This original comedy series premiered in April 2020 on Netflix. Created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher, Never Have I Ever is the story of Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) who is navigating life in high school in southern California. She is the child of Indian-American immigrants Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan) and Mohan (Sendhi Ramamurthy). When Mohan dies suddenly, Devi’s life is changed forever and her already strained relationship with Nalini is damaged further as they both struggle with their grief. Devi also regularly visits her therapist, Dr. Ryan (Niecy Nash) to try and cope with the loss of her father. Eventually, Devi’s cousin Kamala (Richa Moorjani) comes to stay with them as she studies at Caltech.
Devi’s internal thoughts are narrated by tennis great John McEnroe due to both her rage issues and also the fact that tennis and McEnroe was something that she and her father bonded over. Her two best friends Eleanor (Ramona Young) and Fabiola (Lee Rodriguez) are there for her as much as possible while she is torn between her great crush Paxton (Darren Barnet) and her nemesis-turned-love-interest Ben (Jaren Lewison). The series also featured guest narrators Andy Samberg as Ben’s internal thoughts and Gigi Hadid as Paxton’s inner thoughts. As Season 3 is set to premiere, let’s take a look back at Season 2 and where we left everybody.
Devi, Paxton, and Ben
At the end of Season 1, Ben had really come through for Devi and got her to the beach in time to join her family to spread Mohan’s ashes. Season 2 begins with Ben and Devi in a full make-out session in his car only to be discovered by a horrified Nalini. Even though their attraction is palpable, she decides to end things with Ben as Paxton suddenly shows interest in her. Before she knows it, she finds herself dating both of them simultaneously. But in true Devi fashion, she manages to end up dating neither of them once the two guys discover what’s really going on. Soon after, Devi jumps at the chance to tutor Paxton to spend more time with him and make him realize they should be together.
Meanwhile, when a new Indian girl Aneesa (Megan Suri) arrives, she finds herself feeling overly jealous of Aneesa and Ben’s instant connection even as things start progressing with Paxton in a good direction. Devi spreads a vicious rumor about Aneesa that causes Aneesa’s mother to step in and decide to transfer Aneesa to a new school. Devi is forced to turn to Nalini for help in convincing Aneesa’s mother to keep her at school once again proving that Nalini is not her enemy but one of her best allies. After Paxton follows Devi's advice for an assignment, he gets a good grade and sneaks into her bedroom to make out with her. It proves to be quite confusing when he remains causal at school the morning after.
In the climax of Season 2, it is once again Devi’s moment to choose between Ben and Paxton. Ben who is always the quickest to jump to her side to console her in her greatest moments of weakness is devastated when Paxton shows up to proclaim himself to be Devi’s boyfriend. Devi is elated and once again Ben is cast aside. It seems like although he and Aneesa have a bond, he is still hung up over Devi.
Devi's Family
After all the trouble Devi has been in, Nalini decides the best thing to do is to move her back to India where Devi can be relieved of the pressures of American high school. However, with a quick trip to India, Nalini quickly changes her mind. Afterward, she invites Mohan’s mother Nirmala (Ranjita Chakravarty), to live with them in California when she discovers that Nirmala needs to be closer to Mohan’s family as she too is still grieving.
Back in the States, Nalini begins to bond with a rival dermatologist, Dr. Chris Jackson (Common). When Devi discovers their impending relationship, she attempts to sabotage it, driving a bigger wedge between Nalini and Devi than ever before. However, they are able to recover their relationship bonding once again over their grief at the loss of Mohan. Even posthumously, Mohan seems to be the only thing that continuously brings mother and daughter together.
Elsewhere, Kamala is learning to navigate what it’s like working in a man’s world when she gets the opportunity to work for Dr. Elgin Peters (John Mawson). Unfortunately, her direct report is to his assistant Evan (P.J. Byrne) who is misogyny personified. When Kamala discovers that her name was left off a research paper that she worked hard on, she decides to stand up for herself and add her name anyway. Kamala is also going through the process of an arranged marriage with Prashant (Rushi Kota). Prashant seems like a decent enough catch, but it looks like Devi’s teacher, Mr. Kulkarni (Utkarsh Ambudkar) might present more potential for romance. She chooses to spend time with him instead of fulfilling her family dinner obligation in the Season 2 finale. It looks like Devi isn’t the only one in her family stuck in a love triangle.
Devi's Pals
Eleanor is dating her new boyfriend, Malcolm (Tyler Alvarez), who nobody likes. Malcolm, a former Disney star has enamored Eleanor to the point where she doesn’t even believe Fab and Devi when they tell her they know she has been cheated on numerous times. When Malcolm breaks it off, Eleanor has to really examine her priorities and reconnect with her father and her stepmom as well as makeup with her besties.
Fab is going through her own journey trying to come to terms with her sexuality. She is insanely attracted to Eve (Christina Kartchner) but is afraid of being judged by their relationship by her mother, by her friends, and by her classmates in general. It is only with Eleanor and Devi's help that she is able to accept who she is and proudly tell Eve she is in love with her. Eve and Fab are crowned Cricket Queen and Queen at the school dance and Fab relishes her newfound confidence in publicly acknowledging who she really is.
Both Fab and Eleanor are all in on Team Paxton. However, in the finale, Eleanor sees how much Ben truly cares for Devi that she takes it upon herself to apologize to Ben for not realizing it sooner and campaigning for Paxton the whole time. It doesn’t seem like this love triangle is anywhere near over.