Joyful college sophomore Gabbie carefully constructs a brightly colored cardboard chain and strings it across her dorm room, the pink and green paper shackles accenting the flurry of anime posters covering her walls.

That chain, however, is more than just a crude dorm-room decorative piece. Each link represents a single day in Gabbie’s life--and each night, she tears one off, moving one step closer to her male-to-female sexual reassignment surgery.

In a similar way, the engrossing, eight-part documentary TransGeneration strings together the stories of four transgender college students, each at different points in their transformation. Texas-born director Jeremy Simmons has connected these absorbing slice-of-life vignettes with rich, vibrant details and sharp editing skills. TransGeneration airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Tuesdays through Nov. 8 on the Sundance Channel.

We are quickly introduced to TransGeneration’s cast in Episode One, each of whom has a unique personality, background and story. Gabbie is intent on making friends at the University of Colorado at Boulder after a lonesome freshman year, and she is also anxiously awaiting her surgery. Neuroscience major Lucas is reevaluating his outlook on life and dealing with the decision to begin treatments that will transform him physically from a female to a male.

Graduate student T.J. (born as female Tamar) has plunged full force into campus activism and a strong male identity, but he worries about reactions from his somewhat estranged Armenian family. And California State University Los Angeles student Raci battles a number of obstacles, including her budding sexuality, the pressures of college classes, living on her own and being hearing-impaired. She is also insistent on hiding her male identity from friends and classmates.

TransGeneration is an immediately addictive dose of programming, not only because of sharp storytelling but because of the students’ fully realized personalities. Just imagine a diversified Sex and the City, minus the martinis. By the second or third episode, you’ll likely be gathering around the television with friends, deciding if you’re more of “a Lucas” or “a Raci.”

That’s not to say TransGeneration makes light of its subjects. Simmons is a talented director, and he’s assembled each of TransGeneration’s stories in a relatable, enjoyable way. He focuses on the transgender issues, to be sure, but Simmons has wisely included in-depth examinations of campus life and family situations.

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