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Bette and Tina's artificial insemination storyline gets old pretty quickly, especially given that almost every lesbian character on television in the last two seasons has been saddled with some iteration of this plot device (Kerry and Sandy on ER, Melanie and Lindsay on Queer as Folk, and Bianca on All My Children, are just a few examples).

The only thing that saves this storyline from total tedium is that The L Word does a better job than most of delving into the nuances of the artificial insemination process, and the complicated questions that arise from choosing to have a child this way (like whether lesbians having a biracial child is too much "otherness"). The writers also wisely use the insemination storyline to illuminate other aspects of Bette and Tina's relationship, like their sex life (or lack thereof), and Bette's workaholic tendencies.

The Tim-Jenny-Marina triangle is well-written and believable. Kirshner makes you feel every emotion she's feeling--whether it's lust, confusion, or sorrow--and does so with an ease and complexity that is truly astonishing at times. Lombard as Marina is maddeningly self-assured, in a kind of calm, direct way that exudes confidence and keeps her consistently mysterious (at times veering on predatory). The combination creates a chemistry between Jenny and Marina that is so good it's almost palpable at times.

But Tim and Jenny also have a good relationship, which complicates the issue for Jenny. Mabius and the writers do an excellent job of making Tim a realistically sympathetic character, preventing viewers from easily dismissing Jenny and Tim's relationship even if they're rooting for Jenny and Marina.

But while the pilot is good, the subsequent episodes are better. In the pilot, for example, there are some scenes that smack of over-explaining, or trying too hard to be provocative (like the silly conversations about butt-waxing and Shane's "nipple confidence"), and just more cliches in general.

But these occur less and less in the episodes that follow as the show finds its rhythm and the writers assume we are more familiar with the characters and with lesbianism. The cast also seem more comfortable together as the episodes progress, and the storylines improve as the writers make the dialogue more nuanced and less expository.

Subsequent episodes pay more attention to the other characters, as well, adding complexity and variety to the series. More racial diversity among the cast would be welcome, as would more butch-ish lesbians like Tammy Lynn Michaels' character, but the mostly white, mostly middle-class lipstick-lesbian characters of The L Word still manage to carve out distinctly different niches fairly quickly.

Dana starts out somewhat brittle and unsympathetic in the pilot, but we see her softer side over the course of the next several episodes, and she becomes downright endearing when she falls for a local sous-chef (Lauren Lee Smith). Daniels brilliantly captures the fundamental dichotomy of her character: a professional athlete who is graceful and confidant on the court, but gawky and insecure everywhere else.

Alice is just the right amount of quirky and unpredictable, and Hailey is an inspired choice for the role. It's refreshing to see a bisexual woman on TV who isn't a caricature, and while Alice is mostly with women in the first few episodes, it will be interesting to see how her friends handle her dating a man. Alice and Dana have a sweet best-friend type of relationship that at times makes them seem like squabbling sisters, and other times like they're destined to hook up--despite their mutual agreement never to do so.

Shane is a bit of a loner and one of the least-developed characters, but Moennig manages to add an air of quiet depth and intelligence that makes her character more than just the resident chick-magnet. Fans of Moennig are likely to be disappointed at how little screen time Shane gets, especially in the first few episodes.

Shane's hair, on the other hand, could get a little less screen time: it's distractingly messy in almost every episode--and not in a good way. There's the sexy, tousled look, and then there's the matted, gum-in-my-hair, hospital-bed look, and too often Shane's hair fits the latter description.

The show also features a number of high-profile guest-stars, like Guinevere Turner, Tammy Lynn Michaels, Lauren Lee Smith, Ann Archer, and Holland Taylor, and integrates them in a way that really adds something to the series, rather than just using them in random cameos.

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