TV Review: Masters of None – Season three

The third season of the Netflix series Master of None pivots from the two prior comedic seasons to focus on pursuing motherhood: first as a lesbian couple, and then as a single woman. This change of direction is likely due to controversial allegations around the show's creator (and original star) Aziz Ansari. Although he co-wrote and directed this season, he appears only briefly in the first episode, and does not contribute to the main storyline. I have not seen the first two series of Master of None, but given the change of direction, this third series works well as a standalone series and doesn't rely on any prior knowledge of the show.

Over the course of five episodes, Master of None charts the story of Denise, a supporting character from the previous two series who has found success as a writer and married a new character, Alicia, who is an aspiring interior decorator. Together, the couple live in a beautifully decorated cottage outside of the city. While the pandemic is never referenced, the first three episodes do have a sense of detachment from society. Although all seems happy at the beginning, their relationship begins to unravel following the miscarriage of a pregnancy that is conceived by Alicia with sperm donated by a friend of the couple. After their marriage ends, the story focuses on Alicia pursuing fertility treatment as a single woman in the city, followed by a dream-like episode where the couple reunite.

There is nowhere to hide in the way their story is told: it is a frank, sometimes painful portrayal of two women navigating the difficulties of their relationship and following their creative and personal aspirations. The journey to motherhood is central to the storyline, and the characters encounter many aspects of that journey in the series. Sperm donors, miscarriage, IVF, the financial implications of fertility medicine and even their individual want for a child are examined over the five episodes, involving a great deal of emotional upset along the way.

This series is a close portrayal of the characters, and it is impossible not to feel for Denise and Alicia, albeit in different ways. Denise takes more of a backseat as the series progresses, and it is interesting to see a same-sex marriage portrayed in a way that I felt mirrored what might be expected as heterosexual stereotypes. You feel that Alicia wants a child more than Denise and feels abandoned and emotionally unsupported following her miscarriage. Conversely, Denise reacts more outwardly negatively to the lack of physical intimacy after the loss of the baby and feels the creative and financial pressure of writing her second book following a well-received first novel.

Having written for BioNews for several years, I have read many books and listened to many podcasts about infertility, but Episode 4 of this series was, for me, by far the most visceral portrayal of IVF in a fertility clinic. Seeing Alicia, played by Naomi Ackie, attend clinic appointments alone and battle with the heartbreak and loneliness of the procedures is incredibly moving, and I might caution anyone going through something similar to consider how they might feel before deciding to watch this episode.

Stylistically, the series feels like a 'fly on the wall', and I did at times feel as though I was watching their lives without being invited in. Although it was written jointly by Ansari and Lena Waithe, who plays Denise, a lot of the scenes felt like improvised dialogue, particularly in uncomfortable arguments. For me, this only added to the observational quality of the series.

An ongoing motif of the series is the portrayal of characters doing their laundry. To begin with, Denise and Alicia dance and sing together in the utility room; some episodes later, Denise is alone in the room folding clothes. Finally, Alicia sits alone in a laundromat in the city waiting for a call from the fertility clinic. Whether you like these stylistic choices or not is probably down to personal preference. They don't detract from the story, but they are perhaps a bit obvious when the arc of their relationship and journey to motherhood is clear from the story already.

The series ends (spoiler alert) with the couple reuniting, having both remarried and become mothers separately. Whether this episode, which sees the women vacation together at their previous home – now an AirBnB – is real or imagined is never fully clear. I don't think that really matters. Instead, it is interesting to see two women, who are both mothers, return to where they were happiest pre-children and engage in an affair that could compromise both of their relationships. I found this episode to be a powerful ending to a series with the subheading 'Moments in Love'. For a programme that charts the breakdown of a marriage and the heartache of fertility treatment, the only moments in love we really see are the first and final episodes.

It is impressive to see a commercially and critically successful comedy show change direction and take on such a challenging storyline. As I mentioned, I found the portrayal of fertility treatment incredibly effective. Although the show is set in the USA, where 'there's a [medical insurance] code for being attacked by an orca or being sucked into a jet engine' but not for single lesbian women who want to become a mother, I'm sure that the difficulties encountered by Alicia's character are common to many women pursuing fertility medicine. It is artfully shot and powerfully acted, and I hope more popular TV shows feel able to take on difficult, but important, storylines in the future.