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| Jeffrey Tambor |
Welcome to a new column called Channel Surfing, in which I sporadically look at current TV shows and talk about them. These are not ones that I care to write weekly recaps for and are instead reflections either on the episode, the series, or particular moments. This will hopefully help to share personal opinions as well as discover entertainment on the outer pantheon that I feel is well worth checking out, or in some cases, shows that are weird enough to talk about, but should never be seen.
It is a very exciting time for TV series. For starters, Netflix has proven itself to be worthwhile competitor with Emmy nominated series that have also created a public discussion. Other streaming websites such as Hulu have even attempted to get into the business. Among them is Amazon, who remain one of the most reliable websites to sell you books and clothes. However, original content has been a questionable feat. With exception to their recent deal to stream a lot of the HBO classics, they haven't been noteworthy. At best, they have done an interesting program known as pilot season where customers vote on pilots to determine which gets picked up to series. Even then, those shows haven't captured the world by storm (Alpha House anyone?). Then this past Thursday came the series that changed their trajectory and made them a serious contender: Transparent.
It is a move that feels all too familiar to Netflix's Orange is the New Black. In an unassuming move, the Netflix series started off introducing characters before eventually getting to an episode based around transgender performer Laverne Cox. Since her debut, she has become a prominent voice in the LGBT community and even ended up on the cover of Time Magazine. It feels like society is becoming more accepting of sexual differences. As it stands, Transparent's debut has risen a lot of discussion on how to properly address the issues of the community. It is a fascinating thing and thankfully, Transparent at least feels like an honest exploration.
After the pilot was released in February, the buzz didn't start building until this week. In that episode, Mort/Maura Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor) has difficulties opening up about his true identity to his family. It focused on how everyone beats around their own proverbial bushes. The actual reveal doesn't come until the final closing minutes when Maura walks in on her daughter Sarah (Amy Landecker), who was presumably straight, making out with her girlfriend. The moment is awkward and in some situations would be played for a gag. However, the double reveal is so rich with context and sets up the perfect cliffhanger. There's no going back for Maura. How does she handle it? For many, this weekend will be the first time watching the pilot due to them following the buzz. Having seen the next episode, I can safely say that it gets better.
It is a very exciting time for TV series. For starters, Netflix has proven itself to be worthwhile competitor with Emmy nominated series that have also created a public discussion. Other streaming websites such as Hulu have even attempted to get into the business. Among them is Amazon, who remain one of the most reliable websites to sell you books and clothes. However, original content has been a questionable feat. With exception to their recent deal to stream a lot of the HBO classics, they haven't been noteworthy. At best, they have done an interesting program known as pilot season where customers vote on pilots to determine which gets picked up to series. Even then, those shows haven't captured the world by storm (Alpha House anyone?). Then this past Thursday came the series that changed their trajectory and made them a serious contender: Transparent.
It is a move that feels all too familiar to Netflix's Orange is the New Black. In an unassuming move, the Netflix series started off introducing characters before eventually getting to an episode based around transgender performer Laverne Cox. Since her debut, she has become a prominent voice in the LGBT community and even ended up on the cover of Time Magazine. It feels like society is becoming more accepting of sexual differences. As it stands, Transparent's debut has risen a lot of discussion on how to properly address the issues of the community. It is a fascinating thing and thankfully, Transparent at least feels like an honest exploration.
After the pilot was released in February, the buzz didn't start building until this week. In that episode, Mort/Maura Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor) has difficulties opening up about his true identity to his family. It focused on how everyone beats around their own proverbial bushes. The actual reveal doesn't come until the final closing minutes when Maura walks in on her daughter Sarah (Amy Landecker), who was presumably straight, making out with her girlfriend. The moment is awkward and in some situations would be played for a gag. However, the double reveal is so rich with context and sets up the perfect cliffhanger. There's no going back for Maura. How does she handle it? For many, this weekend will be the first time watching the pilot due to them following the buzz. Having seen the next episode, I can safely say that it gets better.
The series addresses the matter in a way that feels raw and honest. Picking up immediately following the ending of "Pilot" is "The Letting Go," which features that conversation where Maura comes out to Sarah. It is raw and earnest in ways that thankfully aren't rooted in too much drama. From that moment, the episode explores, as the title suggests, letting go of preconceived notions. It is a long process and likely won't entirely solve itself immediately. Even then, seeing Maura at LBGT meetings and discussing her decision to come out has an honesty to it that makes even the more poignant moments have a sense of humor to them. It is her struggle, but what makes the show interesting is that it is also about the family around her coming to terms with it. Thankfully, creator Jill Soloway has made a career out of tackling tough issues by writing for great series on the subjects of mental illness (United States of Tara), and family dysfunction and homosexuality (Six Feet Under). She knows how to make these into jokes without losing their respectability.
The one benefit is that the show isn't entirely about Maura's journey. It is about the family's journey with their own lives. There's Sarah's conflicts on whether she would dump her boyfriend for her girlfriend. Ali (Gaby Hoffman) is a sexual deviant who begins a relationship with her black exercise instructor. Shelly (Judith Light) must also come to terms with the father of her kids now being a woman. There's a lot to explore and not enough for one half hour of programming. Even then, the episode manages to explore everyone's personal gripes in ways that reveal that things won't be solved, but they will get better. Even if they are visually a different person, they are deep down the individual that they have known and loved for decades. This is the most endearing part of the series.
The one cruel joke of the series is that the 10 episodes are each a half hour long and end on a brilliant cliffhanger (at least, from my viewing, through episode three) that makes the series hard to not finish in rapid succession. It is immediately immersing and full of compelling characters and plots that make up a great new universe. It may be getting press as "Amazon's first great series" (which is true), but it also is just great writing. Even if the title feels like a play on words, it is so much more. It is about how we all relate to these changes in a family's life and it creates an understanding of how it influences our personal decisions. The one benefit that is in spite of the heavy subject matter, it still is funny.
Transparent is a series that I immediately find compelling and want to get through immediately. Whether this is Amazon's only claim to original content fame, it is quite something. It is striking and compared to Netflix's half hour comedies like Bojack Horseman, it strives for so much more. It doesn't limit its lack of censorship with juvenile humor, but uses it to explore something greater. Maybe it's because I like Soloway's past work that I immediately enjoy this, but I feel like this is this year's Orange is the New Black equivalent. We will be talking about this and maybe we'll be seeing it at the Emmy's. It all depends on Amazon's marketing strategy. However, if you're getting confused by the hype around it, don't let it intimidate. It's worth a few episodes just to make sure you like it.
*NOTE: I will attempt to have a TV Retrospective on the series sometime within the first week of October with more developed thoughts on the series.
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