Right from the beginning, the Never Have I Ever fandom has been divided into two teams: Team Ben and Team Paxton. We have a clear bias already, but in the interest of being fair, we will try to understand whether Devi made the right choice. At the end of Never Have I Ever Season 4, Devi chooses to be good friends with Paxton while dating Ben. In our opinion, that was wise but maybe not so much for those who wanted to see her with someone else. The thing about Devi is that she is gutsy. Had she not had the courage to ask Paxton out or even meet Ben with the proposition to spend the night, she might not have had a relationship with either. But there is a reason one person was better for her than the other.
Paxton was the ultimate crush—the guy who was so good-looking and smooth that it never mattered that he did not have everything going on for him. What else is relevant for a 15-year-old teenage girl? Paxton and Devi were very similar in the way that they both believed in the hierarchy of coolness. While that translated into confidence for Paxton for being at “the top of the food chain,” it was the very reason Devi suffered such self-esteem issues because she was “at the bottom.” If only Devi did not believe in that hierarchy, she might never have liked Paxton, to begin with. The guy was not all that special, and the butterflies in Devi’s stomach were only because of the fantasy she had built around him. In a way, we are glad that she dated him. Say what you want, but every nerd needs to tick off a “hot guy” off her dating checklist at least once in her life. She needs the fantasy to dispel and for her to get a clearer view of things, and that is why Devi needed to date Paxton. But that is not the only reason he was not good for her. Devi and Paton literally had nothing in common. When they started dating in Season 3, what were they doing in their time spent together other than watching Tik Toks? When Devi asked him why he chose to date her when it “did not make sense,” it was easy to assume that Devi said that because of her own lack of self-confidence. But it is important to consider that there were no hurdles in the way of that conclusion.
Allow us to better explain our point by imagining a Paxton, with Ben’s personality. Wouldn’t Devi then feel that she could talk to him for hours, have fun exchanging banters, and just understand what drives the other person? When the girls were being mean to Devi about her not deserving Paxton, wouldn’t she have conclusively thought that they made no sense because there was a genuine connection that she shared with Paxton (if he had Ben’s personality)? But in reality, Devi knew that Paxton had probably dated her due to her persistence. In Season 1, he started dating Devi because his sister had called him out for his stupid views on her not being cool. We cannot forget how awfully he treated her in Season 2, acting as if she was stupid for wanting their relationship to go public. It did not matter that he came around later or even that Devi and Paxton were at a place where they could hang out effortlessly. They simply had nothing in common, and if they had not broken up because of Devi’s self-esteem, they would have broken up for some other reason.
Then there is Ben. In a way, it makes sense that Devi has an enemies-to-lovers story for herself. It suits her personality way better. It also stands to reason that Ben had always been there for Devi in a way Paxton could only imagine. When Devi was acting out right before her father’s ashes were to be released into the sea, Ben really stepped up for her. If you think about it, he did not need to do anything. As a friend, he may have let her stay at his place, but he went beyond that and facilitated a reconciliation with her friends and then even drove her to the ceremony. Eleanor and Fabiola were wrong when they said that anyone else would have done the same thing.
In Season 2, Ben was mad at Devi, but in her moments of frustration, he put his own emotions aside to lend her a helping hand. His feelings for her always remained unchanged, and they were just as strong in Season 3. When they both had a bet as to who would be able to kiss a person first in the theater episode of Season 3, Ben held himself back even though he had a chance because his attention was on Devi. He only went ahead with a girl when he saw that Devi had found someone for herself. That is why, in Season 4 of Never Have I Ever, it broke our hearts a little when he did not immediately get together with Devi. Honestly, we see his point a bit. He and Devi had too many clashes and missed connections.
Additionally, what is to say that their competitiveness, the one they had nurtured for the better part of their school lives, would not get in the way of their love for each other? But when Ben found that he was able to look past all that and be there for her when she was upset about the college admissions, and she was able to come through for him when he needed help presenting himself to his college representative, he knew that they were capable of being there for each other. Unlike Margot, Devi would never be embarrassed by him, but even if we assume that Ben was wrong about all of it; the heart wants what it wants. He knew that if he did not give their relationship a fair shot, he would regret it forever. There is no telling whether they will or will not break up in the future. But if they had not taken this shot, they would have never gotten over each other. Since Day 1, our loyalties have been with Team Ben. It was evident that he was end-game material, and we are glad that Devi felt the same way.
