Television
'Master of None' Third Season to Focus on Black Lesbian Love Story
The third season will focus on the relationship between Denise, played by Lena Waithe, and her partner.
April 26 2021 3:34 PM EST
April 25 2021 11:42 PM EST
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The third season will focus on the relationship between Denise, played by Lena Waithe, and her partner.
Master of None is coming back, but this time, the series will focus on Lena Waithe's character, Denise.
Master of None, created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang for Netflix, was starring Ansari for the first two seasons, but paused production after he was accused of sexual assault. Now it's coming back on May 23 for a third season, but Ansari is staying behind the scenes as a writer and director, and letting Waithe's character take the lead.
Waithe won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for the episode "Thanksgiving," which was loosely based on her own experiences coming out to her mother. The episode chronicled several Thanksgivings over several decades as Waithe's character came out in different ways to herself, her friends, and her family, including her mother played by Angela Bassett.
While the first two seasons of the show focused on Ansari's character Dev, "Thanksgiving," which shifted the focus to his friend Denise, immediately stood out as one of the series' best episodes. Now, we're going to get to see a lot more of Denise, as she and her partner Alicia are the new focus of the series, titled Master of None Presents: Moments in Love.
According to Netflix, the third season "is a modern love story that intimately illustrates the ups and downs of marriage, struggles with fertility, and personal growth both together and apart. Fleeting romantic highs meet crushing personal losses while existential questions of love and living are raised."
Alicia is being played by British actress Naomi Ackie. Ackie appeared in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as Jannah, and won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for playing Bonnie in the dark comedy The End of the F***ing World.
Since appearing on the show, Waithe has become a powerhouse in Hollywood, creating the Showtime drama series The Chi, and two series, Boomerang, and Twenties, for BET. She also wrote and produced the film Queen & Slim, executive produced the horror anthology series Them, and has appeared in HBO's Westworld.
"Okay, hypothetical for you," Denise asks Alicia in the trailer, "Let's say we're at a party, Maxwell is playing, you don't know me, I don't know you, and I ask you on a date. Would you say yes?" What follows is scenes of the couple together, driving, smoking weed, doing laundry, taking a bath, fighting, hugging, and more. Master of None Presents: Moments in Love will debut its five episodes May 23 on Netflix.
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Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.