- Network: SHOWTIME
- Series Premiere Date: Dec 8, 2019
Critic Reviews
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A glossy, bighearted show that’s less soapy than the original series but delivers enough secrets, sex, and secret sex to keep the stakes high. ... Because there’s no central hangout (RIP The Planet) and the two groups of peers mostly overlap in the workplace, Generation Q lacks the intimacy of The L Word, which owed much of its magic to intraclique chemistry and conflict. The new series feels like a collection of individual stories about generally likable people.
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By trying to make itself young, hip, and “politically correct,” “The L Word: Generation Q” has highlighted the original series’ flaws (too white, too cis, too femme) as well as its strengths (we loved the characters anyway).
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The updated “L Word,” it seems, is less concerned with being radical than it is with being inoffensive. “Generation Q” is not without its pleasures—the story lines, in keeping with tradition, are nice and preposterous, and there’s a nostalgic comfort in watching long-dormant characters misbehave again.
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Identity politics are the newest member of the cast, and a most unwelcome one.
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New showrunner Marja-Lewis Ryan (The Four-Faced Liar) struggles to balance such a big cast; Micah and Sophie don’t quite come into focus in the three episodes sent for review. What’s more worrisome in the long run is that, despite their proximity, these two cohorts can feel like they’re in parallel shows. ... The result is a more serious drama shoehorned into an aspirational soap.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 15
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Mixed: 1 out of 15
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Negative: 10 out of 15
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Dec 19, 2019
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Jan 15, 2020