Top 10 Best Master Of None Moments

Any modern foodie can relate to going down the internet rabbit hole trying to find the very best of a certain cuisine. With so many review sites and restaurant blogs out there, it can take hours to pin down what the creme de la creme is. Here, we get to see Dev scrambling to source the absolute best taco in New York. The fact that after all his research the place he chooses is out of tacos is just the icing on the cake - or the cilantro on the taco if you will.

In the show’s pilot, Dev interacts with several of his friends’ children, causing him to contemplate the reality of whether he’s ready to have kids of his own or not. When one of his friends asks him to babysit, chaos ensues. While Dev and his charges are in the grocery store, he gets distracted, which is when his friend’s son runs off, busying himself in a way that gets the store management involved. If Dev was unsure about kids before this little episode, his decision seems cemented when he picks the Parm sandwich over the one the kids have made him.

The show opens with our main character Dev having a sexual encounter with a girl he doesn’t know all that well. Things take a downward turn when the condom breaks, and the following scene perfectly exemplifies the modern dating experience. Both couples pull out their phones in bed to research the problem and Dev has to navigate the politics of ordering an Uber X vs an Uber Black. Clearly chivalry isn’t dead though, because Dev offers to pay for the pills himself and even buys Rachel some apple juice to go with it.

One of the things that Master of None does so well is tackling issues like race and gender head-on. When Dev is asked to audition for a “black virus movie”, he ends up having to give his performance over Skype but because his apartment wifi is acting up, he has to find a place fast. He ends up in a busy cafe attempting to give the best possible performance under less than ideal circumstances. This moment is an early taste of something the season dives deeper into later on, which is the lack of minority roles in TV and movies.

After attending a wedding together, Dev and Rachel find themselves going through a rocky period, when Dev suggests that they each write down how sure about their relationship. In percentage form, which is probably one of the worst relationship ideas of all time. There’s pretty much no way this was going to end well, as all of Dev’s friends attest to after the fact. Unsurprisingly, someone’s feelings inevitably get hurt and this is the beginning of the end for the show’s leading couple.

After the percentage fight earlier in the same episode, Rachel tells Dev she’s decided to move to Tokyo. After much contemplation and discussion with his friends about what path he should be taking in life, we see Dev booking flights on his computer and of course the assumption is that he’s decided to follow Rachel to Japan. While much of the show acts like a romantic comedy, this scene subverts expectations by having Dev do something for himself rather than chase the girl. And how can you not want to see what Dev gets up to on his pasta making trip?

While the story arc of the first season of Master of None follows a relatively standard narrative, one thing the show does differently is taking a whole episode to explore a particular issue. In this episode, we get to meet Dev’s parents - who are played by his real life mom and dad - and with the use of flashbacks get some insight into the issues they faced with while growing up vs what modern American young people like Dev have to deal with. The juxtaposition is both poignant and hilarious, showing that kids these days really don’t know how lucky they are.

Similarly to the “Parents” episode, this one has a theme as well. The entire episode focuses on the stark contrasts between how women experience the world and how men do. The intro scene is especially funny, but it also really makes you think. Depicting a woman walking home alone late at night and the obstacle course of problems she faces, it then flashes to Dev and his buddy walking home and shows how comparatively simple their lives are. The episode goes on to tackle the issue from different angles, but this first scene pretty much sums it all up.

Before settling down with Rachel, Dev dates around for a while at the beginning of the season. One of his more memorable encounters is with a beautiful waitress that he puts a ton of effort into wooing. Once they’re actually out together though, Dev realises that they might not exactly be the best match. Her initial antics seem a bit zany, but things really come to a head when Dev discovers that she’s stolen a stranger’s jacket and ends up getting kicked out of the venue. Seems like looks really aren’t everything!



Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.



Turtle in a Briefcase

“Hot Ticket”



Arnold & Rachel Buy a Couch

“Ladies and Gentlemen”



The Hotel / Nap Scene in Nashville

“Nashville”

In the episode “Ladies and Gentlemen” - where the show looks at the different issues men and women face - Dev and Denise spot a man masturbating on the subway and decide to do something about it. They contemplate Internet shaming him by taking a video and posting it online, but in the end they decide to take more direct action. After bringing him to the cops, the show takes it a step further though and lets the man explain himself, making both Dev and the viewer contemplate the immorality of the act.