‘Never Have I Ever’ Season 2 Review: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Is A Goddamn Star In A Richer, Funnier, More Emotional Follow-Up
Never have I ever begun a review in a letter format, but…. Dear Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher, thank you for bringing this show into my life. I don’t exactly know at what point it became my comfort show, which I could binge-watch any time I needed a quick pick-me-up, but ever since my first watch, I’ve been hooked and invested in Devi’s world. It helps that the cast, headlined by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, is so endearing and makes me root for each and every one of their characters. And that the problems in Devi’s life, even though she is an adolescent, still feel relatable enough to draw takeaways from, to me, a 30-year-old woman. Never Haver I Ever Season 2 is here, and it retains all of its best parts, while kicking ‘em up a notch. Season 1 regulars—Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Poorna Jagannathan, Lee Rodriguez, Ramona Young, Richa Moorjani, Darren Barnet, Jaren Lewison, Niecy Nash, Sendhil Ramamurthy and John McEnroe—return. And it adds some interesting new characters to Season 2—Megan Suri, Common, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Tyler Alvarez, Ranjita Chakraverty and P.J. Byrne.
The coming-of-age comedy is created by executive producer Mindy Kaling, with Lang Fisher serving as executive producer, showrunner, and writer. The series is directed by Kabir Akhtar, Lena Khan, Maggie Carey, Anu Valia and Claire Scanlon and written by Kaling and Fisher, as well as Amina Munir, Aaron Gearey, Ben Steiner, Marina Cockenberg, Vance Stringer, Dave King, Asmita Paranjape, Christina Hjelm and Chris Schleicher.
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Also Read: 5 Thoughts I Had After Watching The ‘Never Have I Ever’ Season 2 Trailer: A Messy Lead, A Love Triangle And Competition? Gimme Gimme!
What’s happening in Never Have I Ever Season 2?
I was going to give you a catch-up on Season 1, but my girls, Fabiola and Eleanor, did it for me!
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The biggest question on everyone’s mind in Season 2 is clearly, will it be Ben or will it be Paxton? Will it be warm mushy feels and intellectual stimulation or will it be rock-hard abs and butterflies in the stomach? And trust me, the decision isn’t going to be easy for Devi. Sure, initially she chooses to date both of them, thinking she’d be some kind of Sherman Oaks High School legend if she pulls it off. But we all know how easily situations slip out of Devi’s control. And it’s quite a zig-zag race before she reaches the finish line. Devi has some competition, in the form of a new student, another Indian American, Aneesa, who is way cooler, popular and likeable than her. And she’s snagged Ben’s attention! As for Paxton, is he even ready to be in a public relationship with Devi?
If the trailer led you to believe even for a second that it was going to be just Paxton vs Ben all season long, then let me dispel that delusion for ya. Because Season 2 packs so much more, not just in terms of boy and frenemy drama in Devi’s life, but also the ‘coming-of-age’ bit for Devi and her friends, Fabiola and Eleanor.
Fabiola is out as queer, but dating Eve means getting in with her squad, who’re all super woke and drop pop-culture references faster than Fabiola can ask Gears Brosnan (her robot) what they mean. In a world that lays so much importance on always-on activism and keeping up appearances, can Fabiola keep up? Eleanor seems like she’s over her mother leaving, but when a famous new boy enters her life, she realises her deep-seated abandonment issues are still there underneath.
For both Nalini and Kamala, it is all about the support systems. Will Nalini get the support she is dreaming of from her family back in India? And is Prashant really the right guy for Kamala?
https://youtu.be/FakCjoNnxik
Never Have I Ever Season 2 richly builds on Season 1’s foundations, without rushing character journeys
The show has some pretty interesting characters to play around with and it doesn’t waste that. Nor does it insult the intelligence of its viewers by making these characters do stupid things and blame it on hormones, just to get the story somewhere. As with teenagers so with adults who are set in their ways, it takes time to process or get over their conditioning or habits. So they don’t magically disappear just because you’re the main character and it has to end well for you. Everyone’s actions have consequences that feel real and relatable.
It’s not until the very end that Devi explicitly addresses the issues stemming from watching her father die, like her rage and the loss of her legs before Season 1. Looking at her actions all through Season 2, you’d think those therapy sessions with Dr. Ryan aren’t much help. But if you look closely, you’d see that this is a slightly more mature Devi than the one we met in Season 1. This Devi feels guilt and acknowledges her fault, realises that she has hurt people. And as long as the people in her life ensure that she knows there are consequences to her actions, it feels natural for them to forgive her once she has owned up to her mistake and sought forgiveness (in the right way) for it.
With 10 episodes, there’s enough time to craft some meaningful secondary character sub-plots too, again building on what happened with them in Season 1. And each one of them is just as engaging as what’s happening in Devi’s life. In fact, I thought that every female character on the show seemed to tackle a very quintessential problem that women face. Devi is dealing with the pressure to be the perfect, popular girl that her family, friends and the boys she likes, would like. Fabiola struggled to fit in before, having to hide her sexual orientation. But now that she is out, she has to fit in with the queer crowd too which might not be as easy as it is with her friends. Eleanor has Mommy issues, and it affects her relationships. As for Aneesa, she is the new girl with a secret that affects her physical and mental health.
Kamala learns to be more assertive in the workplace and in her personal life, by channeling some of Devi’s rebellious spirit; I love how she’s constantly letting teenagers (including reel ones from Riverdale in S1!) give her all sorts of epiphanies! As for Nalini, she gets like a lot of Indian women do when their husbands are gone—as if their life’s meaningless and their needs and desires don’t matter anymore. In fact, there’s another new member in Devi’s family, and through her, there’s a subtle jibe at how women’s lives are so overtaken by the thankless job of running a home.
An interesting surprise was Paxton Hall Yoshida. Again, a nice subversion of the hot jock trope here, which lends weight to the character’s actions at the end of the season.
Also Read: Sex/Life On Netflix Isn’t Perfect. But Here Are 5 Things It Got Right About Female Pleasure, Marriage And Friendship
The writing is funnier and that narration is EVERYTHING!
I think I did this in my Season 1 review too. But I would once again like to thank whoever had the brilliant idea of having a grown man and celebrity like John McEnroe narrate the life story of an adolescent girl with boy troubles. To quote Devi, “Do you work at an Apple store? Because you’re a Genius.”
(Psst! Episode 3 has a surprise that is supposedly explosive!)
I’d say Season 1 was more hilarious because of the novelty of having such an unusual narrator. But the writing for Season 2 is definitely funnier, with the familiarity to these characters helping a great deal in making me LOL. The funniest moments aren’t even the most obvious ones, like this one particular shirtless shot of a hunk that made me booth drool because OMG but also laugh because of the way it was shot!
The pop-culture references are so on point, and as someone who drops one in her every second sentence, it makes Devi very relatable to me. At the same time, Fabiola’s utter lack of knowledge brings out the proper FOMO that one is likely to feel when they don’t understand what’s being talked about.
Of course, the laughs wouldn’t have been possible without the cast pulling their characters off so well, which brings me to….
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is a goddamn star, supported by a talented ensemble cast
This cast, both old and new, is *makes a heart sign*
I know that beating some 15,000 girls in an audition to land the part of Devi is already proof that she is good, but Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is GOOD. Her screen presence is something, and she portrays the hot mess that Devi is, with all her vulnerabilities and swagger, effortlessly. She is, in every single way, the star of this show. And while I’d love for Devi to get all she wants, I am really enjoying her journey with all the roadblocks and bumps, thanks to Maitreyi’s performance!
Poorna Jagannathan is another lady we need to talk about, because the way she moms, is the most mom way anyone has mom-ed in a long time! I can actually picture exactly how Poorna as Nalini would react to such a statement if Devi said it, that’s how real her Indian mom act is! And you know how Indian moms are funny even in their anger? Poorna nails that, at the same time, making my emotions well-up when she is sad or disappointed. Richa Moorjani as Kamala is another actor who makes me laugh with her straight-faced dialogues and obsession with food, and I am so excited to see the woman that Kamala grows into.
The men of Never Have I Ever ought to forgive me, because even though I think they’re all awesome (Darren and Jaren and Common <3 ), I just can’t get enough of the ladies, like Lee Rodrigues and Ramona Young, who make me laugh with all their characters’ quirkiness!
Last, but not at all the least, because what is a teen drama without the proper music to go with all those emotions and fashion choices that speak volumes of where the characters are at in their personal journeys.
Also Read: 15 Men Who Are Our Current On-Screen Crushes And Make Us Feel Like.. *Heart Eyes*!
Verdict: Never Have I Ever Season 2 is scrumptious binge!
If you’ve stuck around, you already know how much I love this show. But that doesn’t mean I was ready to blindly discount any shortcomings of Season 2. Fortunately, it didn’t come to that because to me, this season takes the best parts of Season 1 a notch higher. It’s funnier, richer in its sub-plots, puts forth another take on what being an immigrant teenager in America means (not just through Devi), and even delves deep into emotional trauma and what happens when you don’t deal with it. Or that even if you have issues that cause you to make mistakes, it doesn’t make you crazy.
I cried during one of the therapy scenes, and I felt Devi’s confusion in her relationships with Ben and Paxton, because believe it or not, my life right now feels pretty much similar to her’s and the relatability was doubly high. But even if you aren’t at that juncture, you’re still going to have tons of fun watching Devi & Co. this season.
I devoured the season in a scrumptious binge, and I have a feeling you will too!
Never Have I Ever Season 2 will stream on Netflix from Thursday, July 15, 2021.
