Never Have I Ever is a coming-of-age comedy-drama TV series created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher. The series stars Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Poorna Jagannathan, Darren Barnet, Ramona Young, and Lee Rodriguez, alongside other cast members. Never Have I Ever season 3 has 10 episodes, each with a runtime of around 30 minutes.
The official Netflix synopsis for Never Have I Ever reads:
After a traumatic year, an Indian-American teen just wants to spruce up her social status – but friends, family and feelings won’t make it easy on her.
– Never Have I Ever Season 3 Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
Never Have I Ever comes back with season 3, and we jump into Sherman Oaks High School to get up close and personal with some serious gossip and cleaning up messes in Devi’s life. After two seasons, we are quite used to Devi’s chaotic and messy life and quite fond of how lightening fast she makes the worst decisions and eventually regrets it too much. We know it, we love it, and we relate to it because, well, that’s a young adult for you.
So, in Never Have I Ever season 3, all of our high schoolers are going through their relationships – the biggest point of contention in any teenager’s life! As hormones flare up and leave behind burns for everyone, they go through trials and errors to find a somewhat perfect balance.
Never Have I Ever is our campy, coming-of-age TV show that we all love to watch. Devi isn’t brash and arrogant anymore, but she’s a hot mess. She always was, but the thought that her relationship can fix her life problems pushes her to do some very cringy things, and the lack of self-respect doesn’t help.
Never Have I Ever season 3 goes through the ups and downs of teenage romance and the nasty problems that we conjure up for ourselves. Most of it is in our heads, and the series never makes the mistake of saying otherwise. It’s interesting to see all of our characters trying to understand the problems at hand once more and learning something after making several fatal decisions.
The theme of this season seems to be relationships and what these characters make of them. And, it’s not just romantic relationships, Never Have I Ever season 3 focuses on the various kinds of relationships out there. Although we love watching Devi being a bumbling fool, I think it’s just so interesting to watch the others in the show figuring their lives out as well.
Like, every person in the show has their own problems to deal with, and (shockingly) they are very age appropriate! Can you imagine an adult not acting like a spoilt little child? Jokes aside, I loved watching Kamala and Nalini’s problems and the way that they solve them, which are so different from Devi’s yet, in a way, somewhat similar as well. Nalini is just so great – not a lot of casual violence but a lot of sweet advice and emotional moments.
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Devi’s relationship with Paxton and Ben, on the other hand, is a different kind of complicated and very appropriate for 16-year-olds. She gets through the highs and lows of managing her expectations and those around her while meandering down twisty roads to understand what it is that she truly wants. It’s, as usual, nice watching her but also mildly infuriating.
The casual racism she herself imparts on Indians is great and talks about the dichotomies of Indians in general. Do we hate on other Indians to sound cool in front of others, or do we be normal and not judge anyone by their skin colour? Well, that’s a tough question! However, that’s the brilliant thing when Mindy Kaling is one of the creators – she makes these very real things come to the screen in such a relatable and fun way that it all makes sense in an infuriating way but doesn’t make you want to die of cringe.
Other than Devi, we again get some great Paxton and Ben moments in the show. Sure, they aren’t the focus of this “messy” show, but the little moments here and there about them, their lives and their relationships are great. Ben gets his own episode, complete with a very funny Andy Samberg (who is always a plus) and a very funny and emotional situation. The bromance is great as well, and we love to see them helping each other out from time to time.
The cultural context of Never Have I Ever is what makes it so great – it’s American, obviously, but the Indian context and the struggles of being one outside of the subcontinent come with their own challenges and the series, as usual, brings forth those struggles with ease and a few laughs. Devi is the usual teenager, but she struggles so much because she’s walking on two planks at the same time. It’s difficult to manoeuvre those roads, especially when she’s been through so much trauma. Now that Devi is older, she’s starting to heal slowly and learning to live the grief of her dad’s passing. But, of course, that comes with its own complicated feelings that feel burdensome for, basically, a child.
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The series tells us these things in emotional and sympathetic bursts where we understand Devi’s confusion and vulnerability. She’s not a bad person (most of the time), but you understand why she acts out so much. Its sympathetic approach to Devi’s stupidity is what makes it so special and relatable – you understand teenagers’ problems a bit better through them.
As per usual, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is fantastic as Devi Vishwakumar – she’s so vulnerable and plays that part with so much care. Sometimes I feel like she is Devi; she’s that good. Meanwhile, Poorna Jagannathan as Nalini is fantastic and is the mother every Indian wishes they had – but then again, that’s the mother we all mostly have, so you know. Nalini is more understanding of the two youngsters in her family this time around, becoming softer now that their grandmother lives with them. Her change of ways works so well for the family dynamics but don’t worry, she’s still strict – that’s just the rule.
Darren Barnet and Jaren Lewison come back as Paxton and Ben to share some bromance, figure out their relationships with themselves and then find out how not to overdo it. Of course, understand and accept their changing relationships with Devi as well, but I feel like that’s not the point in the show, and I am glad that they aren’t stuck with just being “those guys whom Devi dated.”
Summing Up: Never Have I Ever Season 3
If you want to understand how complicated and mental Indian families can get and have been following Devi’s journey to a peaceful life, then Never Have I Ever is the perfect entertainer for you. It’s sweet, emotional and very fast, just like Devi and her various relationships. The show is rooted in its roots (yeah, fine) but branches out to not keep itself in a specific box.
And just like Devi, it’s a delightfully crazy ride.
Never Have I Ever is streaming on Netflix. Season 3 will release on August 12.
Also Read: Netflix’s Never Have I Ever Season 2 Review: Just Gets Better