As much as the controversial fade-to-black ending of The Sopranos roiled the waters of controversy, it was a light breeze compared to the wrath of Hell that erupted following the non-event that was the series finale of The L Word (Showtime) Sunday night.

In case you missed it, showrunner Ilene Chaiken’s closing gambit was a big-ass fakeout. After hanging the entirety of Season 6 around the question of “Who killed Jenny Schechter?”, the query as to who — if anyone — offed the series’ egomaniacal protagonist (willowy Mia Kirshner) was begged. The blogosphere was quickly awash in (justified) rage and Chaiken’s “up yours” to the series’ fans — who include this writer — was panned clear across the board and then some.

Alienating a sizable contingent of a series’ fan base? That’s par for the course. Pissing your whole audience off? Now that, Ms. Chaiken, is the Mount Everest of screw-ups.

The L Word was actually on track for a satisfying conclusion, as the seventh (and next to last) episode brought several long-running storylines into port movingly. But, in the space of a week, relationships either backtracked, accelerated dramatically or went topsy-turvy as the show took a hard left turn into crazy. The too-arty-by-half finale expended precious screen time on extraneous Tyra-worthy reminiscences, directed at a bored-looking Lucy Lawless (playing a detective). As the last 65 minutes — which were clearly hacked down from something much longer — dribbled away into a welter of irrelevant cameos and 11th-hour subplots, the odds that the series’ main threads would be tied off, even provisionally, looked bleaker and bleaker still.

Yup, when it was all over, every possible loose end was left flapping in the breeze. This is Chaiken’s passive-aggressive “up yours” to every viewer who wanted even a smidgen of closure after hanging with The L Word’s dysfunctional extended “framily” for six years. It’s a decision born, it turns out, of cynical calculation. Taking her cue from Sex and the City (compared to which glossy The L Word is a Dogme 95 production), Chaiken wants a feature-film follow up.

Also, she’s peddling a women’s-prison series (I kid you not), The Farm, which would see TLW’s popular Alice (Leisha Hailey) doing a stretch, presumably for offing The Schecter. However, The Farm probably bought the farm when Oscar nominee Melissa Leo (Frozen River) took a role on the new series by David Simon (The Wire) instead. Chaiken’s even has the brass to use the series’ non-conclusion to pimp a string of webisodes in which — judging by the first installment — some truly ‘WTF?’ backstories are going to pulled from the writing staff’s hindquarters.

Still, The L Word launched several careers and introduced a new kind of character to TV: Shane, the female Don Juan played by the James Spader-like Katherine Moennig. (Kim Cattrall’s hetero equivalent on SATC was always intentionally played as caricature.) The show also re-launched a few other actresses, notably the steel-willed Jennifer Beals. Anybody who thought Beals a Flashdance in the pan would have been given great pause by her intricately complex TLW portrayal.

And, for mushy romantics like myself, there was at least a semblance of ‘happily ever after’ for the turbulent but deep-rooted love of Beals’ Bette Porter and partner Tina Kennard (the luminous Laurel Holloman). Much of the series’ popularity can be attributed to the actresses’ mad chemistry and the desire by fans to see two gay women succeeding in a committed relationship, in a regular TV series. ‘Tibette,’ as hardcore TLW fans dubbed them, became the show’s central rallying point, although charismatic lone-wolf Shane proved to be yet another breakout character. They and the rest of the core ensemble (which included Pam Grier) will all be missed.

Move over, Barack and Michelle; Tina and Bette are America's hottest power couple.

So who killed Jenny? The most logical explanation is that she offed herself, although red herrings implicating other characters flew thick and fast. Or maybe it was an accident. (A disturbing subset of fan opinion holds that all the other protagonists were complicit to varying degrees, which is … creepy, to say the least.) The relative (im)plausibility of various scenarios just shows how cynical, flippant and transparent Chaiken’s crass ploy was. The bottom line is: Who cares?

I didn’t much care who shot J.R. The ratfuck bastard had it coming. But at least the question was answered. The L Word ended less with a question mark than with a one-finger salute to the very people who’d kept it on the air. How classy.