Never Have I Ever 3: Mindy Kaling’s teen comedy goes off the rails, loses its heart and soul due to bland jokes

There was something particularly endearing about the first two seasons of Never Have I Ever. Seeing a flawed Indian teen navigate the culturally different American high school, come to terms with losing her father and deal with intergenerational trauma struck a chord with Indians and the NRIs who have found themselves in a similar situation at some point in their lives. Season 3 of Mindy Kaling ’s teen comedy, however, fails to keep up with the rather high precedent set by the show in its first two seasons. It fizzles out due to repetitive plot and bland jokes.

When Will Devi Come Of Age?

Never Have I Ever characters have had 180 degree transformations. Paxton, who came across an inconsiderate high school jock and an object of lust for women in season 1, is now a mature man who is mindful about the feelings of women in his life and has also found a purpose. Ben, who was earlier obsessed with being the best at everything and was condescending, is now taking stock of things that really matter in life. Even Nalini, who was extremely strict with Devi in season 1 is now allowing her daughter to date boys her age and explore options. Both Fabiola and Eleanor, too, have their own relationships which they navigate through season 3.

As a result, it becomes even more frustrating for the fans of the show to see everyone but the protagonist of the show, Devi evolve. She is still prone to the insecurities and jealousies that plagued her in the first season. Devi is a flawed character who has vices but one would expect the protagonist of the show to undergo some sort of character development at the end of 3 seasons but that doesn’t really happen. While other characters blossom and come into their own, Devi is still stuck where she was in season 1. That, in addition to other factors, is one of season 3’s biggest problems.

Bland, Repetitive Plotlines

On paper, Never Have I Ever 3 has everything right - the conflict between Kamala and Pati who doesn’t approve of the former’s boyfriend is like a pandora’s box which the makers should have used to make a comment on how Gen Z Indian kids struggle to accept their parents’ authority and the parents, who after having made the same mistakes in their life, don’t want their kids to repeat them. The arc could have been used efficiently to have gut-wrenching emotional moments in addition to some laughs but is instead wasted with bland jokes and shoddy writing. The one where Kamala decides to move out into a studio apartment miserably fails to impress.

Nalini’s arc of embarking on an adventure to find more friends and eventually failing could have also served as an engaging plot line on how single Brown mothers cope with loneliness but doesn’t really hit the spot. It seems that the vision of the showrunners and their goals were correct - it was the execution which didn’t quite work and the end result was a bland dish with little to no flavour.

There are also several conflicts and storylines in the show which literally serve no purpose in the grand scheme of things. Conflicts are created and then resolved without much effort on the part of characters. Fabiola and Aneesa kiss in what might seem the beginning of a same-sex relationship which comes crashing when the two realize they aren’t compatible. Devi also briefly dates Des, an Indian boy, only for them to split later. What purpose do these two conflicts serve - is frankly not known.

The Overdone Love Triangle

Never Have I Ever had already overplayed and frankly exhausted the ‘will they, won’t they’ trope and the love triangle between Ben-Devi-Paxton. Over the course of the first two seasons, we see Devi struggle to choose between the two. It seemed that the love triangle had run its course and the showrunners would come up with a fresh storyline to keep the viewers hooked. It was rather disappointing to see the writers try even harder to land Devi in a love triangle in season 3, except this time, there is an Indian guy Des in the mix too. Of course, the love triangle is a classic conflict in a teen comedy which is a source of laughs and humour. It also opens up the possibility of the characters to grow and evolve. But milking the love triangle trope can only go so far.

In season 3, seeing Ben-Devi-Paxton-Dev go back and forth with their feelings is almost frustrating and at some points, one cannot help but yell ‘makeup your mind!’ at their screen in hope of knocking some sense into the characters and therefore, the showrunners.

The Show Loses Its Indianness

It seems the makers of Never Have I Ever tried hard to appeal more to the American Netflix viewers than playing on their strengths and showing a clumsy, flawed Indian teenager navigating through life. It is ironic that a show which was meant to appeal to Desis and eventually shot to fame for precisely the same reason, tries terribly hard to be a Western teen comedy and in the process, loses its heart and soul which set it apart from run-of-the-mill comedies with no substance.

While we see several references to Indian festivals like Navratri and there are some (not very convincing) instances where Desi struggles are portrayed on screen, they don’t really seem authentic. It seems as if they were just put in there to carry forward what the show is already famous for while trying to broaden its horizons and appeal to a larger section of the audience. Barring the finale, there aren’t many hard-hitting and emotional moments in the season either. These emotional moments and realizations beautifully summed up the entire season 1 and 2 in their respective finales and gave us much-needed closure and catharsis. However in the third season, they aren’t half as convincing and miss the mark by a long shot.

All in all, Never Have I Ever suffers from the third season curse and fails to live up to the rather high precedent set by the show itself. Given that the fourth season is final, here’s hoping that the showrunners are successful at making the show regain its former glory.

Deepansh Duggal is an entertainment, pop-culture and trends writer based in New Delhi. He specializes in op-eds based on the socio-political and gender issues in the world of entertainment and showbiz. He also writes explainers and occasionally reviews shows in the OTT space. He tweets at @Deepansh75. 

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