what may or may not be hard reality

I've been behind watching episodes, so first here is last Sunday's ep. Hopefully I'll get 5x05 up tomorrow.

I guess it must have been a pretty good episode, and all, considering I only squeaked and covered my eyes a few times, however, the only thing I care about retrospectively were the last 3 minutes...

I respect people for being of the opinion that Jenny's actions are somehow hilarious and fun based on the fact that Mia Kirchner is a great actress. To me, it doesn't matter how great an actress she is, I hate her. Through-and-through, fast-forward her scenes and everything. I HATE people like Jenny. I hate Jenny. If I met Jenny, I would be hard-pressed not to inflict physical damage upon her. I think one of the things I hate most about her is that I simply cannot envision a single scenario that would actually bring about her changing. And I hate people like that. I want them to just go away forever. Oh, Jenny, why couldn't that dinghy have brought you to some uninhabited island, and you could have stayed there the rest of the series.

On the Shane thing, I agree with Scribegrrrl. Shane is hilarious when she's abstaining, and that threesome thing wasn't very sexy.

Rose Rollins was really fantastic in this episode. I've been sort of meh about that whole story-line, for no particular reason. Most, I think, because I truly do not understand how anyone could want to be in a military that actively discriminates against who they are, and even prosecutes it as a criminal offence. I can-not for the life of me understand that. At all. And because I don't understand it, I wish all the gay people would just stand up and go 'oh, by the way, I'm gay' and see if they actually had the resources to bring about prosecuting all these people. It's beyond me, and thus, Tasha's storyline has mostly befuddled me, although of course I agree that she and Alice are adorable together. However, Rose Rollins really impressed me today. That scene at her attorney's house, where she's yelling at him one second, and apologizing to his wife the next was absolutely brilliant. Absolutely fucking brilliant. And the next day when the dude came to their apartment? Adorable, again. (The scene didn't stick with me just 'cuz they were hot and topless together in bed right before.) I honestly don't know that I'll pay that much more attention to the storyline, but I'll definitely pay more attention to Rose Rollins. Now, where can I watch Girltrash?

Helena, I miss you!!! After all the awful stuff of last season, a lot of which I simply couldn't watch (that aforementioned immense dislike of uncomfortable and embarrassing scenes), finally you get this awesome story-line, of which they show mere fragments, and now you're gone??? Helena, come back!!!

However, the most important part of the episode, Bette and Tina kissing! Oh, wow. Seriously, I had no fucking idea how happy the two of them kissing would make me. I've been all about Bette/Jodi ever since I read about Marlee Matlin joining the show two years ago, and I've loved the two of them together. I gotta say, though, they've been playing the 'not quite content' factor of their relationship really really well. Usually, I never really care about how they play something on a show, because ultimately, it doesn't matter. On crime shows and such (which is mostly what I watch), the personal stuff is inconsistent and far in between enough to be easily circumvented, and personal opinion of a character can become much larger than is portrayed on TV. But in the case of Bette, Jodi, and to some extent Tina, they've managed to play their characters to where I actually go against my internal characterizations.

I'd like to think of Tina as an annoyance, but she's really redeemed herself since the beginning of Season 4, and it's admirable that she manages to put up with Jenny at all, and her support for Bette regardless of her own feelings for Bette (which I've actually *felt*, as opposed to been told I'm supposed to feel), Laurel has done a really great job the last season (not that she doesn't always, but if it's a character I don't like it doesn't matter how good the actor is, I just don't care).

As for Jodi, I love Marlee Matlin. I've loved her on The West Wing, which of course I would have watched anyway, I managed to track down Children of a Lesser God, just for her, and even took back up Desperate Housewives (*shudder*) for a single episode because she was in it, I even own her books. I *adore* Marlee. I was ridiculously excited about the prospect of not only was she gonna be on The L Word, she would be making out with Jennifer Beals. And I have enjoyed that, believe me, but she's played just enough friction against Bette with her mix of control freak and utterly carefree (that is an entirely different mix than Bette's combination of control freak and perfectionist) for me to actually believe in the existence of her character, and believe that Jodi probably needs someone who shares that kind of passionate free spirit.

And Jennifer Beals. OMG Jennifer Beals. Rachel Shelley may be the most gorgeous woman ever to walk the earth, but there's seriously nothing that can match Jennifer Beal's presence. And she's played it really really well the last two seasons. She does love and care for Jodi, I watch her and I *feel* that. But I can also watch her and *feel* how she still really really loves Tina, especially now that Tina's stepped up and taken control of her life and really come into herself. It's like she's rediscovered why she fell for her in the first place. Which isn't something we're being *told* anywhere, but just looking at Bette, that's what I get from JB's performance.

Which brings me back to the kiss. OMG. I had *no idea* how happy it would make me. It's beautiful and sad and it's like the world shifted and suddenly everything is right when they're together. They've a long way to go, and I don't think at all that this will have them getting back together anytime soon, but it's cracked the window just a sliver open, and it's there on the other side, somewhere, and hopefully they'll get there together in due time (without hurting Jodi! Damn you if you do!)...