Tina Kennard, The L Word

Tina Kennard (Laurel Holloman)

Tina was one of the six main characters, in relationship with Bette for 8 years at the start of the show, and they were the seemingly stable, long-term couple of the group, planning to have a baby. Their relationship became strained and they broke up at the end of Season 1. Before Bette, Tina had only dated men. and her last boyfriend before Bette was man named Eric.

Seasons 2 and 3

In Season 2, Tina was several months pregnant via artificial insemination and started a relationship with Helena Peabody. She ended up in a love triangle with Helen and Bette for much of the season. After giving birth to their daughter, Tina decided to move back in with Bette to raise their baby together. However, by the third season, they had marital problems again, and Tina started an affair with a man named Henry, which lead to Tina and Bette fighting over custody of their daughter.

Seasons 4 and 5

In Season 4, Tina and Bette agreed on shared custody and Tina continued her relationship with Henry until they eventually grew distant and broke up. By the end of the season Tina and Bette started to renew their friendship, and Tina showed an interest in dating a woman again, which the show referred to as “returning to the lesbian fold”.

The next season, Tina met Brenda, whom she ended up sleeping with on their first date, though they eventually started dating. By the end of the season, Tina had an affair with Bette again.

Season 6

At the start of Season 6, Bette moved back in with Tina and they started a plan to adopt a baby. By the end of the series, Tina and Bette were still together and when Tina got a job offer in New York, she and Bette decided to relocate there and start a new life. Bette was more than happy to do this, partially to escape from the claustrophobic bubble of Los Angeles lesbian intrigue and partially to escape Jenny, who had been blackmailing her. After Jenny’s body was discovered in Bette and Tina’s pool, the series ended with Tina and all their friends being interrogated by police, and the truth of Jenny’s death unexplained. The season was supposed to expand into to a spin-off but was later canceled.

Several weeks after the television show ended, footage of Bette’s police interrogation appears on Showtime’s L Word website (“The Interrogation Tapes”) which served as a kind of epilogue for the series. It was revealed in the tapes that Tina’s first sexual relationship was an abusive incestuous relationship with her older sister that lasted three years.

Appearances:

• 70 episodes.

Female love interests:

• Bette (Jennifer Beals, main cast)
• Helena Peabody (Rachel Shelley, main cast)
• Brenda (Lenka Stolar, guest 2 eps)

Relationship story arc with a woman: Yes

Male love interests:

• Henry Young (Steven Eckholdt, recurring 8 episodes)
• Eric (off-screen)

Relationship story arc with a man: Yes

Filter Relationship Arc:

• Female (Regular), Male (Recurring)

Storyline during sweeps? No

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.