Midnight diner is an easy way to watch people interacting over food. Consisting of 10 episodes of roughly 20 minutes each, every week we are introduced to specific patrons of Master's Midnight Diner, each with a favorite dish, and each with their own story.

The genius in this series is it manages to first introduce you to a new character every week using various narrative styles - background stories, voice-over narration, flashbacks, even songs or depictions of food. Within 5 minutes you understand the character, their motivations and / or issues. There's conflict, there's bonding over food. Sometimes Master intervenes, but never in a pushy way, just sage advice. Eventually there's a resolution of sorts, but there isn't always a happy ending, so that part feels real.

I swear the goal of this series is to make me cry every episode, and for the most part, it succeeded. because my empathy level is quite high. I love how it tackles SERIOUS issues - gangsters (and the lives they are forced into), cancer, problems with gay or trans people, stripping, poverty, lost opportunities at love, alzheimers, even being single. Because it is set off with food as a backdrop, it doesn't seem melodramatic, and you feel like you're watching real people bond over food at a real diner. This series was a treat to watch.