What I’m Watching: Transparent

Transparent: Season 2, Episode 3 “New World Coming” (B+)

There is so much going on right now on this show, and it’s hard to figure out where to start in analyzing such an intense and packed episode. Opening the installment with Maura waking up in Davina’s apartment and asking Shea some rather personal questions was a relaxed and eye-opening exploration of her present, and her later visit to Mort’s previous academia world was a true trip back to a different time and a different life. There’s something great about Maura being able to walk in the room that Mort used to occupy and serve as a recommender for Ali in her pursuit of higher education, and it was Mort’s past sexism that actually got them into trouble. Cherry Jones’ poet Leslie is a rather brutally blunt figure, and she’s clearly going to have a strong influence on Ali. The youngest Pfefferman daughter’s night was a wild one, and she finally got to a place of bliss with her best friend Syd, though we always have to be wary of her grip on reality and whether she was actually having the time of her life in a lesbian bowling alley. Josh had a much easier time adapting to having his cool son in his life and getting him into school than to adjusting to the thought of spending his life with Raquel, who prompted him to think about a proposal and then surprised him by popping the question herself. Hopefully his poor reaction won’t ruin the whole relationship. After Sarah had a miserable visit to Len’s to pick up her yoga mat, I like that Josh’s story about the disciplinarian connected to Sarah’s pretty unhinged sex dream, starring none other than Wade Williams, famous for playing prison guard Brad Bellick on "Prison Break," as the famed punisher who gave Sarah quite a ride in her lonely imagination.