by Jennifer Matos

If you are new to the L Word, or a die-hard fan who has been watching diligently for three seasons, we would like to introduce you to a new segment. Every week, we will look at an L Word character and how they are connected to each other.

What do an art curator, male identified lesbian and vampirologist have in common? The answer to that question would be: “Alice Pieszecki”. They also have something else in common. They have a place in “The Chart”.

Perhaps one of the most important things to become familiar with in watching the L Word is “Alice Pieszecki’s” “Chart”. The Chart was introduced in Season One during the pilot episodes. The Chart hangs on the wall of Alice Pieszecki, a magazine writer and host of the KCRW radio program “The Chart”. Alice’s Chart is based on the premise that we are all connected through love and sex. As Alice puts it, “We are all connected…Through love, through loneliness, through one tiny, lamentable lapse in judgment.”

Alice’s beliefs come from her own experience, as she contributes to the lesbian and bisexual links on the Chart as well. Alice is openly bisexual, much to the apprehension of her friend and professional tennis player “Dana Fairbanks”. Dana feels that Alice is hiding uncertainty beneath her sexuality. Meanwhile, Alice claims that she seeks the same qualities in men as in women. We first learn of this when she talks about a college relationship with someone named “Tayo”, who was in the band, “Butter”.

Alice is excellent at listening to her friends and giving advice, but when it comes to matters of her own heart, Alice tends to stumble—as we all do—in maneuvering relationships. This is evident in her relationship with her prickly girlfriend, “Gabby Deveaux” (Guinevere Turner), who is usually seen treating Alice very much like a doormat, and everyone—except for Alice—seeming to notice and being outraged by this. Her relationship with Gabby is where we see Alice actively enter the Chart. Connecting with Alice briefly is “Lisa” (Devon Gummersall), who is a “lesbian-identified male”. Alice meets Lisa after breaking up with Gabby, and after deciding to end her connection with Lisa, she moves on to “Andrew”, introduced to her by the family of Dana Fairbanks. While viewers do get to witness Alice, Lisa, and Andrew together, one Chart connection that we never fully see unfold is that of Alice and “Bette Porter”. We hear about it through dialogue and witness it through an opening vignette (and an argument or two), but that is all.

A significant bond on the Chart is the one that Alice shares with Dana Fairbanks. The chemistry between both of these characters is undeniable. L Word fans get to watch as Alice and Dana attempt to negotiate a relationship as they do so with humor, humanity and a purity of heart. The romance of Alice and Dana sets off more links on Alice’s Chart, such as a connection with vampirologist Uta Refson, and ultimately a relationship with Dana’s girlfriend, “Lara Perkins”.

In her own real life Chart, Leisha Hailey, the actress who plays “Alice Pieszecki” has been romantically linked to Canadian crooner, k.d. lang. Also of note is the fact that Guinevere Turner, who portrayed “Gabby Deveaux” has written for two seasons of the L Word as the show’s story editor.