Last Spashley

Gosh, my high school days certainly were never like this. Not even close. Truth be told, I'm not sure how many people's actually were. But regardless its closeness to any of our realities, “South of Nowhere” is a reflection of our hopes. Fine, not the insane teenage drama. Or the crazy homophobic mom. Or the dolt of a brother. Or...look, you get what I'm driving at. In my high school I remember exactly one openly gay kid. And even that was more like a rumor. There were no out couples. And I suspect this is still the case in too many schools, large and small, across the country. Sure it's changing, but it can't change fast enough for every questioning teen out there wondering if she is the only one. Being able to find community online helps immensely. Still there is just something about seeing your lives, your hopes broadcast directly into your living room that makes you feel a little less lonely.

That's why we've all sat through dozens if not hundreds of excruciatingly bad lesbian movies. That's why we all watch and rewatch “The L Word” (well, that and Jennifer Beal's biceps). We want to see ourselves. We want to see our stories. And, fine, we want to see hot girls kissing. It's thankfully the one and only thing I have in common with frat boys everywhere.

[Girls and boys, you're gonna wanna click that.]

So starting Friday it will be bittersweet to watch the last eight episodes of “South of Nowhere.” The series will finish its run at the end of this its third season. Sure, the show wasn't perfect. And I fully admit to fast-forwarding to the Spashley stuff. Still I always marvel at the fact that it's on TV at all. And on a channel just for teenagers (yeah, I try to ignore that bit, too, since I'm embarrassingly outside of the demographic). So, what's up for our star-crossed lovebirds in these last few episodes? Drama. Temptation. And, yes, kissing. God bless television.