Never Have I Ever Season 1 Episode 3 Recap – …gotten drunk with the popular kids

Devi, Fabiola, and Eleanor record a dance video. They ask Oliver to film it, but the video gets ruined when Oliver films Kamala while she works out. Nalini tells the girls to go home because she needs Devi for gardening work. Devi protests and tells Nalini she shouldn’t be responsible for caring for her father’s garden. Nalini tells her she can do it if Devi takes over her dermatology practice. Devi tells her she’ll do it after a few minutes of privacy with her friends.

Fabiola asks Devi how many likes they got. Devi tells her they have two: one from Eleanor’s dad and one from Eleanor’s dad’s dental practice. Eleanor tells them his father is trying to get on her good side so she’ll be nice to her stepmother. Fabiola asks if Paxton has liked it yet, but Devi says he has not. The truth is that Devi wanted to do the video to get Paxton to like it, thinking he’ll also like her because of it. Fabiola tells her she noticed they have not talked much at school, so maybe he‘s just using her for sex. Devi tells her it’s not the case, so Fabiola asks her if he has introduced her to his friends. Devi says no, so Fabiola tells her he’s ashamed of Devi, which is why she hates all men. Eleanor tells her she cannot hate all men because she has a boyfriend, Alex. She pulls back and tells them she loves Alex. Eleanor tells Devi that if Paxton does not acknowledge her, she will wreck him.

Devi looks at the rotten tomatoes in her father’s garden and remembers her father telling her that the tomatoes they grew in their garden are the most beautiful because they were the fruit of their labor. Devi drops the gardening tools and runs back inside.

During history class, Mr. Shapiro says he’ll break the class into groups to pitch app ideas that could’ve been used to mitigate the atrocities of World War II. He tells them to form groups of three. Devi, Eleanor, and Fabiola automatically consider themselves a group until Paxton asks Devi to be in his group. Trent says he’ll join Paxton’s group. Ben and Eve are left without groups yet, so Fabiola says that Ben can be in their group because she is trying to avoid Eve — the blonde girl she has been staring at before. Ben says he likes to work alone because he does not want to dilute the quality of his work, but then Mr. Shapiro decides to put Eve, Ben, Fabiola, and Eleanor into one group. Trent asks Devi who she is, so Paxton tells him he chose her because she’s cool and good at projects — a guaranteed A.

In CalTech, Kamala bumps into Steve. He tells her he cannot believe that a woman who was brave enough to pursue her dreams would allow anyone to dictate who she’s marrying.

In Trent’s house, Devi patiently waits for Paxton to arrive while Trent is playing video games. They are there to work on their project. Paxton finally comes. Trent’s mother hugs him. She tells Paxton that if his prom date cancels on him, he knows where to find her. Trent asks her to leave. They begin brainstorming. Trent says he thinks an app that turns your phone into a gun is a good idea. Devi tells them she has ideas too. “Let’s see what you got, Lil’ D,” Paxton says. Devi beams upon hearing this because Paxton gave her a nickname.

Fabiola and her mother go to the nail salon. Her mother asks how her group project is coming along. She says they‘re stuck with an annoying classmate, Ben, and another kid, Eve. Her mother assumes she has a crush on Ben because when she was in high school, she used to call her crushes annoying. Fabiola says she does not have a crush on Ben but has a boyfriend, Alex. Her mother gushes and says she has been dying for Fabiola to have a boyfriend.

Devi and Kamala are about to watch TV together, so Kamala suggests they watch a 7-hour movie about a princess and a sweeper. Devi tells her they’ll watch “Riverdale.” Kamala gets shocked that “Riverdale” is a murder mystery show where high schoolers are allowed to take showers together in their homes. Devi asks her if the guy wants to be together when he suddenly becomes nice and gives a nickname. Kamala tells her not to ask her about boyfriends because her first boyfriend will be her husband, so she is the wrong person to ask.

Devi goes to the kitchen to get drinks when she sees a coyote in her dad’s garden. For some weird reason, she thinks the coyote is her dad.

The following day, Paxton looks at their group project and commends Devi for a job well done. “Thanks, Big P,” Devi answers. Paxton is weirded out by what she called him, so she explains she called him such because he called her Lil‘ D. Paxton doesn’t seem to recall it. Trent asks Paxton if he’ll go to the party he’s throwing, so he tells him he’ll be there. Devi picks up on it and asks him if he’ll be throwing a no-parents party. He says he is; everyone he knows is invited. Devi takes it as an invitation because she knows Trent.

Ben tells his group that Jewber, a ride-sharing app to help the Jews escape the Nazis, is a good idea. Eleanor disagrees because she says the app will just pinpoint the exact location of the Jews and make them easier targets. He says Eleanor and Fabiola dislike the idea because they suck and are useless without Devi, their Commander in Dork. Fabiola tells him that Devi is no dork because she‘s sleeping with Paxton. Ben tells them he’ll do the project on his own and walks away. Eleanor receives a text from Oliver and leaves. Fabiola is also about to go when Eve stops her and invites her to a queer youth center fundraiser. Fabiola gets surprised and says Eve must have the wrong idea about her and then walks away.

In her regular session with Dr. Ryan, Devi tells her she is going to her first party and that her life is already good, so she can forget all the bad stuff that happened. Dr. Ryan tells her the goal is not to forget but to process. Devi says she is processing and talked to her father the previous night through a coyote. The doctor tells her that if she ever sees the coyote again, she should talk to it and tell it how she’s feeling.

Devi lies to her mom and says their project is not yet finished, so she needs to go to Trent’s house again. She passes by the living room and sees Kamala watching “Riverdale.” Devi tells her she‘ll study at a friend’s house, so she needs to borrow her thigh-high boots. Before Kamala can even ask what the boots are for, Devi is gone.

Devi arrives at the party. Paxton lets her in. He gives her some beer and touches her lightly on the arm before disappearing with Trent. Ben comes to the party and asks Devi who she’s with. Devi says she is with Paxton, but then Ben points her in Paxton’s direction — flirting with Zoe, the hottest girl in her grade. Seeing such, Devi drinks a whole bottle of beer. She keeps drinking because she thinks she is a fool to let herself believe she had a shot with Paxton.

One of the guys at the party shouts and says there’s a coyote on the lawn. Devi sees it‘s the coyote she thought was her dad, so she comes near the coyote and tries to talk to it. The coyote bites her and leaves her lying on the ground. Paxton gets her up and brings her to the hospital.

She video calls Fabiola and Eleanor from the hospital. Their conversation gets interrupted when Paxton walks in and gives Devi a drink. He says Devi is all over Instagram because everyone thinks she died. He tells her they should take a photo so people will know she’s good. He takes a picture using his phone and uploads it on his grid. He even asks Devi to tag herself. He says he thinks Devi is crazy in a good way, so it’s cool that they are friends.

Nalini comes and tells Paxton to go. She tells Devi that she learned from the nurse that she got bitten by a coyote because she is drunk. She tells Devi that she is grounded until the day her own daughter graduates. Nalini leaves to find the doctor. Devi smiles as she gets notifications that Paxton has started following her and that he liked her video.

After watching a lot of “Riverdale,” Kamala goes to Steve’s place and tells him she wants to be with him. She tells him she doesn‘t care what her family thinks, but she won‘t tell them about Steve, so they should pretend she will still go through the arranged marriage.

Back in school, Paxton, Trent, and Devi present their idea about “bunkr.” In the middle of her presentation, someone calls her ‘Coyote Girl,’ so the whole class goes crazy. They all clap and shout. Paxton gets close to Devi, puts his arm around her shoulders and cheers on. They go out of the room together with Trent. Fabiola tries to talk to Eve, but she ignores her. Alex comes and asks her to eat yogurt with her, but she tells him he needs to find another woman to go with.

Fabiola goes to the robotics lab and types words for Gears Brosnan, her robot, to say. She receives a text from her mom saying they should buy some clothes to impress Alex. She does not reply. Instead, she types “I’m gay” for Gears Brosnan to say out loud.

Our Thoughts

Woah! So Fabiola finally admits to being gay, but only to Gears. Well, that’s a start. Anyway, Paxton and Devi look like they are getting somewhere. It is romantic how he’s the only one who cared to bring her to the hospital and how he wrapped her neck in his arms in front of the whole class. I hope he follows through because Devi is so into him. I am happy for Kamala, but at the same time, I find her plan to pretend that she is still getting married to Prashant dangerous and scary. I wish she pulls it off!