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Season 3 of ‘Never Have I Ever’ Focuses on All Things Romance

Photo courtesy of Netflix.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD.

Never Have I Ever premiered its first season on April 27, 2020 on Netflix. Its premise follows a first-generation Indian American teenager, Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), who’s dealing with the loss of her father and her complicated life. The third season of the hit Netflix series premiered on August 12, 2022. Let’s dive into this rollercoaster of a season, shall we?

Season 2 was heavily focused on Devi’s complicated love life. This season is similar but it seems Devi isn’t the only character experiencing first love. I want to start by talking about Devi though. As I mentioned earlier, there will be major spoilers at this point. Please don’t continue reading if you haven’t watched season 3 or haven’t finished it yet. 

Let’s get into the main topic that NHIE fans talk about the most. Are you Team Paxton (Darren Barnet) or Team Ben (Jaren Lewison)? Honestly, I’m Team Devi. I mean if I had to choose, I’d choose Ben. I just like Ben and Devi’s dynamic more. I like that they have common interests, how Devi challenges Ben intellectually, and I’m a sucker for the enemies to lovers trope. I like Paxton and Devi as friends. They don’t have that spark, at least for me they don’t.

As for whatever happens with Devi’s love life, I’m fine with whoever she ends up with in season 4 whether it’s Paxton or Ben. Anyways, we see her get tangled up with Des (Anirudh Pisharody) who’s the son of Rhyah (Sarayu Blue). Rhyah befriends Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan) aka Devi’s mom. Let’s just say that it all doesn’t turn out too well for Devi and Des. His mom believes that Devi has too much baggage and want him to end things with her. We then see Des reveal his true colors. He deserved that iced coffee thrown at his face. Go Devi!

This season ends with Ben and Devi possibly rekindling their romance from season 1 and 2. I was honestly expecting her to end up with Paxton. I don’t know why. I just saw the way the season was going towards the end and I was convinced that they were going to end up together again. I’m happy they didn’t because Ben and Devi have unresolved feelings for each other that definitely need to be sorted out.

Let’s move onto the rest of the crew. Eleanor (Ramona Young) is dating Trent (Benjamin Norris) who’s Paxton’s best friend. At first, I wasn’t too thrilled with this pairing because I just thought it wouldn’t work because they’re such opposites but I ended up liking them together by the end of the season. As for Aneesa (Megan Suri), we see that she’s still dating Ben in the beginning but they break up because she feels that he isn’t right for her. This lead Aneesa to make a move on Fabiola (Lee Rodriguez) in the bathroom. Let me tell I wasn’t expecting this pairing at all and I absolutely loved them. Their relationship is short lived once Addison (Terry Hu) enters the picture.

Let’s change the subject. The writing in this show is so good. Some of the storylines are dramatized for entertainment purposes but for the most part, the experiences that the characters are going through feel real. Many teenagers experience first love and heartbreak. This season did a great job at portraying this and just experiencing love through Devi, Eleanor, and Aneesa. The humor is so effortless which is one of the main things that I love about Never Have I Ever.

I enjoyed the budding friendship that we got to see between Paxton and Ben. That was a pleasant surprise. Hope we get to see more of that dynamic in season 4.

Let me just say that the representation in this series is everything. Seeing a South Asian family as the heart and LGBTQ+ characters at the forefront is so rare to see on screen. This needs to change.

I’m bummed that season 4 is the final season. I’m hoping the show ends with mostly everything set in stone and that it doesn’t have a cliffhanger of any kind. I do know that Michael Cimino will be in the final season portrayed Ethan, a skater and new heartthrob at Sherman Oaks High. If you recall, he portrayed Victor Salazar in Love, Victor which ended its run on Hulu after 3 seasons this past June.

Guess we’ll have wait and see what Devi gets herself into a year from now.

 

 

Never Have I Ever is available to stream exclusively on Netflix.

Cast: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Jaren Lewison, Darren Barnet, Ramona Young, Lee Rodriguez, Megan Suri

Creators: Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher

Producers: Mindy Kaling, Lang Fisher, Howard Klein

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