Bette Porter and Tina Kennard have been a couple for seven years and want to start a family. Their next-door neighbor, Tim Haspel, is about to form a couple when his girlfriend, talented young writer Jenny Schecter, moves in. Soon, mixing with Bette and Tina's circle of lesbian friends, Jenny learns that her mid-west university may not have prepared her for what she will learn about life, lust and love in Los Angeles.
Bette and Tina wait eagerly to see if Tina will get pregnant. Tim, unaware of her encounter with Jenny, invites Marina to a dinner party, outraging Bette and, once more, Kit tries to make amends.
Bette engages in a battle of wills with the chairman of the gallery board and takes a desperate step; Jenny struggles with her feelings for Marina; Alice tries to regain her self-respect and Dana finally gets a date.
Bette greets Tina's pregnancy with apparent delight despite her work problems; Jenny's relationship with Marina endangers her life with Tim; Dana's insecurity continues and Alice's mother problems escalate.
Tim catches Jenny with Marina and he and Jenny marry in haste; he is distrustful and she is desperate. When Bette announces Tina's pregnancy to her father, his reaction dismays her. Hurt that he avoided her, Kit offers little comfort.
A rising artist in New York tests Bette's commitment while the sperm donor's girlfriend discovers a lonely Tina and starts harassing her. Tim returns home alone and Jenny gets a ride from two disaffected teenagers.
Relationships can be painful. Tim rejects Jenny. Marina doesn't but has another lover. Bette struggles with her fears about parenthood while Dana runs from her fears and from Lara. Kit is stung when her son doesn't show up for their meeting.
Identities, sexual and other, are in question as Jenny tries to explain her situation to her one-time roommate, Dana comes out to her right-wing parents, and Bette begins to consider her own self-image.
Bette faces serious personal and professional problems. Dana starts to find herself while fame — with complications — finds Shane. Alice just finds complications. Jenny is in turmoil and Kit is rehearsing for Slim Daddy's video.
An unexpected opportunity eases Tina's grief while Bette defends the gallery against a right-wing attack. Shane's relationship with her patrons gets complicated. Marina and Francesca fight and Jenny tries to help Tim.
Bette prepares for the gallery's new show and hires Candace, an attractive female contractor, to handle the set-up. Tina, Jenny, Shane, Alice and Dana share an eventful trip to Palm Springs.
A near-riot at the gallery lands Bette and her friends in jail, putting Bette in dangerous proximity to Candace. Shane's relationships grow more convoluted; Kit meets Ivan, a drag king; Marina contemplates life without Francesca and Tim and Jenny discuss divorce.
Tina finds out about Candace; Marina dates Robin and phones Jenny; Shane's patrons turn on her and Dana loses a friend and gains a fiancée while Kit tries to make sense of Ivan's attention and her reaction to them.
Tina hires a famous lawyer to represent her in the split with Bette; Jenny has a serious heart-to-heart with Robin; Kit's purchase of The Planet is finalized.
Jenny and Shane search for a new roommate while Kit becomes attracted to a motivational self-help guru and Bette loses a major source of arts funding — to Tina.
Jenny and Shane's new roommate launches a new video project: taping them; Bette and Tina's brief reunion is marred when Bette gets some bad professional news.
Tina moves out and considers her attraction to Helena; Alice gives Dana an ultimatum but Tonya has a shock in store; Jenny and Carmen bond over a lost puppy.
Alice and Dana tentatively begin dating, while Tina comes between Helena and her ex, Bette rejoins the singles scene, and Shane dulls her pain over Jenny and Carmen.
Bette and Tina agree to forge a new relationship; Jenny loses a chance to ghost-write a macho TV star's autobiography because she's gay; Shane goes to church.
Alice's sex-toy request freaks out Dana; Jenny learns the truth about TV star Burr — and about Carmen's feelings for Shane; Bette and Tina have a brief encounter.
A lesbian cruise in the Caribbean proves eventful for Dana, Alice, Shane, Jenny and Carmen; Bette and Kit struggle to connect with their aging father Melvin (the late Ossie Davis) during a visit.
Against the backdrop of a gay-pride parade, shocking secrets are revealed about Dana's brother and Jenny's past; Bette and Kit deal with their rapidly deteriorating father.
Bette moves her father into her home for his final days; Alice struggles with her jealousy over Dana's dinner with an ex and Jenny flirts with danger while confronting a repressed memory.
Melvin's memorial service is attended by a surprise guest; Bette is fired by Franklin, then coaches Tina through what turns out to be an unexpectedly difficult labor and delivery; Jenny is in trouble and asks for help.
The third season opens with Bette and Tina trying to rekindle their sexual groove after having a child; road rage grabs hold of Alice as she chases after Dana through the streets of Los Angeles; Helena purchases a movie studio; Jenny leaves the mid-west and heads back out to LA.
Billie Blaikie, a flamboyant party promoter sets up shop at The Planet; Alice refuses to let Helena throw out the life-size cut out of Dana; Jenny wants to be more than just friends with Moira; and Bette feels her life is out of her control.
Shane sets up at Venice Beach's coolest new skate shop WAX; Jenny brings Moira home to LA and introduces her to the girls; Kit finds a friend in Angus, Bette and Tina's nanny; Alice continues her descent into a black hole over losing Dana; Bette refuses to curtail her spending habits; and Tina goes to work for Helena.
Jenny freaks out after Moira disappears all night; Bette takes on Capitol Hill; Carmen spins for Russell Simmons; Billie Jean King interviews Dana at a tennis match; Kit wonders if she's made the right choice with Billie as The Planet's new charge des affaires; and Helena falls for a documentary filmmaker.
Dana gets the results of her biopsy and hears the "c word;" Alice meets Uta, a lesbian vampire at "Bisexual Speed-Dating;" Bette accidentally discovers something disturbing in Tina's online chat room; ex-flame Cherie drops into WAX and Shane's chair; Jenny gets word that a publisher is interested in her work and tries to be supportive with Moira's transition to Max.
Tina continues to struggle with her sexual feelings for men; Kit gives in to Angus; the girls rush to the hospital to be by Dana's side; New York comes calling to Jenny; Moira finds there's a shortcut to getting male hormones.
Jenny injects hormones into Moira; Dana undergoes chemo therapy and lashes out at Lara; Shane and Carmen get matching tattoos; Alice frantically searches for the Dana cutout; B52s hit the stage at The Planet; Kit fires Billie; and Tina takes another step towards Josh.
Moira informs everyone she is to be called Max; Kit gets a helping hand from Nona Hendryx; Helena takes Dana and the girls to a basketball game; Jenny gets busy trying to throw Max a benefit party; Tina moves out of Bette's bed; and Dana gets a new look.
Dana meets Dr. Susan Love and looks like she's on the road to recovery; Carmen comes out to her family; Helena gets slapped with a law suit; Jenny goes to an F to M transsexual support group to deal with Max; Bette keeps struggling to find inner peace.
Alice keeps vigil at Dana's bedside while she takes a turn for the worse; Carmen drops the unexpected on Shane; Bette's attempts at inner peace don't come easily; Lara calls from France looking for Dana; Jenny meets up with her ex-husband Tim and introduces him to Max; Peggy Peabody flies in to save Helena and the company; Tina settles in with Henry.
Alice steals some of Dana's ashes; Bette thinks about fighting for sole custody of baby Angelica; Lara arrives home too late; and, Max finally lands a job where Moira got turned down.
The girls plan for Shane and Carmen's wedding while still grieving the loss of Dana. Shane goes to Oregon to meet her estranged father. Kit finds out she's pregnant. Bette continues to consider sole custody of Angelica, with Joyce Wischnia acting as attorney-at-large. Jenny realizes that Max's quest to fit in is not what she wants.
Bette kidnaps baby Angelica until a custody agreement can be brokered with Tina; Shane jilts Carmen at the altar and spirals out of control; Jenny is reunited with Marina; Helena's mother cuts her off.
Bette adjusts to her new job in academia for a formidable new boss (Cybill Shepherd); Jenny's book receives a scathing review; Tina must fire Helena from the studio, leaving her nowhere to go but accept a roommate offer from Alice.
Bette embarks on an ill-advised affair with a teaching assistant, and her boss Phyllis comes out; Jenny tries to dig up dirt on the journalist that panned her book; Tina throws a party; Shane gets Helena a job at WAX.
Bette deals with an artist (Marlee Matlin) whose work is politically incendiary, and fears the potential for disaster in the relationship between Phyllis and Alice; Tina is rejected by her friends at a basketball game and joins the opposing team.
The tryst between Bette and her TA threatens her new career; Alice breaks up with Phyllis after meeting her husband; Tina discovers Angus with her au pair Hazel; Jenny publishes a short story in "The New Yorker" that infuriates Alice.
Bette enjoys a new romance even as she clashes with Tina over the baby's preschool and weathers the emotional fallout of Alice's split with Phyllis; Helena, Shane and Alice learn how to play poker.
Jenny's short story about her friends sparks interest from Hollywood; Helena struggles to pay back her poker debt; Alice's new girlfriend Tasha experiences flashbacks to the war in Iraq; Bette and her new girlfriend console Phyllis.
Jenny's revenge on her critic backfires in front of her agents; Alice and Tasha disagree over the war in Iraq but find common ground romantically; Tina meets Bette's new girlfriend Jodi; Kit unloads publicly on the cheating Angus.
Tina and Jenny have creative differences over the development of their movie; Alice and her friends console Phyllis's heartbroken husband; Bette and Jodi's relationship might go to the next level if Bette can curb her Type-A personality.
Kit binge-drinks while Angus tries to apologize for his infidelity; Alice finds investors in her blog, but with strings attached that involve Jenny, who finds the perfect director for her movie; Bette's control issues make an ugly appearance.
Jenny's serialized short stories hit home for Bette, who faces losing Jodi to an art center on the east coast; Iraq flashbacks haunt Alice's girlfriend Tasha, who is ordered by a commanding officer to hide her sexuality.
Tina returns to lesbian life while Bette seeks her advice on wooing Jodi back; Shane's relationship with single-mom Paige becomes serious; Tasha must return to Iraq; Phyllis pursues a divorce; Jenny may get fired from her own movie.
The fifth season opens with Shane derailing plans to move in with Paige, then suffering the consequences, while Jenny returns from a Mexican vacation with a billionaire movie financier in tow, and Phyllis has sudden doubts about the exclusivity of her romance with Joyce.
Tina's obvious, lingering affection for Bette affects her dating prospects; Shane's last-minute gig styling hair at a wedding results in a comic series of erotic encounters; Tasha reveals her reason for not shipping out to Iraq: she's being investigated for "homosexual conduct."
Shane swears off sex and reaps the health benefits with new energy and focus; Tina's dating woes finally improve; Max ponders a mutual same-sex attraction to Jodi's interpreter; The Planet is burglarized and Kit attacked after hours.
Bette's jealousy over Tina's new girlfriend is the probable cause of a surprising moment; Jenny is courted for the lead in her movie by the latest Bond girl; the gang attends the opening of a new lesbian club competing with The Planet.
Jenny throws a bash to introduce her friends to the actresses playing them in "Lez Girls," provoking both delight and distress; Bette and Tina try to deal with what is obviously a rekindled spark; Alice angrily outs a secretly gay sports star after he utters a homophobic slur, sparking a media firestorm.
The production of "Lez Girls" finally begins and director Jenny deals with all the usual headaches of filmmaking — including a recalcitrant star and lover, Niki; Bette and Tina struggle with their rekindled feelings; the owners of SheBar take their war against the gang to the next level.
Tasha meets Colonel Gillian Davis, the hard-assed military attorney who will be prosecuting her "Don't Ask Don't Tell" case. Back on the Lez Girls set, Bette and Tina steal a passionate moment behind-the-scenes while conniving Adele convinces Niki Stevens to ditch work for "Lesbian Turkish Oil Wrestling" at rival club, SheBar.
Niki Stevens' star in Hollywood is rising with the premiere of her big action flick. So when the gossip rags catch wind that Niki might be a real lez girl, her agents are panicked. Meanwhile, Shane's dealing with girl troubles of her own, hung up on straight girl Molly. Jodi offers to play wingman and throws a dinner party so that Shane can invite her crush. To Bette's alarm, Jodi also invites Tina who brings her current love interest Sam, the Lez Girls DP.
Amidst a scorching heat wave in Los Angeles, Jenny finds her own temperature rising on the set of Lez Girls. After a quick dip in the pool, Jodi does her best to cool things off with Bette but is quickly turned away as Bette would rather brave the heat with Tina than with Jodi. Shane convinces Jenny to accompany her to a mafia-inspired sit down hosted by the women of SheBar, Dawn Denbo and her lover Cindi.
As the girls prepare to set off on the Subaru Pink Ride, Tina spots Niki Stevens embarking on more than just a bike ride with Jenny. Shane is confronted by her new admirer, or shall we say 'stalker' Molly. A sympathetic Tina pedals through the topic of Jodi and Bette.
Adele shocks the producers of Lez Girls as she gathers everyone together to reveal a steamy sex tape between the film's director and leading lady. With the film's reputation at stake, she informs everyone of her blackmailing agenda. Breaking up is tough to do as Jodi returns to Bette for answers. Back at The Planet, the girls are outraged when SheBar owners Dawn Denbo and her lover Cindi announce their newest purchase.
Shane and Molly share a passionate morning before meeting Molly's mother, Phyllis and Joyce for breakfast. Helena Peabody returns to Los Angeles to visit her mother in the hospital and is gifted with her family's wealth once again. Once hearing of Kit's loss of The Planet while she was away, Helena brings a mighty tempting proposition to SheBar owner Cindi, which is hard to resist. Lez Girls is finally finished as everyone arrives in all the glitz and glamour to the film's celebration wrap party.
Last season's spontaneous steamy moment between Shane and Nikki leads Jenny to confess the identity of her true love and complicates the group's future dynamics. On the sixth and final season of THE L WORD®, careers evolve, relationships are tested and friendships end in murder. It begins with Jenny found dead! As a result, everyone's lives are turned upside down leaving all the friends despondent but also suspects — who did it and how did it happen? Flashbacks of the months leading up to the murder will be the only way to put the pieces together to learn why.
Bette and Tina talk about expanding their family and beginning a new life but the plan could be ruined when Bette bumps into an old friend with dangerous potential; Alice and Tasha ponder their compatibility as they seek counseling; an old flame appears sending Helena reeling; and Max is faced with an extraordinary situation.
The negative of "Lez Girls" goes missing; Shane's guilt from her intimate moment with Niki leads to her incessant apologizing to Jenny; Alice's feelings are hurt when Jenny denounces her desire to write a screenplay; Phyllis lets Bette in on a suppressed secret; and it's opening night at Kit and Helena's new club, HIT!
Shane and Jenny are still melting over each other; Bette and Tina go to Nevada to meet a potential birth mother; Max is trying to deal with being pregnant; Alice and Tasha play matchmaker; and Kelly Wentworth may have what Bette needs.
Jenny writes another script that sells; Bette and Kelly go into business; Alice and Tasha have a third-person crush in their relationship; the girls plot a sting operation to test Dylan; and, Jenny encroaches more on Shane.
Jenny throws a baby shower for Max; Bette and Tina hit a roadblock in the adoption process; Bette goes solo to her gallery's opening night celebration leading Kelly to go in for the kill; Shane is feeling boxed in by Jenny; and Alice starts to feel like three is a crowd.
The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center dance marathon is on; someone is moving to the Big Apple; rumors fly fast around the dance floor that Alice and Tasha may be in couple trouble and the HIT!'s new MC makes a shocking revelation to Kit.
In the final episode of the series, what starts out as a celebration of friendship quickly ends in a web of betrayal and deceit; the girls find themselves being investigated about Jenny's untimely death by Sergeant Duffy.
