What I’m Watching: Transparent

Transparent: Season 1, Episode 7 “Symbolic Exemplar” (B+)

If last week’s episode was an opportunity for the family to come together without as much drama as might have been expected, this installment undid all of that by having each of the Pfefferman family members abandon their seats throughout Maura’s show so that all she saw when she looked up at the end was an empty row where her children had been. Her performance was an enormous success, and it’s a shame that she was so let down by her children’s inability to deal with the situation as it currently stands. It was nice to see Maura turn to Shelly for support and have her receive her with open arms. Ali gave it her all for her date with Dale, which didn’t go entirely smoothly, but that final scene indicates that we shouldn’t trust Ali’s recollection of events, which call her mental state into concerning question. Rabbi Raquel had no problem whatsoever with Josh’s family situation, and it’s really unfortunate that he left the talent show and went somewhere else other than back to his home where she had spent a while preparing him a nice meal. He and Tammy really don’t like each other, and spending time in the pool with Bianca didn’t help matters at all. Sarah isn’t exactly in the best position to be a referee between her girlfriend and her brother at the moment given her enthusiasm for taking drugs, and it seems that mixing family and business – in this case, redesigning the house – may be more trouble than it’s worth.