![]() ![]() He sneaks in one more time, insecure about Kamala meeting Prashant and also wanting to “save” her from her arranged marriage. It turns out Nalini knew about Kamala’s secret boyfriend - Steve sneaking into the house all the time isn’t exactly subtle. ![]() One reason Devi finds it hard not to think about her mother’s strictness with her is because Nalini is so different with Kamala. It’s such a perfect, tight look at family dynamics that does a lot with a little. Nalini thinks Devi is careless and disobedient, and she’s frustrated. The conflict is that Devi lost her sheet music before her concert, but it’s obviously much bigger than that. In the flashbacks, it’s very apparent that Mohan is used to fulfilling this role, used to being between Nalini and Devi. Devi can’t quite break free from this memory and its implications. Not only is the setting confined to one specific area for the episode, but the overall feeling of the episode is intensely suffocating in a very effective way. Devi tries to push it down so she can act normal in front of company, but it works its way back in. Throughout the episode, we get some more glimpses into this memory. She told her mother she hated her, prompting Mohan to act as peacekeeper. But when her mom asks her not to make her life any harder, the full picture comes together. The editing here is fantastic, and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan provides some of the first glimpses into what ends up being her finest performance of the entire series. She tries so hard to focus on her kiss with Paxton, but it’s interrupted by flashes to her dad’s death, her saying “I hate you,” her therapist suggesting she needs another approach, Fab yelling at her. But then Nalini takes it a little further: “For once can you please try not to make my life any harder?” she asks.ĭevi spends the night before this request from her mother racked by a bad memory, almost like a nightmare. It seems like a fairly innocuous request at first, especially since Devi has indeed been up to all sorts of nonsense and drama lately. Nalini wants Devi on her best behavior - none of the usual Devi nonsense. The house is equipped with the grandfather clock Nalini bought to impress Prashant and also with Devi’s uncle Aravind, who serves as male chaperone to the meeting. It all takes place on the day Prashant comes to visit Kamala. The episode almost operates as a bottle episode in its confined setting. The mother-daughter storytelling in Never Have I Ever is striking - poignant and visceral. Or, more accurately, how losing her father complicates an already messy relationship with her mother. Despite being so mired in the grief of a child losing her father, this show is more about Devi’s relationship to her mother. Never Have I Ever has pulled off some surprises along the way, but none hit as hard as the reveal at the top of this penultimate episode of the season that Devi was not talking to her father when she said “I hate you” on the evening of his death.
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