Twitter

Last Friday, Transparent made its official debut on Amazon Prime Instant Video. The series follows the Pfeffermans, a hip Jewish clan that is suddenly pulled apart, brought closer together, and then pulled apart again by the revelation that their patriarch, Mort (Jeffrey Tambor), is transgender and changing her name to Maura. It’s a funny, warm, heart-breaking, and super smart show. I told all my friends and co-workers how much I liked it, and they were collectively like, “Cool. I’ll check it out.” And then, I pissed off a few of my friends and co-workers when I said that I thought it blows Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black out of the water.

Let’s be clear: I love Orange Is the New Black. I think it’s one of the most interesting, funny, courageous, and ground-breaking shows today. It’s full of incredible performances and boasts some of the best writing around. Like all great shows, however, it’s got flaws. Some of the story lines seem implausibly convoluted — can we talk about that ludicrous Season Two finale? — and while the actors are all incredible, many of them can veer a little too much into melodrama for my comfort. That doesn’t change the fact that Orange Is the New Black is a masterpiece. But that’s precisely why Transparent is so good. As good as Orange Is the New Black is, Transparent is better. Transparent might be absolutely perfect.

Transparent does something I haven’t seen before. It’s simultaneously artful and completely honest. Every shot is gorgeously directed. The writing is superb: the dialogue flows naturally from each of the characters, and yet the plot is carefully planned so that scenes mirror each other and every episode feels like a sucker punch to the heart. There is not a single bad performance on this show. Everyone fully embodies their characters to the point that it seems as though we are watching a documentary. Each character is fully defined in such a way that they don’t feel like television stereotypes — they seem like fully-formed individuals.

Of course, Transparent feels like a lot of modern “auteur” comedies. Like Girls and Louie, it wants to be honest about the dark parts of our lives, but it also wants to present a specific point of view. But while the characters on Girls don’t seem to like each other, and Louie toys with the misanthropy of being a male comedian, Transparent is oozing with heart. The conflict doesn’t erupt because the characters secretly loathe each other. The Pfeffermans fight because they love each other and don’t know how to communicate with one another.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yawvtaFwfZs]

Now, I’m a straight, cis-gender woman, so I can’t comment on whether or not this show is “good for the gays,” but it seems to treat homosexuality, bisexuality, and being transgender with a kind of nonchalant respect. Clearly, LGBT issues are at the heart of the series. However, nothing about Maura’s journey feels especially preachy. She’s given moments where she is victimized by bigotry, but the fact that she’s transgender doesn’t make her some kind of saint. She has moments of complete selfishness. She can be rude. She even erupts at her noisy gay neighbors by hurling homophobic insults. Similarly, none of the characters are shown as being flawed because of their gender or sexuality; everyone on this show is a mess because of the personal choices and stupid mistakes they make. In contrast, every time Orange Is the New Black addresses a character’s LGBT status, it feels like it’s winking at the audience. The lesbian sex scenes are titillating, and we have yet to see Sophia presented as anything other than a put-upon superwoman.

All that being said, I’ll also gladly admit that my preference for Transparent might have to do with how I consumed both shows. Back in June, I was tasked with binge-watching all of Orange Is the New Black in one week. It was a task, a trial, and by the end of the second season, I was sick of Orange Is the New Black. I even wrote about it. I didn’t mainline Transparent. I watched two 30-minute episodes a day. I was tempted to sail through the entire first season, but I paced myself. I found myself liking the show so much that I wanted to savor my time with it. That’s 26+ hours of Litchfield forced down my throat versus 5 hours of the Pfeffermans taken at a slow and easy pace. It’s the television equivalent of putting your body through an intense BBQ eating contest versus a light gourmet meal. Both meals are delicious, but one might make you feel like you want to die.

So, yeah, as much as I like Orange Is the New Black, I love Transparent so much more. Transparent challenges me, shocks me, awes me, and makes me happy to be alive.

Like what you see? Follow Decider on Facebook and Twitter to join the conversation, and sign up for our email newsletters to be the first to know about streaming movies and TV news!

Photos: Amazon