The episode "Ladies and Gentlemen" discusses the subject of feminism very openly, showing the differences between men and women's experiences.
Ben's speech about the moral of how relationships are hard work and sometimes have their low points is delivered with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
Broken Base: Some consider Francesca to be a Manic Pixie Dream Girl with an undercooked personality outside of introducing quirky activities to Dev and being a cute foreigner confused by or in awe of basic parts of American life. Others argue that her conflict with following her dreams and being obedient to the needs of her family make her a deeper character than just her relationship with Dev. A third view argues that while Francesca does have deeper aspects to her character, their relationship was intentionally made to be a cute and unrealistic honeymoon phase, straight out of a film such as the ones given homage in the season opener — which makes the final scene of the season all the more jarring.
Crosses the Line Twice: On a shopping trip, Maya tells her boyfriend, in ASL, to "lick [her] vagina" later. Another shopper scolds the couple for making the sign for "vagina" in front of her children; her family also knows ASL, so the kids proceed to make the naughty sign while happily running around the store.
Season 2's sub-plot in which a celebrity chef is outed as a serial sexual harasser came out just before a rash of sexual harassment accusations started sweeping through Hollywood like wildfire in 2017, including accusations against celebrity chef Mario Batali. It became twice as worse once allegations rose against Ansari himself, though his career seems to have survived those accusations.
The chef character's similarity to Anthony Bourdain also seems rather awkward now, in light of Bourdain's suicide.
Aziz Ansari is best known for being the Large Ham funny guy in shows like Scrubs and Parks and Recreation, but here he gets to show his range and what he can do both as an actor and a writer in this show, tackling serious subject matters quite handily.
Comedian Eric Wareheim also shows some unexpected dramatic depth in "Old People" and "Le Nozze."
Nightmare Fuel: "Amarsi Un Po" is a mostly romantic, low-key episode, right up to the point where Dev's heart graphically bursts out of his chest after Francesca laughs at him. Followed by her ripping it out and dropping it into a wood chipper, as he dies in a pool of blood. The fact that it's all a nightmare doesn't make it any less horrifying.
Tear Jerker: In the beginning Season 3 Dev, who is Out of Focus for the season, is revealed as having to move back in with his parents due to his acting career not going very well, and he's also stuck in an unhappy relationship with his current girlfriend he's too afraid to leave. As of the end of the season we are not given any updates on Dev's story, and given that as of now Season 4 seems unlikely his situation remains up in the air.
, though his career seems to have survived those accusations.