Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) can’t seem to stop making huge social messes. In season two of Netflix’s Never Have I Ever, Devi has managed to cheat on her boyfriends, lie to her two best friends, and start an enormous rumor that was detrimental to her friend Aneesa’s (Megan Suri, Atypical) mental health. Now, in episode seven, titled “…begged for forgiveness,” she has to clean up this mess by planning the perfect apology.
The perfect apology is easier said than done. For Devi, she’s never been good at this. When her two boyfriends found out she had been cheating on them, she showed little remorse. Similarly, when she apologized to Aneesa, she really only wanted Aneesa to forgive her so she could tell the principal to lift Devi’s suspension. Now, she finally wants to make things right in a selfless way but still manages to totally screw up the delivery. Instead of doing something sincere, Devi recruits the entire marching band to do a show in the hallway and parades around with “I’m Sorry Aneesa” signs. It was a hot mess and Aneesa was embarrassed by all the attention. In typical Devi fashion, it totally backfires.
To truly make it up to Aneesa, Devi has to mean every word she says. So, even though she is suspended from school, Devi slips into Sherman Oaks incognito-style so she can find Aneesa and tenderly tell her face-to-face about how regretful she felt. However, this is Devi, so no apology would be complete without a little pomp and circumstance. She stands on top of a couch and proclaims, “There’s no ‘crazy Aneesa.’ I’m the only crazy one,” thus taking the social fall for her actions and receiving Aneesa’s forgiveness.
Meanwhile, Devi’s cousin Kamala (Richa Moorjani, NCIS: Los Angeles) is feeling upset and fired up after she discovers that a scientific paper that was based-off of her research was going to be published in a notable science journal without her name receiving any credit. Not knowing what to do about this, Kamala turns to Devi who offers her some meaningful advice on how to stand up to her sexist co-workers:
“Kamala, you’ve been wronged and it’s ok to demand it be righted. Everyone thinks Asian women will take all kinds of crap, like bow and hand them a cup of tea or some sh*t. You can’t let them.”
Well said, Devi. For someone who sometimes severely stumbles on her words, she certainly nailed it this time.
Kamala sneaks onto her boss’s computer, inserts her name into the credits, and sends it to the publisher. Talk about a bad ass move. When her boss catches her, she stands her ground and walks out of the lab victoriously.
Overall, this episode had a much-needed rise in victorious moments for every character. Things are finally looking hopeful for Devi and Kamala.
Rating: 9.5/10