Transparent

What started out as a unique idea and was well written and acted has quickly gone the way of most TV and lost it's way. This last season is simply an annoying repetition of the various characters dysfunctional relationships and in ability to cope. In many ways a lot like my own family which drives me totally nuts. It did better when it was examining the issues and angst of becoming a trans late in life but now has decided to abandon that theme and go on to frustrating portraits of Jewish angst. We cannot follow this show any longer and have abandoned it for more intelligent viewing. This is now nothing more than a copy of all of Woody Allen's earlier movie themes.

I could blurb on about how poignant this programme is.

I could parp on about how fabulous Jeffrey Tambor is.

I could ramble on about how enlightening it is or I could just say that I loved it, a lot.

Tis true, I really truly loved it. I did a spot of that binge watching thing, made my partner watch it and watched it again with her. I do not think that it is being hyped up due to the subject matter, it is simply a bleeding good programme. The humour doesn't come from a man in a dress, it comes from the keen observations in the writing and the great acting (maybe not from Judith Light's portrayal of an elderly Jewish woman, which I thought was a tad over the top on occasion, not so much in the flash backs though, which were quite lovely). It made me laugh, smile, cry, feel a lot of different emotions through each episode.

After watching it twice, I then went onto to reading about it and found a whole new appreciation for what it is and what Jill Soloway has done here, even though I thought it was fab before, I love it all the more knowing the background to the writing and making of it.

Looking forward to season two, I hope a TV channel picks it up, I'm not a huge fan of this video streaming thing and would prefer to see on a big screen.

Like many ppl already said , the last episode sucks. But hey there were 4 great seasons before that. And those were good so enjoy the show, and than open a bottle of wine for the last episode ...

Jill Soloway is the writer of the show. All this, is her idea, i mean, she has created such a fresh and original comedy drama, but her mindset and political awareness ruin many moments. I understand the show is a celebration of love, pain, sexual diversity, but we can clearly see the stamp of the writer's ideology all around the show: she tells us what's right, what's wrong, what is good, what's not, what should be liked and what should we not like.

The core concept of the series is basically based on her father's story, he came out of the closet a few years ago at a certain old age, but she places these other characters and focuses on them too much that we lose the actual protagonist and she does that because she wants people to feel rappresented and change the mind of those who do not accept the LGBT community, but no, everyone has the same mindset in the show: liberal, modern and open-minded, which are all good elements, but the other side is missing.

Jill is not a transgender, her father is and we watch the show through her eyes while we should be watching through his. I'm not saying he should've wrote the story, what i'm saying is, although she got into his trousers, that was not enough, because she focused on too many other characters, like the children, we can easily assume they're based on herself, and the show keeps going on with their side, but what's even more wrong is the fact their side is extremely politically manoeuvred, gender identity is brought in, dramatized family troubles, culture and religion.

Jill didn't bring just a story, she brought her life in and with that her views on the world. Don't get me wrong it's a good thing, but not everyone can actually releate to it, since the show in not unbiased on these themes, but has a very strong agenda.

Let me say at the outset that there have been a lot of disappointed reviewers, and most of them just don't get it - the comedy and the drama come from a series of contrasts.

The rest of the cast are so delightfully screwed up that it helps us to be sympathetic to Jeffrey Tambor's character. This isn't a one-trick pony, as the continuing adventures of the entire cast sets up some beautiful compare and contrast moments.

Not that this is for everybody. If your are looking for high discourse, the don't choose a comedy, and don't try to map an excellent slow comedy into a disappointing drama. It is simply a well-written light comedy about society and the opening up of transgender issues within that context.