One Mississippi

The six-episode sequel season is beautiful in its intentions and construction--a loving ode to a life made better by acknowledging the past to improve upon the future.

Each cathartic confrontation near the end of the short but powerful season is meticulously earned, as is the weird sense of optimism that follows Tig around like the boxes of old clothes and mementos she can’t quite get rid of. The absorbing season finale is a fitting culmination of a show that is exceptionally assured in its debut season.

Notaro’s great at deadpan one-liners, which is where most of the humor in the series is generated. Much of the rest of the time, it’s lightly situational.

One Mississippi is true to her [Tig Notaro's] personality as a performer: It explores painful topics, but with intense empathy for both its characters and its viewers, as if holding their hands through its toughest moments.

One Mississippi is effectively quiet and understated in many of the ways that Transparent is demonstrative and confrontational, while both shows share an interest in family histories and personal pain.

Even if One Mississippi doesn’t return for a second season, season one works beautifully as a muted story about what it means to come home and realize the person you once were, the person you thought you packed up in a box and stored away somewhere, is waiting right there for you to discover all over again.

One Mississippi is so much like everything else that it fails to stand out.