Aziz Ansari’s new comedy Master of None is probably the funniest and wittiest show you will watch this year. The Parks and Recreation veteran and stand-up comic, along with his co-creator Alan Yang, have crafted a TV comedy that focuses on the intricacies of life in New York in the twenty-first century.
Ansari plays Dev, an aspiring actor waiting for his big break, who faces the struggles of everyday life in the Big Apple. The show’s primary arc is about Dev’s dating life, although it deals with a variety of topics ranging from finding the best taco in the city to heavier issues such as children and racism. The rest of the show’s cast pull their own weight as well. Dev’s social circle is comprised of the friendly giant Arnold (Eric Wareheim), Denise (Lena Waithe) and Saturday Night Live’s Noël Wells as his main love interest, Rachel.
Ansari and Yang’s witty writing and the cast’s on-screen chemistry delivers a comedy experience like no other. There aren’t too many shows that take real life experiences and derive humour from them. It explores the familiar territory of the tools that have become commonplace in 2015, such as Tinder, Uber, and Google. Master of None suddenly becomes highly relatable, while remaining extraordinarily funny, which is the trademark of Ansari’s comedy.
Master of None offers a level of authenticity that no other comedy has displayed to date. The interaction between every character is something you would expect to experience in your own life, which allows the show to have incredibly hilarious and deeply touching moments at the same time. One of the best episodes in the series is titled “Parents” and showcases Dev and his friend Brian’s (Kelvin Yu) relationships with their parents. As the children of immigrants, they are oblivious to the hardships that their parents had to face when they moved to a foreign land. Dev’s father summarizes the problem first generation Americans have, when he asks, “You realize that fun is a new thing, right? Fun is a luxury only your generation really has!” The most striking part of this episode is that Ansari cast his own parents to play his fictional parents, and there are points where they definitely steal the show.
It is impossible to talk about Master of None and not mention one of the big issues it tackles—race. It strives to present something that has never been done before on an American TV show: an Asian-American male as the romantic lead of his own show. Although the sex scenes involving Dev are intended as comedy, it is refreshing to watch the sexuality of an Indian-American man being acknowledged. Considering the historical desexualization of Asian men in popular media, Dev is portrayed as just another ordinary thirty year old guy struggling to find the love of his life. He is also forced to make choices on whether he should take acting roles where Indian-Americans are simply portrayed as sexless, accented idiots who are either cabbies or convenience store clerks. Ultimately, Master of None crafts a narrative in which race is not only a total non-issue, but also a subtle factor that colours every interaction.
On the other, it does seem that Ansari’s character, Dev, is largely similar to his character of Tom Haverford on Parks and Recreation. Although Dev isn’t quite the manchild that Tom was, he still possesses the same mannerisms. Although Ansari is a great comedian, there is a certain lack of breadth in his acting. A lot of the shows jokes and issues are identical to Ansari’s recent stand up comedy routine at Madison Square Garden and also draw from his book Modern Romance. Fans will not take issue to this, however, it does seem like a rehash of old ideas for the sake of making a television show.
Master of None is filled with genuine humour. It strikes a fine balance between comedy and drama, which gives the show its unique flavour. Each episode tells its own story, and can even be enjoyed without any context. However, as a collective, the episodes tell a deeper tale and lead up to a finale that will have viewers desperate for more. Despite the fact that it tackles highly specific issues like race, it remains extremely relatable to everyone. At its heart, Master of None is the familiar tale of a New Yorker trying to find his place in the world, while navigating through modern life.