Tasha from L Word is investigated for homosexual conduct under the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy

"Attitude? There's a lot more to Tasha than her `attitude,'" Rollins says of the smoldering, secretive soldier she plays on "The L Word."

Then Rollins laughs loudly, passionately.

It's a laugh that may well be in short supply on the upcoming fifth season of the Showtime series, premiering 9 p.m. EST Sunday, when Tasha is investigated for homosexual conduct under the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

"Tasha definitely comes to a crossroad," Rollins says during a location shoot at Venice Beach. "She will have to re-evaluate her life."

A captain in the Army National Guard and a decorated Iraqi war veteran, Tasha has remained in the closet throughout her military career.

"Her chances of staying in the military are not good," says executive producer Ilene Chaiken. "The only way someone like Tasha can stay in the military, under the `don't ask, don't tell' policy, is to be completely closeted and say, `No, I am not gay. These are lies being told about me.' And once charges have been brought, it becomes harder and harder to prove that (they're lies)."


Tasha quickly fell for out-and-proud Alice Pieszecki (Leisha Hailey), who runs a lesbian Web site, after accidentally injuring Alice in a brawl.

As the relationship deepened, Tasha was cautioned by her commanding officer for openly engaging in homosexual conduct. Meanwhile, Alice and Tasha argued bitterly about the war.

On the season premiere, Tasha begins the process of being discharged from the military.

As the season progresses, Alice is used as evidence against Tasha in a two-episode arc featuring Kelly McGillis ("Witness," "Top Gun") as Col. Gillian Davis, a by-the-book military lawyer.

"Alice ends up on the stand (at Tasha's hearing)," Hailey says. "That's when you see Alice in her full glory. She's not ashamed to speak out. She's not afraid to put her foot in her mouth. She's not afraid to be out of the closet."


As always, stormy relationships drive "The L Word" this season, from Bette (Jennifer Beals) and Jodi's (Marlee Matlin) contentious love connection, to Shane's (Katherine Moennig) infamous hook-ups.

A former model, Rollins never had qualms about playing the tough girl on "The L Word."

"It's my comfort zone. I hold a lot of things in. I'm careful with what I say, especially to people who don't know me well. I will seethe, I will boil, and then I will explode — if needed," she says. "And I think Tasha has a lot of that. But I am a pretty level-headed person overall and so is my character."

Ask Rollins what the future holds for Alice and Tasha and she laughs her signature lion-roar: "Does anyone not see the connection between the two of us?"

"Alice gets me to loosen up," Rollins says. "She aids me in realizing what it is I'm fighting for — not the soldier but Tasha as a woman, first. When you don't think we stand a chance, maybe we do. It is a good relationship."

L WORD SHOWTIMES POWER DYKES WHAT LIES AHEAD

blogs are going crazy in anticipation of Sunday's 9 p.m. season-five Showtime premiere), and you'll find posters debating whether power dyke Bette should dump famous artist Jodi and get back together with movie producer Tina. And whether Tina should move on or go back to Bette, who, after all, is her baby's other mother.

As the first television show to tell the story of out, urban lesbians, The L Word has helped empower real gay women who had never before seen their lives so positively reflected in the media. And it has helped pave the way for more gay programming, including Exes & Ohs. A comedy series about a group of lesbian friends who hang out in a Seattle coffee house, it was launched last year by Logo, the gay and lesbian television network introduced by MTV Networks in 2005. (Logo has not decided if it will renew the series but later this year will air the first two seasons of The L Word, cleaned up to meet basic cable standards.)


The femme has always been overrepresented in films, says Jaime Babbit, a lesbian film and television director whose credits include the 2007 indie film Itty Bitty Titty Committee and a couple of episodes of The L Word, including the new season's second episode.

It's been great to have a show that at least is in the ball park in terms if how real lesbians live their lives,. ``In five years, the show has had enormous cultural significance. You just have to listen to Latino and African-American leaders and how they bemoan the absence of enough actors of color in TV and films. To be represented is to gain legitimacy.''

Plus, is it really so wrong to have some sugar-coated, girl-on-girl fun on TV? Even Kendell gets into the Bette and Tina fray. ``I think Bette and Tina are bad for each other. I don't get the spark. I know there are people who desperately want them to get back together. But I think they're a yawner as a couple. I think Bette and Jodi [Marlee Matlin] seem better matched.''

So will it be JoBette or TiBette?

Bette and Tina just have incredible chemistry together,since season one, the show has gotten endless flak for breaking up the one couple on the show that seemed to have a happy, long-term relationship. ``We knew we had to find ways for them to engage this season, whatever happens in the end.''



So far, Showtime is not saying whether this season is the end. But, 'because of the writers' strike, this could be the last year,``My guess is if we're lucky, we'll get another season,''


Clearly, this year Showtime is banking on fans' tuning in for a TiBette fix. It recently announced that Holloman and Beals will host tonight's premiere on camera. But, Beals cautions, none of the hoopla, not even the cable and Internet promos that offer a glimpse of TiBette in a liplock, confirms that the couple will ride off into the sunset together.

First, Bette and Tina would have to deal with everything that made them fall apart.

DOES THE L WORD GLAMORIZE LESBIANS?

Carol Coombes, director of the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, complains that The L Word presents a way-too-glamorous picture of lesbians. `Even when they're trying to play butch, they're very glamorous,' she says.