Master of None (TV series)

[Erkki]

The first episode of the second season of Master of None is kind of amazing. It's black and white, takes place in Italy and is a homage to the movie Bicycle Thieves. At the beginning of the episode, we can see a stack of classic Italian movie discs: Bicycle Thieves, La Notte, L'Avventura, La Dolce Vita, Amarcord, and 8½. Thanks to my obsession with watching classics last year, I know all of these to some extent, whereas a couple of years ago that stack wouldn't have meant much to me. I'm now hesitating to look up whether the rest of the season is all modeled after those movies in the stack. Anyway, I'll probably watch the whole season tonight and next week.

[Ben X]

Yeah, first episode was really good!

 

I don't know if Chris will be able to split out more old posts into this topic as previous mentions have tended to be within mega-posts, but here's what I said about season 1:

 

 

tl;dr I really enjoyed it.

[WickedCestus]

I watched the first series all in one day a few months ago, which is very rare for me. The show just felt real and honest to me in a way that stood out. I was not expecting a second season at all, and was very curious what they would do with it, since the first ended on what felt like a silly non-sequitur. But I'm amazed at how they made it fit so well into the tone of the show. I love how the second series gets a lot more conceptual -

Spoiler

(especially the first dates episode, thanksgiving, and the one that follows multiple characters' stories)

The show just feels so committed to showing the lives of people you wouldn't generally see on television, which was evident in the first series but taken to a great level in the second.

RE: the final ep:

Spoiler

I thought the Chef Jeff harassment sub-plot felt rushed and out-of-place. I like the idea, but shoehorning it into the final episode, when the previous episode was Entirely about the principal romance, made me just want it to get over with. I get that they needed something to fill the time when he's not seeing Francesca, but that left the Chef Jeff thing without any time to breathe.

 

Also another spoiler-y thought; I liked the way Rachel was treated in the second series, what with the texting in the earlier episodes, and then the bizarre, rushed encounter near the end; I just thought that was good, because I really liked her in the first series, but was worried that just bringing her back in the same kind of role would get quite stale.

 

I'm interested to hear more thoughts on it.

[twmac]

The I love New York episode shits all over the film of the same name. It was so fun and interesting to watch.

 

This season has been lower on laughs but high on strong themes of identity.

 

I haven't watched the last episode yet, but I found the second to last episode to be beautifully shot but the weakest in terms of story.

[Ben X]

About halfway through now, really enjoying this season, probably more than the first. Really adventurous but still funny - the stuff with

 

the dad dating two women

was straight out of Seinfeld.

 

Also, good to finally see some pro-

 

spoiler culture

media.

[thepaulhoey]

I've only watched the first 4 episodes of the new Season, I'm enjoying it so far. The First Date one was really well done and very accurate about so many things. I loved that there was no scene explaining what the app was or anything like that, the show assumes its audience will have a certain knowledge about these kinds of things.

[Treasure Goblin]

I'm nearly done with season 2, and man, I love this show.  
As someone who has made a recent foray into Tinder life, I felt like the first dates episode was very much on point.  I think I've loved every episode, but the Italy episodes were wonderful, and I found the Thanksgiving episode particularly touching.

I was also talking about it with my friend, and her boyfriend loves it.  As someone who is Sri Lankan in background but grew up in Australia in a culture that is both multicultural but also has this dominant 'whiteness' about it, he really found it to be incredibly relatable.  He said it was the first time he's ever seen 'himself' in a show like that which is really nice, and I think Dev is an extremely likeable character in a pretty real way.  

[HeyWilson]

I've been going through a hard time in my marriage this past month and I will say that this show really gets my gears turning. It has proven to be the most mature show I've seen in a very long time. It isn't afraid to talk about real issues and feelings real people deal with. The show makes me think about how hard it is to be a human being with emotions. That there is almost never a straight answer when dealing with relationships because we are complicated animals.. I really like this show.

[Treasure Goblin]

On 5/15/2017 at 2:23 PM, WickedCestus said:

 

RE: the final ep:

  Hide contents

I thought the Chef Jeff harassment sub-plot felt rushed and out-of-place. I like the idea, but shoehorning it into the final episode, when the previous episode was Entirely about the principal romance, made me just want it to get over with. I get that they needed something to fill the time when he's not seeing Francesca, but that left the Chef Jeff thing without any time to breathe.

 

Also another spoiler-y thought; I liked the way Rachel was treated in the second series, what with the texting in the earlier episodes, and then the bizarre, rushed encounter near the end; I just thought that was good, because I really liked her in the first series, but was worried that just bringing her back in the same kind of role would get quite stale.

 

I'm interested to hear more thoughts on it.

 

Ok so I just finished it and I definitely agree.  

 

Spoiler

I think the idea of Dev finding himself working with someone who has sexually harassed women is really important, but the show didn't really treat it as such?  I was kind of expecting for that to go further than what it did.  It would be a really good subplot to explore more in depth I think because I think it's interesting to examine the scenario of 'what if someone i know and like is accused of these things?'.  Especially with a male friendship, because I feel like men are encouraged to give the benefit of the doubt to other men with this kind of behaviour, and question the legitimacy of those claims (yes yes notallmen, i'm talking about my own experiences).  As a one-episode explanation for having Dev freed up to do other work it seemed a bit cheap and not really what that subject matter deserves.  I'm hoping that it will be a plotline that extends into the next season and not just a weird plotpoint so Dev no longer is involved in that show and can be doing something else.