IMAGES COURTESY OF SHOWTIME
Like so many women around the world, I remember watching The L Word in secret in my teenage bedroom, praying I wouldn’t be discovered. It was the TV equivalent of a dangerwank. I was obsessed with the show long before I came to terms with what that might indicate about my own sexuality. To this day, I can quote large chunks of the script by heart: “Lesbians think friendship is another word for foreplay.” “Why is my mom such a slutty, slutty chicken-chasing pervert?” “Hmm, who can we get to squirt into a cup for you?” FYI, this skill does not make you look nearly as cool on a first date as you might imagine.
My way of telling how into a girl I am is whether or not we’ve marathoned all six box sets and discussed in forensic detail which character we most relate to (in case you can’t tell, I’m an Alice), who we crush on (for me it’s gotta be Shane/Bette/Joyce Wischnia/ basically any woman with Big Dick Energy), and the lasting effect Dana’s death had on our emotional wellbeing. For the record, I’m still not over it; to this day I can’t listen to You Are My Sunshine without being triggered and, in the immortal words of Jenny Schecter, every time I think about it I feel “so completely dismantled”. It’s 15 years since the show’s premiere, a decade since its finale and it’s just been announced that the longawaited sequel will happen in 2019. Hurrah! I couldn’t think of a better time to reflect on the series’ impact and find out what the future has in store for your favourite gal pals.