RIFLE RANGE BOY: Master Of None

Master of None (Season 3, Ep 1 - 5; 2021)
Netflix

After riding high with the first two seasons of 'Master of None', Aziz Ansari got entangled with a nasty sexual assault claim that took much of the bejesus out of him. Maybe because of that, this season is not much about Aziz Ansari and his co-creator Alan Yang. If the earlier seasons were light comedies looking at the lives of first-generation immigrants and their interaction with their parents, this one is anything but funny.

Aziz only appears as a co-star in two instances. Viewing the first episode itself, I had a certain deja vu feeling that I had seen all that before. Then it clicked. It reminded me so much of Ingmar Bergman painfully slow 1973 miniseries, 'Scenes from a Marriage'.

This season centres around Denise (Lena Waithe), one of Dev's (Ansari) close friends. We know previously that she is a lesbian. She is now a thriving author living in the quiet countryside with her partner, Alicia. They seem to be a picture of bliss. The relationship slowly crumbles as Alicia becomes one-tracked mind to conceive through a donor. She becomes pregnant but unfortunately has a miscarriage. You can see the cracks as they appear in their seemingly rock-steady union. They divorce. A couple of years later, they meet up and reminisce about the life they had and of life on the whole.

This is a heavy drama that may be a disappointment to those who expected short, light-hearted jokes and life from the perspective of an immigrant to a first-world nation. Here, difficult questions are asked again, but more about relationships and the journey of life itself. It may strike as philosophical as it asks about our impulsive decisions and how much we are ever not satisfied with whichever path the path takes us. Perhaps, we really do not know what we want. When society predetermined how life should be lived, what mores were acceptable and stated our individuals, it was easier. As our targets were set, we just had to proceed without much thought while enjoying the scenery along the journey. But, ever since individualism crept in, we were let to our devices, trying to keep with the fickled trend, carrying more than we can chew on our plates whilst meeting all the challenges alone. Loneliness makes the trip seem longer and more arduous.