The L Word (season 3)

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The L Word season three first aired in Showtime on January 8, 2006, and featured 12 episodes.

Set six months later after Tina gives birth, she and Bette raise their baby, whom they name Angelica (Olivia Windbiel), while suffering more marital strife (including Bette losing her job at the CAC, and showing little interest in finding a new one). The couple appears to be more distant than ever; Bette seeks partner support from an overwhelmed Tina, who starts looking for the protection Bette cannot give her outside the home. Bette's love seems to have less and less effect on Tina, who rediscovers her male attractions.

After having received six months of medical treatment and having stayed at her mother's (Margot Kidder) house in her home town of Skokie, Illinois, Jenny returns to Los Angeles with a new girlfriend, a working class butch named Moira Sweeney (portrayed by Daniela Sea). During that time, Jenny received a reply from an editor in New York and learned that her book might be published by autumn of that year. Mark is gone having moved out of the house. No explanation is ever given for Mark's departure, although the last episode in Season 2 hinted at an explanation showing him videotaping Melvin's funeral, and then talking with a woman who gave him her business card to call on her about a videotaping job she may have for him. Meanwhile, Shane and Carmen are living in the house and in a committed relationship, which suffers a shake after the reappearance on the scene of Cherie, Shane's former fling. The further advance of this relationship leads Carmen to finally face her family and reveal her homosexuality to them, despite knowing they will not approve.

Kit starts a blooming relationship with Angus (Dallas Roberts), Angelica's hired male nanny. Helena Peabody has just bought a movie studio, and offers Tina the chief development executive position. Helena meets Dylan (Alexandra Hedison), a straight documentary film producer who is about to film Helena's coming out story. Helena's overconfidence and Dylan's uncertainty leads Dylan's scheming boyfriend, Danny, to use her and plot a lawsuit against Helena for sexual harassment.

Tina reveals her troubles to Bette. Already in emotional turmoil, Bette decides to go on a spiritual retreat, kicks Tina out of her bedroom, and removes her life-partner privileges. During this retreat, Tina (who has already had an online fling and also a frustrated attempt at fulfilling her interest with a male movie producer) meets Henry (Steven Eckholdt), a divorced man. Upon realizing the relationship with Bette has reached a dead end, she gives Henry a chance and explores her renewed interest with him.

Elsewhere, Dana is back with Lara, causing Alice to become obsessive. After finally being able to get over with the breakup, Alice has to deal with tragic news: Dana has been diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer, which could lead to her death. Dana becomes emotionally abusive to Lara, who then leaves town for a cooking school in Paris, France. Alice takes up the job as Dana's caregiver. At the same time, Max Sweeney (formerly Moira) begins the process of becoming a man with dubiously obtained testosterone injections obtained from Billie Blaikie (Alan Cumming), Kit's new manager for the Planet, a bisexual man who becomes sexually fixated on Max's androgyny. This drastic transformation alters Max emotionally, leading him to turn his relationship with Jenny into a story of potential abuse.

As the season advances, stories entwine. As Dana's condition worsens, Alice keeps a bedside vigil at the hospital where Dana is admitted. Bette, who is still in Olympia, Washington, finally leaves her silent retreat without any enlightenment and ends up receiving wanted wisdom in the place she would least expect. Back in Los Angeles, Jenny's ex-husband Tim makes a reappearance on the scene for a visit. He has re-married and is expecting a child with his new wife. Jenny and Tim spend some time together with their respective couples, but the dark story of their past ends up ruining their meeting, making Tim leave town once again on a sour note. Lara tries to reach for Dana, but apparently she has taken too long. Carmen reveals an infidelity to Shane; Dylan and Helena settle their lawsuit and break up out of court; Tina delegates even more fatherly duties to Henry; and nobody gets to say goodbye to Dana, who ultimately loses her cancer battle alone while Alice is out taking a walk, although Dana's last words to Alice are "I love you".

A lot of emotions are confronted upon Dana's death. Her fiercely conservative parents, still trying to ignore and deny Dana's sexual orientation, prepare a ceremony in which her friends are excluded. Alice, who is upset about this setup, steals some of Dana's ashes and decides to arrange a funeral of her own with her friends. They spread the ashes on a waterfall at a tennis camp Dana loved, and where she and Alice first met during an interview. At the same time, Tina and Henry continue settling in, and Bette decides to visit a gay civil rights lawyer (Jane Lynch) in order to obtain the full custody of Angelica. Shane, on the other hand, is severely affected by Dana's death, and decides to propose marriage to Carmen. Carmen accepts, agreeing to marry Shane at the waterfall. Meanwhile, Max gets a job offer at a technology center where he had been rejected as Moira, which makes Jenny angry and leads them to more conflict. Dylan returns Helena's check and the footage of the sexual harassment setup; and Lara comes back from Paris only to find out she is too late. In the midst of the loss she is suffering, Lara and Alice reach out to each other and they share an emotional moment that evolves into a secret relationship.

Six weeks later in the season finale, the group travels to Canada at Helena's expense to celebrate Shane's wedding. Carmen's family finally overcomes their prejudice and decides to attend. Kit discovers she is pregnant and gives Angus the news.

Just before the wedding ceremony takes place, Shane has second thoughts and decides to abandon it all. This is triggered by her meeting with her estranged father Gabriel (Eric Roberts), who has just decided to leave his wife and resume his lifestyle of one-night stands. At the same time, Helena's disastrous prodigal behavior motivates Peggy to cut her off financially. Jenny's and Max's relationship, on the other hand, is terminated after Jenny meets Claude (Elodie Bouchez), a French writer who becomes her new love interest.

Also in Canada, Bette decides to withdraw her sole custody petition. This notification unfortunately reaches her lawyer too late. After receiving Bette's letter, Tina decides to withdraw her consent for allowing Bette to become Angelica's other legal parent. The season closes with Bette's desperate act to keep Angelica, as she kidnaps the baby and runs away.

Throughout this season, each episode begins with a short pre-credits vignette of two individuals meeting romantically or sexually. As the season progresses lines from Alice's chart (see below) connect one member of each vignette with a new individual in the next. Beginning in the early 70's with a housewife named Marilyn, these connections eventually wind through several of the series main characters showing scenes of their earlier lives until it ends with Lara, alone in Paris. A much older Marilyn is introduced in the season finale, showing once again the interconnectedness in all of their lives.

Guest appearances during the third season were made by Nona Hendryx, the music groups Betty, God-des and She, Sleater-Kinney and many others.

[edit] See Also

• The L Word
• The L Word (season 1)
• The L Word (season 2)
• The L Word (season 4)