Never Have I Ever – Season 4 Episode 8 Recap & Review

…set my mom up

Episode 8 of Never Have I Ever Season 4 starts with Devi feeling oddly calm before seeing the results for Princeton. She decides that she’s not going to fixate on getting into college and had now started to focus on her ongoing texting and flirting with Ben.

As much as she enjoyed flirting with Ben, Devi spots her mother flirting with Margot’s dad. After taking the entire day to process it, Devi tells her friends that she’s okay with her mom dating Andres.

Devi tells Fabiola that she wanted to set her mother up with Andres because she would be lonely and all by herself once she leaves for college. Fabiola also tells Devi that she was looking out for more colleges before she could finally decide on what she wanted to do. The two decide that they should go to prom as a throuple but Eleanor is too engrossed in her phone, reading the script for her new play.

Eleanor shares that she’s having a hard time booking projects as an actress. During dinner, Nalini asks Paati what she wants for her birthday dinner the following night. The group decides to host a small get-together for the family. Kamala is still feeling pessimistic about Len and worries that he’s going to break Paati’s heart.

Nalini tells her that she should focus her attention on work instead. Kamala is persistent that Len is hatching a plan to con Paati out of her money but Nalini tries to knock some sense into her. Devi goes to Nalini’s room and starts talking to her mother about potentially dating Andres. After receiving a pep talk from Devi, Nalini agrees to invite Andres to Paati’s birthday dinner.

The next morning, Andres shows up outside the house and Nalini invites him to dinner. Andres explains that since Margot and Devi have so much history as enemies, it’s only wise to not pursue a relationship as their parents. Nalini accepts the rejection but Devi, who overhears the whole thing, is adamant to fix things by making up with Margot.

At school, Devi talks to Margot about their parents liking each other. Devi tells her that since they’re soon going to go to college, it was only wise to set the two up so they aren’t sad and lonely by themselves. Margot agrees to pretend to be friends with Devi for the sake of her father. In the cafeteria, Trent tells Ben that he did not need to finish his assignments or focus on his grades because he had already gotten into college.

Ben buys Trent’s insane argument and decides he would be taking his foot off the gas by having fun during senior year. At home, Devi and Margot show up together. They tell Andres and Nalini that they had made up. Devi invites Margot and Andres to dinner that evening. Andres accepts the invitation, leaving Nalini speechless.

At dinner, the group chats about how Devi and Margot had made up despite their differences. However, after a while, both teenagers start bonding by joking about the adults. Len gets a call from someone named ‘Baby’ on his phone. Kamala’s doubts are triggered and she follows him to overhear the conversation. The person on the line says that they were going to come to the Vishwakumar house but Len asks them to wait until after he had married Kamala.

At the auditions, Eleanor runs into her mother who was also auditioning for the same role. Her mother, Joyce is glad to learn that Eleanor was following in her mother’s footsteps by becoming an actress. She also hopes that Eleanor will now understand why she chose to live her life the way she had. Eleanor is pissed at her mother for lacking empathy but soon comes to realize that being an actress was not going to be an easy job.

Eleanor decides that she won’t be spending her entire life, trying to be an actress and leaves the audition as Joyce gets the role instead. Back at the Vishwakumar house, Devi and Margot are shocked to see how their parents are getting so close despite their varied interests. The two get talking and Margot claims that Ben has been texting her.

Devi is taken aback by the fact that Ben was texting both her and Margot at the same time. She soon learns that Ben was having a meaningful conversation with Margot but only talked to Devi in memes and jokes. Devi realizes that Ben actually had feelings for Margot just like she had for him. She tells Margot that she’s totally over Ben and claims that Margot should go out with Ben again.

Kamala steals Len’s phone and uses Devi’s help to text ‘Baby’ and invite them over to the house. Meanwhile, Trent and Ben are hanging out together for the first time making an awkward interaction between the two. Trent makes Ben eat some gummies that are laced with drugs. He then asks Ben what his fantasy is. Ben claims that he was having sex dreams about Devi in a BDSM costume.

Trent concludes that this dream could only mean that Ben loves Devi and pushes him to confess his feelings for her. Ben shows up at the Vishwakumar house and is shocked to see Margot there. The gummies suddenly kick in but Margot feels betrayed by Devi. She thinks that Devi and Ben had something going on and that Devi had kept it a secret from her while she vented her feelings.

Ben is totally lost in a world of his own but Devi promises that she wasn’t with Ben. Ben ends up ruining Paati’s birthday cake that Len made her. Suddenly, a woman shows up at the house. Kamala claims that the woman is Len’s girlfriend and that together, they’re trying to con Paati. Paati explains that the woman’s name is Baby and that she’s their Real Estate Agent.

Margot asks to leave with her dad, and Ben tags along with them. Kamala refuses to believe Paati’s excuse and the old woman explains that she’s getting a family vacation condo with Len and is going to surprise the family after their wedding. Nalini calls it a night after the misunderstanding and bids Len and Baby goodbye. Len hopes that Kamala would finally understand that he loved Nirmala and would never hurt her.

Nalini tells Devi that she did not need her daughter to set her up. She promises that she will be okay when Devi finally goes back to college. Kamala also confesses that she had given up a great job opportunity and was using Paati’s relationship as a way to distract herself from it. Nalini tells Kamala that change is necessary and that the four women need to face that.

The next day, Eleanor tells Devi and Fabiola that she will be joining them for prom. Devi then has a chat with Margot, apologizing for what happened with Ben. Margot tells Devi that Ben was only texting her because he wanted to end the year as friends. Devi thinks that, just like Margot, Ben wanted to friendzone her too.

Devi gets honest with Margot and confesses that she also liked him and adds that the feelings are not reciprocated by Ben. Margot and Devi bond over the fact that Ben had rejected both of them. She is happy to see her father date Devi’s mother as they joke about it. Andres shows up at Nalini’s house and tells her that he was ready to put aside the drama between their daughters and pursue a real relationship with Nalini.

Devi walks into Andres kissing Nalini and like a mature adult gives them the privacy to continue. Later that day, Devi checks on her college applications. The episode ends with Devi yelling after learning that all of the IVY League colleges that she had applied to have rejected her and that she’s on the waitlist for Princeton.

The Episode Review

When Devi told Professor Warner that she was only going to apply to IVY League colleges, I did not believe she could be so wise yet so dumb – but look at her now. We know that the makers will be sure to get Devi into a great college but after seeing how the next couple of episodes will be surrounded by Devi’s crippling anxiety about not getting into any college at all.

Trent is really one of the funniest characters on the show and I really love every second he had been on screen. They don’t call him the himbo for no reason but I pity Ben for believing Trent and missing his assignments. I hope this slip-up does not cost Ben his Columbia admission. I wish the makers would have both Eric and Trent in a scene together because that would have been the funniest thing ever.

With the way things ended in this episode, Len is a confusing but great guy and Paati will be very happy with him. It’s just a pity that Manish is not a part of this season. However, with Devi not getting into any college, I’m excited to see Nalini go unleash her rage on Devi like a typical Indian mother in the final two episodes of the show.