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Dana departed. In a truly unexpected move (assuming viewers weren't reading the message boards claiming that Erin Daniels wanted out of her contract and that Showtime honchos wanted Chaiken to kill off one of the characters in order to save some money), tennis-pro Dana developed an aggressive form of breast cancer and died from the disease.

Goofy, hesitant, anxious and vulnerable throughout it all, she was just about the only main player who stayed true to her character in this wacky season. And maybe that's why she just had to go.

Shane got back to her roots. The resident heartbreaker pushed the needle too far this season when she cheated on and ultimately abandoned at the altar Carmen de la Pica Morales, aka The Sexiest Woman Alive. This plot development begged the asking of the big questions, like did Shane sustain a head injury while doing those rad skate moves? Did the hair care chemicals go to her head? What happened to Shane's character arc around commitment from last season?

With the introduction of the character of Shane's father (leeringly played by Eric Roberts) in the Season 3 finale, The L Word writers would have us believe that trifling is genetic. Or maybe they meant stupidity.

Either way, bearing witness to the Shane/Carmen atrocity required more than the willing suspension of disbelief. Not even Shane's hound dog daddy would have walked away from that casa de ladrillo!

Jenny got real. Who would have thought that the self-obsessed little nut job whose dream sequences became the stuff of viewers' nightmares could grow up and win the Season 3 award for Most Unlikely Transformation Into a Sympathetic Character?

Now it's possible that Jenny only seemed less irritating when compared to her companion, the grating Moira/Max. But some fans may be willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Yes, it was still all about her, but Jenny said and did some pretty cool things this season. She told off her patriarchal stepfather, zapped that nasty gay basher, and shook up a boring computer nerd party with a little speech about masturbation. Perhaps the TiVo trigger fingers of fans everywhere stopped itching each time she came onscreen, and some viewers may have even looked forward to her feminist observations about gender, sexuality, and conformity.

And when the newness of it all could have become too much for fragile viewers to take, little Jenny Schecter went and did something so very Jenny that it was actually comforting in its familiarity. She engaged in the ultimate form of masturbation—she hooked up with her twin! You can slap a floppy hat on the girl and give her a little French accent, but that chick Jenny met at Whistler was just a version of herself!

The twins lolled in bed smoking fancy ciggies, spouting arty clichés, and licking champagne from one another's breasts. It was all very 9½ weeks of them. And It All Just Seemed So Right. 

When it comes right down to it, there's nothing wrong with character development. With fictional characters, as with real people, change is good. And just like when real people make big life changes, not everyone is going to approve. When favorite characters are forced to break up, cheat on each other, or develop a terrible disease and die, viewers are going to have strong reactions.

Season 3 of The L Word was a reminder that--PSA's about breast cancer and its Emmy nomination aside--the program is a soap opera. Irrational, unconscionable things happen in soap operas, and characters are always exploited for maximum dramatic effect. So maybe if viewers keep this in mind, then the outrageous twists and turns of this (and probably next) season won't be so unexpected or upsetting.

And even if some fans are hating The L-Word this season, it's a testament to the quality of the show. As the saying goes, indifference--not hate--is the opposite of love. And one would be hard pressed to find a substantial number of truly indifferent fans.

Ilene Chaiken will receive her share of complaints about the direction of the show this season because, for now, it's the only game in town. Sure, South of Nowhere is sexy, smart and sweet, but it's also PG-rated and without the sordid adult complications that make The L Word so juicy. And where else but The L Word could one find a show with an ensemble of good to great women actors playing characters that are almost all queer? That's right, actual nowhere.

So viewers can be angry about Dana's untimely death or Tina turning into a Stepford Wife, but they'll probably going to keep watching because a.) they're hooked, and b.) there's still nothing else like The L Word on television.

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