Jennifer Beals promises The L Word: Generation Q will finally answer who killed Jenny Schecter

When The L Word ended its ground-breaking run in 2009, it left one very big question hanging — who killed Jenny Schecter (Mia Kirshner)?

The character that fans loved to hate met a watery end in Bette (Jennifer Beals) and Tina’s (Laurel Holloman) pool, but the show ended without revealing who did the deed.

When Showtime’s The L Word: Generation Q brings the show back to audiences on Dec. 8, fans will finally get the long-awaited answer. While sitting down with People Now, Beals pledged that an answer is forthcoming. “I can guarantee there will be resolution for fans on that issue,” she said. “Complete resolution. It has to be answered.”

Though Beals says she was actually rarely approached about the question by fans after the series ended, it made up the bulk of the sixth and final season, leaving fans frustrated that no definitive answers were given. Back in 2017, when EW reunited The L Word cast, creator Ilene Chaiken expressed some regret about making the final season circle around a murder mystery. “I’m not sure that it was the best choice,” she said. I loved the stories we told, but to do a murder mystery maybe was off-topic for us. But it was a metaphor. Jenny brought us into this world. Jenny is going to take us out of this world. It never so much mattered to me, and I realized it matters to the fans. When you tell a story, you owe it to the fans, but to me, it was just a way to talk about this journey that we’ve all been on together and where we are now.”

At last, fans will see that door close, as well as catch up with other favorite characters a decade on in their lives. Beals admits finding her footing again was an initial challenge. “One of the things that was challenging was to try to figure out, you know it’s been 10 years since we’ve seen Bette and trying to figure out what core values she still has, how she’s the same but also she’s different and trying to re-enter into that mindset,” she said. “It wasn’t really until I got my cufflinks on, got my power suit back, that I fell back into it.”

Much of the original cast is returning, as well as plenty of fresh faces, and Beals is hopeful others including Holloman, Pam Grier, Holland Taylor, and Marlee Matlin might also come back for a stint. But the primary reason for bringing the show back was seeing a need for it in the storytelling landscape, especially amidst evolving notions of gender and sexual identity.

“We saw a need for it because we really thought something would replace it as soon as it went off the air. Because it had been so successful and then nothing did,” Beals explained. “Some more time passed and this new generation came along and changed everything, changed the way we talk about gender identity, changed the way we talk about sexual orientation, and just changed the language and we thought how fantastic would it be to tell these new stories along with finding out where these characters are 10 years later.”

Watch the clip above for more, including what we can expect from Beals’ Bette this season. The L Word: Generation Q premieres Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. on Showtime.

Catch PEOPLE Now every weekday at 12:00 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT on People.com or on the PeopleTV app on your favorite streaming device. Want even more? Check out clips from previous episodes of PEOPLE Now.

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• The L Word reunion: The cast and co-creator reflect on the groundbreaking series