‘Master of None’ a new definition of Netflix-and-chill

  • By Hank Stuever The Washington Post
  • Friday, November 13, 2015 3:48pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

“Master of None,” Aziz Ansari’s refreshingly optimistic Netflix comedy about yet another emotionally tentative, occasionally lovelorn New Yorker, bears at least a passing resemblance to FX’s “Louie,” the ingenious quasi-comedy starring Louis C.K. as a divorced father and comedian who also endures a series of strange personal encounters in the city, seen from the downhill slope that begins in the mid-40s.

Adhering to a Woody Allen aesthetic, both men write and star in shows that are about a version of themselves and their worldviews. But halfway through “Master of None’s” 10 episodes (which began streaming Friday), I realized that I was bingeing — and straight-up enjoying — a show that could just as easily be called “Millennial Louie.” The differences are as striking as the similarities.

As Dev, a 30-year-old Indian-American actor who works mainly in TV commercials, Ansari (who is 32) seems physically and psychologically incapable of summoning the neurotic sadness of a character who experiences anything like the banal inhumanity that accompanies one of Louie’s rainy days. Ansari just isn’t Gen-X enough for the deeply dyspeptic — and I mean that as a compliment, not only to him, but also to his ilk. They’re just happier.

Sunshine practically bursts out of Dev’s eyes and ears. The weather in his world is always cloudless and bright; Dev is happy-go-lucky even when his character experiences a momentary setback, whether he’s realizing (for a big example) that his role as an infected immunologist in a mediocre disaster movie called “The Sickening” is not the big break he hopes it will be, or discovering (for a small example) that the taco truck he’s spent hours researching online has run out of tortillas just as he’s arrived.

He’s a child of immigrants who brushes all bummers aside, whether he is experiencing racist attitudes at a sitcom casting call or waiting too long for a bartender to finish assembling an artisanal cocktail. Yet, despite his positivity, Dev seems to think his life requires ennui or existential fretting in order to be worthwhile.

Dev and his friends (played by Eric Wareheim, Kelvin Yu and Lena Waithe as Arnold, Brian and Denise, or, categorically, a big white dude, an Asian guy and a black lesbian) are highly skilled at conversational sarcasm and hipster indifference. They were brought up in a world drenched in irony and crankiness, but they’re just too darn fuzzy and warm to sustain a negative outlook. The word we landed on when the subject was Zooey Deschanel (of Fox’s “New Girl”) was “adorkable.” “Master of None” is deeply, unabashedly adorkable.

At the same time, “Master of None” partakes in Dev’s generation’s obsession with identity politics. Our satirists and joke-tellers have become the new pundits — and in “Master of None,” that role can sometimes feel obligatory.

Dev and his friends also have a habit of discovering truisms that aren’t so profound: Immigrant parents deserve respect. Old people used to be young and interesting. Discrimination is real. Marriage is difficult.

Still, the studiously easygoing aspect of “Master of None” (even the opening and closing song choices seem scientifically determined to elicit a smile) comes across as an almost revolutionary concept. We watch so much television in which we expect bad things to happen to self-absorbed characters who are subjected to excruciating awkwardness and heartache (“Girls,” “Shameless” “You’re the Worst,” “Orange Is the New Black” — all billed at one time or another as comedies), that it takes several episodes to recognize that those disastrous, humiliating moments aren’t in store here. Even tense scenes in “Master of None” lack a certain anguish, as when Dev’s brief affair with a married woman (“Homeland’s” Claire Danes) is discovered by the woman’s husband (Noah Emmerich of “The Americans”).

As such, the overall effect of “Master of None” is one of fullness and fun. It doesn’t amount to any meaningful hill of beans, but, as I understand it, that’s no longer the point. This seems like a long way of invoking the Seinfeldian concept that “Master of None” is another show about nothing, minus all traces of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David’s inherent distrust and disdain.

“Master of None”

10 episodes, streaming on Netflix.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.