Yahoo Movies Never Have I Ever boss on Devi and Paxton's season 3 ending: 'The love triangle's not done'
Warning: This post contains spoilers for Never Have I Ever season 3.
Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) just couldn't get out of her own head when it came to dating Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet). During Never Have I Ever's third season, viewers watched as Devi struggled with how others looked at her new relationship — or at least how she felt people were looking at it. And ultimately, when she couldn't shake the idea that she wasn't a good match for Paxton, they broke up.
"She and Paxton didn't last long because she wasn't able to believe that she deserved it," co-creator Lang Fisher tells EW. "Teenagers are so tender and afraid of being vulnerable that everyone operates from a defensive place. That is truly the impetus for this storyline because I think everyone, at least in our writers' room, was like, 'Yeah, I was a maniac and there was no way I could possibly ever have a reasonable relationship [at that age] because I was just too insecure.'"
It's a painfully relatable way to end a relationship, and one that led to one of star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan's favorite moments. "That was one of my favorite scenes to film," Ramakrishnan says of the breakup. "Reading what Paxton says I'm like, 'Yes Paxton, tell her!' It's more about what she thinks of herself. She doesn't feel like she belongs with him, and that's sad."
Lara Solanki/Netflix Darren Barnet and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan on 'Never Have I Ever'
Throughout the season, Devi worked on herself, and with a little help from new hottie Des (Anirudh Pisharody), she had a realization. "We wanted someone who threw a little wrench into our love triangle and also got her out of a rut," Fisher says of Des. "It felt like it needed to take an outsider to rearrange her thinking a little bit, to have her recognize that the way she saw herself is not necessarily the way things are."
And by the end of the season, after Paxton essentially made his graduation speech about Devi and all the things she's taught him, the two had a nice moment where Devi thanked Paxton for helping her get through the loss of her father. "He was her main distraction from the pain of losing her dad," Fisher says. "She threw everything full force into pursuing him because she couldn't think about the other thing."
But if you thought that moment served as a goodbye for Daxton, think again. "The love triangle's not done," Fisher says. "In season 4, it continues onward. But I think the part that is done is seeing him as this unattainable dream of a hunk. He is no longer that, and they can be more like peers going forward."
Never Have I Ever season 3 is now on Netflix.
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