When creator Jill Soloway accepted the best TV comedy award at the Golden Globes for season one of “Transparent,” she expressed hope the show could “teach the world something about authenticity and truth and love.” Indeed, those three virtues form the pillars of this show. “Transparent” thrives on its ability to learn from different voices, to display the honesty of people struggling with their lives and to inspire reflection from the audience. “Transparent” is a beautiful and rare piece of art.
Season three of the series was released last Friday on Amazon, and the results are extremely positive. The show continues with the same struggles from season two while still pushing the characters forward on their journey. Season three in many ways feels quieter than the last season, which reveled in darkness. Instead, the newest episodes are more about regrouping and finding one’s spirituality amongst the loud noise of society.
The season opens with a bottle episode focusing on Maura Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor) as she’s finally settling into her new world — only to feel as miserable and uncomfortable as ever before. This first episode perfectly sets up a theme for the entire season, with the Pfeffermans setting out to find why they each feel an immense emptiness.
Tambor continues to put in an immaculate performance as Maura, whose sole mission this season is to go through gender confirmation surgery. Judith Light again proves to be extremely comical and very powerful as Shelly Pfefferman, with her story reaching its climax in the final seconds of the season.
The main star of season three is Kathryn Hahn, who becomes a series regular as Rabbi Raquel. Hahn benefits from portraying an extremely likable character. However, she also possesses a spectacular ability to show subtle emotions in completely devastating situations. Rabbi Raquel struggles to hold on to her spirituality in one of Hahn’s strongest and most heartbreaking performances on television.
Perhaps the most perplexing aspect of “Transparent” is just how appealing the show is despite its extremely grating characters. The Pfefferman family proves again in season three they are some of the most selfish people on television, yet the show is compelling for this very reason. Watching the Pfeffermans is almost like watching a car crash in slow motion. At a certain point the cars will come to a complete stop and there will be severe consequences, but for the time being, the harrowing drama is very engaging.
Season three leaves the characters at unstable places in their lives, creating a lot of uncertainty moving forward into season four. Ultimately, this season doesn’t reach the dramatic highs of the last, perhaps intentionally — this one is more about internal revelations and the struggle to find acceptance in one’s current situation. Whether or not the characters achieved this, the third season of “Transparent” continues to tell its small story in sharp focus. “Transparent” proves again to be art in motion.
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