Last night, The L Word finished its six year run on Showtime. It was announced 12 months ago that the series was coming to an end so many viewers were expecting the series finale to be well-crafted and satisfying. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be what they got.
The L Word revolves around the loves and lives of a group of gay, bisexual, and transgender friends who live in Southern California. Over the years, the series has featured a large ensemble cast that includes Jennifer Beals, Leisha Hailey, Laurel Holloman, Mia Kirshner, Katherine Moennig, Pam Grier, Rachel Shelley, Daniela Sea, Erin Daniels, Marlee Matlin, Rose Rollins, Sarah Shahi, Dallas Roberts, Preston Cook, Lauren Lee Smith, Jon Wolfe Nelson, and Cybill Shepherd.
Debuting on January 18, 2004, L Word proved very successful for the pay-per-view channel. In 2007, Robert Greenblatt, Showtime’s President of Entertainment, called it “a signature franchise for us and one of our most popular series.” The final season was announced in March 2008 and, unlike previous seasons, only eight installments were ordered, bringing the series total to 70 episodes.
The sixth season began with the death of Jenny Schecter (Kirshner), one of the series’ central characters. After a short introduction, the story shifts to three months prior and moves forward in time from there. As the episodes progress, several people become upset with Jenny and appear to be possible suspects in her murder.
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Showtime promoted that the murder mystery would be resolved by the end of the series finale. Unfortunately, viewers weren’t given an answer. What we do know is that apparently Jenny fell through a missing railing on Bette and Tina’s stairwell. Was it a simple accident, a suicide, or a murder? We may never know. There were no alternate scenes or endings filmed.
Frustrating as this ending is, it doesn’t come as a total surprise. In January, after the episode had already completed, series creator Ilene Chaiken told the LA Times, “There are ways I could still answer [the mystery] if the need were to arise. But I don’t actually feel compelled to answer it. The show is about character and relationships, and I used this story to deeply explore those relationships. It’s a risk not to solve a mystery, admittedly.”
The open-ended mystery may be part of a bigger plan. A pilot has been shot for a spin-off series called The Farm. It stars Leisha Hailey as Alice and takes place in a women’s penitentiary. It would seem that Alice has been charged and convicted of Jenny’s murder. But, did she really do the deed?
According to EW, Chaiken created the murder-mystery storyline before the spin-off was conceived. She said, “If the new show goes on the air, it will be connected to the Who-Killed-Jenny? storyline, and I would say that that’s what Alice is in prison for. I don’t know that she actually killed Jenny…”
What we do know is that actresses Melissa Leo, Laurie Metcalf, and Famke Janssen all filmed roles for the potential series. Leo and Metcalf play prison officials, while Janssen plays a fellow prisoner. There’s no word if any or all of them would be series regulars if The Farm goes forward as a series.
Showtime has yet to decide if the spin-off will get a greenlight. If the spin-off series does get made, hopefully Chaiken will come to her senses and reveal who or what caused the death of Jenny Schecter before it ends.
Image courtesy Showtime.
I wish my library would hurry up and order season six….
I think that if the producers and Showtime were even a little bit intelligent, they would seriously consider putting together a season 7 and satisfy their fans. There is a need for shows like the LWord and they have a market that is begging for more. Why they chose to end it I cannot guess, but I must admit that based on the conflicting views, they at least owe the viewers another season without jumping into a spin-off production.
this whole ‘murder mystery’ thing seemed so stupid because its so obvious to me that jenny committed suicide. i dont think this season was a disappointment because the ‘mystery’ wasnt solved (even if she really didnt kill herself), i think its a disappointment because i felt like the entire series and the characters were completely undermined by what i think was just some lame ass excuse for a series finale.. its a shame because i love the l word, but this entire 6th season just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
this was a tremendous disappointment for many reasons, but my main criticism is the fact that the show was concluded with the entire cast revolving around jenny, as though she was the star of the show…she was the most inconsistent character of the series, a chameleon of sorts, and the least believable of them all…i don’t understand why she was placed at the center of everyone else’s storyline and why the final season was focused exclusively on her and who killed her. it was an amazing and more or less realistic show that dealt with the relationships between people, plain… Read more »
I wasted a lot of money and time on this show. **** YOU!! I will NOT watch a stupid ass spin off For the fear that you will just piss me the **** off again when IT ends. I hope they never go for it and if it get on air I PRAY IT ****** TANKS!!!!! I hope you lose money off of it. THis Season SUCKKKKKEDDDDDDDDDF serious MAN ****. I Hate the L word.
I actually loved the ending. Well I really hated that the serie had to end but I think Ilene Chaiken couldn’t written a better finale ! But I agree that a possible spin-off in a jail would be lame. I don’t want to know who did it. Just let your imagination work !
It was an offense to the fans, I can’t believe that somebody could be satisfied with that **** final.
As fans we were all lied too. The promotions said that someone would take the fall and we end up with more mystery. I hope Ilene and Showtime execs remember that real laywers and law enforcement people watched this last season because there’s no way Alice could be convicted of Jenny’s Murder the Ilene crafted the Alice character this season and the finale without insulting our intelligence even more. None of other women will testify and Tasha will not allow Alice to take the fall for a death she’s not responsible for causing. According to all L-Word message boards, e-mails… Read more »
LAMEST. ENDING. EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The whole final season SUUCCCKKKKEEEEEDDDDDD ASSSSSSSSSSSSS
is there going to be a 7th season???????????????????
I loved every episode and the whole journey. The ending left us to think that within the close-knit family of friends, someone may have done it, but everyone will protect each other, coz they love each other and Jenny just started piss everyone off. Also, it could be, that Jenny didnt know about the railing and didnt take care while using the stairwell, and fell off on her own!
How could Ilene copy The Sopranos. Really I think we have David Chase to blame, many series wil take a cue from his stupidity. But serioussly what a let down. Here is what I think happened. Jenny faught Bette by the lack of a railing, we saw that. Then shane confronted her about the Molly thing and preceded to dump her because of the note, then Tina confronted her about the negatives, then Nicci told her off about the shane thing, then Max confronted her about the whole insensativity thing. Next thing you know they are all getting sweaters and… Read more »
such an awful show! bon voyage!
it was the worst series finale ever!!