Master Of None - General Discussion

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I LOVED all the different race stuff that was addressed in this episode. One of the things that I have noticed is that on the rare occasion that Asian men are allowed to be main characters, they are rarely allowed to be romantic leads and if they are given girlfriends/relationships it's almost always with an Asian woman. The two recent exceptions to this rule were Selfie and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. It's far more common for the Asian man to be a tertiary character (for example, a lab tech who is seen once every few episodes and might get a few expository lines). Last week's episode of Fresh Off the Boat addressed the Asian man being used as comic relief (Long Duk Dong).

 

So for all these reasons and more, I loved that this episode dealt with whether to accept roles with accents, being racially stereotyped, not being considered for non-ethnic roles, etc.

 

Ha, I love Anoush excusing himself to do burpies while the other two talked. I also liked that in the midst of this big talk, Dev let Ravi raid his fridge and then admonished him for not knowing the difference between the two pastas.

 

And of course I loved seeing Busta Rhymes (who just pled guilty on a harassment charge on the day that Master of None premiered).

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Damn, Denise!

 

I love that Dev's resolve not to sleep with a married woman was undone by ice cream.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

An overnight trip seems like a lot for a first date, but I liked that it was just a fun day together. At one point, I asked Mr. EB what the etiquette is for taking a nap together on the first date. His response was to remind me that they had sex the night that they met so it probably wasn't the most awkward first date nap in history. What I really liked about their date is that they seemed like they were really trying to get to know each other but in a fun way (as opposed to a lot of the obnoxious things people say or do on first dates to try to impress the other person).

[ElectricBoogaloo]

LOVED the contrast between the guys walking home from a bar versus a woman walking home at night. That is exactly the kind of privilege that a lot of men don't realize they have. Even when I don't have a creepy drunk guy following me home, I am still always cautious/paranoid when I'm in the parking garage at work or just walking around after dark (which unfortunately is around 5:30 at this time of year). And even when I'm not pre-fearful, the ridiculous sexism like the frittata comments are so annoying, which is why I love that they did a whole episode about this.

 

If there's a S2, I hope that they explore feminism in another episode. Aziz has addressed it in some of his stand up. One of the things I love that he said was about the use of the word feminism (which, for some reason, is treated like a bad word these days). He gave Arnold a version of it in this episode when he said that feminism just means wanting equality, which is the same definition that I was taught when I was in high school. Whenever people declare, "I'm not a feminist!" I just scratch my head and wonder why they would say such a thing. I always want to ask them, "So you don't think women should be entitled to have the same opportunities as men? Why would you admit that out loud?"

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I love that the show didn't go the cliche route and have Rachel get into a huge fight with Dev over busting Grandma Carol out of the retirement home. Rachel was understandably upset, but it wasn't a typical sitcom argument about "You never should have let her escape!"

 

I liked that this episode was a continuation of the episode about Dev and Brian's parents. These are people who love you and have had fascinating lives that you know nothing about. Take five minutes to ask them questions!

 

For some reason, the robot seal cracked me up with its noises. It's like the stuffed animal version of a Tamagotchi!

[Josiah Bounderby]

I found this show flat and earnest and interesting. I'm with Tara Ariano: I didn't find it funny.

There's a lot of issue-fueled comedic tv out there that centers around LA or NYC creatives trying to find their way: Married, Bojack Horseman, Difficult People, Broad City, and probably 5 other shows. All of them feature performances that are lively and specific; the issues that are cleverly woven into narratives; the humor can crackle or surprise. Master of None has none of these qualities.

I'll grant the show this: it has its heart in the right place and I personally approve of the politics of the show. But oh so flat.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I liked that we got to see the natural progression of their relationship from the excitement of moving in to neither one finishing when they have sex. But for the record, Mr. EB and I have been together for way longer than Dev/Rachel and we have never told the other, "Eh, I'm kind of tired so why don't you just finish?" Despite this, I do appreciate that they are showing a relationship after the initial honeymoon stage of schmoopiness and constant sex.

 

I remember in one of my psych classes, we were told that most relationships end within the first 36 months aka after all the hormones wear off and shit gets real. After that, I started looking at the relationships of everyone I knew and realized that yes, most people broke up after less than three years together. It's easy to be together when, duh, it's easy.

 

But after the fun part where you get to know each other and tell each other your stories and you make out all at every opportunity, then what? What happens when your relationship is no longer shiny and new and all of those cute quirks turn into annoying habits? Do you just say "screw it" and run away? But on the flip side, do you stay with someone just because you've already been together for a while? For me, the answer depends on how much you really like each other as people. Like can you hang out with this person (meaning not just have sex all the time) and not get annoyed with each other? Because if you can't do that, then no, you shouldn't get married and have kids. If you don't like each other, then what's the point in staying together? If you don't like each other, what is your motivation to work through any problems that will arise? Not to be morbid, but life is full of terrible things so if you can't get through the easier stuff in your 20s and 30s, how are you going to get through the really hard stuff with this person later in life?

 

What I really like is that Dev and Rachel seem to really like each other and enjoy each other's company. Sure, they have disagreements and misunderstandings but they talk to each other to try to understand each other's point of view instead of just yelling at the other person or trying to win the argument. That bodes well for their relationship.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Poor Dev, getting completely edited out of his first movie! Something similar happened to Adrien Brody in The Thin Red Line. In the script, he was the main character. It was his first really high profile project and he was so excited to be working with all of these great actors. He invited his family to the premiere and then while watching it, he learned that he had been almost entirely cut from the movie. At least he's still visible, unlike Dev!

But now the meat of the episode, Dev and Rachel's relationship. I really love how realistic this conflict was. Someone once told me that people usually marry the person they're already with whenever they decide they're ready to get married. I think that in combination with Rachel's imaginary vows about how she'd already invested two years into their relationship means that it's often true. I think it's okay for Dev to wonder if she is the right one for him and if this is supposed to be the relationship he's in for the rest of his life. To be honest, I wish more people would think about this before getting engaged/married. It's okay to be practical and logical when you are considering a lifelong commitment to another person.

As horrible an idea it was for him to suggest that they write down the percentage they thought was likely their relationship would survive, I had to laugh when he insisted that her 70% was so much lower than his 80%. That is some Asian math right there - if it's not an A+ then it's an F!

Even though I think it's totally normal to wonder if you have found the right person, I disagree with the friend who said that no one is 100% sure. I had no doubts that Mr. EB and I were at 100% long before we got married. I was also in no rush to get married because I was so sure that we had already made that commitment in our hearts that I wasn't worried about the piece of paper (no, I don't think you should get married to lock it down because you think the other person might find someone better - I saw several engagements like that and I thought dude, you can't get married out of fear that you will lose this person!).

I like Dev and Rachel's relationship, but I can't say I blame her for going to Tokyo. If there is something you have always wanted to do, go do it. Too many people put off their dreams beacuse they think they will do it later and then shit happens. It's not even necessarily bad things that happen but life just gets in the way. If you want to live abroad and you have the means to do it, then why not? If you don't do it before you have kids, then you will probably have to wait a good 20 years before you have the opportunity again (unless you want to bring your kids along, which is definitely an option but will also be a different experience than the original intention). I'm glad that instead of moping, Dev took the opportunity to do the same thing. Ha, I loved when he told the lady on the plane that his reason for going to Italy is that he loves eating pasta and making pasta. That's a good enough reason in my book!

Edited November 8, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Lots of funny lines in this show, so feel free to share your favorites here!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Lila: Black lady! Chinese man!

Dev: Hey, hey, don't yell out people's ethnicities.

[Potanical Pardon]

What a fantastic show. While the dialogue and the casting were more than enough to keep me engaged, it's a really rare thing to experience a "see yourself" whoa moment, at least for me. I've been pretty well-conditioned to not expect that kind of thing at all, and view/read everything through a completely objective lens even if a scene here or there in whatever show/film actually is relatable. But this is something different - seeing yourself goes way beyond relatable. It's totally weird and shocking while amazing mainly because this sort of thing you just get used to compartmentalizing and keeping to yourself out of a sense of "no one's going to get this" or "this is just a me thing; I'll just be quiet and safe". I don't know if that makes any sense.

 

My girlfriend and I just binged this and each episode was like a greatest hits track of life in your late twenties/early thirties. I really love how the overall theme is basically: "Real life happens, get over yourself. Oh and meanwhile it's both hilarious and enlightening anyways." 

 

I want more of the old people/parents stuff. It's refreshing and a great commentary on society's disposability of them. Younger me was so dismissive of my immigrant parents well, everything. It was a hoot seeing the hardship back stories contrasted with Brian and Dev's spoiled assiness. My father went from a two-room apartment where he shared floormats as beds with his older 7 siblings, his only toy being a yo-yo he made out of bottle caps, deworming his own dog, having the boys and girls separated during WWII seeing literal death on the streets to becoming a Fulbright Fellow, busboying on a freighter to get over here and being immediately robbed of his $50 his family scrounged up for him to teach in Evanston by day and sleep at a YMCA an hour away walking by night, being told that he and my mother couldn't have children to me with my bajillion LEGOs, M.A.S.K., Transformers and Garbage Pail Kid cards, consciously dumbing myself down in school to not be 'that Asian' to be accepted blaming him and whining about other kids with their Jordans and Z-Cavaricci making fun. Fast-forward to now, and it's a complete role-reversal with my folks and my girlfriend and I. They're a handful and arguably more difficult than children...mainly because they have bank accounts and can reason and convincingly endear themselves to whomever to get what they want, how and when they want even when it's against the best of judgments. There's so much gold in old people scenarios for both humor and real. My mom reads an article on the web or finds a picture she likes and wants to share it on her FB? Naturally, she will print out the ENTIRE page in all of it's inks, comment sections and final page with one line, cut the parts out of it that she likes with scissors, tape it all up together, put it into the combo printer-scanner's scanning bed and import it directly into whatever social media. Oh and there's the 10000 "Untitled Folder" and "Untitled File" that may or may not be actual things littered everywhere. While waiting for me to rename/save/delete, she'll randomly tell me a story about how as a child, she once conspired with a cousin to harm a frail old lady in their home town village who they were convinced was an evil witch who walked around town barefoot by spreading tack/thorn like fruit all around her house.

 

So Season 2...moar old people, please! Also, Rachel is totally going to come back to NYC in a brand new relationship, but I have faith in the show to continue to subvert the usual sitcom tropes.

[chocolatine]

A lot of Asian born immigrants were taught not to complain or to feel sorry for themselves so they don't use their trials and tribulations as guilt trips for their kids (even though maybe they should).

 

Yeah, they totally should take a page out of the Eastern European Jewish parents' handbook. ;)

[weightyghost]

I could not get passed the fact that the fellow actor was played by the guy who voices Bob from Bob's Burgers. So hilariously distracting

[chocolatine]

Dev asking a woman at the restaurant to check on Grandma Carol in the bathroom and clarifying that it's a white grandma and not an Indian one had me rolling. I also love the actress who played Grandma Carol; she played Magda on Sex And The City.

[TVSpectator]

Well, I was able to watch this yesterday and all I have to say is that I liked Dev and Rachel as a couple, but I can understand that Rachel would want to do something crazy and also something that she always wanted to do. Although, I am hoping that they get back together. 

 

As for the rest of the episode, I thought that Dev totally sabotage the relationship because of what he was trying to picture in his mind during someone else's wedding. 

[TVSpectator]

This has to be my favorite episode of this series. I loved how Arnold and his grandfather talked to each other and I also loved that little robotic seal that was willed to him. Plus, Grandma Carol was awesome. 

 

For some reason, the robot seal cracked me up with its noises. It's like the stuffed animal version of a Tamagotchi!

 

That stuffed seal also reminded me of a Simpsons episode and they also ended up given those things to the old folks!

Edited November 8, 2015 by TVSpectator

[ElectricBoogaloo]

in case you need to text someone (courtesy of Aziz on twitter)

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Aziz is doing a Q&A about the show at 7pm EST tonight on twitter!

[Sesquipedalia]

I also thought the focus on the elders was a highlight of the show. I would love to see Dev visit Rachel's grandma and bring her pasta once he gets back from Italy. I'm guessing that Season 2, assuming it happens, will have him back in NY trying his hand as a chef. Given the name of the series and the fact that Dev is a struggling actor, I was expecting him to have lots of odd jobs, but maybe the title will come into play more in subsequent seasons as he tries out several different professions and possibly different love interests in his journey to find himself. 

[TVSpectator]

My wishlist for season 2 is this...

 

1. Let's do episodes on other character's perspectives while keeping Dev in the story. Like they can do a story on Brian or Anrold while Dev is a supporting character, etc...

 

2. Dev and Rachel get back together with no complications. 

[chocolatine]

I would like to see scenes of Dev in Italy and of Rachel in Japan, either in the first episode before they both (hopefully) move back to New York, or in flashbacks throughout the season. I also think it would be great if Dev stumbled into a great acting job when he's not looking for one, e.g. running into George Clooney at Lake Como and George offering Dev a small but significant part in the next movie he's directing, and of course George doesn't cut all of Dev's scenes.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I, too, thought that the pasta making would lead to him becoming a chef but I'm okay with him just going to Italy for the hell of it. If he comes back and continues acting, that's fine with me. I think it's more important that he did something to break out of his routine and explore something that he likes. Despite all of that "follow your bliss" stuff, you don't have to turn your passion into your profession. I had one that was definitely earning me money but I decided not to turn it into a full time job because I wanted to make sure that I kept enjoying it as a hobby instead of turning it into something I HAD to do in order to pay my rent. If Dev comes back from Italy and uses his new pasta making skills to make dinner for his friends, that would be fine with me. I would actually prefer that to watching him try to find investors so he can open a restaurant and be the executive chef. I wouldn't mind him trying to find some sort of lower level position at someone else's restaurant though.

[Irlandesa]

I loved this show.  The only thing I didn't like about it is that binging it makes it difficult to discuss since part of discussion for me is speculating what things mean in the context of the whole.  Well, since we see all the episodes, it's pretty obvious where each episode is in the whole.

 

I loved how well this show rolled out its point of view and how much I related to some of the references  I'm not an immigrant, or in the dating scene but references to "The Golden Age of Tennis" and "Home Improvement" hit me where I live. 

[alrightokay]

This is the episode with the "firm wedge," right?  That part was hilarious.  A great, well-acted episode, all around.

[alrightokay]

I loved this episode, especially the unexpected ending.  The only thing that didn't ring true was how awed Dev was by the vows said by the marrying couple.  I thought they were kind of cheesy, and I would have expected Dev to roll his eyes at them.  (I was hoping that the vows would turn out like that speech given by Grant in "Plan B" about how wonderful it was to be a dad: pretty words that hid a darker truth.  But here, they were taken at face value, I guess to kickstart Dev's insecurities about his relationship with Rachel.)

[Sesquipedalia]

 Based on the fact that a lot of other people were giving the couple huge eye rolls, along with the speech from the commercial actor guy at the end of the episode, I got the sense we were supposed to see Dev's response to the wedding vows as somewhat deluded and overly idealistic.

[possibilities]

It was pretty bold for him to try a weekend together after his first date with the woman in episode 3 was such a dud.

[possibilities]

I was super-annoyed with him, though, when he was doubting what the women were saying about the handshake/introduction, and I really couldn't understand how he could be so dense. I realize a lot of people ARE that dense, and don't want to admit or even consider that someone they find perfectly pleasant could be a total asshole to someone else, but it irks.

[possibilities]

I was annoyed that Rachel was so negative on the "firm wedge" and basically acted insulted that he suggested it. Fine, if she doesn't want to use it, but she was very dismissive of his feelings and his desire to improve things. You have to be open if things are going to last. You can't act offended whenever your partner wants to talk about how things are going, and you have to be open to admitting there are imperfections in your interactions and not get irate if anyone points them out in the spirit of trying to work on the relationship. In my view, the people who stay together are the ones who work on things, and don't sweep things under the rug or run from conflict.

Edited November 9, 2015 by possibilities

[possibilities]

I think he would have reacted to the vows the same way other people did, if he wasn't so frustrated in his relationship already. Rachel was always averse to talking about or working on their issues, she was feeling like Dev holds her back in terms of career options, and he was feeling like she was resistant to his attempts to fan the flames between them and bring some excitement back into their sex life. They were never shown to actually deal with their issues, it was all just a fight and then one of them gives in, there wasn't any problem-solving collaboratively, or actual feeling that they were a team. Even her attempt to be supportive at the premiere was not the kind of support he wanted, and instead of asking him what he would have rather she had done, she just got defensive and said she had come from a good place. Likewise, when she would try to talk about her ambitions with her job, he would belittle it, instead of trying to think of a way to support her-- I kept wondering why he couldn't go to Chicago sometimes, or maybe even to Tokyo. They saw each other's dreams as threats, not inspirations. That's a bad sign, and at some level he just knew it.

 

Anyway, that's my interpretation of why he reacted as he did to the schmoopy wedding.

 

With the kids episode, he was not mired in a situation that felt frustrating, he had a "near miss" kind of experience that caused him to reflect and gave him the freedom to reflect. But in his relationship with Rachel, he couldn't talk to her about his thoughts because, as he predicted, she got angry and then bailed. There was much more at stake there, than when he could babysit someone else's kids or talk about someone else's feelings about parenting. Here he had something to lose, where in the kid episode, it was all a wide-open situation to look at without risk.

 

This problem of not knowing what you want or how to get it, knowing what you have isn't really satisfying but not knowing what would be-- I hear this a lot, and I kind of get it, but at the same time, I also think part of it is that the more you invest in one choice or another, the more you can get out of it and potentially discover if it works. If you always hang back, never fully engaging, nothing-- nothing-- will ever feel "alive" enough, because you're not fully there. It's scary, and that is how you get broken hearts and epic failures. But it's never going to be possible to feel fully satisfied by anything you only participate in half-way.

[possibilities]

I enjoyed and respected the whole season, but I became personally decreasingly interested in it as it became more and more focused on Dev's relationship with Rachel. I have seen enough stories about how dreary a long term relationship can be for some people, and I find watching people get bored and have unproductive flare ups of chronic problems is as boring to me as actually having them myself. And I have a low tolerance for boredom.

 

I was much more interested when each episode had a different topic and the other characters were more involved and had something to say about it from their own perspective. The parts of the Dev-Rachel relationship episodes that I liked the most were when there were scenes of them doing other things, and when actually married people talked about how marriage works-- not watching Dev and Rachel demonstrate how it fails.

 

I also found the show less and less funny as it went along. I would still recommend it as a drama, I'm just not as enthusiastic as I was after watching the first few episodes.

Edited November 9, 2015 by possibilities

[ToxicUnicorn]

There's so much gold in old people scenarios for both humor and real. My mom reads an article on the web or finds a picture she likes and wants to share it on her FB? Naturally, she will print out the ENTIRE page in all of it's inks, comment sections and final page with one line, cut the parts out of it that she likes with scissors, tape it all up together, put it into the combo printer-scanner's scanning bed and import it directly into whatever social media.

 

Lol.  That's comedy gold.

 

I agree, more old people, please.  I am rationing S1 episodes, but I can already think I'd like to see: parents' reaction to pets, celebrities, professional football, and savings/spending habits.

 

It is unusual not only to see yourself in this show and laugh, but also to want to question my own attitudes a little bit.  I've mostly come from such a place of, "they don't understand" that I largely forget to remind myself that they might think "she doesn't understand".  At least, not when they haven't been telling me to.

 

Flipping between the children's and the parents' perspectives in this personal way (would a writer call it - first person perspective?) is definitely new to me.

[Febgirl]

I'm 8 episodes in,  and live in NYC, so  along with watching ( and really liking) the show, I am now keeping a running list of all the places where Dev and his crew eat, because they all look amazing.( yes I checked to see that they were real spots on yelp)   I really want to know if Tickler's in Nashville is a real spot, because I would love to try some of their world famous  White bbq sauce. 

[xander874]

Anoush is super hot. And I felt bad for him and Ravi when their childhood was shattered about Short Circuit.

[possibilities]

Link to Fresh Air interview:

http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/2015/11/07/454984723/fresh-air-for-november-7-2015?showDate=2015-11-07

 

I like Fresh Air because it allows a long interview and Terry Gross (the regular host) is always prepared, not just asking generic questions (she's really familiar with her interviewee's work):

[ChristinaRoo]

'No need to bring up my ethnicity, OR my size'. That whole scene had me rolling.

[Ronin Jackson]

This is definitely a show I'm rooting for wanted to love, since it centers on an Indian American and was getting so much praise. In the end I definitely enjoyed it... I might actually agree with Aziz that the show is over-hyped... but might as well over-hype a show like this than the countless other things the media over-hypes. There have been comparisons to "Louie"... that show is unique in that one person has complete creative control and he uses that to take a lot of narrative risks, which I appreciate. This show for the most part plays it safe. It touched on its various topics.... ethnicity, romance, modern etiquette in the digital age, the angst of the responsibilities of adulthood bearing down on you in your late twenties and early thirties... from a fairly broad perspective... like they wanted to tap into as many common issues that people of that generation deal with... where as "Louie" has more of an idiosyncratic perspective. I personally prefer the latter but I think they did a good job with what they are trying to do.

[Boundary]

I think he would have reacted to the vows the same way other people did, if he wasn't so frustrated in his relationship already. 

 

Excellent point. After the premier she encouraged him to open up but his issues didn't start with being written off the movie, they started at that wedding. Personally I found it profound, you are in your 30s and suddenly you can't just date someone, there's always a pathway laid out: marriage, kids, blah blah. And that can sometimes feel very unfair. Dev was happy but it seemed life itself was making his choices for him. He wanted to continue dating Rachel without feeling like he's locked in, yet simultaneously if you forced him to choose a life partner right now he would happily choose her. It's just that he felt like his choice was being limited, which anyone would resent. The movie thing simply increased the emotional stakes, on reflection 70% and 80% are really decent odds especially considering that they weren't getting married right now.

 

In the end those odds are still in their favour. It's very hard to find someone that compatible to you and both Rachel and Dev will easily find each other again once their sojourns are over. Essentially they both failed to articulate that they needed to slow things down, that conversation generally gets interpreted to mean 'let's stop altogether', which is a great shame. Now Dev and Rachel will have to take the risk that the other will find someone else. 

[Boundary]

Very risky, but he really lucked out and Rachel turned out be be actually a decent match. It shouldn't be a normal MO to do that on a first date.

[TVSpectator]

 Based on the fact that a lot of other people were giving the couple huge eye rolls, along with the speech from the commercial actor guy at the end of the episode, I got the sense we were supposed to see Dev's response to the wedding vows as somewhat deluded and overly idealistic.

 

I think you are right that Dev was being deluded and thinking that he will never meet someone that is 100%. Although, yeah, Dev's and Rachel's relationship does have issues (like the fact that he never told his parents about her, till a year later. IMO, it is understandable why Rachel would be so upset because it came across to her that he doesn't see the relationship in the same way as she does. Although, Dev does have a point, his parents came from a different time and cultural and he was a bit right to be afraid to tell his parents, but the fact that he never even mentioned Rachel, as a girlfriend, upset her in a way that felt like he didn't see their relationship in a serious way, etc...). Although, John H. Benjamin's character is right to say that there are going to be times where you feel your relationship is only at a 20%, or a 100%. IMO, that is just life, but Dev was wanting some kind of fantasy and that is why he chased Rachel away. 

 

Although, if they do get back together I would welcome it since I thought that they were the best pair on the show (minus, of course, Brian and his dad's father and son relationship. That relationship would  be awesome to watch more of). 

Edited November 10, 2015 by TVSpectator

[chocolatine]

I was actually 70% on Dev and Rachel as a couple as well. I thought they were cute together in a hipster kind of way, and they both seem like decent people, I just didn't get a deep love or connection from them. They still didn't really seem to "get" each other after a year of living together, and weren't able to communicate about important issues without one of them getting upset. They could have worked things out eventually if both had decided to make the relationship a priority, but since Rachel felt such a strong pull about Japan, I think breaking up was the right thing to do. They'll definitely learn a lot about themselves while living abroad, so if they decide to give the relationship another go, it would be more fulfilling for them.

[Irlandesa]

I agree it felt right.  I was ready for the breakup.  I think it's because the ninth episode was basically a year of their relationship so I felt like I got my fill on it. 

 

I did like them but I'm not at a point where I need to know what happens next in their relationship. 

[Irlandesa]

One thing I did like is that there were a few moments that felt a bit awkward.  I think that's natural considering how little they knew one another.

[Irlandesa]

I was super-annoyed with him, though, when he was doubting what the women were saying about the handshake/introduction, and I really couldn't understand how he could be so dense. I realize a lot of people ARE that dense, and don't want to admit or even consider that someone they find perfectly pleasant could be a total asshole to someone else, but it irks.

I think it's really easy how he could be so "dense."  Microagressions exist because most of us have blindspots.

 

For instance, from Dev's point of view, this is a director who was open to the suggestion of putting women at the forefront of the commercial doing things typically associated with men.  Dev's probably thinking he wouldn't have done that if he had a problem with women.  There has to be some other explanation.  It wasn't an all-out asshole move either. It was subtle.  It was slight.  And in theory, it could have been because they were in the corner.  It probably wasn't but it could have been.

 

I know I've been in situations where I've seen sexism where others haven't.  And I've seen innocuous motives behind a slight where others saw subtle sexism. 

That he was dense, even though he has experienced these slights based on his race too, worked for me because it is so very real.

[Ororo Monroe]

I accidentally binged all ten episodes last night after the disaster that was the second half of The Affair. I love this show so hard. I was a bit saddened that Dev and Rachel broke up but also not really surprised. They were a very cute couple but does that really mean they should be together for the rest of their lives? Hard to say.

 

Also loved: Dev's dad telling him to read the Bell Jar, everyone rolling their eyes at those cheesy ass vows (myself included), and Dev flying to Italy. I initially thought he was flying to Japan to win back Rachel but he did something he always wanted to do as well. That was a good fake-out. 

 

Already yearning for season 2! 

[Ororo Monroe]

I'm surprised at how much I like this show. It's very to easy to binge watch and I love that POC characters are front and center and not just tokens there to check off a diversity list. BTW, I would totally watch the Black virus movie, aka The Sickening.

[Ororo Monroe]

Each time one of the dads would ask his son to help with some small thing and the son would say no, the closeups on the dads' faces as they went to their respective "it was hard" flashbacks had me laughing so hard I actually cried! It was so great. I also loved that "fun" is a recent concept.

 

Yes! I think this may be my favorite episode out of the season. Also, Brian is hot and I want to see more of him in season 2 (if there is a season 2, which I hope, hope, hope will happen). I also loved that moment when Brian's dad apologized to the server about Dev's dad ordering chicken and broccoli. Hilarious and affecting episode all around.

[Irlandesa]

I really want to know if Tickler's in Nashville is a real spot, because I would love to try some of their world famous  White bbq sauce. 

Azis did a Q&A on Twitter yesrerday and said it was based off of a white bbq sauce from martin's. 

 

https://twitter.com/azizansari/status/663514409902473216

Edited November 10, 2015 by Irlandesa

[Febgirl]

Azis did a Q&A on Twitter yesrerday and said it was based off of a white bbq sauce from martin's. 

 

https://twitter.com/azizansari/status/663514409902473216

....And now I can add another place to hit on a future trip to Nashville!

[Ms Blue Jay]

This will definitely have to go down as my favourite show of 2015.  Not really sure how anything else could come close, whether new or old!   I don't know what else to say, it is nearly perfect in every way and I am beyond impressed.