Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1293 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-04-27
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Subtitled in: English, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 631 minutes

Synopsis
This sexy and original drama follows an ensemble cast of characters who represent multiple facets of the lesbian lifestyle, but enact very human dramas that anyone can relate to. At the centre is Jenny (Mia Kirshner, EXOTICA), who moves to a hip L.A. neighbourhood to be with her boyfriend, a swim coach named Tim. Immediately swept up in the lesbian community, Jenny begins to question the heterosexuality she had always taken for granted, while the lives and loves of those around her play themselves out in sometimes humorous, sometimes painful ways. In this fifth season, Jenny finds her way into the director's chair for the movie LEZ GIRLS. Meanwhile, Bette battles her jealousy over Tina's new lover, and Alice accidentally outs a male celebrity. Plus there's that pesky sex tape that rocks the film set. This collection presents all 12 episodes of the fifth series.

Customer Reviews

Hollywood or 'Bust'!
The girls are back for the penultimate season ...Yeah!! And this time its Hollywood or "bust". Jenny has written a film script loosely based on exploiting her friends for profit- couldn't you just drown her in Bette's swimming pool'?
A big sugar daddy billionaire looking to invest in some sensitive lesbian drama bankrolls Jenny's screenplay. The resulting movie Les Girls (did you get the pun?) has Shane doing hair, Tina producing and Jenny directing. Bette is too busy trying to give Jodie the slip (not slit) and Alice and Tosha are dealing with being investigated by the military.
Generally the tone this year is actually very funny and the season works as a convincing satire on the excesses of Hollywood and La La land As well as also taking on the hypocrisy of Clinton's 'Don't ask don't tell' policy for gays in the Military. IT'S OKAY TO DIE DEFENDING YOUR COUNTRY IF YOU ARE GAY BUT NOT FALL IN LOVE!!!!!! The show also continues to deal with Max the Transman who has a whole load of she-wee issues to worry about, and Cybil Sheppard who continues to steal the show as the straightest least convincing lesbian on the planet! Lovely Helena is also back- but behind bars and Kit also behind bars but 40% proof ones, is tormented back to the booze by the worlds best super villains Dawn Denbo and her lover Cindy. Love it!!!!!! Season 6 doesnt hold up to this!!

brilliant, but... (also beware, a few spoilers in this review)
OK, let me get one thing straight before I start - I think the L Word is incomparably good, bringing lesbian culture firmly into the mainstream. The writing, directing and performances are superb and have been in every series. This season is also excellent - funny, compelling, dramatic and sad by turns. If it were a stand alone season I would give it five stars without doubt.

However, the L Word has set the bar so high for itself in previous series that I was left relatively disappointed with this one. I was still compelled to watch episode after episode, I laughed out loud many times, but some things just didn't sit right. let me get those pesky complaints out of the way first.

- The Shane/Page thing. This was RIDICULOUS. It's hard to say why without spoiling things... but let's just say all the development, growth and maturity the writers have put into Shane's character might never have happened. She is reduced to a stereotype once more. And the fire at Wax? Also ridiculous, it is never followed up, we never know Shane's reaction to it or how it is resolved. There seems to be a theme emerging of Shane falling for some girl, seeming as though she's changed, and then breaking her heart. This series is no different.
- The amount of sex. I know that makes me sound like a massive prude but I'm really not. The amount of sex in this is totally unnecessary - it seems as if they've got someone new on the production scene who thinks more sex = more copies sold. maybe that's true but I don't like it.
- The over-the-top nature. Everyone's different but I have always liked the highly realistic style - all the characters used to be solid, three-dimensional people. Now there are more stereotypes and wooden characters than you can shake a stick at. Jenny for example - ugh. She's always been annoying but at least she was believably annoying. And the creepy Adele thing. And don't even get me started on the 'She's all that' style makeover - whip off her glasses and she's beautiful!! I thought the L Word was above this sort of thing.
- The cheating. Everybody seems to cheat on everyone else, fidelity is treated like outdated silliness, nobody is happy together for more than five minutes. I really don't like the way the Bette and Tina thing came about in this way. I found Bette especially unlikeable in this series, selfish, controlling and cruel, but then I guess she's always been a bit like that.
- Lastly, as another reviewer has said, Papi appears on the case but not in any episode. Why?? Was this a mistake? Also Tina doesn't appear anywhere on the cover even though she is a central character.

There, all the complaints out of the way. Now the good parts.
- The Alice/Tasha military trial thing. I thought this was brilliant, one of the best storylines ever in the L word in my opinion. One of those TV moments that make the hairs on your neck stand up.
- The comedy. This season is easily the funniest, especially with the fantasy sequences at the beginning
- The Bette/Tine storyline. Although I've had a gripe about this, of course I loved it, any L word fan would, they're our very own lesbian Ross and Rachel.
- The bike race. It was lovely to hear them talk about Dana, who seemed to be forgotten in the last series. It was good to hear they still remember her and miss her.

All in all, an excellent series, but not as good as the others. Series 4 and 1 were much better in my opinion. However for pure comedy this one cannot be beaten.

Excellent
This series is a real return to form after the patchy and fragmented Season Four. Yes, it's given up any pretence of being 'serious' drama and gone over the top - particularly with the character of Jenny, who seems to have modelled herself on Dynasty's Alexis - but it's massively entertaining and manages to combine just the right amount of drama and humour. The 'film-within-a-film' theme works brilliantly in recreating some key moments from the superb first season, and unlike its predecessor this run allows almost all of the girls a big bite of the storyline cherry. One big, big gripe, though - 20th Century Fox clearly haven't done their homework, as the box art features Janina Gavankar as Papi, who doesn't appear once in any of these episodes. Couldn't someone have researched the show thoroughly enough to find a cast shot of Season Five, not Season Four?!