Critics are raving about “Transparent” Season 3, which just started streaming on Amazon Prime Friday.
The show currently has a score of 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviews praising Jill Soloway‘s “empathetic, enlightened comedic drama,” while another critic wrote it’s “still better than pretty much everything else on TV.”
TheWrap’s Diane Garrett agreed in her review, praising the series as “the latest gift from the streaming Gods.” in her review.
‘Transparent,’ Soloway has created a distinctive family serio-comedy that she considers a five-hour movie broken up into 10 increments. Episodes might break your heart, but you’ll keep coming back for more,” Garrett wrote.
The Amazon series, created by “Six Feet Under” and “The United States of Tara” alum Soloway, revolves around an L.A. father (Jeffrey Tambor) who has been secretly dressing as a woman for years, and eldest daughter Sarah (Amy Landecker), a stay at home mom with kids, begins screwing around with her lesbian lover from college soon after they meet again. Then there’s music producer Josh (Jay Duplass), who has had a secret affair with the family’s baby sitter, and is carrying on with a young musician client Kaya (Alison Sudol).
“Transparent” premiered in 2014 and won three Emmys this past Sunday, where Soloway used her acceptance speech to call out a “trans civl rights problem,” then slammed Donald Trump as “one of the most dangerous monsters to ever approach our lifetimes.”
Read 7 of the best reviews below.
Willa Paskin, Slate:
“Screw blasé feelings about continued excellence: Season 3 of ‘Transparent’ is as excellent as ever, still better than pretty much everything else on TV, and exceptional in ways that are intrinsically tied to it being a third season.”
Noel Murray, The Playlist:
“Throughout the first two seasons, this show has dealt with the conflict that ensues when people try to be true to themselves, often at the expense of their loved ones. The season three premiere is like the whole show in miniature, and sets the tone for what should be another absorbing, painfully honest year of ‘Transparent.’”
Melanie McFarland, Salon:
“‘Transparent’ started as an exploration of identity, and as we got to know the Pfeffermans, it also became a portrait of narcissism. These 10 new episodes are no less severe in their appraisal of these characters, but creator Jill Soloway also has cast a wider lens on the world around them, showing the audience that their inflated sense of self-involvement is not unique.”
Allison Keene, Collider:
“Jill Soloway‘s empathetic, enlightened comedic drama continues to be one of the most self-explorative series of this decade – or any other for that matter … ‘Transparent’ continues to be one of the rare series on television that seeks to expand and transcend the genre it labors under.“
Benjamin Lee, The Guardian:
“In the opening episodes of its third season, ‘Transparent’ continues to expand and mature, with characters that still surprise and engage. It’s a rare show that can simultaneously feel other while also incredibly relatable. That in itself is a groundbreaking achievement.”
Darren Ruecker, We Got This Covered:
“‘Transparent’s’ status as a revolutionary show would not be as compelling (still compelling, but not in the same way) if it wasn’t bolstered by strong and innovative formal work. Its musical cues are as good as they come, and the realness of its scenes between actors doing exceptional work is accentuated by the fact that it feels like the camera is equally involved in the scene, making us feel present, as though we feeling with the characters we’re watching rather than observing. It relies on feeling rather than a sense of ‘oh, I see what you did there, yes, very good!’ The way it does this is still a mystery. I chalk it up to the genius of Soloway though, who is televising her own revolution. Television’s best show is no longer confined to TV.”
Corey Atad, Esquire:
“The show certain has its share of funny moments, but it’s also transporting, illuminating, emotional drama about the struggle to fill the constant voice of loneliness, regret, and inherited pain. With its third season premiering this week on Amazon, the show stakes its claim as the best show of any kind on television.”