Master of None debuted on Netflix on Friday and has deserved every bit of the critical acclaim it has received. The new show stars former Parks and Recreation star and comedian Aziz Ansari as Dev, an actor trying to make it in New York City.
I’ve only watched the first four episodes, but it is already clear that Ansari and co-creator Alan Yang (a writer on Parks and Rec) have found a surprising way to work around the standards of sitcoms. Master of None already does one thing right by proving that it’s very existence probably wouldn’t happen without Netflix to support it. There’s no way this show would be on broadcast TV. And the format of the show just begs for viewers to watch more than one episode a night.
The series kicks off with “Plan B,” directed by James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now, The End of the Tour) and introduces us to Rachel (one-time Saturday Night Live castmember Noel Wells) in the most awkward way possible. Their night comes to an end when Dev’s condom breaks and he gets nervous that he might have impregnated Rachel. Thankfully for him, that doesn’t happen because Dev spends the rest of the episode learning why he doesn’t want kids.
Episode 2, “Parents,” really helps sets Master of None apart from anything else on television. It’s a fascinating exploration into the backstory of Dev’s parents. After meeting up with Brian (Kelvin Yu), the two start thinking about all the sacrifices their parents made to make it to America. The episode, directed by Ansari, puts the plots introduced in “Plan B” on hold already just so we can sit back and learn about Dev’s background. This is the kind of episode a series not on Netflix couldn’t afford to have. Right after “Parents” is over, we can watch “Hot Ticket” immediately to get back in the plot.
Speaking of “Hot Ticket,” that episode might be the most consistently funny one so far. Ponsoldt returns to direct the story of Dev trying to get a hot waitress to go to a secret concert with him. The night quickly goes disastrous though, as he’s immediately turned off by the girl’s Cartman impressions. Dev might like South Park, but he really doesn’t want to hear “Respect my authoritah” while on a date. Rachel then pops up in the episode at the end and they have a great time. But not everything works out in Master of None and his perfect night with Rachel goes south too at the end.
Rather than picking up right where “Hot Ticket” left off, “Indians on TV” goes in an entirely different direction. Dev decides to audition for 3 Buddies and helps his friend Ravi (Ravi Patel) get an audition for the show too. They both perform fine, but Dev is told that the role went to Ravi. He sees that this is because executives think that there can only be one Indian character and the email chain reveals that one producer used a racist remark to make his point.
After this, Dev considers leaking the email to the press, but the producer wines and dines him to get him back on his side. The outing only ends with the producer not changing his mine, so Dev and Ravi think about leaking the email. But the show takes a very Seinfeld-esque turn when the producer suddenly dies. Dev meets with another producer, who doesn’t want to do 3 Buddies at all.
So far, Ansari has proved at least one thing - he doesn’t have to play Parks & Rec’s Tom Haverford to get laughs on a sitcom. Dev is a very different character, but he can still take the spotlight, even with his oddball group of friends. Eric Wareheim (of Tim & Eric) is hilarious every time he’s on screen as Arnold, a friend who always seems to have unhelpful advice. Lena Waithe tries to reel the guys in with her serious advice as Denise, but she’s usually ignored.
I can’t wait to get through the remaining six episodes of Master of None. While the show’s New York setting might make it sound like just another sitcom about a single guy in the big city, the series quickly reveals itself to be a much more creative endeavor than that.