Never Have I Ever Season 2 Review — Indian Matchmaking

| Single to Shaadi

Disclaimer: This review contains spoilers

I was not prepared for all the emotions I felt while watching season two of Never Have I Ever. It was so emotionally captivating to the point that I watched all ten episodes in one sitting. This series, especially the second season, was immensely therapeutic for the brown girl in me. After watching season one, I realized everything that Devi Vishwakumar, played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, is going through in high school is exactly what I am going through right now in college. All the academic competition, horniness and angst she experiences is my life in a nutshell. Similarly to Devi, one side of me is super ambitious and wants to excel at every extra curricular, while the other side of me wants to have sex and explore the world of “American dating.” But season two hits a little differently than season one and I found myself shifting from relating to Devi to empathizing with her outlandish attempts to get everything she wants.

Episode one of season two picks up where we left off at the end of season one. Devi and Ben’s, played by Jaren Lewison, kiss. It throws Nalini, Devi’s mom, played by Poorna Jagannathan, into a fit when she finds out and us brown kids all understand how this goes from our own experiences with our parents. For the first few episodes, Devi struggles with indecisiveness and juggles two boyfriends, consequently losing both. Outside her failing romantic life, a new Indian girl enters the chat, her cousin faces workplace discrimination, and her best friends and mother face relationship struggles of their own. The rest of the season Devi goes down a vicious path to try to get everything she wants. It causes her more strife than she expected.

My qualms with Devi’s behavior probably root from my own behavior this past semester at college. While I never had two simultaneous boyfriends, I understand the desire to focus on carnal activities as a distraction from our real problems. In season one, I was rooting Devi on for being confident and asking for what she wants when she approached Paxton, played by Darren Barnet, to have sex. Even at the end of the season when we knew both Ben and Paxton were into Devi, I was still rooting for her. But when she decided to date both of them and used her move to India as an escape, it really showed her lack of “introspection or mature decision making” McEnroe, episode 1. Having two guys be so passionately into you is nice and I am all for polyamorous and open relationships if that is what the other people want as well. But there is absolutely no communication. Devi leaves both of her “boyfriends” in the dark and, as her therapist said, if she can’t be honest with either of them, she has zero boyfriends. What she did was straight up cheating. As soon as she made the decision, I was reminded of Schmidt from New Girl and how he tried to date two women at the same time. I knew it wasn’t going to end well.

Despite all her boy troubles, Devi is not the only character in this show with messy relationships. Other notable toxic relationships include Eleanor and Malcolm, Fabiola and Eve, Kamala and her boss, and even Devi and Aneesa. Toxicity comes in many forms and I commend the show for displaying many of them. Eleanor turned a blind eye to emotional manipulation from her boyfriend only to get heartbroken when he dumped her over text. Fabiola tried so hard to change herself to fit in with her girlfriends queer circle and lost some of her old robotics club friends. And her robot died unfortunately. Kamala resorted to kissing up and participating in her boss’ nerdy hobbies but still didn’t get credit for a discovery she made. And Devi tried sabotaging Aneesa and Ben’s friendship out of jealousy and spread a damaging rumor that got her suspended from school.

While the plot is the protagonist of production, there are other important parts to creating a series that are worth mentioning. My favorite part of this entire season has to be the soundtrack. My weakness is indie music with a low key vibe; the kind that is perfect for a late night drive and this show is full of that. Trent, Paxton’s best friend, played by Benjamin Norris, stands out as the best side character in this series. In the midst of all the chaos going on, I believe that not a single thought is in his mind except spontaneous decisions to blow things up. The writing is a bit bland at times especially during dramatic fights and apologies, but where the writing lacks in emotional depth, it makes up with comedy. Some of my favorite and probably most bizarre dialogues from this season are “I’m not interested in joining whatever cult this is” Nalini, episode 5, “why do you look like a sexy flight attendant from mars” Nalini in Tamil, episode 5 and “this teen had offered up her virginity to him like it was a hummus sample at the grocery store” McEnroe, episode 10. The cultural references that only South Asians living in America would know were the best comedic moments of the series.

Devi made a lot of mistakes this season and I found myself watching each episode with a sore throat and a tense body. While I really felt for Devi in so many ways, some of the things she did out of jealousy and fear made me question Devi’s morals. She even had a moment where it felt like everyone was calling her crazy and it affected her deeply. I wouldn’t have done even half of the things she did if I was in her shoes. Her behavior was so out of control that I had to pause the show on multiple occasions and brace myself for second hand embarrassment due to the questionable things she said and did. But I understand what it feels like to convince yourself that everything you do makes everything worse; it’s the most common form of teenage angst that just about anyone has experienced.

Unlike season one, I was extremely disappointed with the ending of season two. If someone I really like uses me for a sneaky link but is embarrassed to be seen publicly with me the way Paxton was with Devi, I would cut all ties and never speak to them again. I really wondered where Devi’s respect for herself went this season. At the end of the day, Devi should to let go of her obsession with other people and deal with the trauma of her dad’s passing. She would benefit greatly if she would just focus on loving herself as that is the only way that she will heal. As crazy as her friends and mom say Devi is, her therapist said it the best when she told her “you’re not crazy. You’re just hurting and you might even be a little depressed.” While season two may not have been as relatable as season one, this line resonated with me the most.

-Gauri Jain / Contributing Author

Originally published at https://www.singletoshaadi.com on July 26, 2021.