Top 10 Cringiest Never Have I Ever Moments

Grief is a complicated creature. In fact, that might be directly symbolized when a wild coyote shows up in the late Mohan Vishwakumar’s neglected garden. Devi doesn’t see this as symbolism of course. While still trying to avoid dealing with her grief directly, she manages to convince herself that her father has returned to her in some form. We have to hand it to Dr. Ryan for being a great therapist and trying to support Devi’s healing, even if the path is unconventional. She might have underestimated how truly confident Devi was in her belief though. As everyone at home watched through their fingers, Devi found out the hard way that a wild coyote is probably just a coyote.

When Devi’s father suddenly died in front of her the shock of that trauma put her in a wheelchair for a while. Returning for the sophomore year of high school, she’s determined to ignore both events and instead wipe the slate clean by obsessively focusing on her social life instead. Her plans change slightly when her nemesis Ben Grosse reveals that she and her best friends Eleanor and Fabiola are widely considered to be undesirable nerds. Throwing caution to the wind, she approaches the hottest boy in school, her long-time crush Paxton Hall-Yoshida. There’s a fine line between gutsy and desperate, and Devi comes off as a bit of both. Either way it’s hard to watch her babble on while Paxton stares blankly.

Holidays are always minefields for all kinds of aux pas, and Navratri with the Vishwakumars is no exception. At the celebration proper Kamala tries to build bridges between Manish and her grandmother. It…does not go well. Meanwhile, Devi is allowed to leave and attend Trent’s party, but only if she agrees to bring Rhyah’s son Nirdesh along with her. Devi assumes she’s been stuck with a hopeless geek and is prepared to tell everyone that the unwelcome addition is her cousin. Until Des walks in, that is, and instantly proves to be the total opposite of everything Devi expected. The more she talks the deeper she digs herself. And as per usual, Devi’s attempts to explain are guaranteed to inspire a face-palm.

As insufferable as Ben can sometimes be, it tugs at our heartstrings when we learn how lonely he is. And he definitely deserves a better girlfriend than Shira. Watching him try to find anyone to accompany him to the Clippers game we can't help but wince in sympathy. His attempts to cultivate friendships on the spot are a mix of painful and pitiful. Unfortunately, it only gets worse when his father cancels on him too. Desperate to get out of the house, he agrees to meet up with a fellow poster from a Rick and Morty reddit, which goes….exactly how you imagine it would. Still, he tries to make the best of the situation. Yeah. That’s weird.

Devi didn’t didn’t originally plan to lie to the whole world about the nature of her relationship with Paxton. But once Fabiola and Eleanor let her story slip to Ben, it doesn’t take long for the misinformation to spread like wildfire. Devi’s only conflicted for a split second before she leans into the clout that she gets from being known as Paxton’s regular hook-up. Naturally it doesn’t take long for the news to get back to Paxton himself. Rather than own her mistake, Devi blames Ben and goes, well…nuclear. The lying and the posturing were bad. Taking her anger out on Ben was worse. But when she blows up on Fab and Eleanor, both going through their own crises, it becomes a perfect storm of terrible behavior.

We could feel the sense of dread building from the minute Devi decided to reunite Eleanor and her absentee mother, Joyce. But we weren’t necessarily prepared for Joyce to start spilling everyone’s secrets in front of the other mothers. Poor Fabiola looks ready to climb out of her skin, but Nalini is quick to put the heat squarely on Devi. And Joyce is there to throw more kerosene on the fire. Trying to head off the ensuing panic, Devi is forced to admit her lies to everyone. Though Fab and Eeanor aren’t happy about being misled, they’re still willing to forgive her. So when Joyce abandons Eleanor again and leaves her devastated, Devi’s decision to ditch her friends for Paxton becomes a thousand times worse.

Nalini has definitely had more than her fair share of difficulties, and it was nice to see her finally enjoying herself when she began dating her office neighbor, Dr. Jackson. Nice for everyone but, Devi, anyway, who finds the idea unforgivable and follows Nalini on her date. Taking things to the extreme, she climbs up on the roof to spy on the couple. However, once she drops her phone into Dr. Jackson’s hot tub she blows her cover and her fuse. In the aftermath, Nalini breaks things off with Dr. Jackson, but can’t avoid another huge fight with Devi. It’s true that this situation is a complicated one emotionally. But the accusations she throws at Nalini aren’t just uncalled for, they are uncomfortably mean.

Devi is often prone to lashing out when she feels insecure, and her attitude towards Aneesa is a prime example of her worst tendencies. After initially regarding the transfer student as a threat, Devi soon discovers her great personality and welcomes her as a friend. Until there seem to be sparks between Aneesa and Ben, that is. Devi makes it her personal mission to keep the two of them apart. In her aggravation, she speaks without thinking, inadvertently starting a rumor that Aneesa suffers from an eating disorder. Unfortunately, Devi unknowingly hit on one of Aneesa’s real struggles, and the true reason behind her transfer. Aneesa is understandably crushed. Yet again, Devi finds that her impulsive behavior has consequences for the people close to her.

What’s a girl to do when two attractive boys both want to date her? SB Yup. With each guy running in a very different social circle, Devi figures she can get away with dating both of them without the other finding out. Seeing how sweet both Paxton and Ben are with Devi makes this behavior feel especially unkind. And it only takes one unsupervised party for the whole house of cards to come tumbling down. Devi’s attempts to make light of the situation only make her look worse. And no amount of poor justification can offset how hurt both Ben and Paxton obviously are. As if that weren’t enough, poor Paxton ends up with an actual injury on top of this emotional insult.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

A Flowery Faux Pas, “Never Have I Ever…had sex with Paxton Hall-Yoshida”
Sometimes Mistakes Hurt. Sometimes They Burn

Cultural Crossed Wires, “Never Have I Ever…had my own troll”
A Disapproval So Intense It Causes a Health Event? We Can’t Help But Feel For Manish

Asking Dr. Ryan For Intimate Assistance, “Never Have I Ever…gotten drunk with the popular kids”
Devi Seems to Misunderstand The Sort of Help a Therapist Provides

Couples Manipulation, “Never Have I Ever…had a Valentine”
It’s Played as Cute, But This is Less ‘Gift of the Magi,’ and More Potential Red Flag

Ben trying to Kiss Devi…Twice, “Never Have I Ever…pissed off everyone I know”
What We Have Here is Failure to Read the Room

Devi might genuinely feel bad about hurting Aneesa, but true to form, her primary concern quickly becomes getting herself out of hot water. After trying to steer the investigation towards other students her conscience starts to get the better of her though. To Devi’s surprise, Aneesa goes straight to the principal, and Devi ends up with a well-deserved suspension. In her most stunningly self-centered move to date, she then has the nerve to ask Aneesa to plead her case to the principal. Yet somehow she tops herself. When Ben reveals that Aneesa is planning to transfer again, Devi plans an over-the-top apology, not for Aneesa’s sake, but to score points with her crush. It’s just an avalanche of cringe on this one.