THE L WORD

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FROM THE BEGINNING

The Show

PUTTING THE L IN THE L WORD

Characters

LAUGHING, LOVING, LONGING, LIVING, LYING

The Stories

PRETTY IN PINK: L IS THE WORD

Consumption and Marketing

CONCLUSION

Lesbian Visibility

RESOURCES

Works Cited

Footnotes

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Characters

Supporting (Guest) Characters


 

I define starring characters as those listed in the main credits. Supporting, or guest, characters are listed under the title “guest starring” and appear in numerous episodes.

This list is of some of the more important (and most diverse) of the supporting characters. These are limited to the characters mentioned in the project for the purposes of providing background information, but the list is not all inclusive.

"Dr. Benjamin Bradshaw" (Charles S. Dutton)
He is Kit's new relationship for the second season, a traveling motivational speaker with a wife back home. He eventually just fades.


Screenshot of Dr. Bradshaw from episode 204, "Lynch Pin," aired on 13 March 2005.

"Billie Blaikie" (Alan Cummings)
The gender-bending manager of Kit’s coffee shop, The Planet, added in the third season. Billie is a huge gender-queer (his identity is more fluid than the show itself), changing his appearance with each new scene, but sadly, he vanishes like the rest of the diverse characters that are tokens on the show, after being caught by Kit while doing drugs at work.


Screenshot of Billie performing from episode 302, "Lost Weekend," aired on 15 January 2006.


Screenshot of Billie from episode 304, "Light My Fire," aired on 29 January 2006.


Screenshot of Billie (left) and Max from episode 304, "Light My Fire," aired on 29 January 2006.


Screenshot of Billie from episode 305, "Lifeline," aired on 5 February 2006.

"Candace Jewell" (Ion Overman)
A longhaired, butch biracial carpenter who has an affair with Bette in the first season.


Screenshot of Carmen (left) with Bette from episode 301 (from the "previously on" sequence), "Labia Majora," aired on 8 January 2006.

"Dylan Moreland" (Alexandra Hedison)
Dylan has a fling with Helena who funds Dylan's film project. We then find out it is all a ploy for a sexual harassment suit, in order to make some extra cash.


Screenshot of Dylan filming Helena (not pictured) from episode 30 (from the "previously on" sequence), "Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way," aired on 5 March 2006.

"Ivan Aycock" (Kelly Lynch)
Ivan begins the show as a drag king in the first season. He meets Kit at Marina's coffee shop during a drag night. They develop a relationship. Though they seem like a couple, there is no physical intimacy between the two. Ivan's identity is complicated further in the second season. Ivan agrees to become Kit's silent partner in her purchase of The Planet, even after pushing Kit out of his life. Ivan soon disappears from the show.24


Screenshot of Ivan as a drag king from episode 301 (from the "previously on" sequence), "Labia Majora," aired on 8 January 2006.
 


Screenshot of Ivan at work (auto mechanic) from episode 202, "Lap Dance," aired on 27 February 2005.
 


Screenshot of Ivan at home from episode 202, "Lap Dance," aired on 27 February 2005.
 
 
 
"Lara Perkins" (Lauren Lee Smith)
Lara is a tall, cute blond feminine chef who works at the country club Dana practices tennis at in the first season. She goes on a couple of dates with Dana and disappears. She later returns to the show, at the end of the second season, as the new chef at The Planet. From here she begins to date Dana again. They break up when Dana starts struggling with cancer. After another short disappearance she returns after Dana dies and Lara begins to date Alice.


Screenshot of Lara from episode 303, "Lobsters," aired on 22 January 2006.

"Lisa" (Devon Gummersall)
Lisa is almost more of an extra than a supporting character, but he is mentioned here because he is Alice's one male relationship in four seasons, in a sense. He is the white male "lesbian" that she dates in the first season. He is in a few episodes and then is suddenly gone.

 

 
 

Rhizomes 14, Spring 2007. Contact tina krauss: admin [at] ismsandsuch.com