In season two, she shows much more willingness to see things from Devi’s perspective right from the start. Throughout season one, Nalini was the type of emotionally abusive Indian parent who only ever berated her child. Nalini, in particular, undergoes a complete transformation between the two seasons. However, as the season progresses, the show thankfully moves away from making sweeping statements about Indians (that are pretty much always offensive) and focuses on developing the characters instead. As with season one’s depiction of Indian community, the writers scatter kernels of truth here and there, but they’re unexamined and not properly fleshed out: taking just one example, Nalini’s family probably would have servants - but also, so would the ostensibly middle-class Nirmala. Her visit to Chennai is similarly full of racist presentations of India: for instance, the ridiculous notion of winning favors with family through Trader Joe’s snacks and the dig about losing power don’t square with Nalini’s wealthy family. It’s an unnecessary moment, dripping with stereotypes about Indians being cheap and emotionally detached. It starts by making some of the same mistakes as its predecessor: barely two minutes into episode one, Nalini shares an instance of her “emotional exuberance” when she once hugged a stranger after hearing about a discount on a damaged printer. Season two of NHIE portrays Indian communities with much more nuance than season one, but it takes some time to get there. But while the season pulls off some incredibly touching and thoughtful stories, it continues to badly mishandle the issue of race. It’s clear that Mindy Kaling and the show’s creative team took much of the criticism about the first season to heart, re-examining and removing some of the most offensive elements and adding much-needed depth to many of the characters. Never Have I Ever has returned to Netflix with a new season, and, much to my surprise, the series improves substantially in season two.
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