Tuesday, December 22, 2015

A Transitioning 'Transparent'


Finally polished off season two of "Transparent." I'm not one for spoilers, but if you haven't watched it yet, you might want to avoid this post. As you may recall, I went from thinking the first season was the best thing on television to sort of dreading watching more this time around. Fortunately, it ended on a high note. But that high note -- actually giving the trans parent some screen time -- is merely who the show is supposedly based around, so it left me with the same feeling you get when you know you're right about something but you're almost too exhausted from trying to convince everyone to even enjoy it. (She's IN THE TITLE, why aren't you telling the story that's the most compelling?) Although many have praised the flashbacks, the device didn't really work for me. And I could have done without Carrie Brownstein's character and that story-line completely. (We get it, Ali is exploring herself.) But Josh -- whose bro-vado is so off-putting to me that I can barely watch him -- finally became somewhat multi-dimensional thanks to his relationships with his fiance and his son. And I liked that the three siblings finally had some moments toward the end where they weren't just being self-absorbed assholes. (Self-absorbed is realistic, but it was done in such a cartoonish way that I found myself rolling my eyes by mid-season.) But what made it worthwhile was that they FINALLY explored Maura's post-transition relationship with Shelly. That subject is such an important and interesting one, ripe with possibilities, yet the producers often seemed more interested in figuring out another way to show us Gaby Hoffman naked. Kudos. Most of all, though, Maura's mort-ifying trip to the women's retreat and her subsequent time with Vikki was a revelation, and I'm hoping there's plenty more where that came from. 

2 comments:

Trent said...

Excepting eps 3 and 4, I thought this season was nearly as powerful as the first. It was never a show solely about a trans parent, it's about family... as most great shows are in some way or another... and these characters are way more interesting (and yes, often way more annoying) than any I've recently seen on television. Such great writing... along with the music, the performances, the editing... it's all so masterful.

Stephen said...

I watched the first season, but it was AWFUL. Would rather watch paint dry.