Master of None - Season 1 Review
Aziz Ansari has been a hit or miss actor/comedian for me throughout his career. There have been some points where I find his humor to be great, but other points where I simply believe he just doesn't really fit my tastes. Comedy is a tough area to place and review as it can be viewed different by the consumer. Master of None for me was the same to me as Aziz is as an actor: hit or miss.
Let's start with the most important part of any comedy series: the jokes. There's a running theme for the main male characters that they are adult children, going into baby stores and playing with the toys or jumping on bouncy castles at a child's birthday party. The comedy for me just wasn't there for the majority of the time and I found myself watching because the show genuinely interested me. Don't get me wrong though, the comedy did hit at some points (there were a few moments on my daily commute where I burst out laughing at Arnold (Aziz's main character Dev's best friend).
Master of None doesn't follow a true story arc until later in the season, resulting in the first few episodes following the common sitcom formula of each episode being it's own creation. Different stories are told throughout the episodes, for example in one episode Dev and his friend tackle learning more about their parents while in another they find themselves intrigued by the stories of an old man and all they want to do is meet with senior citizens. This is when Master of None is at it's best: when it isn't trying to tell a true story that stretches over multiple episodes.
In the latter part of Season 1, Master of None takes a turn which involves diving into the love life of Dev. Throughout the early part of the season he is trying to find someone to be with jumping from being the plaything of an unhappy wife to simply just being alone. This changes when the woman first introduced in the pilot comes back into Dev's life, Rachel. As is the norm in series of this kind, they end up together and create a long-lasting relationship. One of the episodes actually shows you the daily lives of them through over a year and a half of time. This is where I actually began to enjoy the show less. The idea of a continuous story focusing on Dev and Rachel just didn't interest me. I enjoy the character of Rachel but the part of the show that really had me hooked wasn't either of them. That honored belong to Dev's best friends Arnold, Brian, and Denise which don't appear much at all in the back half of the season until the finale.
As I've said throughout this article, Master of None is a hit or miss show with me. Aziz Ansari just does not work for me in this series and it's a shame that I have to say that. I really wanted to have this show hit with me and be a continuous viewing for the future but it just was not enough for me. With the comedy not hitting and my interest being focused toward side characters in the eyes of the series show runners, I cannot recommend this series to others. Although, if you are a fan of Aziz Ansari this could be a great comedy for you.
