Never Have I Ever – Season 3 Episode 1 Recap & Review 

…been slut-shamed

Episode 1 of Never Have I Ever Season 3 starts with Devi Vishwakumar walking into the school hallway with her boyfriend Paxton Hall-Yoshida. The couple had been dating for two weeks but were not able to have sex yet. A flashback reveals how Devi keeps trying to “watch TikToks” anytime Paxton tries to take their make-out session to home base.

Devi is in the girl’s restroom when she hears a few girls talk about her and Paxton’s relationship. They conclude that Devi is a slut which is the only reason why the handsome hunk is with someone like Devi.

Devi’s friends, Eleanor, Fabiola, and Aneesa tell her how cool it was to see her finally walk into the school with Paxton as the couple had all eyes set on them. Aneesa asks Devi if she and Paxton are having sex yet but Devi states that it is imminent for sure.

Paxton’s friend, Trent, tries to impress Eleanor but fails miserably and the girls discuss Eleanor’s relationship with him. Ben Gross, who is dating Aneesa, asks what the girls were talking about and they explain how Devi shocked everyone that morning.

Devi starts rambling about how she and Paxton are really a couple and Eleanor explains how this is the first time all four of the girls will be in relationships at the same time. Just then, Fabiola’s girlfriend Eve walks in and asks to talk.

Eve reveals that she is moving to South Korea and will have to break up with Fabiola. They decide to try the long-distance thing despite the 16-hour time difference. Back at Devi’s house, her grandmother is upset with Devi’s cousin, Kamala, for leaving Prashant stranded when he was about to propose to her.

At school, Paxton tries to strike a conversation with Trent and asks why the latter had been ignoring him. Trent states that seeing Paxton with Devi worries him because of what Devi had left him feeling like in the past. As Devi and Paxton walk out of school hand in hand, she starts doubting herself and wonders if everyone thinks Paxton is dating someone beneath his level.

Later that night, Devi’s mother, Nalini talks to Kamala about her relationship with Devi’s English teacher, Mr. Manish. Kamala states that she isn’t in love with Manish. Upon talking to Nalini, she realizes how Prashant is the right person for her.

The next day, Devi is with her therapist, Dr. Jamie Rya,n who is ready to celebrate Devi’s new relationship. Devi explains her recent insecurities to Dr. Ryan. Dr. Ryan advises Devi to not pay heed to someone else’s way of defining her. She suggests Devi do nothing and ignore the girls that slut-shamed her.

However, Devi ignores that and confronts the girls instead. Devi tells them how she and Paxton were together and that she hadn’t even had sex with him even after dating for two weeks. The girls are convinced that Paxton would soon break up with Devi because Paxton is a “man” who would not be satisfied by third base and watching TikToks alone.

In the hallway, Devi and Paxton decide to go on a date and hang out after. Devi tells Eleanor and Fabiola that she thinks she and Paxton will be having sex later that day. Fabiola is asleep because she stayed up all night FaceTiming Eve whereas Trent tries to burp Eleanor’s name, confusing the trio.

Aneesa calls Ben out for trying too hard considering how his grades were already high enough. He explains he wants to go to an Ivy League College like Columbia and Aneesa says she would apply to go there too. Kamala visits Prashant and asks him to take her back. Prashant makes her realize how she likes the idea of marrying him but does not actually want to marry him.

The four girls are in Devi’s room as they prepare for Devi to lose her virginity as Fabiola sleeps. Devi explains how Fabiola’s relationship is unhealthy. She wonders if she is moving too fast for deciding to have sex with Paxton. Aneesa says that she too isn’t having sex with Ben yet because she isn’t ready.  The girls try to convince her how she can do other things with him that do not involve sex but she is adamant about doing it.

She goes to Kamala’s room to find better lingerie for the situation when the cousin finds Devi. Kamala explains to Devi that if she rushes into the idea of having sex, she could get really emotionally hurt. She tells Devi that she was not ready to marry yet which is why she wasn’t going to marry Prashant, asking her cousin to weigh her options before deciding to have sex with Paxton.

After their date, Devi and Paxton walk back to his house, as he explains how he thought Devi was trying to stall going home with him. At Paxton’s house, they start making out but as soon as Paxton moves forward, Devi seems uneasy.

Paxton stops and explains how he was not going to have sex with Devi because she seems stressed out. Paxton tells Devi that he is okay taking things slow with her. The next day, Devi explains how she and Paxton have decided to take things slow. Eleanor explains that she was ghosted by Trent.

As Mr. Shapiro hands out the quiz result, Fabiola is shocked to learn that she and Trent have the same grade and she decides that she needs to end things with Eve before her grades plummet further down. In the hallway, Trent finally confronts Eleanor and kisses her as he declares they are dating now.

Devi finds the trio that slut-shamed her and tells them that she was going to take things slow with Paxton and asks them to stop talking about her. The girls don’t even remember talking badly about her which makes Devi realize that she does not mean anything to them. This is why their words should not mean anything to her.

At dinner, Devi secretly tells Kamala that she and Paxton did not have sex while Kamala explains to Pati that she had decided to not get married yet. Pati gets angry with Kamala and states that Devi is her favorite granddaughter now.

As Devi is happy to finally be the favorite child at home and  in a successful relationship, she receives an anonymous text. It reads that Paxton is not who Devi thinks he is, warning her to be careful of him.

The Episode Review

The new season of Never Have I Ever is back and from two-timing with Ben and Paxton to being dumped by both of them, to finally dating Paxton, Devi has come a long way. It is exciting to see her finally live her life as a teenager and do the things that girls her age do.

Eleanor and Trent make the most confusing couple ever and I can’t wait to see more of them. Ben and Aneesa seem off as if they are not happy together and it sucks to see that Fabiola had to break up with Eve. Kamala’s journey on the show is reassuring as he is a young woman, eligible and at the right age to get married.

It is great how she has taken charge of her relationship and decided against getting married because she is not ready yet. Despite Pati neglecting her, she seems to be adamant about her choice and would not just marry anyone in order to fulfill the wishes of her family members.