![]() ![]() And a lot of them splash onto her pals Fabiola (Lee Rodriguez) and Eleanor (Ramona Young), each of whom is also figuring out who they are and what they want, too. ![]() Most of Devi's hijinks are the product of the uncertainty constantly shadowing her – she still has a deep well of unprocessed grief to empty that her therapist (Niecy Nash) asks her to take on more directly this season as her bad choices pile up and bury Devi. Their tender new friendship is one of this new season's stronger storylines in the way that it tests our affection for our girl, even as she's being pulled in other directions. ![]() Devi actually navigates a mixture of emotions about it during the first season, confronting it anew when another Indian teenager, Aneesa (Megan Suri) transfers to her high school and is demonstrably cooler and fits in better than she does.Īneesa's kindness and sincerity also take Devi by surprise, to the point that she isn't sure what to do with her. Kaling and showrunner Lang Fisher never downplay what it's like for as a child of Indian immigrants to grow up in a place where few people look like them, eat their food or participate in their holiday celebrations. It's also among the most naturalistic depictions of an inclusive high school student body on television that neither strains to call attention to that, nor ignores its characters' cultural backgrounds.ĭevi's life is a starting point for this approach. Everything about the show is more confident – the physical comedy is goofier, Devi's dingbat logic is more outlandish, and McEnroe's narration easily flows with the action. "Never Have I Ever," already an outstanding comedy, manages to be even better in its sophomore run. Actually, you don' have to imagine that, since McEnroe returns in the new season. Imagine John McEnroe's color commentary on this dream scenario of two amorous bees circling a socially insecure wallflower. Her new round of selfishness informs a cascade of bad decisions that come after her lip lock with Ben, touched off by Paxton realizing that Devi could be more to him that the brainy friend who helps him with his homework. She's still entertainingly self-centered, and that's fantastic because the show wouldn't work half as well if she leveled out. The second season of the show picks up right at that moment, which means Devi hasn't engaged in very much emotional growth. Naturally that leads her to fall for her one-time nemesis Ben Gross (Jaren Lewison), with whom she makes out mere minutes after spreading her father's ashes in the ocean. But she's also a little bit crazy in lust with Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet) the hottest boy at Sherman Oaks High. Part of the reason for this is to avoid grieving the death of the father who doted upon her, Mohan (Sendhil Ramamurthy). She's overachieving, but also moody and prone to say and do things in the moment that she regrets later. Like a lot of kids her age, Devi is at the mercy of her hormones. Mindy Kaling is an obvious John Hughes fan, and that affection shows up in the all-American misadventures of Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) an outspoken ultra-nerd operating from the same set of unrealistic expectations about dating and sex whirling inside the brains of all the virginal uncool. They are, in the way that most TV shows and movies about American teens tend to be – meaning, they present whiteness as the default for Americanness and expect non-white teenagers to relate. " Sixteen Candles," " Pretty in Pink" and " The Breakfast Club" were made to be universally appealing. We know the filmmaker didn't overlook our existence on purpose. ![]() "Never Have I Have Ever" is for the girls who never saw themselves in any John Hughes movie. ![]()
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