Co-created by Ansari and Parks & Recreation writer Alan Yang (with help from the late Harris Wittels, who wrote for the series and receives an executive producer credit), each episode of Master of None focuses on a specific topic (examples include fidelity, the portrayal of Indians on television, and subtle sexism) while maintaining a narrative throughline tracking Dev (Ansari), a commercial actor with moderate ambitions about making it big.

Like Louie, the show doesn't shy away from experimenting with structure (stylistic nods to '70s-era Woody Allen abound), but Master of None only does so in service of driving home a point. One standout moment in particular is in the excellent episode "Parents": when Dev refuses to fix his dad's iPad so that he can get to the movies early, the episode cuts away mid-conversation to show the full story of the father's struggles to emigrate from India to America. The juxtaposition is hilarious in execution, but it also serves to explain the full weight of the situation. Importantly, the scene doesn't come across as judgmental. Master Of None often shies away from explicitly taking sides, opting instead to present and explore situations with more nuance.

"Nuanced" is also perhaps the best way to describe Dev, who is a stark departure from Ansari's hyperactive hustler Tom Haverford in Parks & Recreation. Dev is the epitome of passivity and indecisiveness. He didn't choose to devote his life to acting; rather, he was found one day while walking through the city, and the money from doing commercials (particularly a Go-Gurt ad from years back) has afforded him the luxury of prolonged adolescence. It's easy to see many elements of Haverford or even Ansari himself in Dev, but Ansari shows impressive range and subtlety in this portrayal. Indeed, the entire cast, whose diversity is as impressive as it is necessary to the stories Master of None wants to tell, is given moments to show both humor and depth. That's especially true of Lena Waithe as Dev's friend Denise, and Ansari's own parents, who play Dev's parents here and steal every scene they're in.