Netflix's 'Never Have I Ever' Season 3 Review: Devi Makes Some Crazy Choices

Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher struck gold when it comes to Netflix’s Never Have I Ever. The past two seasons have made us delve into Devi’s (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) life in a way that pushes boundaries for what female characters can be and how creators can add the desi element without it being forced. This season, the writers of the show continue to bring that magic on screen by having Devi date Paxton (Darren Barnet) after the ending of last season’s finale. 

Devi has taken extremely well to dating Paxton, she is enjoying the social clout and the sad faces of the people around her. What takes her down a notch is the fact that people don’t think Devi can be with Paxton if she doesn’t put out. In this insecurity, Devi tries her level best to be okay with getting intimate suddenly with her boyfriend. It doesn’t end well and even though Devi tries to be understanding of Paxton’s past as a relentless casanova, she is unsure why Paxton is with her in the first place. It is one of the greatest moments in this season. It acknowledges the fact that while Devi may find him extremely good-looking and understanding, Paxton doesn’t know the character all that well either.

Additionally, Ben (Jaren Lewison) and Aneesa (Megan Suri) got together in the second season. However, it becomes exceedingly clear that he has some major unresolved feelings for Devi and can’t do anything about it because she’s with another guy now. Eventually, Devi and Paxton break up and to get over him, Devi and Ben make a bet involving making out with someone by the end of the night. After this very successful informal theatre meeting at school, Devi meets Nirdesh aka Des (Anirudh Pisharody), who is Nalini’s (Poorna Jaganathan) friend, Rhyah’s (Sarayu Blue) son. Des was supposedly alone that day when Devi was going to ditch the Navratri pooja and attend a party. 

It is here we find out that Des and Devi have insane chemistry and even get together after some time. Des is perfect at the moment for Devi, he’s intelligent, handsome, and has no idea of Devi’s social standing at school (an important piece of information for our protagonist). However, Des blows it when he prioritizes his mother’s request to not date Devi instead of rebelling against her. But the boys are just a milestone in the larger plot point of the season which is that spending time with the people you love is more important than anything. We see Aneesa, Fabiola (Lee Rodriguez) and Eleanor (Ramona Young) pleading Devi to not leave for Colorado in the last year they’ll all be together. Additionally, Ben too is sad to see Devi leave. This development sets some sparks flying between the two characters.

The best parts about this season are Nalini and Devi’s relationship. It has grown to fit Devi’s personality while the teenager has become better at being a functional adult in the household even if sometimes Devi rebels out of the sheer illogical expectations of her mother. Fabiola and Aneesa get together for a while and even though they had great initial chemistry, it became evident that they weren’t great for each other choosing to remain friends. Ben and Paxton got a moment away from the Devi drama to form a dynamic of their own. The show manages to keep all the characters together and yet have such rich and distinct character dynamics with each other. To sum it up, this season set up healthy relationships, asked the right questions to characters that needed and had Devi make some controversial choices instead of letting her walk the straight path. 

Never Have I Ever Seasons 1, 2 and 3 are streaming on Netflix.