Master of None
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Romances dont break down on their own, but they do splinter under the weight of unspoken expectations.
Now, episode two finds the couple at a frosty detente.
Three months later, they are still together civil, but barely speaking.
The couple is now moving through their home largely in silence.
They eat meals separately and slip off to bed alone.
The idea at the forefront of her mind at all times is continuing to succeed.
She opines that even when people are good and deserving, life is unpredictable.
Theres no guarantee of a good life.
Alicia materializes at Denises bedside, worried yet comforting and promising to take care of her wife.
Finally, all the unsaid words come spilling out.
And then, mercifully, she leaves her wife.
Its somehow very unsurprising that Denise would be unfaithful.
Whats interesting is that she almost immediately regrets it and confesses as soon as Alicia confronts her.
Here, shes built it, but its almost entirely for show.
The episode is tauntingly slow as it builds to its climax, but it makes the journey worth it.
She feels like a prop in the marriage, another trophy Denise could use to signify her own success.
But the story here is that it takes two to tango.
Even if fault lies more with one party, its rare that the other party is completely blameless either.
Then she found what she was looking for with someone else.
The fight itself is spectacularly shot, with the camera in a corner merely observing a marital demolition.
But it also reveals some deeper truths.
Despite both their transgressions, Denise doesnt want out of the relationship.
She loves Alicia and wants to be with her.
What she doesnt want to do is change.
Theyd very simply come to the fork in the road that signified the end of their lives together.
But Waithe bucks the heteronormative tropes somewhat by keeping things in Denises perspective.
And we get to see her loneliness and regret bloom.
Its here that the story seems to be questioning the very nature of marriage entirely.
Would it have been better to keep faking it to avoid failing at marriage?
