It must have been surprising to The L Word writers to see a character who had barely ten minutes of actual screen time over the course of seven episodes and was, on paper, barely more than a plot device, become one of the most popular characters on the show. But polls, message boards and mailing lists for Showtime's hit new lesbian ensemble series regularly vote Lara (Lauren Lee Smith) the most popular guest/recurring character by far--when she's not voted as one of the top four or five favorite L Word characters overall.

Beyond the obvious babe factor and excellent acting abilities of Lauren Lee Smith (which were enough on their own to attract many people’s attention), what was it that made this "soup chef" so endearing? I posed this question to fans of The L Word on the internet in many different forums, and the response was overwhelming. Although viewers offered a variety of explanations for Lara's appeal, three common themes emerged.

First, Lara is seen as more accessible than many of the other L Word characters. Introduced in Episode 2 as a love interest for Dana (Erin Daniels), Lara quickly became a topic of interest to the other characters (who conducted a hilarious stake-out to help Dana determine whether Lara was gay) and to viewers. Physically, Lara isn't much different from the other characters on the series (she fits the same feminine, long-haired archetype, although she is not so intensely groomed) but for some reason she is perceived as different by many viewers, who frequently rate her character as more real and grounded than other character on the show. In short, Lara is one of the characters to which viewers most often feel they could relate.

We love Lara for her smiling, happy accessibility as much as fans of Marina loved her for her intense, goddess-like beauty. Although it may not have been intentional, in Lara the writers created a character who was our way into The L Word's unattainable world of the rich and the beautiful, because she is a fairly straightforward, down-to-earth woman set somewhat apart from the melodrama of the main cast. She is positioned, like the audience, as more of a a quiet observer. At the same time, she is an extremely tactile character, constantly reaching out to touch Dana, to physically connect with her in some way, and in the process making it easier for viewers to connect with the show.

Lara is sweet, geeky, openly affectionate, unglamorous and honest. She has a hands-on, probably minimum wage job and a small-but-cozy apartment. She was unimpressed by the advances of suave Shane but melted at the knees around shy, geeky Dana. She offered unconditional love and played no games, yet she had a wild side and could talk dirty. She was obviously sexy but, according to Alice's chart, didn't sleep around. Dana was positioned early on as the show's romantic underdog with very little success with women, and when Lara fell in love with her, we fell for Lara.

Second, Lara is the type of confident, post-coming out character we long to see on TV but rarely do. Within The L Word ensemble, Dana is confident in all areas of her life but her sexuality, while the rest of the characters are comfortable with their sexuality but seem to be desperately searching for the other facets of their lives to fall into place.

Lara, on the other hand, seems quite uncomplicated in her approach to life and her sexuality; she has a kind of quiet assurance about herself and her sexuality that permeates most aspects of her life. As one of the few lesbians on TV (although certainly not on The L Word) who was introduced well after her coming-out phase, Lara challenges the stereotype that lesbians are destined to be emotionally tortured or morally challenged every day of our lives just because we’re gay.

In short, she's here, she's queer, and she's just fine with it.

One of the few other non-L Word characters who really compares to Lara in this way would be Tara Maclay, the awkward, geeky girl played by Amber Benson in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Tara is an underdog too, a peripheral character who romanced a lead character, Willow, and despite being shy, had an understated but very clear sense of purpose and a strong moral center. That character was unexpectedly championed by fans, too, which encouraged the show’s producers to expand her storylines beyond what was originally intended for her, and for a long time she and Willow shared one of the few good lesbian relationships on TV (until Tara's death ruined the character for many).

Like Tara, Lara has her flaws, and that's part of what we love about her; unfortunately, they proved to be her undoing with Dana. Lara couldn't see the extent of the pressure Dana was under and how her high standards contributed to her pressure; unable to be out and proud and afraid that Lara was judging her for that, Dana abruptly ended their relationship in Episode 7.

Oddly, however, when Dana discovered shortly afterwards that her advertising sponsor, Subaru, already knew she was gay and not only didn't have a problem with this fact, but were planning to use it in their campaign, The L Word writers inexplicably chose not to have Dana revisit her relationship with Lara. Since Dana being closeted had been the central source of conflict between Dana and Lara, Dana's unwillingness to try and work things out with Lara while simultaneously sobbing about their breakup made no logical sense to most viewers.

The third reason for Lara's popularity is that lesbian audiences are starved for positive and endearing lesbian relationships on TV, and Dana and Lara's relationship was nothing if not that. Some of the best moments of the season occurred when Dana and Lara's relationship was the focus of the storyline, and their relationship veered effectively from touching to comic relief and back again, often in the same episode. But even when they were simply in the background, like during the pool party in Episode 4 or playing poker at Tina's slumber party in Episode 6, Lara and Dana's relationship was portrayed very realistically; the two women were often kissing, snuggling, holding hands and talking softly.

Their sex life was shown to be good, as well as playful, but not trumpeted as earth-shattering like the Marina/Jenny pairing. The only other actual relationship shown in the series--Bette and Tina's--was never allowed to be as obviously romantic as the Dana/Lara pairing because the storyline of that couple was that they were slowly losing exactly those qualities from their relationship.

After years of representations of lesbian relationships full of angst and confusion, viewers want to see some romance. We want lesbian characters who really connect with each other naturally, for more than just a somewhat-forced single kiss or two. Apart from Dana’s hilarious initial sexual embarrassments, Lara and Dana seemed genuinely happy together, and so were we--as one respondent wrote to me, it makes us giddy to watch them together.

Even Erin Daniels commented on the positive relationship between Lara and Dana in her response to a question during a Sho.co chat about whether she was surprised at the popularity of Lara:

"I was surprised by the positive feedback to the relationship, but not completely surprised. The relationship [between Lara and Dana] was such a positive one. I would love to see Lara come back, for the sake of the show, but also for Dana's sake. Lara was the best thing that ever happened to her."

As the epitome of the positive lesbian representation that critics, theorists and lesbian viewers have been saying we want for years, it is no wonder so many L Word viewers are so reluctant to let Lara go.

The fact that Lara's storyline ended so abruptly reflects how much the writers underestimated how popular Lara would be; they may have seen her primarily as a plot device to advance Dana’s storyline, but viewers saw Lara as so much more. Even after she left the show halfway through the season and the writers instigated another romantic storyline for Dana, Lara continues to be top-of-mind for many L Word fans--a testament to the audience's hunger for self-confident, positive gay characters to whom they can relate.

All of which begs the question: if Lara became one of the more popular characters on the show last season despite a cumulative total screen time of only a few minutes, what kind of impact could she have as an ongoing part of the show? There's only one way to find out.