'Master of None' Presents: Moments In Love Review
It has been four long years since we last visited Aziz Ansari’s Dev Shah and his lovelorn gaze into the abyss that is millennial romance in New York. The newest addition to the Master of None series is not exactly a season three as some would believe, but more an anthology story that focuses on one of the formerly supporting cast's best characters Lena Waithe’s Denise. The around four and a half hour runtime is a nuanced and emotional look into the life of a smaller character in the show after the events of season two’s finale, with a notable absence from the center stage of the titular character of Dev, and while Ansari does make a few short appearances, the plot focuses solely on the relationship between Denise and her new wife Alicia (Naomi Ackles) as they struggle to conceive a child together.
There are jarring and sudden shifts narratively that keep you engaged and as a viewing experience I was surprised after three episodes how badly I wanted to know the ending and where everything fell after five episodes, but what is most evident is the artfulness and passion felt in every aspect of this series. The entire season was co-written by Waithe and Ansari with Ansari directing every episode. The script itself is realistic and filled with slang and small idiosyncratic pieces of dialogue. That being said, there are moments in which I felt like I could not connect or understand Waithe’s character choices and how they are seemingly brushed over, and as one of the leads, it was disappointing how little evidence her motivations were. The runtime was another problem as things would tend to drag especially during the opening and closing moments, not ending on truly nail-biting scenes or reveals, but instead focusing on the aftermath of the episode’s climaxes. This routinely amounted to Denise eating a sandwich in a car listening to the radio for a minute and a half, or a long lonely walk down a snowy road that narratively is dramatic, but perhaps not for length as sitting in these moments can evoke emotion, but only for so long. This is made worse as Waithe’s performance is much more wooden than Ackles as Alicia as she is given the absolute lion’s share of dramatic work to do. Making every scene with her standout performance that is as encouraging and desk pounding as it is tear-jerking.
The harshness of some of those choices is shown in shocking quickness that I was not prepared for. This is one of the advantages of Master of None and shows like HBO’s Girls which is another comedy in the same format as Master of None about finding love in New York. The most jarring fact is that most viewers have difficulty accepting that this is not a comedy. This is a dramatic spectacle of a broken relationship and it isn’t light, or fun, rather it is harsh, and heart-wrenching at times. One of the most powerful moments comes with seemingly the only close up I noticed while watching; as Alicia is told that there is no such insurance code as “queer and desiring pregnancy” and it is devastating.
The artfulness behind Ansari’s directing is distinct. As with influence from Italian Criterion classics from the 1960s, the second season has permanently bled into his directing style and choice of formatting as it is in a traditional 4:3 rather than the now-standard for TV 16:9, the use of black and white and longing still frame focusing on characters doing mundane things, or in very purposeful decorated and set up shots. The cramped house that the majority of the series takes place in feels tight, small, and unnervingly trapped. A small thing I did love was Ansari’s use of the physical environment as a metaphor for the relationship over the course of the show. He also has a habit of showing us little vignettes of happiness or joy within a certain setting and then revisiting that same frame under a different context of our character’s emotions to show us how things have changed.
This series has allowed Waithe and Ansari to flex their creative muscles and love of cinema. And it is wonderful to watch these two collaborate on such a beautiful if not tragic story of love, and loss that feels so incredibly real it was almost uncomfortable to watch. As I felt intrusive hearing the intimate arguments and conversations of these two women. Narratively it was jarring in certain ways and I felt it gave more weight to one of the two subplots while I wanted to see more of both. I thoroughly enjoyed Moments in Love and would recommend it to anyone who wants to see an artful, yet brutally real take on love in this new generation.
