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Shane on The L Word

SHANE McCUTCHEON
Shane McCutcheon

Shane McCutcheon - The L Word Wiki

Played By: Katherine "Kate" Moennig

Shane's Occupation: Hairdresser; former prostitute; underwear model (briefly); former co-owner of Wax skateboarding shop and boutique

Family: Father: Gabriel; Half-brother: Shay; Mother: Unknown

Personality Type: Quiet, relaxed, kind, reserved, loyal.

L Word(s) That Best Describes Shane: Lonely; Lady-killer; Legendary; Lovable; Loyal.

Signature look: Messy hair, androgynous, sultry.

Endearing Trait(s): Shane's unfailing loyalty to her friends and her desire to make everyone around her happy.

Annoying Trait(s): Keeps falling back into self-destructive patterns; self-medicates with sex and drugs.

Strengths: Highly observant and sensitive to other people's feelings and needs; a very attentive listener and peacemaker. Her willingness to try at love time and again.

Hangups: Shane is uncomfortable when people ask too many personal questions; has a great deal of trouble saying 'no' to people, even when she should; understands the concept of monogamy but has the tendency to feel stifled if not given adequate breathing room.






ROMANTICALLY LINKED TO...
LaceyLacey Haraway
How/where they meet: Shane and Lacey slept with each other at least once prior to the season one pilot. Exact details about their history prior to the pilot are unknown.
About the relationship: Lacey was confused and hurt when Shane slept with her and ultimately wound up going with another (unidentified) woman. Lacey took photos of Shane against her will and used them to make posters and flyer's that she put up around town and handed out to people, which called Shane a heart breaker. Shane talked with her and the two of them seemed to come to an agreement and slept together just one last time. As of season four, that is Lacey's last appearance on the show.

Cherie JaffeCherie Perroni (formerly Jaffe)
How/where they meet: Cherie showed up at Shane's salon for a haircut and the rest is history.
About the relationship: Shane's first love. The relationship was surprisingly equal, despite the differences in their ages and wildly differing socioeconomic statuses.Cherie was angry when her daughter told her that shane and her kissed then Cherie broke Shane's heart to protect her from Cherie's jealous husband, Steve, who went so far as to threaten Shane, saying that if she ever came near Cherie or Clea again, there would be no street in Los Angeles she could walk down without fearing for her life. Cherie showed up to stir up further chaos in Shane's life again in season three and then again in season four, after Shane had left Carmen at the altar. Was left bitter and disappointed that she had 'won' Shane by default rather than by Shane's own choice. Shane walks out on Cherie during one of Cherie's parties. The two of them haven't seen each other since the first episode of season 4.
Shane McCutcheon - The L WordCarmen de la Pica Morales
How/where they meet: At a television studio where Carmen was working as a PA.
About the relationship:HighlyHighly unstable. Carmen was emotionally abusive, manipulative and controlling. Shane thankfully left Carmen at the altar at the end of season three.
PaigePaige Sobel
How/where they meet: Shane meets Paige at a parent-teacher meeting. She's the mother of Shay's new best friend, Jared.
About the relationship: The relationship was quite slow to start, as Shane was still trying to process all the emotions that came with leaving Carmen at the altar. Paige had been raising Jared on her own for quite a while and mentioned to Shane that she'd be fine with never sleeping with another man again as long as she lived. Their relationship went from friendly to serious very quickly, with Paige constantly hinting about wanting to take things between them to the next level. At the end of season four, Paige and Shane were talking about moving into a house together with Jared, but the two of them grew more and more distant in spite of their plans for the future.

At the start of season five, Shane stressing out about being a family person and all that entails slips back to old habits. Shane could not resist temptation and Paige caught her red-handed with another woman. Once Paige had had a chance to cool down, the two of them talked and Paige told Shane that she didn't care if Shane slept with other women. Shane, though, insisted that it did matter and that Paige deserved better. When Paige pressed Shane, asking her 'but you're not in love with me?', as much as Shane might have wanted to, she couldn't deny that Paige was right. Paige walked out, furious and hurt, and later on that same night, Shane's shop Wax was burned to the ground as a result of arson. The gang wondered if Paige might have been the one to burn down the shop, but the arsonist's identity still remains a mystery.
Molly KrollMolly Kroll
How/where they meet: Shane first spots Molly when she and her friend Alice are attending a party being thrown by Molly's mother, Phyllis Kroll.
About the relationship: Molly had just come home, having decided to take a break from school, the night Shane first spotted her at a party Molly's mother Phyllis was throwing at her house. Molly was rude and nasty to Shane when she first met Shane on the set of Lez Girls where she was working as a stylist, but Shane was polite as always, doing her best to try to get Molly to smile. Molly insisted that she was straight and that she would never sleep with Shane, but she changed her mind about that as soon as she heard that Phyllis didn't approve of Shane, saying that she was a 'cad' and not a serious person.

Molly essentially started seeing Shane to spite her mother, though as they spent more time with each other, Shane developed a liking for her, despite her previous bitchy behavior. Although Shane cared about Molly, Phyllis couldn't shake her prejudices about Shane. Phyllis confronted Shane in the season finale and tore her to shreds, telling her that she was unworthy of her 'exceptional' daughter and that even Shane's own friends thought she was bad news. Heart already broken by Phyllis' cruel words, Shane purposefully flirted with another woman just so that Molly would 'catch' her. Although Molly was hurt, she handled the situation quite gracefully, telling Shane that she deserved compassion. Molly left, but not before saying that only Shane could save herself and that she hoped that she would still be around when Shane figured herself out.

OTHER "LINKS" FROM THE CHART:
  • Lisa
  • Lenore Pieszecki
  • Mandy
  • Renee
  • Lisa Pantolini
  • Gina
  • Kelly aka "Betty" the flower-delivery girl
  • Lexi the real-estate agent
  • Gina Hasley
  • Abigail Hasley
  • Isabelle Hasley
  • Brandy Delaney
  • Megan
  • Dawn Denbo
  • Cindi Annabelle Tucker aka 'My Lover Cindi'
  • Niki Stevens (Jenny's girlfriend)
Character Back Story Character and plot developments for Shane.


Her Sexual Story:
Shane is rumored to have slept with a little over 960 women in her lifetime, dating back to the tender age of just 14 years old. She doesn't have a particular 'type' and finds something beautiful about every woman she's been with, no matter how strange her choice of partners might seem. Her friend Clive made mention that she gave hand-jobs to men for six months while living on the streets in Santa Monica, CA and could easily have become rich, had she only been willing to do more, but Shane always refused. The number of men she serviced as a prostitute, it is believed, make up a good part of the number of people she claims to have slept with in her lifetime.

The earliest memory Shane has spoken of is of giving a toy from her Sunshine Meal to a pretty little girl named Tiffany Gardner, though Shane never mentions how old she or Tiffany were at the time, though in the flashback it appears that Shane is about seven or eight years old.
Season One

Highlights:

  • Shane is living in one-bedroom apartment with three militant lesbians at the beginning of season one.
  • She is working as a hairdresser at Lather, a trendy salon that services many Hollywood personalities.
  • Shane is being stalked by one of her ex-lovers, Lacey (Tammy Lynn Michaels) who is bitter that Shane will not commit to a relationship with her.
  • After several confrontations with Lacey, including the stalker's distributing flyers all over gay bars "exposing" Shane's promiscuity, Shane is able to settle the conflict by talking with Lacey about her fear of abandonment.
  • Shane later runs into Clive, a friend she once turn tricks with, who is in need of a place to stay. Shane reluctantly agrees but kicks him out when she discovers he has been stealing from her and her roommates.
  • One of Clive's high-profile johns, Harry Samchuck, sends his business partner's wife to Shane's salon as an opportunity for Shane to network with Hollywood clients. Her name is Cherie Jaffe. Harry also sends other high-profile friends of his to Lather so that Shane can take care of them.
  • Shane unwittingly charms Cherie's entire family, including her husband Steve and teenage daughter, Clea. Clea develops a crush on Shane and tries to kiss her, but Shane tells her that it wouldn't be right for her to get involved with Clea.
  • Shane's relationship with Cherie is destroyed when Clea hints to Steve that she and Shane have slept together. Shane swears to Steve that it's not true and goes to Cherie's house to proclaim her innocence, but Clea catches the two of them together, blowing the doors wide open on their affair.
  • Cherie and her husband file a restraining order against Shane and Shane loses the space that Cherie had bought for her so that she could open up her own shop.

Quotes:
  • "Sexuality is fluid, whether you're gay or you're straight or you're bisexual, you just go with the flow." (Episode 2: Let's Do It)

  • "I like you a lot, but... I like a lot of people." (Episode 4: Longing)

  • "Liquor in the front, poker in the rear!" (Episode 6: Losing It)

  • "I don't know. You know, I've been thinking about it. I mean, what's more boring, right? You can make endless lists. You can bawl your head off and then puke over the side of the boat. Or you get to go home... and you get to sleep with the same person you've been in love with for seven years." (Episode 7: L'ennui)

  • "Look, there's no bigger karmic blessing than doing something entirely selfless for another person." (Episode 10: Liberally)
Season Two

Highlights:

  • Shane moves in with her friend Jenny Schecter.
  • They find a third roommate, Mark Wayland, whom Shane befriends until Jenny discovers he has been secretly taping them for an exploitative documentary on lesbians.
  • Shane is now a hairdresser for a TV studio, where she hooks up with production assistant Carmen De La Pica Morales.
  • She tells Carmen that she's not interested in relationships, though Carmen continues to pursue her, convinced that she can win Shane over.
  • She is hired by the obnoxious Hollywood producer Veronica Bloom, who makes Shane use her empathy to manipulate others, such as convincing a woman to sign away the movie rights to her life. Veronica tells Shane that, for all intents and purposes, she owns Shane. Fed up with Veronica's demands, Shane quits.
  • Meanwhile, Carmen has hooked up with Jenny, using her in a bid to stay close to Shane and make her jealous. Shane is obviously troubled by seeing the two of them together, though it is uncertain whether Shane is jealous of Jenny for having Carmen or Carmen because she has Jenny.
  • In the season finale, Shane tells Carmen "I love you," the first time in the show she has said these words. Carmen, for her part - in a moment of weighty foreshadowing - says nothing in return.
Season Three

Highlights:

  • Is introduced to Carmen's family as Carmen's friend, rather than her girlfriend, because Carmen's family do not yet know that Carmen is gay.
  • Is offered her own one-chair mini-salon at her friend Chase's skateboard shop. Shane for Wax is born!
  • Cheats on Carmen with Cherie Jaffe, who pops up again for one episode as a freshly divorced cougar on the prowl.
  • Still distraught after the loss of her friend Dana, Shane proposes to Carmen in a desperate moment.
  • Travels to Oregon to meet her father (Gabriel McCutcheon), her half-brother (Shay McCutcheon) and Shay's mother (Carla McCutcheon).
  • Has second thoughts before the wedding and leaves Carmen at the altar.
Season Four

Highlights:

    • The fourth season begins with Shane, severely depressed after leaving Carmen at the altar, going on a drug binge with Cherie Jaffe.
    • She attempts to get back in touch with Carmen to talk to her, but is attacked by one of Carmen's two male cousins at the Morales home. Carmen's cousin tells Shane that Carmen never wants to see her again.
    • She arrives home to find Carla there, having fallen back into drug addiction now that Gabe has left her.
    • She abandons Shay at Shane's house. Overwhelmed and scared, Shane does not know what to do and tries to locate Gabe.
    • When Shay breaks his arm skateboarding, Shane takes a job modelling underwear for Hugo Boss in order to pay the medical bills.
    • She enrolls Shay in school, where he befriends a boy named Jared.
    • Shane becomes close to Jared's mother, Paige Sobel, and eventually becomes involved with her.
    • Gabe returns to take Shay back and though Shane tries to stand up to him, Gabe insinuates that if Shane doesn't get custody of Shay that he could wind up going into foster care, much the same way she did as a child. Frightened of the possibility of dooming Shay to that life if she were to lose a bid for custody, Shane allows Gabe to take Shay back to Oregon with him.
    • The season ends with Shane proposing the possibility of buying a house with Paige and raising Jared with her, with Shane expressing hopes that she would like to have her half-brother Shay back in her life for good.
    Season Five

    Highlights:

    • While touring an apartment with Paige, Shane is caught off guard by the realtor knowing so much about her and women Shane has been with in the past.
    • While Paige leaves to pick up her son from school, Shane and the realtor hook up in the apartment she was planning on renting.
    • Paige walks in on this and later confronts Shane, explaining that she can deal with Shane sleeping with other girls. Shane responds by letting Paige know that she deserves to be with someone who only wants to be with her and that although she does love Paige, she is not in love with her.
    • Later, Wax is burned to the ground, with hints that it may have been Paige who started the fire.
    • While working as a hairdresser at the wedding of Jenny's boss daughter, Shane has sex with the bride's sisters and her mother. The resulting chaos spawned by the jealousy and drama caused by the situation with the wedding party and Paige prompts Shane to declare a moratorium on sex.
    • Suffering from hallucinations and visible emotional strain, Shane soon returns to her old ways and has a three-way with Shebar nightclub owner Dawn Denbo and her lover, Cindi.
    • She later has a tryst with Lover Cindi, without Denbo's knowledge or permission.
    • Dawn Denbo crashes a party where Shane and her friends meet the actors playing their Lez Girls counterparts in Jenny's movie and vows the ruin the lives of Shane and all her friends.
    • Shane spots Molly Kroll at a party her mother Phyllis Kroll throws at her house.
    • Although Molly insists that she's straight, she and Shane wind up having an affair together, much to Phyllis' dismay.
    • Shane helps Alice with her video podcast, acting as a cameraman, and she fiddles around with the video camera's different settings the entire time - more interested in seeing what the camera can do than videotaping Alice's interview with Max. At the end of the season, we see that Shane is entertaining the idea of going back to school in order to study photography to take the place of her hairstyling career.
    • Even though an invitation to breakfast from Phyllis has Shane thinking that Phyllis no longer has any hard feelings towards her, Phyllis gets Shane alone and tears into her mercilessly, telling her that she isn't worthy of her exceptional daughter and that even Shane's own friends think she's bad news.
    • Heartbroken, Shane tries a couple of different ways of breaking things off with Molly. She adopts the mask of 'player Shane', carelessly hitting on another woman just a few feet from Molly as she's getting Shane a drink at SheBar's bar. Then, when Molly confronts her, Shane tells Molly that she never made any promises to her. When Molly disagrees, saying that the way Shane kissed and held her that morning were promises, Shane shrugs and tells her that she misunderstood. Molly tells Shane that only she can save herself and that she hopes she'll still be around when Shane figures everything out.
    • Shane shows up at the Lez Girls wrap party a changed person, still wearing the 'player Shane' mask. She runs into Niki, who is miserable because Jenny refuses to return her phone calls. The two of them commiserate over drinks and then, outside the venue, Niki kisses Shane.
    • Shane and Niki wind up having sex, despite Shane's previous vehement dislike of Niki, and Jenny catches them together. Jenny looks straight into Shane's eyes the entire time, completely ignoring Niki, and tells Shane 'you've broken my heart' - strongly implying that Jenny has realized that she has feelings for Shane that extend beyond friendship. Shane looks stunned at Jenny's revelation and the season ends with Jenny walking away, leaving Shane standing by herself, alone.
    Season Six

    Highlights:
    carmen is long over due for a come back she just let shane get away with walking out on there wedding day. Season six sees carmen and shane reunited