The teaser for Jill Soloway Transparent’s fourth season was oddly crafted to make the series look far less emotionally subtle than it actually is. Luckily, the just-released full trailer for the upcoming season does nothing of the sort, instead capturing the flailing-while-floating-through-life sensation that the show often so deftly creates.
Here, we’re given a somewhat panoramic portrait of what’s next in the lives of the frustrating, manipulative, narcissistic, soulful, and sharply intelligent Pfeffermans. The official description reveals that a trip to Israel as a centerpiece of the season, after Maura agrees to give a conference in the country. The trailer shows Ali accompanying her, before all Pfeffermans ultimately join in. It also displays their spiritual connection to the place, and seemingly one that’s troubled by the fact that it’s simultaneously the site of decades of oppression of the Palestinian people. (You can only hope for the best from a show that’s thus far been socially probing and nuanced in covering one of the most fraught places in the world.)
Elsewhere in the trailer, we see Maura continuing to learn that “you can just start again,” and revealing that she’s dating a man (she’s thus far mostly been interested in women); all of the Pfefferman kids realizing they’ve lost count of their sexual partners; Sarah and Len seemingly having a threesome with Alia Shawkat; Shelly eating a gargantuan sandwich with a level of deep pleasure; and more.
Accompanying the trailer, the cast and crew of the series have released a statement (via People) on Donald Trump’s recent Tweets announcing the ban of transgender people from the military. The statement reads, in part:
Sharing this work amidst President Trump’s continued assault on the transgender community is painful. We are outraged that he announced in a tweet that transgender people would not be allowed to serve ‘in any capacity’ in the U.S. military. It is reprehensible to deny an estimated 15,000 current trans service members, and 134,000 trans veterans, the dignity, respect and safety that they deserve…At Transparent we believe in the integrity of the trans community, which we know firsthand because we are all either trans or allies to the trans community. It is a revolutionary act for a trans person to simply leave the house and walk down the street. We tap into the incredible history of survival the trans community has achieved against all odds, knowing that our fight is noble and on the side of justice and human rights.
The season premieres on September 22. Watch the trailer: