10 Good Things About Season 4

I'm almost tempted to put "(seasons 1 & 2)" after "The L Word" in my list of my favorite TV shows on my myspace and facebook profiles. Yeah, seasons 3 and 4 had some significant disappointments. But because I still don't want to hate the show, I want to write about some good things (in no particular order) about season 4:

1) The humor. Season 3 definitely had humor, but killing Dana and turning Tina into an inconsiderate heterosexual was pretty fucking depressing. It was nice to get some more lightheartedness in season 4. The basketball game had me laughing in spite of myself (Elizabeth Ziff did write that episode, but that scene was mostly ad libbed, so we don't have to give ez girl credit for it).

The phone tree and the discussion over whether or not Helena should whore herself to Catherine Rothberg were comedic gold in both writing and visual presentation.

2) Tasha. I'd say she's the best new character this season. And it's not just because they finally put a black lesbian on the show. She's masculine, she's hot, and she's a deviation from the rich fashion-obsessed focus of the show. Even though it's annoying that Ilene is obviously trying to do a PSA on gays in the military, I think Tasha's mysterious character and role in the army brings a nice change to the show.

3) Alice finally found some love. If you think about it, she really hasn't had much luck in this department since the beginning of the show: Lisa the lesbian man and Gabby didn't work out so well for her in season 1. And while she had fun with Dana in season 2, Dana was still in love with Lara and hesitated to declaring her love for Alice. Tasha and Alice really seem to complement each other, and they are the best couple of season 4.

4) The return of AlphaBette (sorta). It sucked to see Bette unemployed, wearing baggy Buddha clothes, and celibate in season 3. I felt happy to see her getting some play and an authoritative, art-related job. She's adorable and hilarious when she's angry and wearing a suit. Yummy. And the way she stood up to the homophobes in a calm, dignified way at the "gay/straight mixer" in "Lassoed" was inspiring. Too bad Jodi has her by the leash now.

5) Tina got some karma for her behavior in season 3 (constantly eye rolling at Bette, flirting and having sex with Henry in Bette's house). Any idiot who leaves the gorgeous Bette for gross Henry deserves to feel alienated from her friends and then experience regret and jealousy over her mistake.

6) We got to see Shane grow. Shane has come a long way since season 1. I think Katherine Moennig did a good job of realistically showing Shane slowly grow into a responsible parental figure.

7) There were no obvious Betty appearances.

8) Alice. She's just consistently funny, and she brings out the humorous, cute side in Helena.

9) Max wasn't an asshole. His role as the victimized, alienated tranny got kind of predictable. But it seems realistic, and we didn't have to deal with testosterone-induced behavior.

10) People like KC, Elka, and Riese have helped to make season 4 more enjoyable by finding the humor in its flaws. Praise the Kelkian Army!