THE DAILY DOSE

When asked how to describe it, I say – without an ounce of guilt that I could be unknowingly offensive – something of this sort: It’s like Sex in the City. Only they’re having sex with one another.

Now even I unbelievably find humor in that remark – as if it’s one of those supposedly descriptive one liners, excerpts from review by critics when hyping something on TV or an upcoming film. But seriously, my categorical review of The “L” Word: Better than the other one with the three-letter word in the title. Again, seriously.

I state this opinion after finishing minutes ago the last episode of the show’s first season. Both shows revolve around a set of characters with hyperactive sex lives. But I find the one with lesbians (..and there goes the ‘L’ word) having a lot more depth. Not sexually, but storywise.

Like Sex in the City – or maybe even Melrose Place or The OC (yes, I devour American shows without shame), it delves into human relationships. The show’s premise is built on the topic of homosexual relationships and in this case, it tackles the less explored lesbian side of things. Relationships are likewise portrayed as difficult and imperfect. Of course, everybody cheats. And for starters, there are characters in the show that straddle both sides of the coin.. for lack of a better metaphor to say that yes, there is girl-on-girl action and there’s guy-on-girl. And for some of the characters, there’s both.

But the show’s redeeming quality (not that it needs to redeem itself from a negative, that phrase just sounds inappropriately good) lies in the fact that it portrays lesbian relationships as “normal”, like heterosexual, male-female setups. But therein lies the struggle and complexity that befalls relationships involving two people of the same gender.

In Sex in the City, Carrie Bradshaw always tries to interpret why men and women think as they do. Or so it seems. The “L” Word gives another side of it. Only there’s no need for someone to give a narrative conclusion at end of each episode. The viewer reads through the characters’ stories without the need for lyrical explanation.

For some reason, what I remember most about Sex in the City is, always likely, it ends with a scene wherein Sarah Jessica Parker locks gazes with a guy and then they head for each other and bam!..episode’s over, stay tuned for the next romp.

And, as a final word: The L Word plays better CBB music. Damien Rice, for example.