Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Exploring boundaries in ‘Transparent’
“Family is gross, but necessary,” says Sarah (Amy Landecker) to her siblings after the Pfefferman clan has endured a raucous brunch together from L.A’.s Canter’s Deli.
That statement in the first episode of the fourth season of “Transparent” gets at the heart of Amazon’s acclaimed dramedy from Jill Soloway. This season, available today, takes the Los Angeles family out of its comfort zones and revolves around questions of secrets, lies and boundaries.
“My family lies a lot,” Sarah confesses to a new friend, Lila (Alia Shawkat of “Search Party”), whom she meets at a sex-addicts recovery group. In fact, Sarah has gotten her brother, Josh (Jay Duplass), and sister, Ali (Gaby Hoffmann), to attend the group, too, after they all took an online sex-addict quiz that would lead anyone to think there must be something wrong with them.
Ali, now a grad student, had an affair with a professor who published a humiliating poem about it in the New Yorker. Sarah is still living with her kids and her ex-husband, Len (Rob Huebel). She finds it convenient for her sexual urges but fantasizes about Lila.
Josh is dealing with mother, Shelly (Judith Light), who has moved out of her retirement community condo and into his house. At 68, with an exhusband transitioning to being a woman, Shelly is at loose ends when she stumbles upon the Upright Citizens Brigade improv group. She takes a workshop, but finds after a lifetime of managing everything in her life, loosening up isn’t easy.
Meanwhile, 70-year-old transgender Maura (Jeffrey Tambor) is the most grounded of all of them. She is back teaching at college again and has accepted an invitation to go to Israel to speak at an academic conference on “Judaism, Cold War and Gender.” Wishing to escape her embarrassment, Ali goes with him.
Eventually the whole Los Angeles clan will end up in Israel, where they hope to relate to their roots and explore who they are, but discover a disquieting family secret. Other stories during the season will intersect, including the relationships between Sarah, Len, and Lila, where the three explore lies and boundaries.
Maura’s trip to the Holy Land gets off to a bad start when she is stopped by a TSA agent for a “groin anomaly.” The incident goes viral when Ali records it on her cellphone. That leads her to meet a political activist who takes her to Ramallah, the Palestinian city in the West Bank just north of Jerusalem.
“Transparent,” already renewed for a fifth season, is more ambitious this year. The series flourished within its close-fitting world even when exploring complex issues of sexuality and self-worth.
In the first three seasons, all the characters in their own way have been transitioning. This year has them making some new choices, and it leads to some difficult and awkward moments. Maura, for instance, finds herself the sex object in a new relationship.
Not everything about the season works well. Shelly’s story could use more depth. The character’s journey and pain don’t get the care of the others’, so often she just seems strident. The Ramallah trip is a way to look at different sorts of boundaries, but the plot feels somewhat forced.
Still, “Transparent” succeeds most of the time. The cast — led by Tambor — are terrific as usual. This year there are some rich, funny and moving moments, and the series continues to take chances other shows wouldn’t dare.