| “ | You know, for as long as I can remember, I’ve been able to identify what I want and I’ve been willing to pursue it. Do you really think I should apologize for that? | ” |
|
–Bette, «Loose Ends» |
Bette Porter is a main character in The L Word and its sequel The L Word: Generation Q. She is portrayed by Jennifer Beals and debuts in the series premiere.
Bette is an affluent, Ivy League-educated, biracial lesbian. Passionate, charismatic and driven, she is a formidable titan of the art world. Her storied career has also seen her take on academia and politics, though her love for contemporary art has never wavered. Bette is uncompromising in her convictions and is never one to shy away from hot button issues. She enjoys challenging the status quo and is not afraid to step on toes to get what she wants. With her relentless tenacity, Bette usually prevails against the odds, but her self-destructive tendencies[7] often make her her own worst enemy.
While Bette strives to do better, her self-centeredness and need for control over others can wear down her relationships,[8] and her romantic entanglements remain complicated, particularly with her on-and-off girlfriend, and eventually ex-wife, Tina Kennard. Beyond all that, she is a devoted mother to her daughter Angelica Porter-Kennard.
Summary[]
Bette grew up in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, coveting the conditional love of her bigoted father Melvin. Her mother Maxine was an artist who walked out on her when she was a child, while her older half-sister Kit struggled with addiction and was often absent from her life. Bette graduated from Yale University with a BFA and MFA in art history, and quickly made a name for herself in the art world by opening her own gallery in the 1990s. Bette also came out as a lesbian in college and has never shied away from her sexuality since. In her younger days, Bette was a «player» who slept around[9] and she gained a reputation for being a serial cheater.[10] One of the women Bette dated and cheated on at the time was Alice, who became her best friend after they broke up. However, after meeting Tina and stealing her from her boyfriend, Bette settled down in a long-term committed relationship.
At the start of The L Word season 1, Bette and Tina have been together for seven years. The couple live a seemingly idyllic suburban life in West Hollywood, surrounded by their friends Alice, Shane, and Dana, and their new next-door neighbor Jenny. To the outside world, Bette and Tina appear to have the perfect relationship as they try to start a family of their own. However, Bette is consumed by her work as the director of the California Arts Center (CAC) and has little time or patience for Tina. Over the course of the season, Tina suffers a miscarriage while Bette’s problems mount at work as she faces off against a conservative Christian group. Bette eventually cracks under the pressure and begins an affair with Candace, the carpenter she hires for her career-defining Provocations exhibit; Tina discovers the affair and leaves Bette.
Bette initially continues her relationship with Candace but decides at the start of season 2 to try and win back Tina, whom she later discovers is pregnant with their child. Standing in Bette’s way, however, is her new rival Helena who interferes in both Bette’s personal and professional life. Bette’s self-absorption pushes Tina away at first, but they bond over their unborn child and eventually get back together. Bette’s life is suddenly turned upside down when she learns that her father has cancer. Melvin passes away and Bette is fired from the CAC, having neglected her work to look after her dying father. Finally, after a difficult birth, Bette and Tina’s daughter Angelica is born.
Season 3 opens six months later with Bette and Tina struggling to rekindle their sexual desire for each other amid parenthood. At the same time, Bette refuses to curb her expensive lifestyle even as she turns down job offers to focus on an unpaid passion project. Bette also seeks to be legally recognized as Angie’s parent, and the stress over their finances and the anti-LGBT adoption system further fractures her relationship with Tina. Tina eventually breaks things off with Bette to explore her rekindled attraction to men, and a heartbroken Bette runs off to a silent retreat to find herself for awhile. Feeling threatened by Tina and her new boyfriend, Bette then tries to gain sole custody of Angie; the ensuing custody battle leads to Bette kidnapping Angie out of desperation.
Bette returns with Angie at the start of season 4 and, despite their hostile relationship, her and Tina agree to share custody for the sake of their daughter. Bette also embarks on a new career as the academic dean of California University’s School of the Arts. She initially runs into trouble after a fling with her teaching assistant Nadia, but later meets and begins a relationship with the School’s artist-in-residence Jodi. The new couple grow closer, but Bette’s controlling nature clashes with the fiercely independent Jodi, and the latter leaves for a job offer in New York. Distraught, Bette seeks Tina’s help in getting Jodi back and succeeds after pulling off a grand romantic gesture.
In season 5, Bette and Jodi’s relationship is put to the test as they clash over work and Jodi’s friends. Bette begins an affair with Tina and finds herself caught between the two women in her life. Jodi eventually discovers Bette’s affair and humiliates her at an art show in revenge. Meanwhile, Bette and Tina officially get back together.
As their relationship progresses in season 6, Bette and Tina decide to adopt another child but the birth mother changes her mind at the last minute to the couple’s devastation. Bette is also forced to resign from the University following complaints over her previous affairs with Nadia and Jodi. However, a new career opportunity presents itself when Bette is reunited with her wealthy college roommate Kelly, and the two open their own art gallery to resounding success. Knowing that Bette used to be in love with her, Kelly propositions Bette for sex but Bette turns her down to remain faithful to Tina. However, Jenny misreads the situation and jeopardizes Bette’s relationship with Tina. After Tina receives a big job offer in New York, the couple decide to leave Los Angeles for a fresh start.
Generation Q season 1 begins ten years later, with Bette now divorced from Tina and back in Los Angeles with Angie. Kit’s death from a heroin overdose has inspired Bette to run for mayor as she hopes to fix the city’s opioids crisis. A public scandal over Bette’s past affair with her married subordinate Felicity threatens to sink her campaign, but with the help of her PR manager-turned-campaign manager Dani, Bette turns things around and finds herself in a neck-and-neck election race against deputy mayor Milner. Ultimately, Bette’s refusal to play dirty like Milner, even in the face of renewed public outrage when it comes to light that she is still having an affair with Felicity, causes her to lose the election.
In season 2, Bette returns to the art world as the managing director of the renowned Zakarian Gallery, but finds herself hampered by her racist boss Isaac. Bette also struggles to get along with Tina’s fiancée Carrie, and gets back into the dating scene with a short-lived romance with Gigi. Meanwhile, Bette’s passion for art is reignited by the artist Pippa, and the two begin a professional and romantic relationship. Bette and Pippa grow closer as they triumph over Dani in a dispute over the CAC’s funding, but when Tina and Carrie’s engagement is called off, Bette finds herself having to choose between Tina and Pippa.
Background[]
Early life and family[]
Melvin, Maxine and baby Bette.
Bette is the daughter of Melvin Porter and Maxine. Her father is African-American while her mother is Caucasian, making Bette biracial.[11] She was raised in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,[2] where her father still lives.[12]
Bette grew up idolizing her father and coveting his conditional love.[13] For his part, Melvin was an old-fashioned bigot[13] but also supported Bette’s every career endeavor and gave her every opportunity to follow her dreams.[12] Bette has very fond memories of her father reading to her when she was little, and her favorite childhood books were Aardvark Makes Pasta and Monkeys Go on Strike.[14]
One of Maxine’s watercolor paintings that Bette has kept.
Bette’s mother Maxine was a watercolor artist, but she was not Bette’s inspiration for going into the arts.[15] When Bette was little, Maxine found out Melvin was having an affair and walked out on her husband and daughter.[15][16] Bette tried to reconnect with her mother once years later but regretted the experience; she has not seen her mother since and does not know if Maxine is even still alive.[17][18] While Bette appears to hold a lot of resentment towards her mother as an adult,[17] she still kept all of her mother’s watercolor paintings long after Maxine had abandoned her.[15]
Bette also has an older paternal half-sister Kit, and a young Bette would hide in the garage to listen to her sister’s band practice. However, the sisters had a complicated relationship as Kit was often absent from Bette’s life due to her struggles with addiction. Kit once hid drugs in Bette’s teddy bear and let Bette take the blame when their father found the drugs.[19]
Melvin, Maxine and baby Bette.
As a biracial child, Bette felt like an outsider within her own family and in the world at large, as she did not have a familiar face around her who looked like her.[20] Bette played various sports growing up including basketball and soccer. She was on her high school’s basketball team until her junior year,[21] and was a runner in college.[9] Bette also won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award at a soccer camp she attended, after being motivated by the racist and homophobic slurs she was subjected to from two other campers.[22]
College and coming out[]
Bette attended Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where she majored in art history as an undergraduate.[23][24] She had initially been a comparative literature major, but was so inspired by Pippa Pascal’s senior thesis art showcase that she switched majors.[24] That was the first time Bette had seen Pippa’s work, which focuses on race, oppression and sexual violence,[25] and she continued to follow Pippa’s career with great interest; this included driving to New York to see Pippa’s first post-graduate show at the Amelia Spalter Gallery (even though it was during the week of her final exams), attending Pippa’s first museum show at the Studio Museum in Harlem, and joining the protests when one of Pippa’s pieces, «America’s Original Sin», was dropped from the Whitney Biennial.[24]
Bette during her undergraduate days in Yale.
As an undergraduate at Yale, Bette had a boyfriend by the name of Coleman Alt, who she later realized was gay.[1] Bette would imagine Coleman was her art history professor, Danica Palmer, when they had sex, and this eventually led her to realize that she was a lesbian.[1] In her junior year, Bette had her first sexual experience with a woman, a first-year Master of Fine Arts (MFA) drama student by the name of Phoebe Kadlec. Bette had a huge crush on the older Phoebe and they would have intense talks about art, theater, semiotics and race. Finally, after the final performance of a production of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom that Phoebe was directing, they had a sex marathon that lasted for days in Phoebe’s apartment. Shortly after, Phoebe dumped Bette to get back together with her ex-girlfriend.[26]
By the time she was a graduate student working on her MFA degree at Yale, Bette had become a «player» who was always sleeping with at least two women on the side even when she was in a relationship.[9] During this time, Bette was the teaching assistant for a Professor Scully, and befriended one of Scully’s undergraduate students Kelly Wentworth (née Freemont).[27] Bette became Kelly’s art history mentor,[28] and instilled in Kelly a love for contemporary art.[27] Bette and Kelly went on to become roommates; they kissed once but Kelly was so overcome by «homosexual panic» that she immediately moved out of their house.[9] According to Kit, Bette was so in love with Kelly that she was suicidal after Kelly rejected her advances.[27]
While at Yale, Bette attended a lecture series taught by Allyn Barnes,[29] who was considered one of the most important living artists.[29][15] Bette would later credit Allyn as her inspiration for pursuing a career in the arts.[15] Bette considers Allyn’s «A Season In Hell», an earthwork critiquing environmental destruction, to be one of the most magnificent pieces of art made during the last few decades, and even wrote her graduate thesis on it. To even see the earthwork, Bette travelled to Humboldt County, California, and was almost shot at by security when she proceeded to scale three fences to get up close to it. Bette also wrote an accompanying critical analysis of «A Season In Hell» that was published in the prestigious Artforum magazine. Her article came long after Allyn had stopped showing her work in galleries, and Bette was the first person in 18 years to penetrate Allyn’s anonymity. According to Allyn, Bette’s piece was the best article that has ever been written about her work.[29]
Starting a gallery[]
Bette had her own gallery in the 1990s.
After college, Bette worked at The Drawing Center in Manhattan, New York City, before moving to Los Angeles and opening her own gallery in Bergamot Station.[30] The Bette Porter Gallery gained a reputation for discovering all the great artists.[2] During this time, Bette once competed with a rival gallerist, Gina Ferrara, for the sculptor Megan Friedman’s exhibit; Bette won after she slept with the sculptor and Gina has hated her ever since.[31] Bette also used to spend every summer on the island of Mykonos in Greece with a bunch of artists and art collectors.[32]
Meeting Alice[]
Bette and Alice on a date at the Los Angeles Opera in 1996[33].
Bette was still establishing her gallery when she met Alice Pieszecki. She had approached the LA Magazine journalist to help her develop an invite list for a party at her gallery.[30] Bette and Alice subsequently dated for six weeks,[34] during which time Bette cheated on Alice.[35] On their third date, the pair went to the Los Angeles Opera where Bette «finger-fucked» Alice in public during a performance of the Flower Duet. Immediately after, Bette broke up with Alice and told her that she had just met a «straight girl» that she could see herself falling in love with.[33] Despite this, Bette and Alice remained close friends.[2]
Bette later came to befriend Shane McCutcheon, whom she presumably met through Alice.[36]
Meeting Tina[]
Bette and Tina’s first kiss in 1996.
The «straight girl»[33] Bette had dumped Alice for was Tina Kennard. Bette met Tina when Tina’s then-boyfriend Eric brought her as his date to an art opening at the Bette Porter Gallery (ironically, it was Alice who had invited Eric to the opening in the first place[30]). Bette and Tina were immediately drawn to one another and Bette invited the couple to one of her famed artist dinners. Tina later returned to the gallery alone to retrieve an earring she had lost at the dinner, which Bette had found and kept for her. As Bette handed her the earring, the pair shared their first kiss.[2]
Bette’s friends at her Y2K party.
Bette and Tina started dating and Tina moved into Bette’s house at some point. Although Tina had a pretty successful career as a film producer, Bette was earning more money and controlled all of their finances. Consequently, all of their assets were legally under Bette’s name.[34] At the turn of the millennium, Bette and Tina threw a Y2K party at their house. It was during this party that they first met Dana Fairbanks, who had been invited by Alice.[20]
Several anecdotes have been shared of Bette and Tina’s history prior to the series. Notably, Bette once took Tina to one of Pippa’s art shows in Harlem, New York City.[37] Another time, Bette and Tina were on a luxury yacht with the likes of fashion designer Valentino, when a US Senator entered their state room with his boner exposed, and tried to invite himself into their bed.[38] The couple have also gone on vacations to countries such as Nepal[39] and India[40]. During their trip to Jaipur, India, Bette got really sick with food poisoning; she lost ten pounds and was so weak that Tina had to practically carry her through the city. Bette has hated Indian food ever since.[40]
Joining the CAC[]
Bette eventually closed her gallery and was hired by the California Arts Center (CAC) to revamp the museum’s profile.[31][41] As the director[42] of the CAC, Bette gained a reputation for combining art and social activism, which nobody else was doing at the time.[43] Among the exhibits she curated for the CAC was a constructivism show that included the works of László Moholy-Nagy and El Lissitzky; this show inspired art student Nadia Karella.[32]
Bette’s Kiki Smith print was the first she ever bought.
Bette is a big art collector[44] and has amassed a personal collection that is worth a lot of money.[39][45] Her collection includes works by Lisa Yuskavage,[39] Robert Mapplethorpe,[45] Raymond Pettibon,[46] and Eric Fischl.[44] Among her most prized possessions are her Kiki Smith prints, which were the first prints she ever bought.[45]
Lead up to The L Word[]
After seven years together, Bette and Tina have decided to start a family.[42] They originally wanted to adopt a child, but figured that as a lesbian couple they would never be selected as parents due to the way the adoption system works.[11] Instead, Tina has given up her career as a film studio executive at Bette’s urging[34] so as to carry their child, leaving Bette as the sole breadwinner.[42][13] The couple have also been looking for a suitable sperm donor, with Bette insisting that the donor be an artist[42] of a calibre good enough to have made the Whitney Biennial exhibition.[41]
On the outside, Bette and Tina appear to have an idyllic relationship, one that their friends put on a pedestal. Things are more complicated beneath the surface: Bette is consumed by her work at the CAC and has little time and patience for Tina, while their sex life has been lacklustre for the past three years.[42]
Bette has a complicated relationship with her father, whose approval she still desperately craves. On one hand, Bette is the apple of Melvin’s eye and he is extremely proud of her career achievements. On the other hand, he barely tolerates her relationship with Tina and refuses to call Tina by her first name.[13][15] Her older half-sister Kit is now a recovering alcoholic who is trying to turn her life around. However, Bette is hesitant to let Kit back into her life fully as Kit has already let Bette down one too many times in the past.[19][42]
Throughout the series[]
Season summaries for Bette Porter in The L Word and Generation Q:
The L Word[]
- TLW: Season 1
- TLW: Season 2
- TLW: Season 3
- TLW: Season 4
- TLW: Season 5
- TLW: Season 6
- TLW: Interrogation Tapes
In between[]
- In between TLW and GQ
Generation Q[]
- GQ: Season 1
- GQ: Season 2
Physical appearance[]
Bette is often described as a woman of exquisite beauty with alpha female stature. She is tall, athletic and well built. She possesses dark curly hairs, which she often wears in shoulder length. Her skin tone is that of olive. Facial features include big and round dark eyes, full lips and round forehead.
Her other physical attributes include well toned limbs, thin waist and lean shoulders.
Often, Bette comes across numerous people who are enthralled by her feminine beauty; most of them tend to be blatantly honest about it. As a common instance, she is also approached by people in her work place romantically.
Personality[]
Bette is an alpha female with controlling nature; sexual, relationship and work wise. Her dominating and controlling nature has been one of the issues in her relationship with Tina. Tina found it consuming that Bette often takes up all the space. However, in season 6 of the L Word, Bette changes for good and becomes neutral for Tina.
Tina has been the turning factor in Bette’s demeanor. She still keeps her controlling Alpha nature outside, but it is seen she lets Tina control half the time. It has also been shown that she is vulnerable under Tina’s presence, the only person she lets in. Beneath her tough exterior, she is a soft individual.
In later years (season 4 onwards), Bette’s conflicting nature of unfaithfullness takes different turns. She made sure she stayed loyal to Tina after the cheating. Her affair with Tina made things clearer that she did not want anyone else except her. During the affair when she was still with Jodie Lerner, she stopped being intimate with Jodie once her and Tina started their physical relationship.
Relationships[]
| “ | …the sexually predatory, emotionally abusive ‘Bev’, who uses her professional stature to bed every girl and woman who crosses her path. | ” |
|
–Jenny’s description of Bette in Lez Girls, «Literary License to Kill» |
Notable relationships[]
- Bette and Tina
- Bette and Jodi
- Bette and Candance
- Bette and Pippa
- Bette and Felicity
- Bette and Alice
- Bette and Gigi
Full list[]
The table below shows the complete known history of Bette’s romantic relationships.
| No. | Series | Name | Type | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GQ | Pippa Pascal | Girlfriend | GQ: 2×07 – present |
|
||||
| 2 | GQ | Gigi Ghorbani | Girlfriend | GQ: 2×01 – post 2×05 |
|
||||
| 3 | GQ | Maya Stevenson | Date | GQ: 1×08 – post 1×08 |
|
||||
| 4 | GQ | Felicity Adams | Affair | GQ: pre 1×01 – 1×05 |
|
||||
| 5 | TLW | Tina Kennard | Wife, girlfriend, affair | TLW: pre 1×01 – 1×13 TLW: 2×09 – 3×07 TLW: 5×06 – post 6×08 |
|
||||
| 6 | TLW | Jodi Lerner | Girlfriend | TLW: 4×06 – 5×11 |
|
||||
| 7 | TLW | Nadia Karella | Fling | TLW: 4×03 |
|
||||
| 8 | TLW | «Twink» | Fling | TLW: 2×04 |
|
||||
| 9 | TLW | Candace Jewell | Girlfriend, affair | TLW: 1×11 – 2×01 |
|
||||
| 10 | Pre-TLW | Alice Pieszecki | Girlfriend | TLW: pre 1×01 |
|
||||
| 11 | Pre-TLW | Megan Friedman | Fling | TLW: pre 1×01 |
|
||||
| 12 | Pre-TLW | Phoebe Kadlec | Fling | TLW: pre 1×01 |
|
||||
| 13 | Pre-TLW | Coleman Alt | Boyfriend | TLW: pre 1×01 |
|
Career history[]
The table below shows the complete known history of Bette’s career.
| No. | Series | Type | Position | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GQ | Art dealer | Managing Director of the Zakarian Gallery | GQ: 2×02 – present |
|
||||
| 2 | GQ | Politician | Candidate in the Los Angeles mayoral election | GQ: pre 1×01 – 1×08 |
|
||||
| 3 | Pre-GQ | Civil servant | Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles | GQ: pre 1×01 |
|
||||
| 4 | TLW | Art gallerist | Partner in the Wentworth Porter Projects | TLW: 6×06 – post 6×08 |
|
||||
| 5 | TLW | Academic administrator | Dean of the School of the Arts, California University | TLW: 4×02 – 6×03 |
|
||||
| 6 | TLW | Art consultant | Consultant for the Slate Museum | TLW: pre 3×01 – 3×04 |
|
||||
| 7 | TLW | Art curator | Director of the California Arts Center | TLW: pre 1×01 – 2×13 |
|
||||
| 8 | Pre-TLW | Art gallerist | Owner of the Bette Porter Gallery | TLW: pre 1×01 |
|
||||
| 9 | Pre-TLW | Unknown | Unknown role at the Drawing Center | TLW: pre 1×01 |
|
||||
| 10 | Pre-TLW | Teaching assistant | Graduate teaching assistant at Yale University | TLW: pre 1×01 |
|
Episode appearances[]
| The L Word, season 1 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Pilot» | Appears |
| «Let’s Do It» | Appears |
| «Longing» | Appears |
| «Lies, Lies, Lies» | Appears |
| «Lawfully» | Appears |
| «Losing It» | Appears |
| «L’Ennui» | Appears |
| «Listen Up» | Appears |
| «Luck, Next Time» | Appears |
| «Liberally» | Appears |
| «Looking Back» | Appears |
| «Locked Up» | Appears |
| «Limb from Limb» | Appears |
| The L Word, season 2 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Life, Loss, Leaving» | Appears |
| «Lap Dance» | Appears |
| «Loneliest Number» | Appears |
| «Lynch Pin» | Appears |
| «Labyrinth» | Appears |
| «Lagrimas de Oro» | Appears |
| «Luminous» | Appears |
| «Loyal» | Appears |
| «Late, Later, Latent» | Appears |
| «Land Ahoy» | Appears |
| «Loud & Proud» | Appears |
| «L’Chaim» | Appears |
| «Lacuna» | Appears |
| The L Word, season 3 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Labia Majora» | Appears |
| «Lost Weekend» | Appears |
| «Lobsters» | Appears |
| «Light My Fire» | Appears |
| «Lifeline» | Appears |
| «Lifesize» | Appears |
| «Lone Star» | Appears |
| «Latecomer» | Appears |
| «Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way» | Appears |
| «Losing the Light» | Appears |
| «Last Dance» | Appears |
| «Left Hand of the Goddess» | Appears |
| The L Word, season 4 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Legend in the Making» | Appears |
| «Livin’ La Vida Loca» | Appears |
| «Lassoed» | Appears |
| «Layup» | Appears |
| «Lez Girls» | Appears |
| «Luck Be a Lady» | Appears |
| «Lesson Number One» | Appears |
| «Lexington and Concord» | Appears |
| «Lacy Lilting Lyrics» | Appears |
| «Little Boy Blue» | Appears |
| «Literary License to Kill» | Appears |
| «Long Time Coming» | Appears |
| The L Word, season 5 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «LGB Tease» | Appears |
| «Look Out, Here They Come!» | Appears |
| «Lady of the Lake» | Appears |
| «Let’s Get This Party Started» | Appears |
| «Lookin’ at You, Kid» | Appears |
| «Lights! Camera! Action!» | Appears |
| «Lesbians Gone Wild» | Appears |
| «Lay Down the Law» | Appears |
| «Liquid Heat» | Appears |
| «Lifecycle» | Appears |
| «Lunar Cycle» | Appears |
| «Loyal and True» | Appears |
| The L Word, season 6 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Long Night’s Journey Into Day» | Appears |
| «Least Likely» | Appears |
| «LMFAO» | Appears |
| «Leaving Los Angeles» | Appears |
| «Litmus Test» | Appears |
| «Lactose Intolerant» | Appears |
| «Last Couple Standing» | Appears |
| «Last Word» | Appears |
| The L Word, Interrogation Tapes | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Bette» | Appears |
| «Alice» | Mentioned |
| «Tina» | Mentioned |
| «Shane» | Absent |
| «Helena» | Absent |
| «Max« | Absent |
| «Niki» | Absent |
| Generation Q, season 1 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Let’s Do It Again» | Appears |
| «Less Is More» | Appears |
| «Lost Love» | Appears |
| «LA Times» | Appears |
| «Labels» | Appears |
| «Loose Ends» | Appears |
| «Lose It All» | Appears |
| «Lapse in Judgement» | Appears |
| Generation Q, season 2 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Late to the Party» | Appears |
| «Lean on Me» | Appears |
| «Luck Be a Lady» | Appears |
| «Lake House» | Appears |
| «Lobsters, Too» | Appears |
| «Love Shack» | Appears |
| «Light» | Appears |
| «Launch Party» | Appears |
| «Last Dance» | Appears |
| «Last Call» | Appears |
Quotes[]
- Bette Porter/Quotes
Gallery[]
|
A more complete gallery with pictures of Bette Porter can be found here. |
Notes and trivia[]
- In «Locked Up» (TLW 1×12), Bette says she has not smoked a cigarette since she was 12. However in «Loneliest Number» (TLW 2×04), Bette says she used to be a regular smoker until she quit four years earlier.
- Throughout The L Word, Bette lived in the same house in The Crescent, West Hollywood; the address was 15153 North Genesee Avenue, Los Angeles CA, 90921.[51]
- Two characters died in that house: Melvin in The L Word season 2, and Jenny in The L Word season 6.
- Bette’s campaign slogan in season one of Generation Q is «Passion. Progress. Porter.»
- Bette is a graduate of Yale University while in real life, Jennifer Beals graduated from Yale with a B.A. in American Literature.
- The show had to hide Jennifer Beals’ real-life pregnancy during the filming of The L Word season three.
- In «Lifesize» (TLW 3×06), Bette’s hairstyle and grey sweatshirt in the college flashback is a shout-out to Jennifer Beals’ iconic role in the 1983 film Flashdance.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The L Word, 3×06: «Lifesize».
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 The L Word, 1×11: «Looking Back».
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 In «Lifesize» (TLW 3×06), Bette is shown to have been an undergraduate student at Yale in 1985. This was retconned in GQ S2, where Pippa is said to be 52, making Bette 49/50 as she was a freshman or sophomore when Pippa was a senior in college. Moreover, «Lean on Me» (GQ 2×02) is said to take place 17 years after «Limb from Limb» (TLW 1×13), thus making Bette 32/33 in TLW S1.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The L Word, 4×03: «Lassoed».
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The L Word, 4×04: «Layup».
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 The L Word, 2×13: «Lacuna».
- ↑ See «Liquid Heat» (TLW 5×09) and «LA Times» (GQ 1×04).
- ↑ See «Lap Dance» (TLW 2×02), «Labyrinth» (TLW 2×05), «Lagrimas de Oro» (TLW 2×06), «Little Boy Blue» (TLW 4×10), «Literary License to Kill» (TLW 4×11), «Long Time Coming» (TLW 4×12), and «Loose Ends» (GQ 1×06).
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 The L Word, 6×02: «Least Likely».
- ↑ The L Word, 5×10: «Lifecycle».
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 The L Word, 1×08: «Listen Up».
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 The L Word, 2×11: «Loud & Proud».
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 The L Word, 1×05: «Lawfully».
- ↑ The L Word, 1×09: «Luck, Next Time».
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 The L Word, 2×10: «Land Ahoy».
- ↑ The L Word, 2×12: «L’Chaim».
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Generation Q, 2×05: «Lobsters, Too».
- ↑ Bette says in «Lassoed» (TLW 4×03) that both her parents are dead, but this was either retconned or Bette was not being literal and simply wanted to shut the homophobic guy up.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 The L Word, 1×02: «Let’s Do It».
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 The L Word, 3×11: «Last Dance».
- ↑ The L Word, 4×04: «Layup».
- ↑ Generation Q, 2×07: «Light».
- ↑ The L Word, 2×03: «Loneliest Number».
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Generation Q, 2×04: «Lake House».
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Generation Q, 2×03: «Luck Be a Lady».
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 The L Word, 4×07: «Lesson Number One».
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 The L Word, 6×04: «Leaving Los Angeles».
- ↑ The L Word, 6×05: «Litmus Test».
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 The L Word, 2×08: «Loyal».
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 The L Word, Interrogation Tapes: «Alice».
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 The L Word, 1×03: «Longing».
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 The L Word, 4×02: «Livin’ La Vida Loca».
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 The L Word, 3×07: «Lone Star».
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 The L Word, 2×02: «Lap Dance».
- ↑ The L Word, 5×10: «Lifecycle».
- ↑ In the Interrogation Tapes, Alice explains that she first met Shane when she got her hair done at the salon Shane was working at.
- ↑ Generation Q, 2×09: «Last Dance».
- ↑ The L Word, 4×05: «Lez Girls».
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 The L Word, 2×04: «Lynch Pin».
- ↑ 40.0 40.1 The L Word, 5×08: «Lay Down the Law».
- ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 The L Word, 5×02: «Look Out, Here They Come!».
- ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 42.3 42.4 42.5 The L Word, 1×01: «Pilot».
- ↑ Generation Q, 2×01: «Late to the Party».
- ↑ 44.0 44.1 The L Word, 5×03: «Lady of the Lake».
- ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 45.3 45.4 The L Word, 3×03: «Lobsters».
- ↑ The L Word, 4×08: «Lexington and Concord».
- ↑ Generation Q, 1×01: «Let’s Do It Again».
- ↑ 48.0 48.1 The L Word, 3×01: «Labia Majora».
- ↑ The L Word, 3×04: «Light My Fire».
- ↑ The L Word, 2×05: «Labyrinth».
- ↑ The L Word, 1×04: «Lies, Lies, Lies».
External links[]
- Generation Q profile on Showtime
- The L Word profile on Showtime
| Bette Porter-Kennard | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Pilot (episode 1.01) |
| Last appearance | Last Word (episode 6.08) |
| Created by | Ilene Chaiken |
| Portrayed by | Jennifer Beals |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Former Director at the California Arts Center, Former Dean of School of Arts, California University, Co-Owner and Partner of Wentworth-Porter Art Gallery |
| Family | Spouse: Tina Kennard (Married) Lovers: Coleman, Alice Pieszecki, Candace Jewell, Nadia, Jodi Lerner, Felicity Adams, Gigi Ghorbani, Pippa Pascal Father: Melvin Porter Half-Sibling: Kit Porter Children: Angelica Porter-Kennard Nephew: David Waters |
Bette Porter is a fictional character on the Showtime television network series The L Word and its sequel The L Word: Generation Q, played by Jennifer Beals.
Fictional character biography[edit]
Before The L Word[edit]
Bette is introduced as an affluent, Ivy League-educated lesbian of African-American and Caucasian heritage. She grew up in Philadelphia and was an art history major at Yale, where she began having sex with her boyfriend, Coleman. They both realized they were gay shortly after, with Bette developing a crush on her art history professor, Danica Palmer (Lifesize: 306). Eventually, she came out as a lesbian, and fell for her bisexual friend, Kelly. After Kelly rejected her advances, Bette grew depressed to the brink of suicide.
After graduation, Bette moved on, and dated Alice Pieszecki briefly. Bette once fingered Alice while they were at the opera Lakmé (during The Flower Duet). Though their relationship ended when Bette cheated on Alice, the two remained close friends afterwards.
Bette met her future partner, Tina, while Tina was on a date at the Bette Porter Gallery with her then-boyfriend Eric. An instant attraction formed between the two of them. Bette noticed Tina’s right earring had fallen off, and Tina supposedly put it back on. Later that night, Tina returned to the gallery to retrieve the lost earring. Bette had kept it for her. While Tina was picking it from her hand, Bette kissed her.
The L Word[edit]
Season one[edit]
Though Bette and Tina’s relationship appears to their friends as very strong, it is revealed that they are having problems and visiting a therapist, mostly due to Bette’s career at the California Arts Center, her domineering attitude and her tendency to become verbally abusive when things do not go her way. At Bette’s urging, Tina gives up her own career in order to have a child, leaving Bette as the sole breadwinner. Things are complicated by Bette’s homophobic father Melvin flatly refusing to acknowledge Tina’s baby as his grandchild, and Bette’s difficult but improving relationship with her older half-sister Kit, a recovering alcoholic who has often let her down.
Tina, however, suffers a miscarriage, which takes a heavy toll on Bette, and when Tina decides to become involved in a charitable organization, Bette finds that their careers make it almost impossible for them to spend any time together. At the same time, Bette finds herself drawn to Candace Jewell, a carpenter temporarily working at the CAC who makes a pass at her despite knowing of her relationship with Tina. Bette subsequently begins an affair with Candace to fulfil her sexual desires. When Tina discovers the affair, she flies into a rage and, in the ensuing physical fight, Bette forces herself sexually on Tina, who eventually submits. Tina still leaves Bette and moves out of their house. [1][2]
Season two[edit]
In the second season, Bette resumes her affair with Candace, but soon becomes desperate to make amends for her betrayal, and finds that her break-up with Tina is disrupting all the other elements of her life. Her job becomes an increasing pressure, especially when Tina’s new lover, Helena Peabody, is added to the Board of Directors, and her boss hires another curator who threatens Bette’s elevated position. Tina refuses to forgive Bette, insinuating that she is only trying to mend their relationship because Candace is not sexually fulfilling enough for her.
At first, Bette feels isolated from Alice (who hypocritically accuses Bette of being a «sex addict» while she herself is having an affair with Dana, who is engaged to be married) and the others, who she feels have mainly taken Tina’s side in their argument rather than remain neutral. Although Shane and Jenny are both supportive of her (mostly because both are also both promiscuous, having cheated on their lovers as well), it takes a while for Bette to feel on good terms with Alice again. After Tina begins to see Helena, however, the group appear to rally around Bette, who is now aware that Tina is pregnant again. Learning that Tina got herself inseminated before their breakup, Bette demands to be part of the baby’s life, but Tina refuses.
Matters are further complicated when it is revealed that Bette’s father Melvin is dying from advanced prostate cancer, and is refusing treatment. A distraught Bette brings him home to die, so that he will not be trapped in a hospital, but this difficult experience leads her to reach out to Tina. Tina, who by now feels trapped by her relationship with Helena, grows closer to Bette again, and although Melvin never really blesses his daughter’s homosexual relationship, he does once refer to Tina as ‘Tina’ rather than ‘Miss Kennard’ before he dies. His death is a great blow to Bette, who receives news of the loss of her job at Melvin’s funeral.
Though upset and furious, Bette continues to derive comfort from her improved relationship with Tina. Bette’s relationship with Kit is also vastly improved during this season, with Kit being her main source of comfort at the beginning of the season. She helps Kit to take over The Planet cafe, and begins actively involving herself in Kit’s life. Eventually Tina chooses Bette over Helena, and the end of the season shows Tina asking to move back in with Bette. Tina’s labor is surprisingly difficult, but their daughter Angelica is eventually born, and the end of the season shows Bette as calm and happy in her new family.
Season three[edit]
Six months later, Bette and Tina are feeling the stress of raising Angelica, Bette’s unemployment and Tina going back to work for Helena at her film studio. Their relationship experiences difficulties yet again when Tina claims to have a renewed interest in men. Angry and hurt with her belief that Tina was merely experimenting with her for eight years, Bette has her move out. Bette briefly becomes a Buddhist and goes on a silent retreat, but leaves it. In the meantime, Tina begins a relationship with a divorced father, Henry Young. When Henry’s son Mikey innocently asks Bette to take a «family picture» of himself and Henry with Tina and Angelica, and Tina tells Bette to her face that she no longer wants Bette to adopt Angelica and that she and Henry are going to start a family with the implication that Henry will adopt Angelica, Bette comes to the realization that Tina is only using Henry and Mikey so that she will get full custody of Angelica when she and Bette separate, as she is Angelica’s biological mother and deliberately ingratiating herself in what Bette calls the «safety of a white heterosexual family», after which she will leave Henry. Desperate not to lose Angelica, Bette hires Joyce Wishnea, a gay civil rights lawyer, in order to file for sole custody, and warns Tina to stop her farce with Henry. This time, most of their friends rally behind Bette, seeing Tina as a traitor to the LGBT community for using her sexuality and the country’s homophobic legal system against Bette. Tina, however, stands her ground and considers the possibility of losing all of her friends as the «bravest thing she has ever done».
At Shane and Carmen’s wedding, Bette begins to have second thoughts about this, but when Tina gets Joyce’s letter and begins to take action to separate Bette from Angelica forever, Bette kidnaps Angelica and runs away.
Season four[edit]
After being implored by her friends, Bette returns with Angelica. Tina does not press charges and Joyce does not report Bette’s actions to the police. Joyce persuades Bette and Tina to reach an agreement themselves on the basis that the court will most likely put Angelica up for adoption or into a heterosexual foster family instead of granting either of them custody. Soon after, Bette becomes the dean of art at a university. Her sexually frustrated boss, Phyllis Kroll, confesses to her that she is a lesbian, despite having a husband, Leonard. Later on, Bette introduces Phyllis to her group of friends, aware that she will end up having sex with one of them; Phyllis meets and has an affair with Alice, but despite being old enough to be her mother, she falls madly in love with her, which makes Bette feel uncomfortable, particularly when Alice refuses to commit to Phyllis and Bette gets caught in the middle. In desperation, Bette puts Phyllis in contact with Joyce to help her divorce Leonard, aware of Joyce’s reputation for sleeping with her clients. Her plan works and Phyllis and Joyce begin a relationship, though Joyce is forced to recuse herself from representing Phyllis when it becomes more serious.
While working at the California University School of the Arts as a dean, Bette has an affair with one of her graduate students, Nadia, but soon breaks off the relationship because she realizes it is inappropriate. Then, she begins a sexual relationship with Jodi Lerner, a sculptor who has begun lecturing at the university. Tina and Bette’s relationship initially goes through some rough patches, but they gradually become friendlier with each other. Tina confesses to Bette that she still loves her and that she misses her life as a lesbian; when she meets Jodi, Tina realizes how much she wants Bette back and begins to regret ending her relationship with Bette.
Tina learns of an affair between Angus (Kit’s boyfriend) and Tina’s nanny, Hazel, and she informs Bette. This causes major stress to their relationship, as Bette wants to keep this information from her sister and Tina disagrees. Things become even more complicated after a disastrous dinner party, thrown by Bette for Jodi, where she learns Kit—a recovering alcoholic—is drinking again to deal with Angus’s infidelity. Because of Bette’s reaction to her sister’s drinking, Bette and Jodi get into a heated argument. As a result of the argument, Jodi realizes that Bette’s controlling ways are too much for her and takes a job offer in New York City. In the season finale, Bette, with some encouragement from Tina and help from Alice and Shane, steals a «17 Reasons Why» sign from an old building in hopes of getting Jodi back, as Jodi had once told her that she believed it would make a great art piece. She shows it to Jodi, who is touched enough that she decides to remain in Los Angeles with Bette, who is unaware that Tina is secretly planning to sabotage their relationship in hopes of getting her back.
Season five[edit]
At the beginning of the fifth season, Bette and Jodi’s relationship seems very loving to their friends. However, it does not take long before problems begin to show. When Jodi insists on bringing Bette on her annual vacation with her close friends, Bette finds herself annoyed and upset with Jodi and her friend’s activities.
Though Bette continues her relationship with Jodi, she begins to long for the life she shared with Tina, particularly after Tina starts to manipulate Bette by talking about their past life and bragging about her affairs with other women. Bette soon succumbs to Tina’s hints and they begin an affair, though they both claim to be unsure if they want anything more than their sexual reconnection. To manipulate Bette further out of sadness and longing, Tina begins a flirtation with Sam, a woman who works on the set of Lez Girls. Due to her own jealousy, Bette becomes angry with Jodi when Jodi decides to have a dinner party and invites Tina and Sam. When Jodi confronts Bette about their distance emotionally and sexually, Bette cannot bring herself to admit that she is still in love with Tina. During rolling blackouts, Bette and Tina are trapped in an elevator on the way to their couples therapy session. During their time in the elevator, Bette and Tina discuss their fears about their relationship and end up making love, during which Bette tells Tina she still loves her, even though Tina was once prepared to destroy their relationship for good through Henry. Bette also reveals to Tina she wants to tell Jodi about their reunion after the Subaru Pink Ride.
Meanwhile, Jodi sees Bette is moody and upset about something but is not sure. By this time, Jodi has resigned from California University after one of her students held a realistic-looking gun made of soapstone to his head in front of the class as a form of art. While on their Subaru Pink Ride, Jodi learns of the affair during a game of ‘I Never’ when Alice drunkenly begins calling Bette a «giant and ‘gi-normous’ cheater» for having cheated on Tina and on Alice herself when they were dating. This statement leads Jodi to jokingly ask if Bette is cheating on her. When Bette does not respond and Tina gets up and runs away from the group, Jodi finally realizes that Bette is cheating on her and most likely never truly loved her from the start. In private, Kit verbally blasts Bette for her actions, reminding her of Tina’s callous behavior while she was with Henry, but Bette confesses that, even though Tina was ready to take their daughter away from her and destroy their family forever, she loves and has always loved Tina, and that she and Jodi «never had a shot», effectively confirming that she was merely using Jodi sexually and never loved her.
After the truth is revealed, Jodi returns to Bette and completely brushes off Tina. Bette takes Jodi to her house trying to talk things over but Jodi is adamant to get Bette back anyhow, leading to force her to have sex with her. Bette finally pushes her away and they agree to clarify things in Bette’s office. It is here that Bette tells Jodi that their relationship will not work because Tina is her true love. Jodi concedes and leaves without further fight. She retrieves her personal items from Bette’s place and leaves Bette an early birthday present. At the end of that eventful day, Bette joins Tina and takes both Angelica and Tina back home.
With her real admiration for Jodi, Bette introduces Jodi at the public exhibition of a new Jodi Lerner piece, entitled «Core». However, it instead turns out to be Jodi’s spiteful revenge against Bette for using her: a series of videos of a single Bette saying «I love you», as well as things like «Leave me alone», «Go without me», «Stop», and «Fuck me», ridiculing Bette for her promiscuity and willingness to use anyone sexually. After the shocking public humiliation, Bette returns to find solace in Tina. Later, Bette and Tina go to Lez Girls wrap party where their reunion and display of affection is admired by their friends, who are indifferent to the pain and heartbreak that they have both inflicted on Jodi.
Season six[edit]
Tina moves back in with Bette, and they decide to adopt a second child. In preparation, they begin to add an expensive extension to their house.
The pair finally meet the birth mother, Marci, in Nevada. She is an underprivileged Caucasian woman expecting a half African-American son. Despite the fact that Marci’s family reject the notion of giving the child to a lesbian couple, Marci agrees to give Tina and Bette her child. However, this transaction is threatened when Joyce Wischnia informs the pair that Nevada law does not permit adoption to same sex couples. A solution is reached when Bette and Tina agree to board Marci during her pregnancy, but when they arrive to the Los Angeles bus station to meet her, Marci is not on the bus, having backed out of the deal.
Meanwhile, as tension continues between Bette and Jodi due to Bette’s infidelity, Bette tries to have Jodi fired and the matter is brought before Phyllis. Jodi refuses to resign and threatens legal action against Bette and the university should anyone fire her. Phyllis privately tries to convince Bette that Bette should resign instead, since she had already helped cover up a potential scandal involving Bette’s brief fling with Nadia, and that any potential sexual harassment proceedings from Jodi would further endanger the university’s reputation. Immediately afterwards, Phyllis makes a drunken pass at Bette at a bar, claiming she was always strongly attracted to her and can now pursue a relationship with her since Bette is no longer her employee, even if it means leaving Joyce. Finally fed up with Phyllis’ sexual confusion and desperation, Bette rejects her advances and submits her resignation from the university.
Bette later reconnects with her bisexual college crush Kelly Wentworth (Elizabeth Berkley), and the pair open an art gallery together. While Bette had strong feelings for Kelly in college to the point where she was on the brink of suicide when Kelly rejected her, she now seems quite capable of remaining committed to Tina despite the newly divorced Kelly’s constant flirtations with her. Tina, however, subtly voices her lack of trust in Bette, especially after Kelly claims that Bette was a «player» during their college days, and starts to fear that Bette will eventually cheat on her again. When a drunken Kelly finally makes a pass at Bette in Bette’s house, Bette soundly rejects her, but the pair remain on friendly terms. Then Kelly accidentally breaks a glass, and Bette helps her pick up the shards. Jenny mistakes this activity for a sexual moment between the pair, and captures it on her cellphone camera. Later, an angry Jenny threatens Bette that she will expose the footage to Tina if Bette does not first confess her «umpteenth indiscretion» to Tina.
When Tina gets a job offer in New York, she and Bette decide to relocate there and start a new life. Bette is more than happy to do this, partially to escape from the claustrophobic bubble of Los Angeles lesbian intrigue and partially to escape Jenny. She confides all of this to Kit, including Jenny’s misconception. While in bed, Bette proposes to Tina, who accepts.
At Bette and Tina’s going away party in their home, Kit threatens Jenny to back off and is in turn shown the incriminating cellphone footage. Kit next confronts Bette, believing the footage to be a valid display of infidelity. Learning about the footage, and knowing that both of their previous affairs with Candace, Jodi and Henry will very easily convince Tina (who by now no longer trusts Bette fully) that she has cheated on her again, Bette finally approaches Jenny and threatens to kill her if she destroys what little stability remains of her family. This confrontation is held near a banister with an unfinished railing, and it is the last time Jenny is shown alive. Her body is discovered in the pool shortly afterwards. The series ends with Bette and all her friends being interrogated by police, and the truth of Jenny’s death unexplained.
The Interrogation Tapes[edit]
Several weeks after the television series ends, footage of Bette’s police interrogation appears on Showtime’s L Word website («The Interrogation Tapes»). For some reason, this footage leaked onto YouTube first.[3]
Although she does not divulge any information regarding Jenny’s death, Bette confesses to being secretly angry and devastated by the fact that Tina never asked her to carry their second child, though it is left unrevealed why Bette herself did not suggest in it the first place.[4]
The L Word: Generation Q[edit]
Season one[edit]
Ten years after Jenny’s death, Bette is running for Mayor of Los Angeles. It is revealed that during the last ten years, Bette and Tina did get married, but also got divorced after Tina left Bette for another woman, Carrie, with Bette getting at least partial custody of Angelica, who now lives with her. Bette refuses campaign funding from Dani Nùñez, a PR executive for her father’s company which invests in opioids, but Dani has a change of heart and resigns in order to work for Bette. Also seeking to sabotage Bette’s campaign is Tyler Adams, as Bette once slept with his closeted lesbian ex-wife, Felicity. In response, Bette goes on Alice’s new television show to tell her side of the story and arranges an interview with Felicity, with whom she renews her affair. On Dani’s advice, Bette breaks up with Felicity to avoid further controversy, and in retaliation, Felicity tips Tyler and the press off about their renewed affair, putting her campaign in jeopardy once again when Tyler confronts her and Bette is forced to punch him to protect Angelica. Bette finally reveals to the press that her reason for running for mayor is that Kit died of an opioid overdose, and enrolls Angelica in a public school when she is suspended by her racist and homophobic private school for physically defending Bette against a classmate, winning her a grant from the teachers’ union. At the same time, Tina visits Bette and Angelica to offer her support. Despite their troubled past, Bette hopes to renew her relationship with Tina, but Tina privately reveals to Bette that she is marrying Carrie and they moving to Los Angeles so that they can be closer to Angelica. Ultimately, Bette loses the election to her far-right conservative rival, Jeff Milner, who had aired several campaign commercials which denounced Bette’s moral values. Bette goes to grieve for Kit with Angelica where her ashes were scattered. In the process, she runs into Maya, a lesbian reporter who was covering her campaign, and accepts a dinner invitation from her.
Season two[edit]
In season two, still single, Bette finds herself struggling to come to terms with Tina and Carrie’s engagement, and is only barely able to hide her hatred for Carrie, while Angie begins to express interest in learning more about Marcus Allenwood, her donor. Bette expresses her fear of growing old and dying alone to Alice and Shane, who set her up on a date with Golnar «Gigi» Ghorbani, the ex-wife of Alice’s domestic partner. During the date, Bette appears despondent, especially when Tina and Carrie appear at the same restaurant by chance. Bette and Gigi kiss in an attempt to spite Tina, but she does not even look over at them. Gigi, however, reveals that she and Bette share a lot in common, as they are both divorced women who thought their wives would have chosen to return to them, leading them to enter a relationship, though Bette sees Gigi more as an occasional hookup than a girlfriend. Against Bette’s wishes, Angie does a genealogy test and discovers that she has a half-sister, Kayla Allenwood. Though initially angry, Bette agrees to let Angie meet Kayla. Meanwhile, Bette is offered a position as the managing director at the art gallery of Isaac Zakarian. Despite her dislike for Zakarian’s conservative and racist beliefs, Bette agrees to work for him so that she can recruit and help lesser-known artists. She successfully tracks down Pippa Pascal, a famous African-American lesbian artist who was forced into seclusion, and tries to persuade her to work with her, but she turns Bette down. Angie eventually confides to Bette that she has learned that Marcus is dying, and wants to see a therapist with her, Tina and Carrie. At the therapy session with Micah Lee, Angie reveals that Marcus is dying from kidney failure and wants to see if she is a suitable donor. Despite Micah’s pleas, Bette immediately flies into a rage and begins speaking over Tina and rudely dismissing Carrie to the point that Angie openly accuses Bette of only caring about her own feelings and storms out. At Micah’s urging, Bette confesses that she barely knew her own mother after she abandoned the family, but when she tracked her down, she instantly regretted it. After the session, Bette contacts Gigi for sex, who turns her down, tired of being at Bette’s beck and call. Later on, after speaking with Tina, Bette apologises to Angie for her actions and gives her blessing for Angie to meet Marcus. Bette later crosses paths with Pippa again and invites her to a poker game at Dana’s, where she runs into Carrie, who Bette had reluctantly invited since Tina was away. At the party, Bette is approached by Carrie, who proposes that they try to be more civil to each other for Tina and Angie’s sakes. Though both share stories of being marginalized in school for their homosexuality and appearance, Bette rudely rebuffs Carrie and goes with Pippa to her house where they enter a sexual relationship. Their relationship is briefly strained when Bette realizes that the Nùñez family are representing Pippa’s exhibition and bluffs that she will have Pippa’s art removed, angering Pippa, who believes Bette used her for self-gain, but when the CAC take Bette’s threat seriously, Bette gives in and stands up for Pippa. The two reconcile and instead start protests against the Nùñez corporation, demanding that their name be removed from the exhibition, and they eventually win. Bette and Tina later take Angie to meet Marcus in the hospital, but he turns Angie away. After seeing Angie’s devastation to the point that she snaps at Jordi during the pre-prom party, Bette and Tina visit Marcus, who briefly reads a list of questions Angie had for him, and agrees to meet her. Tina confronts Bette for her treatment towards Carrie and asks if she is still in love with her, but Marcus dies of cardiac arrest before Bette can answer. Pippa begins to show doubts in Bette’s sincerity about their relationship with regards to Tina, despite Bette insisting that they are over. While shopping with Shane and Alice for wedding gifts for Tina, Shane goes behind Carrie’s back and reveals to Bette that her actions have caused Carrie to have second thoughts about marrying Tina, and encourages her to take the chance to steal Tina back. At a celebration for Alice’s new book, Bette attempts to talk to Tina, and though Tina denies that she is in love with Bette, Carrie overhears them and confronts them both, accusing Bette of trying to sabotage their marriage and Tina of not caring for her enough to stand up to Bette, and subsequently calls off the engagement over Tina’s objections. Tina furiously accuses Bette of sabotaging the engagement, which Pippa witnesses. At home that night, Bette shows Angie a painting that Marcus had made for her, and her intention to do an exhibition of Marcus’s work at the CAC after Pippa’s. With some encouragement from Angie, Bette decides to go to the exhibition with Pippa and make amends, but as she is leaving the house, she finds Tina standing at her door, who asks if she can come in.
Season three[edit]
Tina asks Bette again if she is in love with her, and Bette finally admits that she is, despite promising to try and mend things between her and Carrie, but Tina also admits that she cannot marry Carrie as she too is still in love with Bette, hinting that she was only using Carrie in the hopes that Bette would become jealous again, but she accuses Bette of being incapable of feeling love for anyone but herself, and storms out.
A year later, Bette has since gone on another Buddhist retreat, which she completed, and has repaired her friendship with Tina, who remains unaware of Bette, Shane and Alice’s roles in destroying her engagement. At an auction, Bette decides to sell one of her old paintings from her old house with Tina, but Tina buys it, admitting that she did not want to let go of it. That night, Bette invites Tina to her home and admits that on her retreat, she came to terms with her mother abandoning her and learned to love again. She and Tina end up making love. A few nights later, Bette meets up with Tina again at an exhibition for Marcus’s work, and the two recreate their first meeting. Bette asks Tina not to return to Canada and stay with her, but Tina becomes angry and accuses Bette of demanding that she once again sacrifice her home and career for her and storms out to the airport for her flight home. Determimed not to lose Tina again, Bette heeds Shane and Alice’s advice to leave Los Angeles and pursue Tina to Canada. They give chase in Angie’s car, and are stalled in traffic due to Gigi having had an accident on her way to meet Dani. Bette runs to Tina’s car and begs her to take her back, claiming that she wants to retire from her career and focus the rest of her life on loving Tina and making amends with her for all the misery she has put her through over the years, even if it means abandoning Angie in Shane and Alice’s hands. Though initially reluctant due to believing that Bette will never change, Tina eventually gives in and allows Bette to come with her.
At the end of the season, Bette and Tina arrive in Los Angeles and decide to remarry.
Reception[edit]
Bette was ranked No. 10 in AfterEllen.com’s Top 50 Favorite Female TV Characters.[5] The sex scene between Bette and Tina in the season one finale, however, was criticized by some viewers who interpreted it as depicting Bette raping Tina. Ilene Chaiken was criticized for her depiction of domestic violence and rape between lesbians, and so were fans of the series for downplaying it as «angry sex».[1][2] In an interview, Jennifer Beals cited the scene as her favorite in the entire series[citation needed], and praised both Chaiken and Tony Goldwyn for their work in writing and directing the scene, respectively.
In retrospect, however, viewers of both the original series and Generation Q have become more polarized over Bette’s character, as well as her relationship with Tina, which fans have dubbed «TiBette». In 2015, Meg Ten Eyck criticized Bette’s characterization on EveryQueer, citing that while Bette was depicted as the main breadwinner in the family with an education, a successful career and the one who did not carry Angelica, she refused to properly acknowledge Tina as an equal partner, repeatedly cheated on her and verbally and emotionally abused her whenever she questioned her power and authority, only used her position as a person of color for her own benefit, and was rarely held accountable for her actions by her friends while Tina was often ostracized from the group for similar reasons. Ten Eyck concluded that Bette was essentially written as the «man» in the relationship, comparing it to «masculinity and double standards», and used her gender and sexuality to get away with her bad behavior, and inspired fans of the series to behave the same way, while Tina was repeatedly written as «second fiddle» to Bette and never allowed to develop in her own way.[6] Similar comments were made in 2021 following the second season of Generation Q, in which Tina had divorced Bette and was engaged to a butch woman, Carrie Walsh, but Bette’s jealousy and abusive behavior towards both Tina and Carrie led to the engagement ending, and fans of the series were filmed celebrating after the finale’s cliffhanger ending which teased Tina going back to Bette for the third time despite Bette’s behavior, with the hashtag #TiBetteIsEndgame trending on social media. The Los Angeles Times condemned showrunner Marja-Lewis Ryan for what was perceived as her unfair depiction of the dynamic between femme and butch lesbians, and fans of Bette and Tina were widely criticized for fat shaming and cyberbullying Rosie O’Donnell after she was cast as Carrie,[7] while Showbiz Cheat Sheat cited numerous fans who expressed that they had grown tired of what they saw as the series glamourizing Bette and Tina’s repetitive, immature and toxic storylines.[8] In 2021, Melissa Girimonte placed Bette and Tina number 15 out of 25 on a list of the most romanticized toxic fictional couples ever, comparing them to heterosexual couples such as Ross Geller and Rachel Green, Belle and Beast, Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, and the Joker and Harley Quinn.[9]
References[edit]
- ^ a b «The L Word: Laughing, Loving, Longing, Living, Lying». www.rhizomes.net. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
- ^ a b «Why an L Word Reboot is the Last Thing We Need Right Now — the Fandomentals». 3 August 2017.
- ^ «The L Word Bette Porter Interrogation». Showtime/YouTube. Retrieved 2009-03-30.[dead YouTube link]
- ^
«The L Word Interrogation Tapes: Bette». Showtime. Archived from the original on 2009-06-29. Retrieved 2009-03-30. - ^ «AfterEllen.com’s Top 50 Favorite Female TV Characters». AfterEllen.com. February 27, 2012. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
- ^ «Everything the L Word Fucked up». 31 March 2015.
- ^ «Why this season of ‘The L Word’ might be its most controversial yet». Los Angeles Times. 11 October 2021.
- ^ «‘The L Word: Generation Q’ Fans Are Campaigning for Original Showrunner to ‘Save’ the Show». 6 November 2021.
- ^ 21 toxic on screen relationships we accidentally romanticize[dead link]
- Kera Bolonik, The L Word: Welcome to Our Planet. New York: Fireside. 2006: 64 — 68
External links[edit]
- L Word Wiki Character Page
Ко времени Поколения Q, установленному более чем через десять лет после смерти Дженни, Бетти и Тина снова расстались. Диалог показывает, что в какой-то момент Бетт и Тина в конце концов поженились, но получили развелся после того, как Тина полюбила другую женщину, Кэрри.
Здесь, как Тина забеременела, L Word?
Второй сезон The L Word первоначально транслировался на Showtime с 20 февраля 2005 г. по 15 мая 2005 г. и состоял из 13 серий. Он начинается с того, что открывает зрителям тайну, которую Тина скрывает от всех: она успешно забеременела после второго осеменения.
Соответственно, кто такая жена Шейна, L Word?
Лекс Скотт Дэвис играет персонажа Киара в The L Word: Generation Q. Она жена Шейна. Ряд фанатов обратились в Twitter, чтобы подчеркнуть свою одержимость 28-летней американской актрисой.
Кто отец Энджи на L Word?
Энджи — дочь Бетт Портер и Тина Кеннард.
Следовательно, почему Дана оставила слово L?
В третьем сезоне Дана борется с раком груди затем умирает до окончания сезона, возможно, чтобы актриса покинула шоу, не исчезнув внезапно, как многие другие персонажи. К сожалению, после ее ухода о ней забывают, и проблема рака больше не рассматривается.
Была ли Макс действительно беременна на L Word?
Но на самом деле, The L Word действительно пошел на золото вчера вечером: Макс, он же трансгендерный персонаж F-to-M, который редко появляется на экране и вообще ненавидит большинство фанатов, беременна. Да, именно так: L Word официально записал одобренную Опрой реальную историю о печально известном «беременном человеке» Томасе Битти.
Что случилось с Кармен в The L Word?
Что случилось с Кармен в ‘The L Word’ Carmen начал встречаться с Шейном во втором сезоне из The L Word после встречи с ней на телеканале. … В конце концов, они расстались в конце 3 сезона The L Word, когда Шейн бросил Кармен в день их свадьбы.
Кого Шейн оставил у алтаря в слове L?
Кармен де ла Пика Моралес (Сара Шахи)
После того, как Шейн оставил ее у алтаря в конце 3 сезона, DJ Кармен больше никогда не слышал, но это не значит, что она не могла вернуться после перезагрузки.
Почему Шейн бросил Кармен?
Ты знаешь о чем я говорю.» Это пугает Шейна, заставляя думать, что она тоже бросит свою будущую семью с Кармен, из-за чего Шейн оставил Кармен в доме. алтарь в необдуманной попытке избавить ее горе.
Тина действительно родила по The L Word?
Спойлеры (5) Беременность Тины Кеннард в сериале во 2 сезоне была снятый вокруг реальной беременности актриса Лорел Холломан. Миа Киршнер сказала в интервью, что ей было грустно видеть, как ее персонаж оказался сумасшедшим и стереотипом.
Кто донор Энджи?
Энджи становится все более любопытно узнать о своем наследии от донора, Маркус Алленвуд, несмотря на то, что Бетти и Тина пообещали Маркусу, что он останется анонимным, но Кэрри предлагает сдать мазок, который выявит больше биологических предков Энджи, на что Бетти и Тина соглашаются, когда Энджи исполнится 18 лет, хотя Энджи появляется …
Почему Марина ушла из The L Word?
Карина Ломбард сказала, что ушла из шоу, потому что актерский состав и создатель были не в восторге от ее популярности, но Чайкен сказал, что Ломбард ушел. потому что «Карина хотела совсем другого от своего персонажа и ее истории, чем мы».
Есть ли третий сезон L Word Generation Q?
Сериал The L Word: Generation Q еще не продлен на третий сезон. Ожидаем, что скоро будет подтвержден третий сезон сериала The L Word: Generation Q. Это потому, что первый и второй сезоны сериала The L Word: Generation Q получили большой отклик у зрителей.
Кого Шейн оставил у алтаря L Word?
Приняв слова Габриэля близко к сердцу, Шейн уходит. Кармен у алтаря. Отказавшись от собственной свадьбы, Шейн начинает выходить из-под контроля в четвертом сезоне; она впадает в кокаиновую выпивку с Чери и попадает в автомобильную аварию.
Что случилось с Хеленой в The L Word?
Елена попадает в тюрьму по обвинению в хищении денег у Екатерины.
Была ли Даниэла Си на самом деле беременной в The L Word?
Даниела: Я действительно был удивлен, что Я не. Я ожидал этого. И особенно когда я начал задаваться вопросом, как далеко они собираются зайти в переходный период Макса. Изначально предполагалось, что я снимусь только в восьми сериях.
Какой национальности Сара Шахи?
Ее мать родилась в Испании, чтобы отец-иранец и мать-испанка. У Шахи есть старший брат Сайрус и младшая сестра Саманта, которая работает помощником продюсера. Ее имя при рождении, Аху (персидское: آهو), означает «газель» на персидском языке.
Будет ли Хелена в поколении Q?
В конечном итоге шоу вернуло к себе несколько человек, в том числе фаворитов фанатов Бетт Портер, Шейна Маккатчеона и Элис Пешецки, но были и некоторые отсутствия. В том числе и Хелена Пибоди из Рэйчел Шелли, беззаботная светская львица и богатая наследница искусства.
Со сколькими людьми спал Шейн в слове L?
В начале The L Word Шейн работал помощником парикмахера. Она спала с От 950 до 1,200 женщин с 14 лет и избегает серьезных отношений. Она живет в двухкомнатной квартире с тремя другими соседями по комнате.
Сколько лет Алисе в «Слове на L»?
Возраст: 20s (TLW S1) 40 с (GQ S1)
Вернется ли Кармен к слову L?
К сожалению, шоураннер и режиссер Марья-Льюис Райан закрыл возможность возвращения Кармен. Поскольку сериал нацелен на большее представительство и разнообразие, они не хотят, чтобы ирано-американский актер продолжал играть латиноамериканку.
Почему Шейн изменил Кармен?
Кармен ревнует к Шейну. Шейн завидует Кармен. Шейн изменяет Кармен потому что она ранена и, вероятно, никогда не проходила терапию, поэтому у нее нет здоровых инструментов, чтобы помочь она справляется со своими постоянно вспыхивающими эмоциями.
Как Шейн разбогател?
Шейн — успешный парикмахер, которая возвращается в Лос-Анджелес после того, как жила в дороге со своим бывшим музыкантом и продавала. ее прибыльные салоны. Раньше она была бродягой, так часто, как могла, валялась на диванах и в чужих кроватях, но теперь у нее есть деньги.
Какой национальности Дани в L Word?
Задний план. Дэни родился в начале 90-х в Иранская мать и чилийский отец. В детстве она воспитывалась в достатке и была очень близка со своей матерью, которая учила ее фарси.
Последнее обновление: 4 дней назад — Авторов: 17 — Авторов: 4 — Ссылки: 33 интервью и постов; 13 Видео.
Узнайте все о своем любимом. знаменитости в Интервью со знаменитостями и не забудьте поделиться этим постом!
Ну чего Элис истерит, а? Сама заметила, сама всем растолковала, кто кого любит, сама заставила их начать отношения, а потом ведёт себя, как преданная и оскорблённая? Девочка, обычно у тебя больше логики)
Дилан — дурацкая пара для Хелены, особенно если они вот и собираются препираться в дальнейшем. Лучше бы с Дасти приехала.
Ооооо, Шейн и Молли! Боже, бедная Шейн, у меня просто слов нет…Я, конечно, рада, что у неё НАКОНЕЦ-ТО открылись глаза на натуру Дженни, но до чего же жаль саму Шейн(( И Молли уже счастлива, ничего не вернуть(
Финал с претензией на интригу, напрягает в основном то, что весь сезон крутился вокруг Дженни. Не жаль её ни капли, жаль только, что все начали её жалеть, винить себя и всё такое. Жаль, что так и оставили без наказания воровство Дженни, то, что она спрятала записку, подставу Адель, фильм, судя по всему, так и вышел с удобным финалом. Я люблю, когда справедливость торжествует.
Огорчилась, что в видео не показали Лару (была уверена, что она непременно появится), Тоню и про Дейну в последней серии не вспомнили.
Дженни, скорее всего, сама утопилась. Или Ники её столкнула. Но вообще, думаю, это Дженни Шрёдингера — как будет удобно, такую версию в дальнейшем и раскрутят. Хотя новый сезон, если он вообще будет, вряд ли будет про Дженни и этих персонажей.
| “ | Look, I’ve been taking care of people my whole life. It’s about time I started to take care of myself. | ” |
|
–Tina, «Lap Dance» |
Tina Kennard is a main character in The L Word and a recurring character in its sequel The L Word: Generation Q. She is portrayed by Laurel Holloman and debuts in the series premiere.
Tina is a nurturing and patient individual, willing to lend a sympathetic ear to those in need. She can get caught up in taking care of her loved ones, taking on their problems and prioritizing their needs, to the point of ignoring her own.[3] Over time, her pent up resentment can lead to bouts of passive aggression.
Tina is a successful film producer, but initially gives up her career to start a family with her long-term girlfriend, and eventually ex-wife, Bette Porter, leading to the birth of her daughter Angelica Porter-Kennard. A homebody with a pragmatic outlook on life, Tina is at first glance dismissed as a «boring»[4] «little housewife»[5]. When her relationship with Bette falls apart, she realizes the importance of having her own autonomy and starts to assert herself, initially throwing herself into volunteer work before rebuilding her career in the film industry.
Background[]
Early life and family[]
Tina was born to a suburban[6] family in Yuma, Arizona.[1] Her father was a «rabid right-wing» Republican who served as the mayor of Yuma for three terms. Her mother initially tolerated her father’s extramarital affairs, but a particularly serious affair was the last straw, and Tina’s mother left him, taking her children with her and moving them to Atlanta, Georgia. Her mother died around the time Tina graduated from college.[1]
Childhood abuse[]
Starting from when Tina was around 11 years old, she was sexually abused by her older sister for three years. Tina was unaware that she was being abused at the time, thinking that the sexual «roleplaying» was what normal children did. Her sister eventually moved to Texas and became a born-again Christian who now thinks that Tina is going to hell for being in a relationship with a woman. Tina has never told anyone about the abuse and no longer speaks to her sister.[1]
Meeting Bette[]
Tina and Eric attend an art opening at the Bette Porter Gallery.
After college, Tina worked in the film industry as a producer, moving up the ranks until she was heading up development at Alphaville studio.[7] She began dating an entertainment lawyer named Eric.[7] One night, Eric was invited by journalist Alice Pieszecki to an art opening at Bette Porter’s gallery, and he brought Tina along as his date.[8]
Although she had never been with a woman before (discounting her sister’s abuse), Tina was immediately drawn to Bette. Tina and Eric were subsequently invited to one of Bette’s famed artist dinners, and Tina later returned to the gallery alone to retrieve an earring she had lost at the dinner, which Bette had found and kept for her. As Bette handed her the earring, the pair shared their first kiss.[7]
Tina and Bette’s first kiss in 1996.
Dating Bette[]
Tina and Bette started dating and Tina moved into Bette’s house at some point.[9] By this time, Tina had become a pretty successful[10] producer and was responsible for some of acclaimed filmmaker Kate Arden‘s favorite films.[11] However, Tina did not earn as much as Bette and so she let Bette control all of their finances. Consequently, all of their assets were legally under Bette’s name.[9] At the turn of the millennium, Tina and Bette threw a Y2K party at their house. It was during this party that they first met Dana Fairbanks, who had been invited by Alice.[12]
Bette and Tina’s Y2K party.
Several anecdotes have been shared of Bette and Tina’s history prior to the series. Notably, Bette once took Tina to one of Pippa Pascal’s art shows in Harlem, New York City, and Tina was greatly moved by Pippa’s work.[13] Another time, Tina and Bette were on a luxury yacht with the likes of fashion designer Valentino, when a US Senator entered their state room with his boner exposed, and tried to invite himself into their bed.[14] The couple have also gone on vacations to countries such as Nepal[15] and India[16]. During their trip to Jaipur, India, Bette got really sick with food poisoning; Bette lost ten pounds and was so weak that Tina had to practically carry her through the city.[16]
Lead up to The L Word[]
After seven years together, Tina and Bette have decided to start a family.[10] They originally wanted to adopt a child, but figured that as a lesbian couple they would never be selected as parents due to the way the adoption system works.[17] Instead, Tina has given up her career at Bette’s urging[9] so as to carry their child.[10][18]
Throughout the series[]
The L Word[]
Interrogation Tapes[]
- Tina Kennard/Interrogation Tapes
In between[]
Ten years passed between end of The L Word and the start of Generation Q. During this time, Tina and Bette got married but the marriage only lasted a couple of years and they got divorced around one year prior to GQ.[19] Tina was the one to instigate the breakup,[20] wanting to step outside of Bette’s dominating shadow to find herself. They remained on good terms for their daughter, Angie, who was left in Bette’s care.[19] Tina subsequently found love again with another woman, Carrie.[20][21]
Generation Q[]
In «Loose Ends«, Bette’s campaign to become mayor of Los Angeles is scandalized by her affair with a married woman. Following a confrontation between Bette and the woman’s husband, Angie calls Tina who immediately comes over to help.
Physical appearance[]
Tina is a tall and slender blonde. She has an attractive lithe figure, with good definition of hips and feminine curves. A pair of dimples accentuate her natural features, complimenting her hazel eyes. She’s is a classic beauty with traditional soft features.
Personality[]
Tina is shown as submissive in OG season one, often compromising herself and putting Bette before her needs. She gave up her career and ambition to build a family with Bette.
After Bette cheats and Tina leaves her, the latter discovers herself new self, where she’s not fragile anymore, making Bette worry that the brunette lose her in that process.
By season five, Tina blooms into a new version of herself where she’s not perseived as the submissive «wife» of Bette Porter anymore. She learnt to voice her needs and stand her ground, calling out on Bette when necessary yet giving Bette her own space.
Tina’s character is written as a complex yet compassionate, patient and understanding person. Following her tragic childhood, she has daddy issues, and more of dark trauma embedded deep within her due to her getting sexually exploited and abused by her own sister.
In Gen Q season one, it’s shown Tina left because she felt like Bette took up her space and she needed to have her autonomy back. Amongst her and Bette, she’s the one parent who bonds more with their daughter, Angie. During crisis, Angie trusts her Mama T to gather her other mother and handle things. It’s shown Tina often calms Angie down during the teenager’s emotional conflicts, always supporting her daughter yet expressing her own views in an understandable manner.

Relationships[]
Notable relationships[]
- Carrie and Tina
- Bette and Tina
- Henry and Tina
- Helena and Tina
Episode appearances[]
| The L Word, season 1 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Pilot» | Appears |
| «Let’s Do It» | Appears |
| «Longing» | Appears |
| «Lies, Lies, Lies» | Appears |
| «Lawfully» | Appears |
| «Losing It» | Appears |
| «L’Ennui» | Appears |
| «Listen Up» | Appears |
| «Luck, Next Time» | Appears |
| «Liberally» | Appears |
| «Looking Back» | Appears |
| «Locked Up» | Appears |
| «Limb from Limb» | Appears |
| The L Word, season 2 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Life, Loss, Leaving» | Appears |
| «Lap Dance» | Appears |
| «Loneliest Number» | Appears |
| «Lynch Pin» | Appears |
| «Labyrinth» | Appears |
| «Lagrimas de Oro» | Appears |
| «Luminous» | Appears |
| «Loyal» | Appears |
| «Late, Later, Latent» | Appears |
| «Land Ahoy» | Appears |
| «Loud & Proud» | Appears |
| «L’Chaim» | Appears |
| «Lacuna» | Appears |
| The L Word, season 3 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Labia Majora» | Appears |
| «Lost Weekend» | Appears |
| «Lobsters» | Appears |
| «Light My Fire» | Appears |
| «Lifeline» | Appears |
| «Lifesize» | Appears |
| «Lone Star» | Appears |
| «Latecomer» | Appears |
| «Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way» | Appears |
| «Losing the Light» | Appears |
| «Last Dance» | Appears |
| «Left Hand of the Goddess» | Appears |
| The L Word, season 4 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Legend in the Making» | Appears |
| «Livin’ La Vida Loca» | Appears |
| «Lassoed» | Appears |
| «Layup» | Appears |
| «Lez Girls» | Appears |
| «Luck Be a Lady» | Appears |
| «Lesson Number One» | Appears |
| «Lexington and Concord» | Appears |
| «Lacy Lilting Lyrics» | Appears |
| «Little Boy Blue» | Appears |
| «Literary License to Kill» | Appears |
| «Long Time Coming» | Appears |
| The L Word, season 5 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «LGB Tease» | Appears |
| «Look Out, Here They Come!» | Appears |
| «Lady of the Lake» | Appears |
| «Let’s Get This Party Started» | Appears |
| «Lookin’ at You, Kid» | Appears |
| «Lights! Camera! Action!» | Appears |
| «Lesbians Gone Wild» | Appears |
| «Lay Down the Law» | Appears |
| «Liquid Heat» | Appears |
| «Lifecycle» | Appears |
| «Lunar Cycle» | Appears |
| «Loyal and True» | Appears |
| The L Word, season 6 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Long Night’s Journey Into Day» | Appears |
| «Least Likely» | Appears |
| «LMFAO» | Appears |
| «Leaving Los Angeles» | Appears |
| «Litmus Test» | Appears |
| «Lactose Intolerant» | Appears |
| «Last Couple Standing» | Appears |
| «Last Word» | Appears |
| The L Word, Interrogation Tapes | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Bette» | Mentioned |
| «Alice» | Mentioned |
| «Tina» | Appears |
| «Shane» | Absent |
| «Helena» | Absent |
| «Max« | Absent |
| «Niki» | Absent |
| Generation Q, season 1 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Let’s Do It Again» | Mentioned |
| «Less Is More» | Mentioned |
| «Lost Love» | Mentioned |
| «LA Times» | Mentioned |
| «Labels» | Absent |
| «Loose Ends» | Appears |
| «Lose It All» | Appears |
| «Lapse in Judgement» | Mentioned |
| Generation Q, season 2 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| «Late to the Party» | Appears |
| «Lean on Me» | Mentioned |
| «Luck Be a Lady» | Mentioned |
| «Lake House» | Mentioned |
| «Lobsters, Too» | Appears |
| «Love Shack» | Absent |
| «Light» | Mentioned |
| «Launch Party» | Absent |
| «Last Dance» | Appears |
| «Last Call» | Appears |
Quotes[]
- Tina Kennard/Quotes
Gallery[]
- Tina Kennard/Gallery
Notes and trivia[]
- Tina’s pregnancy in The L Word season two was not part of the writers’ original plan, but had to be written in because of the actress Laurel Holloman’s real-life pregnancy at the time.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 The L Word, Interrogation Tapes: «Tina».
- ↑ The L Word, 4×04: «Layup».
- ↑ See «Lap Dance» (TLW 2×02), «Literary License to Kill» (TLW 4×11), and «Loose Ends» (GQ 1×06).
- ↑ The L Word, 1×07: «L’Ennui».
- ↑ See «Lap Dance» (TLW 2×02) and «Lez Girls» (TLW 4×05).
- ↑ The L Word, 3×01: «Labia Majora».
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 The L Word, 1×11: «Looking Back».
- ↑ The L Word, Interrogation Tapes: «Alice».
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 The L Word, 2×02: «Lap Dance».
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 The L Word, 1×01: «Pilot».
- ↑ The L Word, 4×10: «Little Boy Blue».
- ↑ The L Word, 3×11: «Last Dance».
- ↑ Generation Q, 2×09: «Last Dance».
- ↑ The L Word, 4×05: «Lez Girls».
- ↑ The L Word, 2×04: «Lynch Pin».
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 The L Word, 5×08: «Lay Down the Law».
- ↑ The L Word, 1×08: «Listen Up».
- ↑ The L Word, 1×05: «Lawfully».
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Generation Q, 1×06: «Loose Ends».
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Generation Q, 1×03: «Lost Love».
- ↑ Generation Q, 1×07: «Lose It All».
External links[]
- The L Word profile on Showtime