Have you ever stopped to wonder what made The L Word such a massive success? Obviously it helps if you have a cast of gorgeous women, great story lines, sexy scripts, slick direction and if all the action takes place among the sunshine and glitz of downtown LA. But really, was that what made it so great? I'm not convinced. You see, for me, the thing I really loved about The L Word, was the cool group of women at its heart, who would hang out together at the Planet, drinking coffee, swapping stories, and occasionally falling in and out of love with one another. I really liked them all (with the notable exception of Jenny- who if she hadn't fallen to a watery death at the end, might possibly have met an even less pleasant end at my own crazed hands) and in my mind I had this lovely conceit that if I visited Los Angeles, and happened across The Planet, I could pop inside for a spot of lunch, and I would see them all sitting there: Bette would be on her laptop, Tina feeding the baby, Shane eyeing up the waitresses, and Alice would be recounting another crazy anecdote to a rapt audience. The lovely Helena would be paying the bill, of course. By some strange twist of fate, I would stumble into their company and they would recognise that I totally belonged there and before you could say fantasy island I would be their new best friend. I think that's why the show worked so well; because every single woman watching it felt the characters might be their friends. Then the terrible day dawned when the show ended, and the entire lesbian world went into mourning (not for Jenny, clearly) and there followed a long winter of discontent... Until eventually, spring appeared over the horizon and the BBC called it Lip Service.
But I have to be honest, that first series, fell short of the mark for me. (I'm sorry- I know I'll probably be lynched for saying this!) At times, it just felt as if the beeb were trying too hard to recreate The L Word in Glasgow- Frankie was a less cool version of Shane, Tess was our answer to Alice, Cat was a little bit too much like Bette etc etc. I realise my theory breaks down a little over Jenny, because Lip Service had no Jenny, but I can only say, thank f*** for that! Anyway, although the first series had some very definite high points, I still felt it was missing the mark. Whilst I have to confess to watching every single episode (some of them twice...Okay, okay... I watched one episode 5 times) I still always thought it could be better and I never felt that affinity with the characters that I did with the cast of L Word.
And then came series 2...
I know I've been saying this every week, so apologies for being boring and repetitive, but the new series of Lip Service just gets better and better.
In Friday's episode we saw Sam reluctantly agreeing to accompany the gorgeous Lexi to a wine tasting and boy the chemistry between those two positively sizzled!
Tess meanwhile, chaperoned Ed on a blind double-date with his new bitch-from-hell girlfriend, and a woman who turned out to be, shall we say, less than alluring. Sadie caused much chaos and hilarity as a cheeseboard waitress and later inadvertently stumbled into her secret lover's wife, who ended up offering her a job, and then finally, shock horror, Cat's possessions were released into Sam's care, and she pieced it all together. (Oh yes, and Lexi now has a stalker; a new and interesting storyline which I'm hoping will result in Sergeant Sam leaping to her rescue very, very soon.) So with Sam in complete meltdown, and Lexi all flustered over her stalker and the growing attraction she feels for Sam, the episode reached a pretty hot climax, when Sam turned up at the house and made a desperate move on Lexi- only to be knocked back- which lets be honest girls, can't have been very easy for her.
As the credits rolled, and I sat there slightly stunned, I suddenly realised why Lip Service was now working for me at a whole different level. Yes, the story lines are great, the scripts are much better and, in actual fact, I think the quality of acting is at time astonishing, but it's not just that! The show is starting to capture some of that magic I was talking about earlier and all at once I really care about these characters. They feel real somehow, and I can actually imagine them in their time and place- a cool group of women, whose lives intersect by various twists of fate. The drama is electrifying and the interaction between the characters riveting and occasionally heartbreaking- but more importantly, I think they are starting to really connect with the audience. It's interesting, because it suddenly feels a lot more like the L Word, whilst in actual fact, it is developing it's own special identity. It's turning out to be a programme of substance and quality, the standard the BBC is famed for throughout the whole world and that makes me proud to be British... and a lesbian.
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