn’t even go to the funeral. (What? Ouch!) Apparently, they needed space after the divorce.

Well, Tina did. Jennifer Beals, looking more stunning than ever, with the saddest, most heartbroken smile on her face says, “You should have been there. I thought you were my family,” and walks out. Knife to the heart, Bette. Stone cold killer. Tina’s stricken face says it all.

One room over, Pierce, the OG BAMF of the Porter Campaign staff, hashes out the scandal with Dani and realizes that she knew about the affair long before he did. Pierce is understandably upset. (Dude shoulda been looped in.)

It doesn’t take long for Pierce to see a sinking ship and walk out. “I really wanted her to change the world, but I guess I’m gonna have to do it myself.” He manages to also call out Dani on her weird obsession with Bette on the way out. (She literally hasn’t talked to her fiancée all day!) I hope this isn’t the last we see of him.

In other morning afters, Finley and Tess wake up at Dana’s and there is nothing but regret hanging in the air. Tess immediately realizes she has to call her sponsor and go to a meeting. It takes Finley longer to understand that they aren’t still partying. (Ugh. I think I hate Finley.)

Shane walks in on the awkward post-coital scene and is as annoyed as Shane can get. “You realize this is a fireable offense?” But considering her fling with Tess’s girlfriend, perhaps they’re even?

Finley, never ruffled for long, turns up at Dani and Sophie’s next to find Sophie thoroughly frustrated with her relationship. (These two really shouldn’t get married. We can all agree on that, right?)

With Finley still heartbroken over Rebecca (and feeling guilty about Tess) and Sophie shunned by Dani, the two decide on a raucous “bro night” out, despite Finley’s weird discussion of her hot mom. “She a little stupid.” Sophie says it best.

After a jilted Alice leaves Bette’s house, she goes to have an even more uncomfortable breakfast with Nat and Gigi, who grope her all over the table. Gigi outs them as a throuple to the server, much to Nat and Alice’s chagrin. But also, be less weird in public if you don’t want to get caught?

As they leave brunch, they hit a traffic jam, and it’s like the car and tense driving is a metaphor for their relationship or something? Gigi is upset because she doesn’t want to be in the closet/hidden away. But Nat doesn’t want to tell anyone until they tell the kids (and doesn’t want to tell the kids).

Once they get home, things are still tense, so Gigi kisses Alice and leaves. Alice and Nat go into their bedroom to find adorable cards that the kids made for all three of them.

Nat tells Alice she’s having very confusing feelings for Gigi. Alice is nonplussed. (Of course she is.) She reassures Nat that she is in it and not going anywhere and tells Nat to call Gigi and tell her to come back. By the end of the episode, all three of them are napping in bed with the kids and I don’t know how to feel!

Once she leaves Dana’s, Shane and Quiara take Angie to the DMV where she passes her driver’s test. Shane tells her she gets to drive wherever she wants, so Angie goes to Jordi’s house where we are blessed with more Uncle Shane as Angie asks her “How do you know you love someone?”

This scene actually serves as a pretty brilliant way to give us backstory. We’ve jumped ten years ahead into Shane’s story, and in the middle/end of her relationship with Quiara (and are supposed to care about it).

By having Shane tell Angie how she and Quiara first met, we get exposition without it feeling like exposition. And the scene is pretty cute, too.

Angie tells Jordi she “like likes” her so much she actually loves her, and thankfully Jordi loves her, too. They share a very timid first kiss and Shane whoops from the car. Angie and Jordi are the most precious little baby gays.

That night, Tina and Angie hang out in Angie’s room as she tells Mama T about her first kiss, giving us the super sweet reunion we needed, along with the inevitable, “Why can’t you stay?” Tina tells Angie she’s just now taking the time to find herself that she should have done when she was Angie’s age.

Meanwhile, guess who else is still there? Dani, of course! She at least has the good news that Felicity’s ex-husband isn’t going to press charges.

While her fiancé, on the other hand, is super drunk and paranoid about Bette with Finley at Dana’s. Shane shows up to tell Finley she has a week to move out because Quiara is moving in (things are going well!).

Sophie gets excited and tells Finley she can live with her. (Which honestly, why wasn’t this happening sooner? They live in a mansion.)

Bette finally faces the press and gives a heartfelt speech about the real reason she’s running–for Kit. Despite her history of addiction, Kit was given painkillers after an accident which led to her eventual heroin overdose. Bette stays in the race for Kit to fix the broken system.

Tina gets ready to leave and tells Bette she’ll be a great mayor, and that she is indeed her family. They hug goodbye and Bette takes a shuddering breath, asking her not to leave. CREDITS ROLL.

It looks like Tina will be in next week’s episode, but will she stay?