Tara McCauley July 2nd, 2021 - 1:52 PM
With a first teaser for The L Word: Generation Q dropping June 1, Showtime officially bookended Pride Month with content for The L Word fans by releasing a full-length trailer for the series on June 30. This latest trailer teases drama and new relationships, with TVLine summarizing: “messy matters of the heart take center stage.” Check out the trailer below.
Acquiring the official synopsis for season two of The L Word: Generation Q, TVLine provides the context that the series will “kick[s] off in the aftermath of Sophie’s decision at the airport as she, Dani, and Finley are all left to pick up the pieces.” While The L Word: Generation Q follows up with fan-favorite characters from the original series, such as Shane, Alice and Bette, it was newcomer Rosanny Zayas (Modern Persuasion, Otherhood) as Sophie that sent season one’s finale into a cliff-hanger. When Sophie, engaged to Adrienne Mandi’s (In the Vault) Dani, hooked up with longtime best friend and coworker Finely, a chaotic presence played by Jacqueline Toboni (Easy, Grimm), fans were left in suspense as to whether Sophie’s final rush to the airport was in pursuit of Dani or Finely.
Much like the first teaser for the series, The L Word: Generation Q’s latest trailer managed to obfuscate the literal Sophie’s Choice left hanging in season one. However, with a longer run-time, there are more hints fan can scour to attempt to pick up the pieces that Sophie left at the airport in the finale. As Autostraddle points out, Finely appears to rock a black-eye in one shot of the trailer, which could have been given to her by Dani. Based on this moment and Dani’s heightened intensity in the trailer, it appears that she and Finely will decidedly be on-the-outs in season two of The L Word: Generation Q. While this may mean that Sophie outright chose Finely at the end of season one, it could mean that she returned to her fiancé Dani but disclosed the extremely recent infidelity between she and her longtime friend.
The Sophie, Finely and Dani triad is far from the only characters experiencing drama in this latest trailer for The L Word: Generation Q. Having lost her mayoral election at the end of season one, Jennifer Beals’ (Flashdance, Taken) Bette Porter is experiencing romantic despair, partially egged on by the arrival of her ex-partner, Tina, and her new fiancé Carrie. As predicted, Rosie O’Donnell (The Rosie O’Donnell Show, Sleepless in Seattle) will portray Tina’s alluded partner and Wednesday’s trailer gave fans a first look at her in the role. While Carrie herself did not say much, Bette reports to long-time friends Alice and Shane that Tina’s fiancé “makes her laugh,” meaning O’Donnell will likely bust out some of her comedic chops in The L Word: Generation Q.
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In a quest to quell her loneliness, Bette appears driven into the arms of Sepideh Moafi’s (The Deuce, Falling Water) Gigi, who dated both her ex-wife Nat and Alice in a short-lived throuple last season. Bette hooking up with Gigi could cause interpersonal drama between Leisha Hailey’s (Bosch) Alice and Stephanie Allynne’s (One Mississippi, In a World…) Nat, however Alice will have her own set of worries this season as she writes her first book. Though not much of Alice’s impending authorship is tackled in Wednesday’s trailer, TVLine reports that, in season two, “Alice is surprised when writing her first book steers her whole life in a new direction.”
Unlike Alice and Bette, original The L Word character Shane is up to her old tricks, but with a possible new friend by her side. “Shane is up to classic Shane moves,” Out describes of Kate Moennig’s (Ray Donovan, Grown-ish) character in the trailer. “Sleeping with another woman’s wife, flirting with everyone, and getting people to fall in love with her.” However, Moennig is also spotted side-by-side Jamie Calyton’s (Sense8, Designated Survivor) Tess at several points in the trailer. As established in the first season, the two characters help run the lesbian bar Dana’s together and it seems they have become a dynamic duo of-sorts this coming season.
Dani’s best friend and ex Micah, played by Leo Sheng (Adam, Disclosure), is the last character with a major reveal in The L Word: Generation Q’s latest trailer. After a run, Micah tells Dani that he slept with a woman, indicating that the character may explore bi or pansexuality in season two.
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Aside from the sex and drama, season two’s trailer features plenty of moments of levity and comradery between the cast. Bette and Tina’s daughter Angie – played by newcomer Jordan Hull, upped to series regular – can be seen attending a school dance, likely prom, with her new girlfriend Jodi, which appears to be a heart-warming affair. Autostraddle also points out the poker and karaoke scenes featuring members of the original cast, particularly since poker serves as a recurring plot-device in the original series.
The poker scene glimpsed in Wednesday’s trailer provides another follow-up from the season one finale, though less urgent than Sophie’s airport decision. The stray dog that Shane appeared to take-in during the final moments of season one can be spotted at the poker table meaning that Shane not only kept the dog, but will be bringing her new canine companion to work with her.
While a first-glimpse at O’Donnell was certainly important for fans, The L Word: Generation Q added other cast members to season two – such as Donald Faison (Scrubs, Clueless), Griffin Dunne (Dallas Buyers Club, Trust Me) and Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives) – who did not make an appearance in the trailer.
Overall, Wednesday’s trailer closed Pride Month with plenty of juicy tidbits for The L Word fans new and old. The series will premiere Sunday, August 8 on Showtime and continue to air on Sundays until the last five episodes, which will switch over to a Monday release. For Showtime subscribers, all episodes of season two of The L Word: Generation Q will be available the Friday before they air on the network.
