I don’t miss being a teenager. When I was a teenager, I was my own worst enemy. As I grew older, I became my own worst critic. Watching Never Have I Ever reminded myself of questionable choices that I made as a teenager and I wanted to fly through the screen and protect Devi from herself.
But that’s the power of Never Have I Ever – it reminds you of the feelings that you thought that you left behind, the things you can’t escape, and the apologies that you left unspoken. It reminds you that words can change everything and communication is something that we all need to work on.
Devi is pissed at Anessa. Granted Aneesa doesn’t know that Ben is her ex, but that doesn’t stop Devi from being bothered at the obvious chemistry between Ben and Aneesa and her plotting how to keep them apart. But we’ve all been there, right? Hating on the person that has the attention of the person that we want to have attention from.
I literally don’t understand why Devi won’t just tell Aneesa that Ben is her ex, but I do think it is because she would then show her feelings and jealousy.
Devi’s therapist, Dr. Ryan, suggests that Devi do something to calm herself when she gets angry and anxious. She’s stressed out. She doesn’t know how to deal with someone crouching in on her territory. But seeing someone move on from you is never easy for anyone. Dr. Ryan tries to help Devi and suggests that when she needs to calm down, to take a breath and listen to some calming music.
For Devi, that means listen to her Dad’s voicemail and I admit, I cry every single time she plays it. But it goes to show that Devi is dealing with grief on a level that we all may not understand. People tend to place a time constraint on grief but we all go through it at our own speed and in our own time.
And we all need to realize that’s okay.
At school, Devi is in trouble, because she’s been not showing up to PE, which means that she’s getting an F. Devi has never gotten an F before and the trauma of the possibility makes her scream. In order to raise her grade, she needs to participate in the 24-hour relay, which means putting together a team. Fabiola and Aneesa automatically agree to join and when Aneesa suggests Ben, Devi looks as though she’s about to slap a bitch.
Devi doesn’t want to do the relay, but has to. Paxton tells her that it’s known as makeout central and he would attend if he could. But he needs to study and that’s when Devi breaks the news that she will be attending.
Paxton will have to study on his own.
At the relay, it really is hookup central and Devi seeing Ben and Aneesa together is driving her crazy. She’s not happy over the situation and will do anything to keep them from being alone. She’s got a whole new level of jealousy going on and seeing her ready to take a friend down to mark her territory, is a whole new level of pettiness – the kind that we all get when puberty and sexual feelings set in.
Her efforts to keep them apart don’t work as we see Aneesa and Ben enter the “Spurt Yurt” and there is nothing Devi can do about it. I wonder though, if it’s that Devi really wants to be with Ben, or if it’s just that she doesn’t like seeing him move on.
Devi freaks out and starts going off about Aneesa, and says some pretty hateful things. The popular girls hear her insinuate that Aneesa is anorexic and when they ask Devi, she reiterates that she probably is, because she’s never seen her eat a thing.
Devi, WORDS HURT. I get fits of anger, we all have them, but no one should ever have things said about their health and body. It’s not okay. And we all know that rumor
Feeling defeated, she goes to sit down, where she runs into Paxton, who is sleeping and as high as a kite. He is happy to see her and says that he will study, but falls asleep on her shoulder.
For a second, I love Devi and Paxton again, but I am over him, guilting her to help him. Every time he shows some prospect of growing up, he shows that he’s not changed at all. That all being said, I do love the chemistry between these two and will root for them a million times over her and Ben.
The rumor that Devi started has made its rounds and she finds Aneesa crying behind a tent. Turns out what Devi said it true and Aneesa is devastated. She left her old school over this. Devi tries to offer comfort, but she also feels a lot of guilt and doesn’t know how to fix it.
The issue for me is that Devi is so wrapped up in her own grief that she didn’t take the time to realize that the words that she says can affect others. One of the best things about Never Have I Ever is that they are able to incorporate grief, growth, and so many real life issues, but I am really going to see some consequences for Devi’s actions.
She went too far.
The secondary story going on in this episode is Fabiola’s. She is nervous about her Mom meeting Eve, and forgets for a second that both of them will be at the relay. Fabiola is so worried about how her Mom comes across being and ally, but what she doesn’t see is that her Mom caring about her is amazing. Eve gets along well with Fabiola’s Mom and it’s great to see.
Fabiola needs to see wins in her life and realize just how great she is, as she is.
This episode brought a lot and set up the back end of the season drama. We’re here for it, but we’re hoping that what we see is Devi course correct and fix the issues that she’s created for others.
But whatever it is – we are here for it all.
Read our reviews of the first four episodes of the season –
- ‘Never Have I Ever’ 2×01: “…Been A Playa”
- ‘Never Have I Ever’ 2×02: “…Thrown A Rager”
- ‘Never Have I Ever’ 2×03: “… Opened A Text Book”
- ‘Never Have I Ever’ 2×04: “…Had An Indian Frenemy”
