The season finale of The L Word: Generation Q answered a few questions but asked more. Let’s wrap up the parenting storylines of the season.
Spoilers ahead.
First, let’s answer the big question from last week: Despite my glimmer of hope, Marcus, Angie’s donor, did in fact die. Angie, we learn this week, doesn’t want to go to his funeral. She’s sad and angry and explains to her girlfriend Jordi, “He doesn’t know me. I’m not his daughter…. I’m not anything to him.” That’s not exactly true, as Marcus explained last week to Bette and Tina. He was refusing to see her to spare her pain, since he was dying. To Angie, though, his refusal understandably seemed like a lack of caring.
Then Angie tells Jordi, “I didn’t save him. And I could have.” This is a little disingenuous on the part of the writers, since they dropped that part of the storyline several episodes back. Bette categorically refused to let Angie donate a kidney, but had also been refusing to let Angie meet Marcus at all at that point. She caved on the meeting, but the idea of Angie being a kidney donor was never revisited. Still, this scene shows Jordi finally showing some real support for Angie rather than just being obsessed with prom, and it’s good to see this maturity in her.
Fast forward to Angie and Jordi on a swing set in a park, where they meet up with Marcus’ daughter Kayla. Angie apologizes for not making the funeral; Kayla says she’s sorry Angie never got to meet him. Angie tells her not to worry, and that “He was your dad.”
“I just wanted you to know him,” Kayla responds, “so that he didn’t disappear or something.” That’s a bit of an odd comment; Marcus’ memory will be carried on by all who knew him, including many who knew him much better than Angie, so he seems at little risk of disappearing. Is Kayla feeling that although she and Angie each have a different relationship to Marcus, they both carry his DNA, and having both that bond and shared memories of him would make their connection as half sisters even stronger? Or does Kayla mean she wanted Angie to know him in case he disappeared? It’s unclear.
Regardless, Kayla then reveals that Bette had brought the questions Angie compiled for Marcus to the hospital, and Kayla had the people in her family answer them. She shares them with Angie, who is overwhelmed with gratitude. Kayla reads out a story from Uncle Nate, about when Marcus lost a bet to him at age 13 and had to dress as Santa Claus for Halloween for the rest of his life. It’s funny and intimate, and the scene seems to give Angie a sense of closure.
In a subsequent scene, Bette gives Angie a wrapped package, which turns out to be a painting by Marcus titled “Her.” It’s of a young Black woman, presumably meant to be Angie (or at least Marcus’ vision of what Angie looks like, since he never met her). Bette’s representing his estate, and his work will be her next show at the art center. “But this—this is yours,” she tells Angie. “It’s from him to you.” She tells Angie, “I so wish you had had a chance to meet him,” and that she is “brave and so strong.” Angie replies, “Well, that’s ’cause I’m just like you.” It’s one of the more touching moments between the two of them and shows Bette’s rare softer side. As I’ve said before, I think parenthood brings out the best in Bette, and I’d love to see the show further explore how parenthood has changed her, while also drawing on her strengths.
Jordan Hull as Angie has been one of the delights of this season. She’s given Angie depth and believability. Angie’s relationship with Jordi, despite its bumps, has been one of the most stable on the show and feels like an anchor in an otherwise frenetic season. I do wish Angie and Marcus had met, if only to explore the relationship between a child and a willing-to-be-known donor (that is, he was willing to be known when she turned 18), something we’ve rarely seen on television. I’m still not sure what purpose was served by having him die before they met, except to try and up the dramatic tension—but having him die after they meet could have been dramatic, too, as would having Angie be a kidney donor. Perhaps there’s a longer arc for Angie that we’re not seeing yet that was served by her never knowing Marcus. Let’s hope that Kayla remains a part of her life, regardless, so that next season (assuming there is one) can give us some further insight into what it can mean to be donor kin. (Again, for those interested in knowing more about real donor kin, I recommend Random Families: Genetic Strangers, Sperm Donor Siblings, and the Creation of New Kin
This season overall left me with mixed feelings. I love the characters, especially the older ones whose stories I’ve known for so many years now. But the feeling that they’re all speed-dating through life was strong and I’m not sure it serves any of them well. The season’s approach to alcohol was also problematic, showing some characters struggling with alcoholism while others imbibed heavily and even encouraged minors to do so. (Not that I want to be too much of a prude about such things, but having both in the same show, without deliberately setting them up in contrast in order to deliver a message, felt inconsistent and inconsiderate.)
If next season can take a breath and slow down a notch, it might even be able to explore a long-term relationship or two other than Angie and Jordi, and I think that would serve both the characters and the viewers well. Long-term relationships can have their own sort of drama, but also allow viewers to get more invested in the relationship. I know the show’s creators know this—they’re teasing a return to the main long-term relationship of the original series, Bette and Tina. Might we even see another couple start a family? Millions of LGBTQ millennials want to, and it would be odd if we never saw this in LW:GQ. Sophie, Dani, and Finley have all expressed interest in becoming parents. And although Shane wasn’t really ready to become a parent with former partner Quiara last season, she’s really good with kids, as we’ve seen from her interactions with Angie. Whether she’ll stay in the “Uncle Shane” role or have her own kids someday remains an open question. I do appreciate that we’ve seen queer parents of older children in the show, though—Bette, Tina, Nat, and Gigi—and hope we continue to see how being parents impacts their lives. LW:GQ will never be The Fosters, with a primary focus on kids and parenting, but as a show about queer people today, it cannot ignore parenting, either. So far, it’s woven in enough parenting storylines to keep me recapping them for most episodes. I’ll be here next season doing the same.