Transparent returns with a big, white wedding - but is it really happily ever after for anyone? As their secrets surface, the Pfeffermans stumble but persevere, moving closer toward their authentic selves. Thus, season two deeply develops each member as separate components: Ali, Sarah, Josh, Maura, and Shelly are uniquely vulnerable, with individual tales that defy simplicity.
While the show has become something of a sensation when it comes to trans issues, the writer-director doesn't fetishize it. It is part of the fabric of the story.
Between all the yelling and drama and narcissism, this is a family where the important revelations can almost slip by unnoticed. Until, of course, they can't.
While much of the credit goes to Soloway and her team of extraordinary writers... and guest director Marielle Heller ("The Diary of a Teenage Girl"), the actors each deserve the bevy of attention already heaped upon them.
Nothing is more real than the Pfeffermans' faith that they are the center of the universe... It doesn't make them good people, but it does make them great television.
