Episode synopsis
S1 EP1: Pilot – After recent trauma, Devi starts her first day as a high school sophomore determined to shake off old labels and finally become cool.
Cast
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan…Devi Vishwakumar
Richa Moorjani…Kamala
Jaren Lewison…Ben Gross
Darren Barnet…Paxton Hall-Yoshida
John McEnroe…John McEnroe(voice)
Poorna Jagannathan…Nalini Vishwakumar
Ramona Young…Eleanor Wong
Lee Rodriguez…Fabiola Torres
Sendhil Ramamurthy…Mohan Vishwakumar
Adam Shapiro…Mr. Shapiro
Niecy Nash…Dr. Jamie Ryan
Cocoa Brown…Principal Grubbs
Martin Martinez…Oliver
Dino Petrera…Jonah
Best character
I can’t help but love Devi, even if she is totally unhinged. Could you imagine walking up to someone at school, who you’ve never spoken to before, and asking them to sleep with you? Nope, me neither. I wish I had that much self confidence at that age.
Favourite scenes
*I do not own the rights to any videos in this post, no copyright infringement was intended. All rights go to the production studio*
There doesn’t seem to be any specific scene videos on YouTube so I will have to try my best to explain them.
The opening is iconic. You go through pretty much every emotion and I love it when you get a proper introduction to every character.
The scene between Devi and her dad is so sweet. I love the little snippets you get of their relationship throughout the show.
Best quotes and one liners
DEVI: Hey, gods. It’s Devi Vishwakumar, your favorite Hindu girl in the San Fernando Valley. What’s a-poppin’? It’s the first day of school, and I thought we should have a check in. I think we can all agree that last year sucked for a number of reasons. So I thought of a few ways you guys can make it up to me. One: I’d like to be invited to a party with alcohol and hard drսg. I’m not gonna do them. I’d just like the opportunity to say: “No cоcɑіnе for me, thanks. I’m good.” Two: I’d love for my arm hair to thin out. I know it’s an Indian thing, but my forearms look like the frigging floor of a barber shop. And lastly, most importantly, I’d really, really like a boyfriend, but not some nerd from one of AP classes. Like a guy from a sports team. He can be dumb. I don’t care. I just want him to be a stone-cold hottie, who could rock me all night long. Thanks for considering. I love you guys.
DEVI: This reminds me of a problem I want to talk to you guys about. We’re not cool.
ELEANOR: Uh, would a not cool person wear… one dangly earring?
DEVI: Was that a choice, or did you lose your earring on the bus?
ELEANOR: I didn’t ride the bus. I rollerbladed.
ELEANOR: Uh… Jonah Sharpe is gay.
DEVI: But technically, he’s not out yet, and he’s pretty popular, so I’ll be his beard until I can springboard off of him to a straight boyfriend.
FABIOLA: You know you sound like a sociopath, right?
DEVI: Sociopaths get shit done, Fab.
DEVI: Hey, Jonah. You smell great today.
JONAH: Thank you. It’s Forever by Mariah Carey.
MR SHAPIRO: “Damn” is right, Devi. This is some really heavy stuff. Genocide is not 100. And systemic racism is not litty. As we travel through all of humanity’s most horrific atrocities, I want you to feel shooketh.
BEN: Man, David, watching you flirt with Jonah was just about the saddest thing I’ve ever seen, and I saw my dad run over our cat. You know he’s gay, right?
DEVI: Your cat? No, I didn’t. ( sarcastically ) That’s so cool.
NALINI: Why do let that Ben Gross rile you up so much? He’s like 5’2″.
PRINCIPAL GRUBBS: [to Ben and Devi] Look who it is. Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Idiot.
Final thoughts and fun facts
I haven’t watched this show since it came out and I can’t tell you how happy I am to be watching it again. It’s weirdly a comfort show for me even though I’ve only seen it once. But that’s how you know it’s good.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan was cast out of over 15,000 applicants from an open casting call put out by Mindy Kaling. She was 100% the perfect choice.
The Blake Griffin reference early on doesn’t make sense because in the mid-’90s, Griffin was a kid growing up in Oklahoma and many years away from becoming an NBA star with the LA Clippers. Not only would he not have attended a Beverly Hills agent’s son’s Bar Mitzvah; but if he somehow had, no one at the party would have known who Griffin was.
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Like this post? Why not read this one too: Monthly Wrap-Up: December 2023