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A fork in the road — Senator Grisham offers Bette a ride to her hotel.

Bette: "Well, I don't know where else."
Senator Grisham: "My place. I do have a rather good collection."
Bette: "Abstract expressionists."
Senator Grisham: "Oh, very good. You do your homework."

Next thing you know, they're in the cab. "Do you always get people to do what you want them to?" says Bette, and Senator Grisham's expression says "God, I hope so."

Getting ready for bed — I'm sure it's wrong of me to say so, but if the lump in Dana's breast turns out to be malignant, it will be easy to make Dana look the part. Do you see how skinny she is? Quelle horreur.

Lara is worried; she says Dana looks really tired.

Dana: "I am really tired. I played my ass off today."
Lara: "I know you did."
Dana: "Look, Lara, you're overreacting. Really. Okay? I'm going in for a needle biopsy on Tuesday. We'll find out then if there's anything to worry about. But right now, in this minute, I'm a huge fuckin' tennis star."
Lara: "Yes you are."
Dana: "Yes I am."

The lighting is too harsh: it hurts me. I suppose that's the point. And for the first time so far this season, I like Lara and Dana together, and hope against hope that they'll stay that way.

Discomfort — Jenny and Moira/Max/S/he-Ra are getting ready to go out. Hear that music in the background? It's Ember Swift, doing "Elle Est La." Très fabuleux.

Moira (suddenly I want to call her Mothra) says she doesn't feel comfortable with "those girls."

Jenny: "Why don't you give it another try?"
Mothra: "Why?"
Jenny: "Because those people are my friends."
Mothra: "Your friends weren't very friendly to me."

She's right about that. Whatever you want to say about a clash of lifestyles or Mothra's bad acting or weird voice or whatever, she is absolutely right that those girls were unfriendly.

Look at Jenny's glasses. Again.

Mothra is too busy looking at a suit that's hanging in Jenny's closet (how prominently displayed it is). Yes, Mothra: go toward the flame of the suit.

Speaking of suits — At the Shane for Wax opening, Shane is wearing a suit too, but in that way that doesn't really count as wearing a suit. And everyone's congratulating Dana — including Moira, who's wearing a suit in that way that really counts as wearing a suit — prompting Dana to say "Look how handsome you look. You look good." And including Alice, who's really quite sweet, prompting an "I still like her" reaction from Dana. But then Alice goes a bit too far and says "It was a great kiss." Awkwardness, thy name is Pieszecki.

Is that Le Tigre in the background? Or am I just getting strangely optimistic?

The fork in the road, continued — Bette and the Senator (call her Barbara, if you're Bette) are flirting in that wonderfully subtle cultured way. Bette says she can only stay for one sip of the bottle of really fabulous Scotch that Barbara has just opened. Barbara sees this as a reason to shift a little closer to Bette on the sofa.

Barbara: "Let me ask you something. Why did you get fired from the C.A.C.? Is it because you're a lesbian?"
Bette: "What, did you google me or something?"
Barbara: "This afternoon. After your pyrotechnics."

And there's more flirting and subtlety and hesitant delicious touches, and then Bette says, "Well, then, if you googled me, then you know that I have a partner named Tina and a six-month-old daughter." But as she says it, she dips her finger into that glass of fabulous Scotch, and then circles her fingers along the rim of the glass, and I'm certain I've never seen anything so erotic.

Neither has Barbara:

Barbara: "Is Tina [taking Bette's hand] as intense [taking Bette's finger into her mouth] as you are?"
Bette: "Is your husband as fluid as you are?"
Barbara: "My husband and I have an arrangement. It works out well for both of us."

And then Barbara is stroking Bette's cheek and I'm falling prey once again to the deceptive innocence of Dana Delany (hello Exit to Eden) and it all seems so perfect.

Barbara: "Come to bed with me."
Bette: [as their lips zero in] "I can't."
Barbara: "That does not sound like a Bette Porter statement."
Bette: "Tina and I don't have an arrangement."

No, I suppose you don't. But guess what? Tina doesn't have your commitment to the actual relationship. So I say again: fuck her, and please, please, fuck Barbara.

But Bette just walks away.

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