Comedic genius Mindy Kaling is continuing to make audiences laugh with Netflix's hit teen series Never Have I Ever. The series follows an American Indian teenager, Devi, as she navigates her high school life, family, and friends and tries to reckon with past trauma in her life. Devi is portrayed as a relatable teenager trying to find her footing after the death of her father and trying to find herself and her identity in high school.
As Devi grows up and tries to survive high school, she makes countless mistakes and has a dozen awkward encounters with her peers and her family. The secondhand embarrassment many audiences feel while watching Devi figure out her life is proof that she is one of the most relatable characters on television. As such, she has tons of relatable moments that'll have audiences of all ages cringing and reminiscing about their own awkward teen years.
Updated on August 24th, 2022 by Danielle Bruncati: Never Have I Ever just released its highly anticipated third season on Netflix, and it has not disappointed longtime fans. The third season follows Devi through the end of her sophomore year of high school and through the entirety of her junior year. Over this time period, Devi starts to mature and makes a few less awkward mistakes over the course of the season. However, that doesn't mean she's lost her reliability. If anything, Devi's more mature self is even more relatable for fans who are also growing up alongside the beloved teen character.
Healing Her Grief
A major part of Never Have I Ever has always centered around Devi's grief surrounding her father's unexpected death during her freshman year of high school. While the first two seasons focused on the hardship the grief brought her, season 3 saw Devi finally learning to live and cope with her grief in healthier ways.
One of the most relatable moments happens when Devi confesses to her therapist that she feels guilty that she's been so busy having fun that sometimes she forgets to think about her dad. The therapist reassures her that her feelings are valid and are a normal part of grieving and that she doesn't have to sit in her sadness to her father.
Acting Out After Learning She Might Move
After learning both Ben and Paxton are interested in her and that her mother plans to move them back to India, Devi understandably begins acting out. Since she believes she's moving to another country, she sees no problem in secretly dating both Ben and Paxton since she'll have to break up with them both soon anyway because she doesn't want to be in a long-distance relationship.
While not everyone has a moment quite as Devi does, her rash and selfish thinking in the face of a life-changing move is definitely relatable. The may be one of the times Devi was the absolute worst, but who wouldn't jump at the opportunity of dating two boys at the same time in high school after the year Devi has had?
Second Guessing Her Relationships
The only thing Devi wants more than her father back is an epic high school relationship that'll help her rebrand her image. While Devi has plenty of opportunities to have just that, she always finds herself self-sabotaging her relationships.
Most of her relationship insecurity stems from her feeling like she's not worthy enough to date Paxton, despite Paxton reassuring her that he wants her. Not only is it a couple goals moment for the pair, but it's also an extremely relatable moment because most inexperienced people in their first relationship worry they won't be everything the more experienced person is looking for.
Freaking Out When Her Mom Starts To Date
Devi and Nalini have a tough mother-daughter relationship in the wake of Mohan's death that only gets more complicated when Nalini begins to date a coworker behind Devi's back. When Devi begins to suspect her mother is dating again, she decides to stalk her mom and catch her in the act which proves to have disastrous effects.
While not everyone would scale a house and creep through a skylight to catch their mom on a date, Devi's anger and upset at her mom moving on so fast is a very real, relatable moment for viewers.
Making Bad Choices
Devi gets a lot of criticism from casual viewers of Never Have I Ever for being reckless and impulsive, but she's a teenager going through one of the worst losses of her life, so it's understandable that she's going to make some major mistakes in her healing and growing up processes. In fact, she's one of the most authentic teen characters on television, which is what makes so many moments of her relatable.
From spending $80 on a cake to celebrate her finally getting a boyfriend to being a tad selfish to confronting her internet troll instead of ignoring her, Devi is living the true Gen-Z teenage experience. She may be a flawed teen character but that's why fans love her so much
Her Disguise At School
Devi learns that her lie to her friends about having sex with Paxton has become public knowledge. He's understandably upset with her for telling others they had sex when they hadn't and he's confused as to why she would spread the rumor.
When she gets back to school, Devi assumes everyone will know so she puts on a disguise consisting of sunglasses and a hoodie. It's a funny and relatable moment because most would probably grab this makeshift disguise as well.
Fighting And Reconciling With Her Mom
Devi fights and rebels against her mom, Nalini, throughout the series and has a difficult time understanding her after Mohan's death.
Devi and Nalini truly go on a journey throughout the first season of this show as they fight and eventually have an emotional reconciliation by the end of the season and it's a very relatable relationship. Families have arguments, but as long as there is love and caring between them they can usually reconcile.
Pretending She's Fine
Devi has been through terrible traumas recently after her father died suddenly of a heart attack and she becomes paralyzed after the shock.
Thankfully her paralysis is temporary, but still, Devi has been through traumatic experiences, and yet she pretends that she is fine when discussing her life with her therapist. This is a relatable response as most people want the facade of being strong and might be hesitant to discuss their hardships.
Repressing Memories
It's obvious that Devi is holding in resentment and anger she has toward her mother and her true sorrow after her father's death. But it's not until one of the later episodes that Devi shares one of her darkest memories with the audience where her mother says Devi is no child of hers.
It's a heartbreaking moment and relatable that Devi wouldn't want to think about this and instead repress the memory.
Overthinking Everything About Paxton
Devi has an infatuation with Paxton, an older boy at her high school, and when she starts interacting with him she overthinks every single move of his and everything he says.
The audience is treated to her analysis in the voiceover from John McEnroe. This is an incredibly relatable trait of Devi's as most tend to over-analyze every move of a crush and their love life.
