Never Have I Ever Season 3 Review: Growth (and More Boys) Is the Theme of a Season of Change

Toward the end of Never Have I Ever's third season, now high school junior Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) is on the precipice of making a big life decision. It's one that dares her to reexamine the dream life she's been pursuing since we met her back in Season 1 — date the hottest guy at Sherman Oaks High, become popular, go to Princeton. While it's scary for her to imagine a different life for herself, her therapist, Dr. Ryan (Niecy Nash), tries to point out that your dreams should change along with you: "Are you still the same Devi you were freshman year?" Regardless of what Devi decides, she knows she's not the same person she was — and Season 3 of Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher's coming-of-age comedy makes sure we know it, too. Write it up on the chalkboard in big capital letters: The name of the game this season is "growth."

Now, let's not get too crazy — for better or worse, Never Have I Ever's new season offers more of the same as its last two outings. It's not a surprising show, but rather a comfortingly consistent one. It remains smart and funny, with a killer cast that can deftly maneuver between the fast-paced comedy and the poignant, heartfelt moments. But also like its two previous seasons, Season 3 can be stuffed with so many storylines that several end up feeling rushed or underutilized. That big decision that Devi has to make? That could easily provide tension for the entire back half of the season; instead, it's all relegated to one episode. Never Have I Ever has always had a problem with letting things breathe enough for some layered development, and that remains an issue in these new episodes.

7.8

Never Have I Ever Season 3

at Netflix

Like

• Still nails that smart mix of funny and heartfelt
• Provides some well-earned moments of character growth
• Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Poorna Jagannathan's mother-daughter duo remains a strong emotional center

Dislike

• An overload of storylines leaves some underdeveloped and some characters underutilized
• The first half of the season retreads some old conflicts

But just because the mechanics of the show don't change, it doesn't mean the writers haven't allowed their characters to take some well-earned steps forward in their arcs. Devi's still as horned up as ever, juggling feelings for her dream guy, hot jock Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet) — who, as the season opens, is now her official boyfriend — her academically inclined nemesis-turned-love-interest Ben Gross (Jaren Lewison), and, just to make things extra interesting this season, new guy Des (Anirudh Pisharody), who hilariously is a perfect blend of Paxton and Ben. 

Despite all of these options — or perhaps because of them — Never Have I Ever wisely uses this season to push Devi toward understanding what Dr. Ryan (like most well-adjusted adults) has been telling her all along: Having a boyfriend won't solve her problems. Devi slowly begins to realize that she needs to love herself before she lets anyone else love her, and a lot of that is tied into not just accepting herself, but also accepting how her grief over the sudden loss of her father (Sendhil Ramamurthy) has changed her (Never Have I Ever remains one of the best depictions of grief on TV). They're baby steps, but they are authentic ones that should set Devi up for a lovely conclusion in the show's already announced fourth and final season. 

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There are several other satisfying moments of character growth built up throughout the season, particularly when it comes to both of Devi's main love interests. Barnet's Paxton especially gets a bigger, brighter spotlight put on him this go-around (prepare to get emotionally invested in the epic bromance that is Paxton and Trent [Ben Norris], or "Traxton"), and he and Devi have a moment toward the end of the season that feels so full-circle and so mature, it's hard not to tear up just thinking about how proud I am of those two dummies. Lewison's Ben, too, finally deals with some of his insecurities head-on in what feels like a little table setting for Season 4.

But as always, the best example of Never Have I Ever pulling off well-earned emotional payoff has to do with Devi and her mother, Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan). If the first two seasons of the show were about these two confronting and starting to work through their issues, Season 3 puts all of that work to the test, and both women are given the chance to express their feelings for one another in lovely, heartfelt ways. It's a testament to both the writing and the chemistry between Jagannathan and Ramakrishnan that three seasons in, their mother-daughter duo remains the heart and soul of this series.

Premieres: Friday, Aug. 12 on Netflix (10 episodes)
Who's in it: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Poorna Jagannathan, Jaren Lewison, Darren Barnet, Richa Moorjani, Ramona Young, and Lee Rodriguez
Who's behind it: Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher (creators)
For fans of: Teen rom-coms, love triangles, being Team This Guy or Team That Guy
How many episodes we watched: 10 out of 10