Anatomy Of An Episode: Master Of None’s ‘Ladies And Gentlemen’

***Contains spoilers for episode seven of the recently released Netflix exclusive, Master of None*** “I think she really liked me. But she did go home with that guy she was making out with. Girls are so annoying.” These are the words spoken by Arnold (played by Eric Warenheim) to Dev (Aziz Ansari as the show’s protagonist) as they leave the bar together. Through the first six episodes of the series, it is established with a pretty solid foundation, that Arnold is basically a lovable idiot. He’s ‘that guy’ in a comedic show that says extremely flawed and often hilarious shit to act more as the unintelligent counter-argument in a discussion or as fodder for the other more reasonable characters to react to. In essence, it’s a humorous and throwaway line only because we know that Arnold is dumb and harmless. But it is suggestive of what will follow in rest of the episode, essentially, the view that men often have towards women and the world they inhabit that must incorporate them, the man. Again, they are beginning their trek home as two guys in the New York night having experienced, for them, a “bad night.” Before this, we were introduced to Diana (played by Condola Rashad) who is sitting at the bar minding her own business when she is approached by a stranger (Brian Berrebbi). “Hi my name is Derek and I just bought us both shots of tequila.” “Oh, I don’t really want a shot.” “So, I just paid for these and now I have to throw them out?”

The rub here is obvious, creepy and aggre…