Transparent (Season 3)

Transparent achieves a rare feat: it communicates a universally accessible human story using the most complicated and specific means. Season Three of the Amazon series, following the gender transition of Mort as he comes out as Maura, a transgender woman (performed with astonishing sensitivity and detail by Jeffery Tambor), is perhaps the most narratively dense to date. Since the introduction of the quirky, mildly dysfunctional but largely stable Pfefferman family in season one, the dynamic of this clan has become just about as "alternative" as it's possible to be. And yet, Transparent's exploration of the inconstancy, capriciousness and downright peculiarity of the human experience manages to remain entirely relatable while touching new, heightened levels of poignancy.

This isn't a happy accident; the show's creator, Jill Soloway, takes a distinctly meta approach to her storytelling. Season Two used flashbacks to reveal the specifics of the family's Jewish, European heritage while simultaneously making observations about the progress American society has made since the influx of WWII refugees in the 1930s. Season Three uses the same device for a different purpose. These snapshots of the past reveal a more painful side to the Pfefferman's story, refocusing the narrative to highlight the silent, corrosive struggle of living with gender dysphoria and the psychological scars that many trans people live with. "I am not transitioning. I am trans," Maura repeatedly asserts, pointedly showing the semantic importance of being recognised by society in the same vernacular we personally identify with. There is a bittersweet, sorrowful undercurrent to this season, that colours the oddball humour that sits at the surface, and it's this counterbalance of pathos that ultimately makes this show so powerfully affirming.