Maura Pfefferman will soon meet her demise. Transparent creator Jill Soloway confirmed in a new interview that Jeffrey Tambor’s character will be killed off on the show’s season finale.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the death of Maura, a divorced, Jewish, transgender college professor, will be shown at the beginning of the episode, with her family subsequently coming to grips with the loss.
“We were all in mourning in many ways, and we all had to process together,” Soloway told the publication on Thursday, April 11. “It was important [for the show] to go through all those stages. The show has always been a reflection of who we were and we were mourning our own narrative.”
The episode will also be a musical: Soloway described it as a “Jewish Christ Superstar or anxious ‘Godspell’ or ‘Ordinary People’ on ice” to the Times.
“People say when they’re making musicals that there are moments when the characters have to sing because they can’t put something into words,” they said. “I think it’s the same thing with what our show went through, we felt like we needed a different way of looking at the family. And we did it through song.”
Us Weekly confirmed that the Hellboy actor, 74, had been fired from the series and would not be part of season 5 in February following multiple sexual harassment claims made against Tambor in November.
Soloway gave a statement about the decision to let the Golden Globe winner go at the time of the allegations. “I have great respect and admiration for Van Barnes and Trace Lysette, whose courage in speaking out about their experience on Transparent is an example of the leadership this moment in our culture requires,” they said. “We are taking definitive action to ensure our workplace respects the safety and dignity of every individual, and are taking steps to heal as a family.”
Tambor was accused of inappropriate behavior by his former assistant Van Barnes, 42, in a private Facebook post. He denied the claims to Deadline at the time, saying, “I am aware that a former disgruntled assistant of mine has made a private post implying that I had acted in an improper manner toward her. I adamantly and vehemently reject and deny any and all implication and allegation that I have ever engaged in any improper behavior toward this person or any other person I have ever worked with. I am appalled and distressed by this baseless allegation.”
The How the Grinch Stole Christmas actor, who was investigated by Amazon over the incident, was also accused of sexual harassment by Transparent costar Lysette, 32.
“Jeffrey has made many sexual advances and comments at me, but one time it got physical,” she alleged to the Hollywood Reporter before describing an instance where Tambor pinned her against a wall and thrust his body against hers.
Tambor gave a statement denying the allegations to Us at the time. “For the past four years, I’ve had the huge privilege — and huge responsibility – of playing Maura Pfefferman, a transgender woman, in a show that I know has had an enormous, positive impact on a community that has been too long dismissed and misunderstood,” he told Us. “Now I find myself accused of behavior that any civilized person would condemn unreservedly. I know I haven’t always been the easiest person to work with. I can be volatile and ill-tempered, and too often I express my opinions harshly and without tact. But I have never been a predator – ever.”
He continued: “I am deeply sorry if any action of mine was ever misinterpreted by anyone as being sexually aggressive or if I ever offended or hurt anyone,” he continues. “But the fact is, for all my flaws, I am not a predator and the idea that someone might see me in that way is more distressing than I can express.”
The Transparent Musicale Finale will air on Amazon this fall.
