-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Mindy Kaling series "Never Have I Ever" drops Season 2 Trailer, all episodes out July 15th 2021
- Thread starter WrenchNinja
- Start date
- Entertainment
OP
OP
I really enjoyed it. It's a coming of age comedy about a South Asian teenager in California dealing with her father passing away but also other western teenaged stuff but also stuff a lot of South Asian kids have to deal with too. It's a little broad but I think that's okay personally since there's hardly any shows like this.
The show does this weird and goofy thing having the episodes narrated by tennis player John McEnroe.
I'm a bit biased though since I'm Tamil like the lead and the lead is from my hometown lol, so I'm kind of rooting for her and the show.
As a Desi myself, I enjoyed the first season. It's a fun show that South Asians can relate to and I hope this show continues to be popular on Netflix because us brown folks are severly underrepresented in positive media.
Is that so? Cause I'm looking at the trailer in the OP and it's not relatable at all.
OP
OP
Well, the trailer is more focused on following up romantic relationship threads from season 1, so it's a bit more broad, since that's kind of what hooks the demographic of the show.
Still, give the show a shot if you get a chance.
It does a good job running through the Desi stereotypes and the challenges the newer generation face. It's tough to feel sympathetic for her mother as she's needlessly harsh. Yes, I know this happens a lot in our community but it makes you hate her person more.
I've enjoyed Ramy much more though. Even though that focuses on the more Muslim side.
Don't get me wrong, this show isn't the gold standard of streaming nor is it a transformative show about the South Asian experience, it's just a fun coming-of-age series from the perspective of a brown girl.
Very good, the protagonist just nails every stuff she does in the season while still making the character likeable. It's an easy watch too and the first ep just hooks you in.
OP
OP
Does it have a recap of S1 before it? I know I enjoyed it, but can't remember much other than the last episode
OP
OP
No recap, just starts right where season 1 ended.
There's a recap by some of the cast on youtube though if you have twenty mins to kill
OP
OP
Caught me totally off guard watching the trailer, haha. Guess somebody involved with the show is a dbz fan.
OP
OP
Finished the season. Pretty good, pretty good.
Cant wait for season 3.
Devi is such a messy colossal fuck up but I'm here for it. I have to admit I did get teary eyed when she broke down in front of her therapist. Fabiola got a decent storyline with dealing with her own identity, what it means to be gay and whether she needed to change herself to be interested in more typical lesbian stuff. Eleanor storyline was kind of silly.
I liked Paxton's figuring out that he is more than just a dumb jock, liked pushing his Japanese side.
Aneesa was great but kind of disappeared in the latter half of the season.
Ben felt underutilised.
Kamala is as messy and indecisive as Devi, that's two guys she flakes out on.
Felt really bad for Devi's mom, i liked her with Dr. Jackson.
I liked Paxton's figuring out that he is more than just a dumb jock, liked pushing his Japanese side.
Aneesa was great but kind of disappeared in the latter half of the season.
Ben felt underutilised.
Kamala is as messy and indecisive as Devi, that's two guys she flakes out on.
Felt really bad for Devi's mom, i liked her with Dr. Jackson.
Cant wait for season 3.
Last edited:
WrenchNinja damn you're fast! I only finished the first episode since I've been busy lately. It's still oh so good! I'm so happy that they picked it up exactly where they left off.
Watched 2 episodes last night, show makes for an entertaining watch. Really paced well. Will probably finish the season by next week.
I've been watching this show with my BF. I know you're not really supposed to analyse these kinds of teen dramas too hard, but there are lots of parts in the show (from what I have seen of season 1, we're 7 episodes in) that are just straight up racist. the islamophobia that comes up relating to the one girl that skipped out on her arranged marriage is awful, and just goes totally unchallenged - not to even mention all the caste "purity" issues the show skips over. devi's paralysis being cured by seeing her crush at the store is totally ableist, especially when it's a totally pointless plot device that's only used to insult her. also, Trent's mom is a straight up pedophile (Paxton's 16, 1 year older than 15 year old Devi), but I guess it's funny when it's an adult woman doing it to a teenage boy? I guess Paxton's "lucky"?
I dunno. maybe some of this stuff is actually addressed in season 2, but right now it kinda bugs me to see this kind of thing being targeted towards teenage girls
I dunno. maybe some of this stuff is actually addressed in season 2, but right now it kinda bugs me to see this kind of thing being targeted towards teenage girls
OP
OP
Good show, but the fact that a teen girl is pining over a dude who looks forty is really distracting.
I mentioned to my partner that he looks thirty and apparently that's because .. he is.
Anyways its a pretty awesome little show, and I don't even like Mindy Kaling as an actress/comedian.
Haha this is awesome.
I don't really know enough to comment on whether it's racist, but I do wish they would challenge the arranged marriage and stuff a bit more, it kinda presents them but doesn't do anything with it really. (Seems like they might do in a third season though, not gonna spoil why)
The paralysis does get brought up in the second season and it's explored why it happened. I don't see how it's ableist when she wasn't physically disabled to begin with and it was psychosomatic due to trauma.
The Paxton thing is just playing on the joke that he's uncommonly irresistible, they make a lot of jokes like that like cars crashing when he wears sweatpants etc, it was also just a drive by joke that never gets brought up again or anything like it
Last edited:
Just finished S2, another entertaining season. Devi stays violating. Paxton isn't the only one in the cast, who doesn't look like they are in high school, lol.
Some other thoughts.
Some other thoughts.
Eleanor's story this season with the actor boyfriend was pretty weak. Fabiola's was slightly better, but predictable. Although inadvertent, the Aneesa rumor that Devi helped start was pretty bad. I'm glad they didn't have Ben break up with Aneesa to get with Devi at the dance, although it's clear he is feeling her more. I do like Devi's scenes with Niecy Nash in therapy and she is funny.
So will we be treating this like the OT? Since I couldn't find one, anyway. Here's all I can say summarized from my binging last week:
Okay, that was a lot. And I don't blame anyone for not wanting to read any of it, hahahaha
1. Devi is so immoral for even considering dating two boys at the same time. I get that the target audience for this show is probably teenagers anyway, but I can picture myself as a teenager watching this and feeling appalled at what Devi is doing and thinking it is okay. Especially because people were telling her how wrong it is. I mean, her friends tried to tell her but they kind of brushed it off and then the were supporting her on it (trying to help her keep the secret).
But the worst part of it is seeing her therapist and confessing to her about it. If a professional is telling her that what she is doing is wrong and it is going to hurt both of these boys, why doesn't she stop? It seems like part of it is her just tending to her ego. She's only sorry after she gets caught, and there isn't really an excuse for actively doing something this immoral. It's just selfish.
*Speaking of her therapist, I'm glad that such a character exists on the show because therapy can be really important for a lot of people. It's especially appropriate for Devi as she suffered a great loss at such a young age. However, season 1 ended with Dr. Ryan suggesting to her to see someone new. But...that whole thing is brushed aside this season. It would have been nice to hear Devi say something like "I don't want to talk to anyone else, I want you." It is actually relevant because Devi is getting something out of her sessions with Ryan but she doesn't do anything with it. Ryan even says something about it in the show but it's meant to be a joke "and I failed yet again..."
2. Ben accuses Devi of cheating (which she did), but Ben is guilty of the same thing too and the show never addresses it. In season 1, Ben tried to make a move on Devi, with the latter pointing out that he has a girlfriend. Then in the finale, that logic is thrown out the window as Devi proceeds to make out with him after spreading her father's ashes. Maybe Devi was overcome with emotion but she forgot about being moral I guess, but more importantly, Ben doesn't pull back. He's still in a relationship when he's making out with Devi. He does mention how Shira is not a good girlfriend (in fact the character is so stereotypically bad it's kinda unfair), but that doesn't make it okay to cheat. If he is fully aware of how his girlfriend is, then he should have broken up with her. But he didn't, it's only in season 2 where Ben tells Devi that he broke up with Shira to be with her.
3. Some of Paxton's choices are also very questionable throughout this season. After learning about Devi's affair, he storms out of her house and walks onto the road, and then gets run over. The #1 dumbest fucking thing about this season is how Paxton (and the narrative of the show itself) is blaming DEVI for that happening. My GOD, it is so fucking stupid. You would think the driver of the car would want to come out, apologize, check to see if Paxton is okay, and offer to take him to the hospital. But none of that happens and ironically the same thing happens to Devi in the finale except the driver actually matters there since Paxton was the driver. It is as if Paxton got up on his feet, said to the driver not to worry about it and pointed at Devi saying he's gonna put all of the blame on her. Basically, it's as if the driver of the car was just a plot device for having Paxton's swimming career ruined, but that's not how things work. If you are injured in a vehicular accident, especially in this case, the driver of the vehicle is at fault. The fact that the show twists it into being Devi's fault is ludicrous and beyond just the label of bad storytelling.
And the reason this really bothers me is because as I said, the narrative is also pushing all of this to be Devi's fault. So throughout this entire season, Devi bears the guilt of Paxton's injury and starts off by doing his work for him, then tutoring him, then also has to deal with Paxton blaming him when he fails an exam. She stands up for herself at that moment, but only because she's going through a mix of other things right at that literal moment. She feels bad about standing up to him but it's not like he didn't deserve it. Devi did say she would help him the weekend before that test but she was otherwise occupied. What does Paxton decide to do? Get high. So whose fault is it that he failed? Whose actions should be held accountable for it?
4. And there are other choices Paxton makes that are questionable as well. Like his best friend, Trent. This dude was already laughably despicable to me in the first season but season 2 just makes him irredeemable for me. If him asking Eleanor to dance was the show's way of portraying how he could be a decent kid, it's way, way too late for me. Fuck this kid. In season 1, he dipped his genitals in a punch that people were drinking out of because he thought it was a funny prank. In this season, he rubbed another student's toothbrush between his buttocks as a prank. These are just throwaway parts of the script that are I guess supposed to be funny, but none of that shit was funny to me. All it is is telling me this is a horrible fucking kid and questionable as fuck that Paxton loves him. When Devi shows up to Paxton's room for their date, Trent throws something at her and another friend makes a joke about it. Paxton tells them to knock it off but other than that he doesn't seem to care that much, and I'm pretty sure his friends continued to insult her while she was there.
5. Again, with Paxton...this guy is supposed to be really popular, right? So he's gone on other dates before and he claims this is always how his dates are. At home with his friends and then when his friends leave, he and his date hook up. I don't know, that whole thing sounds really bizarre to me especially as a first date, but if I were Devi, if seeing that my date's friends were present weren't enough to make me turn around, having them throw something at me and insult me as I show up would've just made me be like it "fuck it, fuck this date" and walk away. Others have already pointed it out in this thread, but I don't know what the showrunners were thinking casting someone in their late 20s (who is now 30) as a 16 year old. The actor looks his age and I think Hollywood really should cut it out thinking audience will be able to watch the show and not be distracted by the actors' ages when portraying teenagers. It doesn't always work. If you want a teenage character, get a teenage actor. I feel the same way about Ramona Young who plays Eleanor. Last season, it really looked like her mother was her older sister.
6. Others in this thread have also pointed out the islamophobia in the show, and I felt a subtle hint of it in the new season with the introduction of Aneesa. It is revealed eventually that she has an eating disorder and it can all be traced back to her parents being strict Muslims, which reflects badly on the faith (again). And that's really all that Aneesa's faith has to do with her character, which is fine - the character doesn't have to be religious, it's just disappointing that her religion is basically only relevant as the crux of her health problem.
But on the subject of Aneesa...is it really a coincidence that she fell for the same boy that happened to be Devi's ex? I don't hate Ben as a character, but I really don't see what's drawing or attractive about him that all, unless both of these brown girls or especially Aneesa since we don't know that much about her feel like they need to be dating someone outside their culture namely someone that's white. It's strange enough that Devi is literally the only other brown girl at her school but outside of Kamala's ongoing relationship, the show doesn't really touch upon first generation South Asian American dating. And even Kamala's relationship technically isn't first generation, but I guess she is kind of the same generation as Devi in their family. In fact, the only Indian American character I ever remember being on this show was Parvesh. He had one scene in the entire show, but for me it was a memorable scene and left an impression on me because Devi was friends with him and looked up to him. What message is this show trying to send by having the only other Indian student be interested in the same person as the protagonist?
7. This brings me back to criticizing Devi even more. After shamelessly making a rumor about Aneesa and then having it spread then have someone else take the fall for it and then being caught as the culprit and only then being sorry about it, she gets suspended from school. Ben convinces her she needs to apologize to Aneesa, but she decides to do this by throwing on a show going back to school. First of all, again with breaking the suspense of being a tv show...I'm pretty sure if a student shows back up to school during their suspension period, that they get into even more trouble for it. Devi does it twice and it doesn't even matter. You might as well have not even had her suspended because all that seemed to do was setup a potential romance between Kamala and Kulkarni.
8. But dude...as one YouTube reviewer said, Aneesa forgave Devi way too quickly and easily. Devi's second attempt at apologizing was not unlike her first. She snuck into school a second time, and purposely drew the attention of everyone in the vicinity again. But her method was to just point out her own flaws as the "crazy Devi." It's almost like her trying to soften the blow and making it less bad that she started a rumor about Aneesa, rather than her trying to sincerely apologize to Aneesa. After this though Aneesa doesn't remain an important character anymore besides episode 8. I did like Kulkarni's advice to Devi on how to get over Ben, but the finale makes me feel like it still won't be enough.
9. Before getting to the finale though, I gotta say I do feel for Devi's mother. From the trailer alone in the OP, the way Nalini and Common looked at each other, I could kinda tell it was an implied romance. Nalini does deserve happiness but I do think going into a relationship still may be too soon. Maybe, or maybe I'm wrong and it was enough time that passed. But ultimately, it was due to Devi's stalking and being caught for stalking that ended the relationship. That's what she tells him when she shows up to his office to break it off, but honestly...would she have ended it if she didn't catch Devi soaking wet on his property on their date? I guess it happening could have been a wakeup call to her, that that is how her daughter is and continuing a relationship was going to be problematic - on top of the fact that she was lying to her daughter about it too. I just think, perhaps she would have maintained the lie if Devi wasn't stalking her.
10. But I liked that Nalini was a main character, not just a supporting character and they also brought in Devi's grandmother as a new supporting character. Honestly, we all kinda knew that the "moving to India" thing was not gonna happen, but I was starting to accept it. It would have been cool to have a season 3 in a completely different setting. But I guess Nirmala brought some of that setting home to California.
11. Now getting to the finale, first off with Kamala. I was already not liking the way Prashant was talking to her sometimes, but it seemed like she was not into him before that too. Honestly I was wondering if Steve would be back too given that guy had absolutely no character development at all. However, it is times like this where I say that communication is almost always the key to problem solving. When Kamala gets the hint that Prashant was bringing his family over to propose, she gets a change of heart and goes to Devi's high school dance to meet Kulkarni.
But...why couldn't she have called Prashant in the interim and ask him if his intention was to propose? if she was feeling like it's too early (which she explicitly says), then she could have told him. And if the argument is that it's not right to abruptly put a stop to a plan like that, my argument then becomes: isn't what Kamala ended up doing worse? Just leaving in the middle of dinner? I feel like that it is going to end in embarrassment when she could have just told him that it's happening too fast before they showed up. And if Prashant would have pushed back on it, then it would have been one clear indication to her that maybe they aren't right for each other. Like I said: communication is key. Lack thereof creates more problems that need to be solved.
12. The other part of the finale is Devi and Paxton finally getting official. But just like Ben, I really don't find much to like about Paxton to be honest. His reasoning for keeping his relationship with Devi private is because she cheated on him. Well I can understand you not wanting to date her anymore after that, but you do want to date her so your choice of not going public is to protect your image which is also selfish even if it isn't equally selfish to Devi's choice to cheat. But they do end up together which makes Ben jealous so the end of the love triangle isn't here. But why does it have to come down to one of these two boys? I read somewhere online that Paxton was originally supposed to be 100% white and that would have made it all the more bothersome that Devi is always just falling for someone who is white. There is nothing wrong with dating outside of your culture of course, but there are times with Devi just straight up resent her own culture as well so it's weird what I'm reading from the show's messaging. It just feels like part of the reason she is only interested in white boys is because she inherently resents being Indian sometimes; hell she initially and naturally is jealous of Aneesa at first glance simply BECAUSE she is a new Indian girl.
13. The best part of this season for me was the character development of her two other best friends though, Fabiola and Eleanor. I think I'd go so far as saying that Fabiola is my favorite character. I like the arc that she went through, but the only thing that bothered me was her not standing up for herself. She makes it right by the finale, but there was one scene where Sasha forces her out of her robotics club meeting for another endeavor. But that isn't fair to Fab, they all agreed only one week of no robotics because it's really important to her. I wanted her to stand up for herself there and say no, I am going to robotics. That's what we agreed and I'm not missing it anymore. I liked seeing Eleanor bond a little more with her (soon to be?) stepmom. In fact the whole thing with Paxton spending time with his grandfather makes me want to see a lot more of all of the parents of the main characters.
There you go, 13 reasons why.
But the worst part of it is seeing her therapist and confessing to her about it. If a professional is telling her that what she is doing is wrong and it is going to hurt both of these boys, why doesn't she stop? It seems like part of it is her just tending to her ego. She's only sorry after she gets caught, and there isn't really an excuse for actively doing something this immoral. It's just selfish.
*Speaking of her therapist, I'm glad that such a character exists on the show because therapy can be really important for a lot of people. It's especially appropriate for Devi as she suffered a great loss at such a young age. However, season 1 ended with Dr. Ryan suggesting to her to see someone new. But...that whole thing is brushed aside this season. It would have been nice to hear Devi say something like "I don't want to talk to anyone else, I want you." It is actually relevant because Devi is getting something out of her sessions with Ryan but she doesn't do anything with it. Ryan even says something about it in the show but it's meant to be a joke "and I failed yet again..."
2. Ben accuses Devi of cheating (which she did), but Ben is guilty of the same thing too and the show never addresses it. In season 1, Ben tried to make a move on Devi, with the latter pointing out that he has a girlfriend. Then in the finale, that logic is thrown out the window as Devi proceeds to make out with him after spreading her father's ashes. Maybe Devi was overcome with emotion but she forgot about being moral I guess, but more importantly, Ben doesn't pull back. He's still in a relationship when he's making out with Devi. He does mention how Shira is not a good girlfriend (in fact the character is so stereotypically bad it's kinda unfair), but that doesn't make it okay to cheat. If he is fully aware of how his girlfriend is, then he should have broken up with her. But he didn't, it's only in season 2 where Ben tells Devi that he broke up with Shira to be with her.
3. Some of Paxton's choices are also very questionable throughout this season. After learning about Devi's affair, he storms out of her house and walks onto the road, and then gets run over. The #1 dumbest fucking thing about this season is how Paxton (and the narrative of the show itself) is blaming DEVI for that happening. My GOD, it is so fucking stupid. You would think the driver of the car would want to come out, apologize, check to see if Paxton is okay, and offer to take him to the hospital. But none of that happens and ironically the same thing happens to Devi in the finale except the driver actually matters there since Paxton was the driver. It is as if Paxton got up on his feet, said to the driver not to worry about it and pointed at Devi saying he's gonna put all of the blame on her. Basically, it's as if the driver of the car was just a plot device for having Paxton's swimming career ruined, but that's not how things work. If you are injured in a vehicular accident, especially in this case, the driver of the vehicle is at fault. The fact that the show twists it into being Devi's fault is ludicrous and beyond just the label of bad storytelling.
And the reason this really bothers me is because as I said, the narrative is also pushing all of this to be Devi's fault. So throughout this entire season, Devi bears the guilt of Paxton's injury and starts off by doing his work for him, then tutoring him, then also has to deal with Paxton blaming him when he fails an exam. She stands up for herself at that moment, but only because she's going through a mix of other things right at that literal moment. She feels bad about standing up to him but it's not like he didn't deserve it. Devi did say she would help him the weekend before that test but she was otherwise occupied. What does Paxton decide to do? Get high. So whose fault is it that he failed? Whose actions should be held accountable for it?
4. And there are other choices Paxton makes that are questionable as well. Like his best friend, Trent. This dude was already laughably despicable to me in the first season but season 2 just makes him irredeemable for me. If him asking Eleanor to dance was the show's way of portraying how he could be a decent kid, it's way, way too late for me. Fuck this kid. In season 1, he dipped his genitals in a punch that people were drinking out of because he thought it was a funny prank. In this season, he rubbed another student's toothbrush between his buttocks as a prank. These are just throwaway parts of the script that are I guess supposed to be funny, but none of that shit was funny to me. All it is is telling me this is a horrible fucking kid and questionable as fuck that Paxton loves him. When Devi shows up to Paxton's room for their date, Trent throws something at her and another friend makes a joke about it. Paxton tells them to knock it off but other than that he doesn't seem to care that much, and I'm pretty sure his friends continued to insult her while she was there.
5. Again, with Paxton...this guy is supposed to be really popular, right? So he's gone on other dates before and he claims this is always how his dates are. At home with his friends and then when his friends leave, he and his date hook up. I don't know, that whole thing sounds really bizarre to me especially as a first date, but if I were Devi, if seeing that my date's friends were present weren't enough to make me turn around, having them throw something at me and insult me as I show up would've just made me be like it "fuck it, fuck this date" and walk away. Others have already pointed it out in this thread, but I don't know what the showrunners were thinking casting someone in their late 20s (who is now 30) as a 16 year old. The actor looks his age and I think Hollywood really should cut it out thinking audience will be able to watch the show and not be distracted by the actors' ages when portraying teenagers. It doesn't always work. If you want a teenage character, get a teenage actor. I feel the same way about Ramona Young who plays Eleanor. Last season, it really looked like her mother was her older sister.
6. Others in this thread have also pointed out the islamophobia in the show, and I felt a subtle hint of it in the new season with the introduction of Aneesa. It is revealed eventually that she has an eating disorder and it can all be traced back to her parents being strict Muslims, which reflects badly on the faith (again). And that's really all that Aneesa's faith has to do with her character, which is fine - the character doesn't have to be religious, it's just disappointing that her religion is basically only relevant as the crux of her health problem.
But on the subject of Aneesa...is it really a coincidence that she fell for the same boy that happened to be Devi's ex? I don't hate Ben as a character, but I really don't see what's drawing or attractive about him that all, unless both of these brown girls or especially Aneesa since we don't know that much about her feel like they need to be dating someone outside their culture namely someone that's white. It's strange enough that Devi is literally the only other brown girl at her school but outside of Kamala's ongoing relationship, the show doesn't really touch upon first generation South Asian American dating. And even Kamala's relationship technically isn't first generation, but I guess she is kind of the same generation as Devi in their family. In fact, the only Indian American character I ever remember being on this show was Parvesh. He had one scene in the entire show, but for me it was a memorable scene and left an impression on me because Devi was friends with him and looked up to him. What message is this show trying to send by having the only other Indian student be interested in the same person as the protagonist?
7. This brings me back to criticizing Devi even more. After shamelessly making a rumor about Aneesa and then having it spread then have someone else take the fall for it and then being caught as the culprit and only then being sorry about it, she gets suspended from school. Ben convinces her she needs to apologize to Aneesa, but she decides to do this by throwing on a show going back to school. First of all, again with breaking the suspense of being a tv show...I'm pretty sure if a student shows back up to school during their suspension period, that they get into even more trouble for it. Devi does it twice and it doesn't even matter. You might as well have not even had her suspended because all that seemed to do was setup a potential romance between Kamala and Kulkarni.
8. But dude...as one YouTube reviewer said, Aneesa forgave Devi way too quickly and easily. Devi's second attempt at apologizing was not unlike her first. She snuck into school a second time, and purposely drew the attention of everyone in the vicinity again. But her method was to just point out her own flaws as the "crazy Devi." It's almost like her trying to soften the blow and making it less bad that she started a rumor about Aneesa, rather than her trying to sincerely apologize to Aneesa. After this though Aneesa doesn't remain an important character anymore besides episode 8. I did like Kulkarni's advice to Devi on how to get over Ben, but the finale makes me feel like it still won't be enough.
9. Before getting to the finale though, I gotta say I do feel for Devi's mother. From the trailer alone in the OP, the way Nalini and Common looked at each other, I could kinda tell it was an implied romance. Nalini does deserve happiness but I do think going into a relationship still may be too soon. Maybe, or maybe I'm wrong and it was enough time that passed. But ultimately, it was due to Devi's stalking and being caught for stalking that ended the relationship. That's what she tells him when she shows up to his office to break it off, but honestly...would she have ended it if she didn't catch Devi soaking wet on his property on their date? I guess it happening could have been a wakeup call to her, that that is how her daughter is and continuing a relationship was going to be problematic - on top of the fact that she was lying to her daughter about it too. I just think, perhaps she would have maintained the lie if Devi wasn't stalking her.
10. But I liked that Nalini was a main character, not just a supporting character and they also brought in Devi's grandmother as a new supporting character. Honestly, we all kinda knew that the "moving to India" thing was not gonna happen, but I was starting to accept it. It would have been cool to have a season 3 in a completely different setting. But I guess Nirmala brought some of that setting home to California.
11. Now getting to the finale, first off with Kamala. I was already not liking the way Prashant was talking to her sometimes, but it seemed like she was not into him before that too. Honestly I was wondering if Steve would be back too given that guy had absolutely no character development at all. However, it is times like this where I say that communication is almost always the key to problem solving. When Kamala gets the hint that Prashant was bringing his family over to propose, she gets a change of heart and goes to Devi's high school dance to meet Kulkarni.
But...why couldn't she have called Prashant in the interim and ask him if his intention was to propose? if she was feeling like it's too early (which she explicitly says), then she could have told him. And if the argument is that it's not right to abruptly put a stop to a plan like that, my argument then becomes: isn't what Kamala ended up doing worse? Just leaving in the middle of dinner? I feel like that it is going to end in embarrassment when she could have just told him that it's happening too fast before they showed up. And if Prashant would have pushed back on it, then it would have been one clear indication to her that maybe they aren't right for each other. Like I said: communication is key. Lack thereof creates more problems that need to be solved.
12. The other part of the finale is Devi and Paxton finally getting official. But just like Ben, I really don't find much to like about Paxton to be honest. His reasoning for keeping his relationship with Devi private is because she cheated on him. Well I can understand you not wanting to date her anymore after that, but you do want to date her so your choice of not going public is to protect your image which is also selfish even if it isn't equally selfish to Devi's choice to cheat. But they do end up together which makes Ben jealous so the end of the love triangle isn't here. But why does it have to come down to one of these two boys? I read somewhere online that Paxton was originally supposed to be 100% white and that would have made it all the more bothersome that Devi is always just falling for someone who is white. There is nothing wrong with dating outside of your culture of course, but there are times with Devi just straight up resent her own culture as well so it's weird what I'm reading from the show's messaging. It just feels like part of the reason she is only interested in white boys is because she inherently resents being Indian sometimes; hell she initially and naturally is jealous of Aneesa at first glance simply BECAUSE she is a new Indian girl.
13. The best part of this season for me was the character development of her two other best friends though, Fabiola and Eleanor. I think I'd go so far as saying that Fabiola is my favorite character. I like the arc that she went through, but the only thing that bothered me was her not standing up for herself. She makes it right by the finale, but there was one scene where Sasha forces her out of her robotics club meeting for another endeavor. But that isn't fair to Fab, they all agreed only one week of no robotics because it's really important to her. I wanted her to stand up for herself there and say no, I am going to robotics. That's what we agreed and I'm not missing it anymore. I liked seeing Eleanor bond a little more with her (soon to be?) stepmom. In fact the whole thing with Paxton spending time with his grandfather makes me want to see a lot more of all of the parents of the main characters.
There you go, 13 reasons why.
Okay, that was a lot. And I don't blame anyone for not wanting to read any of it, hahahaha
I'll try to keep it spoiler-free. My partner and I finished up S2 last night (and the Trixie and Katya "I Like To Watch" episode on it, btw worth watching) and I think this season was entertaining in the moment, but when I sat down and thought about it the logic doesn't quite hold. I think a lot of this comes from Mindy Kaling's view of romcoms that... I dunno, feels kinda fair in some ways but also kinda not great too...
Things that I continue to love about this show...
- Niecy Nash continues to be my MVP character. Every scene with her is solid.
- Devi's mom's story. This felt honest, had some good payoffs, and left me hoping to see more.
- Aneesa is a great character. I really like Megan Suri as a performer and despite some weird/uneven conclusions to some of her stories, I hope she'll be around in the third season.
- Narration game was on point throughout the entire season.
- Fabiola continues to make me smile every scene she's in. As a queer nerd of a certain age, I watch this show and think about how lucky nerdy queer youth are to have a character like this. I also think about and appreciate how the issues and struggles that a young person like this deals with today look very different from the ones I faced when I was that age. Sure, it's not the deepest or most emotionally rich content the show has to offer, but it's a character that feels so different from the other "queer bestie" characters on tv today.
Things that I didn't really like...
- Ben vs. Paxton wore out its welcome as a plotline. I'm ready for Devi to care about something other than a boy's attention.
- Kamala's stories were extremely predictable and writers didn't exactly do anything inspected with them.
- Why is Devi blamed for [thing that happened to] Paxton? Nobody pushed back and asked him how he should be responsible for his own actions? Really??? :/
Overall, an okay-ish season. Maybe a little on the disappointing side since I had a lot of fun watching/remembering the first. I hope that a third season is a little less "Bridget Jones" in terms of its wacky hijinx and little more thoughtful/emotionally driven like My So-Called Life.
Is it creepy how this show presents Paxton? Absolutely. Does Devi really earn her redemptions through apology? Personally speaking, not really. But if I "turn my brain off" and imagine patches for plot holes, I can roll with it. Problem is that some audiences will not be able to roll with this stuff if it's something that reflects their life experiences and the show dives into some heavy topics in often shallow ways. I can see how folks would feel as though the show is doing those topics a disservice.
Things that I continue to love about this show...
- Niecy Nash continues to be my MVP character. Every scene with her is solid.
- Devi's mom's story. This felt honest, had some good payoffs, and left me hoping to see more.
- Aneesa is a great character. I really like Megan Suri as a performer and despite some weird/uneven conclusions to some of her stories, I hope she'll be around in the third season.
- Narration game was on point throughout the entire season.
- Fabiola continues to make me smile every scene she's in. As a queer nerd of a certain age, I watch this show and think about how lucky nerdy queer youth are to have a character like this. I also think about and appreciate how the issues and struggles that a young person like this deals with today look very different from the ones I faced when I was that age. Sure, it's not the deepest or most emotionally rich content the show has to offer, but it's a character that feels so different from the other "queer bestie" characters on tv today.
Things that I didn't really like...
- Ben vs. Paxton wore out its welcome as a plotline. I'm ready for Devi to care about something other than a boy's attention.
- Kamala's stories were extremely predictable and writers didn't exactly do anything inspected with them.
- Why is Devi blamed for [thing that happened to] Paxton? Nobody pushed back and asked him how he should be responsible for his own actions? Really??? :/
Overall, an okay-ish season. Maybe a little on the disappointing side since I had a lot of fun watching/remembering the first. I hope that a third season is a little less "Bridget Jones" in terms of its wacky hijinx and little more thoughtful/emotionally driven like My So-Called Life.
There doesn't seem to be much activity about the show on this forum so I don't think you need to keep things spoiler free, but I'll continue to respect it and keep my responses in tags:
I don't know much about Mindy Kaling tbh but is her logic about romcoms supposed to explain the ridiculous things happen in the world of NHIE?
Not sure what you mean about Paxton's presentation being creepy, unless you just mean the age difference in the actors. Because yes, I don't buy that this person is supposed to be 16, at all. Also no, Devi was forgiven way too easily by Aneesa and let's not forget that deep down her intent was to win back Ben. I don't think this show is the type to "turn your brain" off to enjoy, it seems like it is meant to be very relatable. If it's that then the scenarios have to be realistic and they aren't always in this show. I think another review you might like is of imuRgency on youtube
-Fair about Paxton vs. Ben. Not only do I think Devi could do with a completely different and brand new love interest herself but you bring up a great point that with her as the protagonist, she can get into something else besides that entirely
-Honestly I didn't see Kamala's story going where it did so suddenly - there were hints of her attraction to Kulkarni but I didn't think it would culminate immediately in the finale of this show. I did see how unattractive Prashant was started to be to her but not to the point where she would flake out on him at the wrong time
-This is by far my biggest problem with the show, and this season. I already raged out on it in my post above so I won't rehash it, all I'll say is that I agree 100%
I'd say this season is either on par or slightly worse than the first one. The first season had its own issues that I felt, and none of this season really made it any better and added some things that were just ridiculous.
Not sure what you mean about Paxton's presentation being creepy, unless you just mean the age difference in the actors. Because yes, I don't buy that this person is supposed to be 16, at all. Also no, Devi was forgiven way too easily by Aneesa and let's not forget that deep down her intent was to win back Ben. I don't think this show is the type to "turn your brain" off to enjoy, it seems like it is meant to be very relatable. If it's that then the scenarios have to be realistic and they aren't always in this show. I think another review you might like is of imuRgency on youtube
-Fair about Paxton vs. Ben. Not only do I think Devi could do with a completely different and brand new love interest herself but you bring up a great point that with her as the protagonist, she can get into something else besides that entirely
-Honestly I didn't see Kamala's story going where it did so suddenly - there were hints of her attraction to Kulkarni but I didn't think it would culminate immediately in the finale of this show. I did see how unattractive Prashant was started to be to her but not to the point where she would flake out on him at the wrong time
-This is by far my biggest problem with the show, and this season. I already raged out on it in my post above so I won't rehash it, all I'll say is that I agree 100%
I'd say this season is either on par or slightly worse than the first one. The first season had its own issues that I felt, and none of this season really made it any better and added some things that were just ridiculous.
I realize that I am in the minority though. Both season have a 90+% on RT so most people must love it, which is cool. I'm a harsh critic and at this point I am watching the show to support the brown lead actress which we definitely still don't see enough of, and the diverse cast. As many problems as I have with the show, that's always refreshing to see.
I have been watching through this with my GF, we're about hallfway through season 2 and while the show is mostly enjoyable Devi is just so unlikeable. I thought she might have some redeeming arc at some point but she is just relentlessly awful to everyone, family, friends, the boyfriends, classmates, therapist....everyone. I like most of the side characters it's just a shame about the main one.
Never Have I Ever Renewed for Season 3
Netflix has picked up the coming-of-age comedy 'Never Have I Ever,' from co-creator Mindy Kaling, for a third season.
tvline.com
OP
OP
Mindy Kaling’s ‘Never Have I Ever’ Renewed For Fourth & Final Season At Netflix
EXCLUSIVE: Never Have I Ever, the coming-of-age comedy following the life of an Indian-American teen, is returning for a fourth and final season. The series from Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher stars Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Devi, a teenage Indian-American Tamil girl from L.A. Season 3, which just...
www.google.com
OP
OP
View: https://youtu.be/d_N99x0gAAk
Season 3 is out now. I somehow missed that it dropped. Netflix is fucking terrible at advertising.