Buona Notte: Master of None is back and inspiring more than just pasta envy.

Aziz Ansari is back with his Emmy-Award winning show, Master of None, and it feels like an old friend just got back from a long trip in Europe with plenty of stories to share. The audience once again takes a back seat to Ansari's character Dev Shah and his comrades as they navigate life as millennials. Each episode explores what it means to be "other", using stories that take place in that painfully awkward (and all too familiar) space between comedy and tragedy.

Season Two's opening episode picks up three months after Dev (Ansari) decides to move to Italy to learn the art of pasta making. Titled The Thief, the episode pays homage to the black and white Italian Neorealist film The Bike Thief. From its camera angles and dialogue to its music, The Thief is so beautifully directed and produced that I dare TV/film buffs not be enamored by its artistry.

As Episode One demonstrated, Master of None is not a one trick pony. Episode Four, The First Date, is a great example of the show's versatility and relevance. This episode, directed by Eric Wareheim (plays Arnold Baumheiser on the show), follows Dev on multiple Tindr dates and, in comically awkward Ansari fashion, shows the viewer just how compulsive, surprising, and ultimately unfulfilling dating in 2017 is for us 20- and 30-somethings. Its episodes like The First Date that prove to us the writers and directors on Master of None really do have their finger on the pulse of the average modern relationship. So much so that behind our amusement there is a nagging sense of embarrassment for oneself as Dev's Tindr encounters are all too familiar for most of us watching.

The true gem of this season, however, is Episode Eight, Thanksgiving, which follows Dev and Denise (Lena Waithe) over multiple years of Thanksgiving celebrations with Denise's family. We get a very intimate and honest look into how a young, queer black woman and her family navigate and ultimately learn to accept her sexuality over time. Its a rare and much needed take on what it is like coming out to your family that we don't always get from television today. Its refreshing to see a coming out story that doesn't result in an tragic rejection or immediate embrace, but rather, a long, complex journey of love, frustration, and understanding. Angela Basset's performance as Denise's mother is, like so much of Basset's other work, phenomenal. Her slow, complicated realization that her child's sexuality has nothing to do with her perceived failures as a single parent was compelling and, for many, painfully and joyfully familiar.

Master of None is unapologetically romantic and vulnerable, and has the confidence to experiment with bold, honest, and diverse writing and direction. This motley crew of characters manage to ingratiate themselves with their viewers despite their enviable and near unbelievable NYC lifestyles, and remind us that living your best life doesn't always mean having the life you imagined. Master of None does a great job of showing us that even when it seems like you have attained everything that you have wanted, there will be something more to reach for.

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