The much-awaited Season 3 of Never Have I Ever has been on Netflix India’s Top 10 TV shows since it started streaming on August 12 and with good reason. Created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher, the comedy drama series follows Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) as she goes through high school and life generally after the death of her father. Here’s why Season 3 has us excited and what to expect from the fourth and last season of the show.
Enter, desi boy
One of the things to look forward to in Season 3 was the entry of a desi boy who would sweep Devi off her feet, but the sparks don’t really fly between our girl and Nirdesh (Anirudh Pisharody) though they embark on a romance.
Nirdesh, who’s “not a dork” and is all set for medical school, seems more of a rebound romance for Devi, who’s trying to get over her breakup with the school heart-throb Paxton (Darren Barnet). However, there are some cute moments between the two with Devi and Nirdesh trying to steal a kiss with their moms around, or them getting into a one-upmanship at the inter-school debate competition.
The moms and a momma’s boy
Devi’s mother Nalini Vishwakumar (Poorna Jagannathan) makes a new friend, Rhyah (Sarayu Blue), the mother of Nirdesh. A single mom with a successful career who’s still grieving her husband’s death, Nalini begins to open up to Rhyah. But Rhyah soon proceeds from being a supportive bestie to a show-off and then an annoyance. Rhyah disapproves of her son’s fondness for Devi and Nirdesh begins to distance himself from Devi under her influence, going from hot BF to cold-hearted ex.
Nirdesh exits the season with an apology to Devi, leaving room for his comeback in Season 4.
Paxton: Not just a school hottie
The first two seasons of Never Have I Ever saw Devi trying to win over the school hottie Paxton Hall-Yoshida. This time the two become the talk of the school as a couple, before Devi’s insecurities about Paxton get the better of her, leading to their breakup.
As he graduates from high school and gets ready for college, Season 3 shows a massive growth curve in Paxton, possibly to make up for his absence next season. He apologises to his exes, realises that he wants more than just a good-looking partner, helps Devi’s ex Ben Gross (Jaren Lewison) during his medical emergency, offers one of Devi’s best friends Fabiola Torres (Lee Rodriguez) relationship advice and shares tender moments with his best friend Trent Harrison (Benjamin Norris).
Nalini and Devi: Mom and daughter’s changing bond
By the end of Season 3, Devi realises that she needs to focus on the one constant relationship that she would miss when she goes to college — her
mom. Nalini transforms from an overbearing, sometimes unreasonable, mother to a more supportive figure. She lets Devi date Nirdesh and has her back when Rhyah comes to her to complain about Devi.
Both mother and daughter lost their best friend when the patriarch Mohan Vishwakumar (Sendhil Ramamurthy) died. They finally realise that they have to fill that space in each other’s lives with Mohan gone. Season 4 should have a more engaging mother-daughter track, as Devi will be leaving home for college and Nalini will need to move on in her personal life too.
Back to Ben
It takes Devi getting dumped by Paxton and ghosted by Nirdesh to realise that it’s Ben who makes her stomach flutter. Ben, too, goes through quite a journey this season --- from a hospital stay that brings him and his dad closer to breaking up with Aneesa Qureshi (Megan Suri) and swallowing up his pride after getting a D in art class. This is a more desirable Ben -- one who is sensitive to Devi’s aspirations and learns to make new friends.
We cannot wait to see where Ben and Devi’s relationship goes from here. But things are sure to get complicated since Ben is about to take his art class tutor Margot (Victoria Moroles) on a date before Devi shows up at his door.
