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One of The L Word's strengths is in portraying relationships at all different phases: the stable, long-term relationship (Bette and Tina), the one-night stand (Shane and countless women), the new relationship (Jenny and Marina, Dana and Lara), the unhealthy relationship (Alice and Gaby), and finally, the disintegrating relationship (Jenny and Tim). Featuring a mix of these relationships in each episode keeps the tempo moving quickly and prevents the series from settling into a boring routine.

In part because of Jenny's sexual orientation crisis, there are an unusual number of crying scenes on The L Word, more so than almost any other show I've seen. While I'm all for an honest demonstration of emotions, when characters consistently break down at least twice in every episode, it becomes almost comical (and not in a good way).

One of the fears that has been voiced frequently by lesbians is around how sex will, or won't, be portrayed on The L Word. Some have expressed concern that the show will be soft porn aimed at attracting straight male viewers, and others have feared yet another double-standard in how lesbian sex is portrayed (since some of Showtime's promos contain explicit heterosexual sex scenes alongside more chaste scenes of women kissing).

In terms of the number of lesbian sex scenes, the show does seem to err slightly on the more conservative side, averaging around only one or two an episode; hopefully this will change as the show progresses and there is more evidence that viewers are comfortable with this imagery. While there are heterosexual sex scenes on the show (between Jenny and Tim, for example), they are not featured any more frequently or explicitly than the lesbian ones. Neither the heterosexual or lesbian sex scenes in The L Word seem gratuitous, and they almost always serve to move the storyline forward.

The quality of the lesbian sex scenes, meanwhile, is significantly better than anything we've seen on television before, with explicit images and dialogue routinely seen between heterosexual characters on TV but never between two women (except perhaps on Queer as Folk, but rarely even there since the lesbians on that series get so little screen time). Straight men will undoubtedly be drawn to these scenes, but they don't appear designed for them, and lesbian and bisexual women are likely to find them convincing and unusually realistic (for television).

But the most important type of relationship on the The L Word is friendship, and it forms the bedrock of the series. Many of the best scenes on The L Word are when the women are just hanging out together: bantering, arguing, advising, and teasing one another while underneath providing a sense of support. Inserting these scenes between ones exploring the trials and tribulations of each individual character make the show alternately sexy, hilarious, tense, poignant, frustrating, and sad.

Whether the group is throwing a party to help Bette and Tina find eligible sperm donors, convincing Alice to dump her bitchy ex, or taking a field trip to help Dana ascertain whether her crush is actually gay, the actors and writers convincingly and realistically illustrate the often-overlooked importance of friendship.

Overall, The L Word is a fairly realistic, often insightful, occasionally cliched, but always entertaining glimpse into the lives of a particular group of people in L.A. whom you come to care about fairly quickly. Although there are several ways The L Word could improve, even at it's worst, it's far superior to anything we've seen on television before--a reflection at least in part of the fact that there are lesbians involved in producing, writing, and directing it.

Even lesbian and bisexual women whose lives on the surface don't even remotely resemble those of the characters in The L Word are likely to see aspects of themselves and their experiences reflected in the stories and characters on the series. Whether it's the support of your friends, the fear and confusion of discovering your attraction to women, the desire to maintain your own identity in a long-term relationship, or the thrill of falling in love, The L Word succeeds because it portrays experiences that are specific and universal at the same time.

The L Word isn't going to improve lesbian visibility on television overnight, any more than Queer as Folk suddenly improved all portrayals of gay men on TV when it debuted in 2000. But it is a quantum leap in lesbian visibility--one that rescues us from perpetual marginalization, and proves that realistic, honest depictions of lesbian and bisexual women are worth producing.

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