SPOILER ALERT: Season 3 finale spoilers in fourth, fifth, and six paragraphs.

 

I am one of countless fans heartbroken by Showtime's cancellation of The L Word: Generation Q, announced March 23rd, and I urge Showtime and Paramount Plus to renew for at least one more season. 

This series is deeply important: Gen Q continued The L Word’s legacy of showcasing groundbreaking queer content; its cancellation continues television’s legacy of killing queer shows. 

Members of the show appeared April 25th in a White House press briefing in honour of Lesbian Visibility Week. Co-creator Ilene Chaiken and actors and executive producers Jennifer Beals, Leisha Hailey and Kate Moennig joined press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to speak about the importance of queer representation and to condemn anti-queer legislation that is sweeping the U.S. Jean-Pierre—the administration's first openly LGBTQIA2S+ press secretary—remarked, “For so many people in our community, The L Word impact cannot be understated.“

I understand a New York reboot is in the works. While promising, this does not make up for axing Gen Q prematurely. The Season 3 finale—now understood as the series finale—ended with a 911 call to Sarah Finley concerning Tess Van De Berg. Tess was in crisis, and had taken off in a car intoxicated and high with a stranger, who was also on cocaine. The presumption we’re left with is that the car crashed, and that Tess is in a hospital or a jail cell—if she’s even alive at all. 

This is a cruel way to end a series, and devastating treatment of an important character, played by trans actor Jamie Clayton. I remember listening to an interview with Jamie on the popular PANTS Podcast with Gen Q co-stars and co-executive producers Kate Moennig and Leisha Hailey; she said something like, “The difference between a trans character and a cis character is cis characters don’t go running around talking about their gender all the time.” Tess is one of the only characters I’ve seen on TV played by an openly trans woman who got to be more than her gender. In fact, it’s not even specified whether Tess is cis or trans, nor does it need to be. She is an excellent character who did not deserve this tragic ending. 

Other storylines were left open too: Shane was left broken-hearted and unfulfilled; Dani was at a romantic crossroads; we don’t know if Alice will reunite with Tasha, if Sophie and Finley will get back together, or Dani and Gigi; if Micah and Mirabel will become parents; Angie is another wonderful Gen Q character and her journey is just beginning. Viewers are also hungry for more returning characters from the original L Word, especially fan-favourite Carmen. 

It’s not enough to slap on a wedding and call it a day. These characters matter. This content matters. Queer creators matter. Representation matters. Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) matters. 

Is Gen Q perfect? Of course not. No show is. But Gen Q, for me, is a brilliant example of creators stepping up, being responsive to criticism and taking meaningful steps to transform television. The original L Word was praised for centering queer women in ways no show ever had—it was also criticized for its lack of queer-identified actors, and for transmisogyny and exclusion of BIPOC, disabled and working-class characters (among other things—the list goes on). Gen Q was a breath of fresh air. With more LGBTQIA2S+ and BIPOC talent in the writing room, behind the scenes, and onscreen, we saw real changes: characters who are Black, Latina, Persian, Chinese, trans, non-binary, disabled, fat, aging, and more. I understand tokenism is an issue, but we have to start somewhere, and it pains me to see queer shows constantly taking the hit for things het shows get away with all the time. 

Gen Q has been responsive to other critiques, too. Fans wanted more scenes with the original cast altogether, and we got them. We wanted more fun content, and we got it.

I have yet to hear any reason or rationale for the show being cancelled. If there’s some need that’s not being met, why not give Gen Q creators a chance to step up, as they’ve been doing this whole time? 

Sign to help save this incredible show from joining the lineup of queer shows axed too early, not given the fair chance they—and we—desperately deserve. 

Natasha Sanders-Kay, Burnaby, BC, Canada

Photo Credit: SHOWTIME.

Photo Credit: Andrew Harnik / AP.

Photo Credit: Liz Morris / SHOWTIME.