Master of None 1.10

Finale

Dev starts having second thoughts about his life with Rachel after they go to a wedding. He tries to keep it from her but he can't and once they start talking about it things go from bad to worse. It probably didn't help that he was cut from the final cut of the movie he was supposed to be in, The Sickening. Rachel is affected by Dev's insecurity and decides to move to Tokyo. Dev decides a change is in order for himself and decides to move to Italy, to learn how to make pasta.

The way the end is played it looks like they were trying to make it look like Dev was catching a flight to Tokyo. I knew that the second season is set in Italy so I guess that part of the season finale was ruined for me.

On the whole this is not my favorite episode or series. I think I've mentioned this more than once but I'm not a big fan of Dev. He seems a little too caught up in pursuits that make me roll my eyes. In this episode he spent 45 minutes trying to decide where to eat because he wanted to make sure it was the best taco place. I had no sympathy for him when the food truck he selected was out of food by the time he got there.

When this show is good it isn't so much the main character that made it good as much as it was the scenario or situation he is dropped into. I don't think I will be watching the second season of this show. Like Rachel I think it is time for me to move on.

Master of None 1.09

Mornings

This episode is almost entirely Dev and Rachel. It all takes place inside their apartment over a period of about a year. They go from sleeping together to moving in together. They go from idyllically happy to fighting over stuff. It definitely felt more real than the Nashville episode. That one was all fun and happiness. In the end they kiss and make up. Things are looking up once again, although the description for the next episode makes me wonder about my assessment of where things stand after this episode.

I'm still not sold on this series. I don't love it. I'm not intrigued by it. This wasn't a bad episode. I think my biggest problem with the show is Aziz Ansari or Dev. I think if I liked him I would like the show as well or more than I currently do.

Master of None 1.08

Old People

Dev and Arnold visit Arnold's grandfather. Dev and Rachel visit her grandmother. Arnold gets attached to his grandfather's robotic seal companion.

I liked this episode. It has a bittersweet quality to it. I seem to prefer the episodes where Dev is not the focus.

I'm still not a fan of Dev or Aziz Ansari's acting chops. He lacks subtlety which makes him feel like more of a caricature to me.

Master of None 1.07

Ladies and Gentlemen

Rachel and Denise try to teach Dev about some of the stuff they have to put up with as women, stuff that he doesn't know anything about. He helps Denise get some guy who is masturbating on the subway arrested, which makes him a bit of a hero for one night. The next day he loses acting gig on the commercial he was hired to do because the director took his advice and decided to replace him with a woman.

This felt very message heavy, which isn't to say that there wasn't some good humor. I especially liked the part where Arnold goes with Rachel to help her pick up a couch.

Master of None 1.06

Nashville

Dev invites Rachel to go with him to Nashville. She says yes.It is only their second date and the first one was months (?) before, in 1.01 (Plan B). They kind of sort of had another date but she was dating someone else at the time and it was more like they just hung out together in 1.03 (Hot Ticket). They were a little too cute together in this episode for me. It didn't get real or feel real until Dev screwed up, they missed their flight back to NYC, and had wait 5 hours for the next flight.

This is the sort of episode that makes me go meh. It didn't really excite me or make me laugh or draw me in. It just was. Maybe it is an in-between-er.

Master of None 1.05

The Other Man

Dev meets a Nina (Claire Danes) at a party. She is DTF and has a super swanky apartment. Dev can't believe his luck, until he sees pictures of her with a man. She admits that she is married. She tries to talking him into staying. He doesn't but she gives him her phone number.

Dev helps Colin (Colin Salmon) with some ideas for a screenplay about a man who turns into a car. This part was played deadpan and was very amusing. Nothing serious here at all.

Dev dtays away from Nina until one day Mark, her husband, cuts in front of him at an ice cream shop. He has sex with Nina. Everything seems cool at first but the second time they go for it Mark comes home unexpectedly. This was played a little too silly to be taken seriously, at all. I kept expecting the other shoe to drop, but it didn't.

Not my favorite episode but not a bad one either. Lots of little laughs.

Master of None 1.04

Indians on TV

Dev confronts a network executive after he accidentally is sent an e-mail with a racist joke about Indians. It isn't so much the joke that bothers Dev as much as it is the fact that the executive balked at the idea of casting two Indian men on one show.

Danielle Brooks makes an appearance playing Shannon, Dev's agent. I know her from Orange is the New Black, where she plays Taystee. According to IMDB this is her only appearance in this season but she will be back in the second season. It took me a minute to figure out where I knew her from.

This is my favorite episode so far. It did a great job of addressing a serious issue and mixing in some humor, Loved the little incidental humor, especially Asush earnestly working out in the background while Dev and Ravi were trying to decide what to do next.

Master of None 1.03

Hot Ticket

Dev goes on a date with someone he barely knows. At first he thinks that she won't show. When she does he's excited until he finds out what she is really like. The episode ends with him hanging out with Rachel, the gal he was in bed with at the beginning of 1.01. That goes well but ends on a bittersweet note.

I'm still not a big fan of Dev. Maybe he is supposed to be the lovable loser. I did like the turn the show took in the second half. That turn has me interested in watching more, in hopes for more in that vein.

Master of None 1.02

Parents

Dev and his friend Brian don't understand their parents. They commiserate over the fact that they don't understand their parents and that their parents aren't supportive of their successes. They decide to take their parents out to dinner, hoping to get them to tell some stories. The meals starts off somber but by the end of the meal everyone had such a good time that their parents want to do it again the next night.

I liked this episode a lot more than the last one. Having said that I still don't like Dev all that much. He seemed to spend a lot of his time complaining about his parents in this episode. Maybe this is the creators holding a mirror up to society. Maybe I'm supposed to be somewhat critical of him. Maybe he will evolve and become more likable by the end of the season. I think I will continue to watch but I still don't love the show.

Master of None 1.01

Plan B

Dev meditates on the possibility of being a parent after (a) the condom breaks in the middle of sex with a woman he just met and (b) he spends some time with friends who have little kids.

Overall I would say this show was okay. It had its moments. I especially liked the daydream sequences where Dev imagined what it would be like to have kids. In one instance it seems ideally great and in the other abysmally bad. I will probably watch a few more episodes but based on this episode alone I am not a fan of the show.