What I’m Watching: Master of None

Master of None: Season 1, Episode 5 “The Other Man” (B+)

This show is really growing on me, and I’m glad that I’m watching it the way I am so that I have been able to gradually appreciate it more and more. I was shocked to see Claire Danes as the main guest of the episode, as a food critic who was hopelessly cool, a fact Dev kept pointing out, but also happened to be married. Danes has been terrific on “Homeland” for years as a bipolar FBI agent, and seeing her with plenty of attitude and a more relaxed perspective on marriage was a real treat. It was great to see that she’s actually really funny when she wants to be. As usual, Dev’s reactions to situations end up being the best part of them, namely the way that he immediately decided to bail when he found out that Nina was married and how he went right back to sleep with her when her husband, played by Noah Emmerich, took his ice cream, the last one in the shop, and then threw it out in disgust. That the whole thing brought them closer together was a fantastic coda. I was also very entertained by Dev’s featured friend, Denise, who judged him for potentially being a homewrecker but had no qualms about having plenty of fun with her straight boss. The conversations on this show are one of my favorite things about it, but I’m glad to see that the characters and the guest stars are keeping up and performing well too.