The L Word
5.0

"I like slutty Shane," says Leisha Hailey.

"I do too!" says Kate Moennig, who plays the irresistible androgynous heartbreaker on The L Word, the show we delight in both loving and hating.

Moennig and Hailey (who plays the hilarious but poignant Alice) are in the atrium of the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles discussing the fact that Shane won't be settling down in the fifth season -- as she has awkwardly and vainly tried to do in the past two.

"Not many women are portrayed in that way," says Moennig, "and I like that she owns that part of herself."

So, more hot sex scenes between Moennig and a variety of luscious ladies again this year.... Damn! And what else can we expect, Ilene Chaiken?

"This season has a lot of stuff that I think a lot of people are hungry for," says The L Word's creator, who's directing a scene from the season-ending episode inside the L.A. art museum rather than the series' normal production site in Vancouver, Canada.

According to published spoilers, the Showtime series this season will include jail time for Rachel Shelley's character, Helena (expect hot caged-girls sex scenes), a rivalry between Kit (Pam Grier) and a pair of new lesbian bar promoters (Elizabeth Keener and Alicia Leigh Willis) for supremacy of the Planet (expect more hot sex scenes), and a "don't ask, don't tell" plotline (expect Kelly McGillis as a military lawyer).

The DADT story means Rose Rollins, who plays Army captain and Alice's lover Tasha, will return for a second season. "It's been intense," says Rollins. "I attended a function last year of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and heard a lot of the true stories about women who have been dismissed under this policy."

Rollins -- as gracious as she is gorgeous -- admits that she strongly identifies with the tough but tender Tasha. "What's most important to [Tasha] is that she definitely needs to get that respect, and I think that's what I'm about. You don't have to like me, but you're going to respect me."

Also back for a sophomore season is Marlee Matlin, who knows that many longtime L Word viewers might be rooting against her artist character, Jodi, because they want her girlfriend Bette (Jennifer Beals) to reunite with ex Tina (Laurel Holloman). "Everyone has the right to choose whatever character they like...but I want them to want me too!" says Matlin with a hearty laugh.

Even Jodi's sign-language interpreter gets some action this season. The character, Tom, played by actor-interpreter Jon Wolfe Nelson, finally gets to hang out at the Planet with the rest of the girls. "You know, Tom's kind of like a lesbian," says Nelson.

Tom also reportedly gets to have some sort of romantic arc with Daniela Sea's trans man character, Max. After all, gay boys deserve a place on the show too.

"I've always wanted there to be a gay male character or two in our midst," says Chaiken. "But whenever I put a man in the mix, gay or straight, we always wind up feeling like, 'Guys, this is a lesbian show. We only have an hour to do it, and we really can't afford to give you any time!' "