In season two episode two of Netflix’s Never Have I Ever, titled “…thrown a rager,” Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) is playing with fire as she secretly dates two guys in an epic love triangle with Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet, Family Reunion) and Ben Gross (Jaren Lewison, Tag). A tad ambitious, but she seriously thinks she can pull this off. Besides, she’s moving to India at the end of the month, so what’s the worry, right?
Devi is juggling her love triangle so well that she literally has to ice her lips at the end of the night because of how sore they are from kissing two boyfriends. Icing. Her. Lips. Pretty impressive (and hilarious) stuff. It’s this kind of exaggeration that keeps the comedy thick throughout the entire episode. Sure, it’s a little unrealistic that she could be making out with Paxton in the hallway without Ben ever noticing, but it’s this kind of fabrication that makes for really entertaining television.
Devi and her two best friends, Fabiola Torres (Lee Rodriguez, Grown-Ish) and Eleanor Wong (Ramona Young, Man Seeking Woman), put everything on the line when Devi decides to throw a party at her house while her mother is away. The problem? Both of her boyfriends are accidentally invited. Uh oh. As one can imagine, this does not end well. Eventually her escapade was bound to explode, and it certainly does as Paxton and Ben finally realize she’s been cheating. Devi’s devious plan crumbles. In the heat of rage, Paxton runs to his truck to leave the party and gets hit by a car. Fortunately, that kid is built like a machine and survives with just a broken arm.
Never Have I Ever has a way of taking it’s feel-good comedy comfort zone and flipping it on it’s head in an instant. One moment, we’re laughing along with Devi in her mischievous adolescent splendor, and the next we’re crying as she comes to reality with the pain she’s inflicted on others. She’s always been a little lost and grasping for distractions. Last season, we saw her try to cope with the grief of losing her father by not acknowledging her pain and pushing it way deep down. Now, we’re seeing that she has grown, but grief is a long process that doesn’t fade away overnight. She looks to her father’s voicemails for comfort after the party and is reminded that she still has a lot of healing to do.
Overall, this episode was full of fun, playfulness, and emotion. It had a little bit of everything and will leave you excited for more. With Devi in the spotlight, anything can happen.
All ten episodes of season two are now streaming on Netflix.
Rating: 9.5/10