There is something inherently likable about Aziz Ansari.
He embodies a genuine warmth and friendliness – that smile alone makes you want to be his friend – and he brings his innate likability to his characters, along with a great sense of humour and a bright, effervescent intelligence.
He has combined all these qualities, as he did so effortlessly on Community, his book Modern Romance, and of course, the first season of Master of None, which premiered on Netflix to rapt reviews in 2015 including one from Variety which said “It’s as if an earnest op-ed piece came to vivid life in an effort to make the viewer laugh out loud — and succeeded in the attempt.” (To see how much love there was for the show’s first season, check out these reviews.)
Possessed of a remarkably simply but brilliantly well-used premise, that of a thirtysomething single man in New York who has a close network and the time to devote to them thanks to the nature of his stand-up comedy work, Master of None explored with humour and witty authenticity, what the search for love looks like in a world where people just as likely to be searching online, if not more so, than in real life.
It mirrors the content in some ways of Modern Romance, but it brings it humourously to life, illustrating with nuance and wit, how complicated, and yet also how simple, love is in our hyper-busy modern age.
Given the open-ended nature of life and love, and the fact that Ansari’s character Dev made a major life decision at the end of season 1 (so closure please!), Master of None is back 12 May on Netflix.
And true to form, the show will return Dev to his aspirational acting career, his stalled love life and of course, his close group of friends and family, as per the official season 2 synopsis:
“After traveling abroad, Dev returns to New York to take on challenges in his personal and family life, a new career opportunity, and a complex, developing relationship with someone very meaningful to him.”
If you’re wondering why the big gap between season 1 and 2, then there’s a good reason for that, according to Anzari (quoted on TV Insider).
“This show isn’t the type of show where we’re going to be able to just turn around and turn it in right away. We covered so much stuff in Season 1 and wanted to make sure the ideas we had in Season 2 were equally interesting and the episodes were just as ambitious.”
All of which makes sense. Rushing another series into production just to have one might have robbed us of the one thing that makes Master of None such delightfully compelling viewing – it’s willingness to frankly and unabashedly talk about life and love in ways that make sense and mirror what it’s like balancing what we expect with what we end up having.
Besides life never marches to the beat of the drum we want so waiting some time makes it seem all the more real and worth watching which we’ll be able to do on 12 May on Netflix.
Get your pasta maker ready!