Never Have I Ever Season 2 Episode 4 Recap – …had an Indian frenemy

Devi goes to school and tries to talk to Ben, but he’s still mad at her, so he gives him his space. Upon entering the room, Devi sees a new Indian girl, Aneesa, introducing herself to the class. She says she’s a Muslim, plays soccer, and transferred from Toluca Prep. Mr. Shapiro mistakenly calls Aneesa by Devi’s name, so the class picks up on it. Trent tells them that Aneesa is like Devi 2.0. Devi smiles at Trent’s remark but feels threatened by Aneesa’s presence.

Fabiola is away on a robotics tournament, so Devi is left with Eleanor. During lunch, Eleanor says she’s excited about their upcoming sleepover at Devi’s because she needs to get out of her house badly. She says her father and stepmom, Sharon, have continuously asked her if she’s okay since her mom left. She says she doesn’t want to discuss it more, so Devi diverts their conversation to Aneesa. Devi thinks she’s trying hard, but Eleanor says she seems effortless. Principal Grubbs approaches their table and tells Devi she needs her to show the new student around. Before Devi can protest, she tells Devi she’s doing it because they have the same schedule and not because they are both Indians.

Aneesa excitedly goes on the tour with Devi, but Devi is annoyed at her. Devi boasts she has thrown a rager a few weeks before to make Aneesa feel like she’s a cool kid. Devi introduces Aneesa to Mr. Kulkarni, who happens to be the girls’ soccer coach. He tells Aneesa he saw her in the state finals the previous year, so he’s a fan. Devi can’t believe that Aneesa is winning over even her only cool teacher. The orchestra, and even Paxton, can’t get enough of Aneesa. By the end of the day, Devi is already tired of being around Aneesa.

In the lab, Kamala talks to Prashant via video call about their upcoming date night and how they can’t believe Evan gave Kamala a night off on a Friday.

Nalini rants to Devi about Dr. Jackson putting her on her mailing list. She says he’s so infuriating, but everyone he speaks to just loves him. Devi tells her that Dr. Jackson sounds like Aneesa. She says everyone tells her to be best friends with Aneesa because they’re both Indians. When Nalini hears it, she asks Devi more about Aneesa and tells her she should invite her to dinner and their sleepover with Eleanor. Nalini says maybe Aneesa will be a good influence on her.

Sharon comes and picks up Eleanor from school. She asks Eleanor if she wants to go to the mall before her sleepover. Eleanor tells her she has a lot of homework to do. Sharon tells her she wants to hang with her sometime and that maybe, they can do a TikTok dance because she has seen mothers and daughters do it. Eleanor reminds her that they’re not mother and daughter. Malcolm Stone greets Eleanor. Her jaw drops. Eleanor tells Sharon she doesn’t like Malcolm because she’s with Oliver, but Sharon says it doesn’t mean she doesn’t like Malcolm. Eleanor gets swept away by their conversation she doesn’t realize she’s being nice to Sharon.

Devi promises she will be on her best behavior during their sleepover because maybe she was overreacting — Aneesa can’t be that perfect. Aneesa comes to their house and gives Nalini a Ferrero Rocher pyramid, the Rolex of confection gift boxes. Devi introduces her to Nalini and Nirmala. Aneesa immediately asks about Nirmala’s health and how she can help Nalini. Nalini gets tongue-tied because she has never been asked the question before. Devi watches in awe as Aneesa greets her family the way they actually want to be greeted.

During their sleepover, Devi boasts to Aneesa that she had two boyfriends and tries to prove she’s a badass by sneaking out to help Eleanor meet up with Malcolm. The three of them meet Malcolm, and then Ben comes along. Ben tells Aneesa that she’s hanging out with a social grenade: Devi, but Aneesa says she won‘t take advice from a guy who looks like he still gets his haircut from a children’s barber. She suddenly gets Devi’s good side.

Malcolm, a child actor, tells Eleanor he wants to move on from Disney. He says he wants people to see him as more than a kid. Devi tells him he can punch a photographer or get a bunch of tattoos. Malcolm decides he will get a tattoo at that very moment, so they all go to the tattoo parlor.

Kamala and Prashant are about to get dinner together. Prashant tells her he‘s moving to LA. Kamala smiles, but before she can even react, Evan calls and tells Kamala to get back in the lab. Prashant cancels their orders.

Devi and the rest of them enter a tattoo parlor. Aneesa asks Devi why Ben is so rude to her. Their conversation gets interrupted when the lady from the shop asks if they will get pierced. Aneesa tells Devi that she thinks Devi can pull off a nose ring. To try to impress Aneesa, she says she might do it. Ben overhears it and says Devi is too scared of her mom to ever get a nose ring. Devi says she’s not scared of her mom and tells Ben she’d do it. Ben dares her and tells her he’ll get a tattoo if she gets a nose ring.

After a while, Malcolm comes out with a “BE ANALLY” tattoo that was supposed to read “BE AN ALLY.” Eleanor is amazed by Devi’s nose ring, so Devi says she’ll take it out before her mom notices it. Ben comes out with a teeny basketball tattoo.

Prashant comes to the lab and tells Kamala he brought date night to her. Kamala apologizes to Prashant, but he says it‘s okay because they will have plenty of time together when he moves to LA. Kamala says she’s happy about the move but can’t smile when her lab mates are out on a K-Pop karaoke while she‘s working. Prashant tells her she should play the game. He suggests that Kamala pretend to like their nerdy activities so they will include her more in the lab. Kamala says they should include her even without having to pretend, but Prashant says girls like her will always threaten guys like those, so if she makes Evan feel cool, he might give her a chance.

Malcolm says goodbye to Eleanor with a kiss before leaving. Eleanor tells Devi she’ll break up with Oliver. Devi catches Ben smudging his tattoo and discovers he got a fake tattoo. Ben admits to it, so Devi gets disappointed, saying that she just altered her nose permanently. “I guess it feels bad to commit to something, not knowing the other person was lying the whole time,” Ben says. Devi apologizes to him again and tells him he wins. She asks him if they can be even. Ben tells her they‘re not even close to even because Devi followed Paxton that night and left Ben alone. He tells Devi they‘re not friends, so she should stop pretending like they are.

Devi sleeps without taking her nose ring off because she‘s so sad about Ben. The following day, Nalini sees her nose ring and angrily tells her that she shouldn‘t have sneaked out and gotten a nose ring. She says she might get a staph infection. Aneesa saves her from her mother’s anger by saying it was her fault. She explains they were talking about how hard it is to be South Asian in a country that only celebrates western beauty and agreed that the nose ring is a powerful symbol of Indian femininity. She says she suggested it to Devi. Nalini changes her stand and says she’s glad Aneesa is helping Devi appreciate her culture and even says it looks good on Devi. Still, she reminds Devi not to go to a tattoo parlor at night and tells her she needs to get on antibiotics.

In the lab, Kamala gets on Evan’s good side. First, she says she has new findings on their research, and then says she‘s also a huge BLACKPINK fan. Evan gets stoked and gives her the day off.

Devi thanks Aneesa for talking to Nalini. Aneesa tells her she also has an Indian mom, so she knows what to do. Devi hugs Aneesa and finally thinks that having an Indian friend is awesome.

At school, Eleanor breaks up with Oliver, and Devi gets comfortable with Aneesa, thinking that she‘s not a threat to her anymore. She sees Aneesa flirting with Ben, so Devi gets annoyed all over again.

Our Thoughts

Well, Aneesa might be a threat, but I think she’s a good threat to bring Devi back to her senses. She has been so full of herself lately that it’s not healthy anymore for her and the people around her, including her friends. Speaking of her friends, Eleanor seems to be getting lots of attention from Malcolm, which is not bad, but given that she has Oliver, she has become unfaithful. It might actually be better for Oliver because Eleanor hasn’t treated him the right way since they started dating. She always brushes him off and ignores his opinions, just like what Evan used to do with Kamala. I hope she makes her way into the inner circle of her lab mates.