As I have said before, I do believe that Devi is a good person, she just makes some shitty choices in her life. It’s hard to watch, but I do think that Devi recognizes that she does things that aren’t smart and she does feel bad about them.
We’re in the back half of season two of Never Have I Ever, and I have to say, I feel like I am watching a different show. And I am not saying that in a bad way, I feel like it’s the natural progression of the show, and growth of the characters. Sometimes we need episodes like this – episodes that are bleak as fuck.
The shit that Devi has gotten herself into was very believable and some real high school drama.
Rumors are a part of growing and the high school experience and that sucks. I assume that a lot of us have been the victim of some horrendous rumors in our lives – I know I was. But Devi, being the source of one takes trying to throw people off her scent when the Principal decides that she’s going to track down the source of the rumor.
In an attempt to get everyone off her trail, Devi says that she will conduct the investigation. Only it kind of makes me think twice about what she’s doing – for a moment – because I wonder about how many mistakes that she is making and the feelings of others that she is taking for granted.
Everyone says that working backwards from the person that told Aneesa is the best way to go, but Devi says no. We all know that she doesn’t want it to go that way because all roads lead back to her. It’s only when Eleanor and Fabiola become involved that Devi agrees to do it that way.
And she comes close to getting away with it. Very close. Because the road leads back to Shira and her best friend. The two are disciplined with Devi sitting right there, sitting there and being silent. And this is when I see the Devi that I know. She doesn’t know how to deal with it, because the guilt is eating away at her.
Devi is watching Aneesa get more and more depressed. Aneesa wanted a fresh new start and what she’s gotten has made things worse. When she tells Devi, Eleanor, and Fabiola about her anorexia and opens up, Devi tells her the truth. That it was her that started the rumor accidentally.
While I feel for Devi and her pain, the look on Aneesa’s face is what hit me so hard I felt the breathe exit my body. Aneesa has been in a lot of mental pain, but finding out that she was betrayed by Devi is a pain she didn’t expect. She liked Devi, she trusted her, and she’s shown that she is not the person that she through she knew.
Everyone leaves, as they should have. I mean I would have cussed a person out and if I was still a teenager, probably started a shitty rumor about them. I didn’t say I was a good kid, so you probably shouldn’t judge me right now.
Aneesa tells the Principal and Devi is called into the office where her Mom is waiting. Shit, things are not looking good. As we see Aneesa walk out, the grief that she is experiencing over the loss of a friend and having to relive the trauma that she wanted to leave behind… it was a lot.
Devi wasn’t able to get out of her suspension and wanted to know why the other girls basically got suspended. Devi doesn’t recognize that her actions were severe – she lied, sabotaged and let someone else take the fall for her actions.
But Devi is so consumed with what this will mean for her future and how it will be on her transcripts. Look, Devi, I know that you are suffering, but you’re really pissing me off with your selfishness. It’s not about you. It’s about someone else. I actually applauded when Aneesa told her off and that she was worse than all of the girls that went to her private school.
Because Devi was being a pretty shitty friend.
And then she proceeds to take it one step further and tells Paxton off (which granted, he deserves, but it probably wasn’t the best thing to do. While I wonder how Devi will ever get out of this, I am also concerned about her overall well being, because it is obvious that things are worse for Devi in her mind than anyone knows.
As per the usual with Never Have I Ever we are also dealing with some secondary storylines. Nalani has reached a common ground with Dr. Jackson that she didn’t expect to. They both attend a retirement party for a mentor and find out so much about each other that makes them take a second look at what they think of the other. I know that she is grieving also, and maybe she’s not ready to move on, but she is allowed happiness. So it’s nice to see her have someone that she can be kind and soft with.
Kamala is having the worst season and if we’re being honest, I want her boyfriend to go and for her to find what makes her really happy. She’s bound by her culture and family expectations, but she’s also human and deserves happiness. At work, her name was left off of a paper that is being published, and she’s the one who found what the paper was being written on. She’s got a bunch of men around her telling her what she can’t do because she’s a woman, instead of building her up. She’s trying to respect the chain of command, but even when the head scientist doesn’t want to hear it – she still remains polite, when most of us would have lost our shit.
I know I would have.
This episode had me feeling for all the women mentioned, as well as Paxton. But what I know about television shows is that things have to get worse to get better and I can’t wait to see all of them come out the other side.
Hopefully.
