Wednesday, June 7, 2017

What I’m Watching: Master of None

Master of None: Season 2, Episode 4 “First Date” (A-)

This episode was terrific, returning to a format that worked very well in the season one episode “Mornings.” The only thing that could make up for the absence of Rachel is an endless parade of other women who may or may not be interested in Dev. I’ve never personally used a dating app, but I do think this was a hilarious and probably realistic portrait of what it’s like to do that. The opening with someone’s friend choosing Dev for her and Dev responding with excitement that someone matched with him was great, and it only got better from there. I think my favorite date was definitely Priya, played by Tiya Sircar, who I immediately recognized as Real Eleanor from “The Good Place.” Running into an ex who just got back from doing war photography in Syria was an unfortunate follow-up, but maybe they can make it work even if she wants to take it slow. I also liked seeing Condola Rashad from “Billions” as Dev’s friend Diana who was having a great time celebrating the afterglow of what I thought was a moment he had set up and staged but then shot down his attempt to turn it into a backseat makeout session. The ramen blogger who had a boyfriend and just wanted to make friends was a bizarre but entertaining addition, and I love that Dev decided to just go for it and help his clueless date pick out new matches on the app during their date. Pointing out the racist jar after still sleeping with his latest date wasn’t a very noble move, but it was a terrific way to end a fantastic episode.

No comments: