S02.E04: ... had an Indian frenemy

[paulvdb]

Quote

Devi instantly resents the new Indian girl at school, but is taken by surprise as they get acquainted. Kamala struggles to be respected at her lab.

 

[DanaMB]

I will reverse, draw 4, and Uno you in that game. 😂

[possibilities]

Aneesa has to have a weakness somewhere. And when Devi finds it, Aneesa is dead.

[TrininisaScorp]

My IRL name is Anisa (there are tons of variation of the spelling of my name), and it is very jarring to hear my name on the television b/c I'm not used to it.  I was like "don't fuck up our name, my child".  

I love LOVE Devi to pieces, but one of my ultimate struggles with her is that she doesn't give other people agency.  Aneesa was so cool, and I think could be a good friend to Devi. Devi has to get her temper and her spikiness to a place where she can use that vs. letting it control her.  But, 15/16 isn't the place for that, I know.  LOL. There is something about having another Desi friend who understands your struggles as a South Asian American. I loved that Aneesa knew EXCATLY the way to greet Nalini and Aaji (they are Tamil, so I know the word for father's grandma is different, but my father's mother is my Aaji). 

I love to see Utkarsh as the cool teacher. He's such a charming actor, and I'm happy to see him in things. 

[Aulty]

5 minutes ago, TrininisaScorp said:

I love LOVE Devi to pieces, but one of my ultimate struggles with her is that she doesn't give other people agency.  Aneesa was so cool, and I think could be a good friend to Devi. Devi has to get her temper and her spikiness to a place where she can use that vs. letting it control her. 

Devi's 'I have the bigger shit' behavior really hasn't changed much this season, has it? I am surprised Fabiola and Eleanor are still standing by her when she repeatedly interrupts them to talk about _her_ problems and expects them to run interference so she can date 2 guys.
Aneesa is a really interesting character and its refreshing that they mention she is Indian muslim, but it isn't used for scripted tension.

[shapeshifter]

When Devi's face dropped as she saw Aneesa talking to a boy at the lockers, I was sure it was going to be Paxton, and I was relieved it was just Ben, but Devi was so jealous. 
Really Devi? Let him go. 
Sigh. I guess not.
 

Kudos to the writers for introducing the new girl in an interesting but believable way. Aneesa was not evil, she just didn't know the nuances of Devi's love life.

[festivus]

Devi, no! Friends before men. I'll never stop beating that drum. That's definitely one thing I do not miss about being a teenager. I was the "weirdo" that put my friends first.

[tennisgurl]

Oh no, I was so happy that Devi had finally let go of her jealousy towards Aneesa (AKA Devi 2.0) but then when Devi was walking down the hall I was like "crap, she's going to be flirting with Ben!" and here we are. Devi, don't throw away a new friend just because of an ex, especially when you haven't even told her that he's an ex, especially when you didn't choose that ex in the first place. 

Devi just struggles so much with seeing other people as other people apart from her, she sees everyone in relation to her. That is pretty normal for a teenager of course, but its still frustrating. So this girl isn't just a cool new possible friend who could relate to some aspects of Devi's life in ways that her other friends cant, both being Indian girls, she is some kind of reflection on Devi's apparent failures at being popular with her classmates and at being a perfect Indian daughter.

I remember Mindy doing an episode of The Mindy Project where Mindy realizes she doesn't have any real Indian friends and she gets really insecure about it while trying to get to know some other Indian people, interesting that this topic has showed up in both shows. Especially as I think I remember that being a complaint that some people had about The Mindy Project, that Mindy didn't cast many Indian people on her show besides herself. 

[love2lovebadtv]

On 7/16/2021 at 12:39 PM, TrininisaScorp said:

My IRL name is Anisa (there are tons of variation of the spelling of my name), and it is very jarring to hear my name on the television b/c I'm not used to it.  I was like "don't fuck up our name, my child".  

I love LOVE Devi to pieces, but one of my ultimate struggles with her is that she doesn't give other people agency.  Aneesa was so cool, and I think could be a good friend to Devi. Devi has to get her temper and her spikiness to a place where she can use that vs. letting it control her.  But, 15/16 isn't the place for that, I know.  LOL. There is something about having another Desi friend who understands your struggles as a South Asian American. I loved that Aneesa knew EXCATLY the way to greet Nalini and Aaji (they are Tamil, so I know the word for father's grandma is different, but my father's mother is my Aaji). 

I love to see Utkarsh as the cool teacher. He's such a charming actor, and I'm happy to see him in things. 

I have known so many people named Anisa so it was funny to hear the teacher say it was a unique name lol. But, like you, I've never heard it on TV.

Yes, Devi struggles with some stuff that I think she's gonna need some time to work out. Teenagers aren't fully developed emotionally and I love that the show portrays a protagonist we can both root for and admonish. Like come on, Devi, do better LOL. 

On 7/16/2021 at 10:50 PM, shapeshifter said:

When Devi's face dropped as she saw Aneesa talking to a boy at the lockers, I was sure it was going to be Paxton, and I was relieved it was just Ben, but Devi was so jealous. 
Really Devi? Let him go. 
Sigh. I guess not.
Kudos to the writers for introducing the new girl in an interesting but believable way. Aneesa was not evil, she just didn't know the nuances of Devi's love life.

Devi hasn't learned to regulate her emotions so, even though she seemed to mostly like Ben because he was nice to her, she doesn't want him to get on well with Aneesa either. Not to mention, Aneesa showing up made Devi realize she's not cool because she's just uncool - not because she's Indian American. Aneesa is a blameless nemesis. I love how she came on the scene and got along with everyone with no drama.

On 7/19/2021 at 12:05 PM, tennisgurl said:

Oh no, I was so happy that Devi had finally let go of her jealousy towards Aneesa (AKA Devi 2.0) but then when Devi was walking down the hall I was like "crap, she's going to be flirting with Ben!" and here we are. Devi, don't throw away a new friend just because of an ex, especially when you haven't even told her that he's an ex, especially when you didn't choose that ex in the first place. 

Devi just struggles so much with seeing other people as other people apart from her, she sees everyone in relation to her. That is pretty normal for a teenager of course, but its still frustrating. So this girl isn't just a cool new possible friend who could relate to some aspects of Devi's life in ways that her other friends cant, both being Indian girls, she is some kind of reflection on Devi's apparent failures at being popular with her classmates and at being a perfect Indian daughter.

I remember Mindy doing an episode of The Mindy Project where Mindy realizes she doesn't have any real Indian friends and she gets really insecure about it while trying to get to know some other Indian people, interesting that this topic has showed up in both shows. Especially as I think I remember that being a complaint that some people had about The Mindy Project, that Mindy didn't cast many Indian people on her show besides herself. 

Especially when Ben was a boyfriend for like 2 days, right? Aneesa is nice and I don't think Devi even said Ben is her ex. 

I LOVE Aneesa's character, especially because she's Muslim. I like that we get to see Devi identify with her and also recognize some cultural difference, whereas in the past Devi made it seem like Indian=Hindu. 

Interesting to hear about Mindy Kaling. People experience their own cultures in different ways and I welcome seeing that addressed on this show.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, love2lovebadtv said:

Aneesa is a blameless nemesis. I love how she came on the scene and got along with everyone with no drama.

I love this concept and execution of a “blameless nemesis” as personified here by Aneesa. It is like a reality check in a society where us-against-them is constantly inflamed on social media. I don’t know if you just created the term, @love2lovebadtv, but it’s perfect.  
So regarding:

On 7/16/2021 at 12:39 PM, TrininisaScorp said:

My IRL name is Anisa (there are tons of variation of the spelling of my name), and it is very jarring to hear my name on the television b/c I'm not used to it.  I was like "don't fuck up our name, my child".  

You should be (IMO) very relieved/pleased, @TrininisaScorp 🙂

[dubbel zout]

Evan is Olympic-level passive-aggressive. There's no way Kamala's samples were "accidentally" ruined. Yikes. Kamala needs to push back on this clown pronto.

[Scarlett45]

On 7/24/2021 at 9:22 PM, love2lovebadtv said:

I LOVE Aneesa's character, especially because she's Muslim. I like that we get to see Devi identify with her and also recognize some cultural difference, whereas in the past Devi made it seem like Indian=Hindu. 

I like that too. 

On 7/15/2021 at 2:02 PM, DanaMB said:

I will reverse, draw 4, and Uno you in that game. 😂

That was too funny! A good snap back but not inappropriate in a student/administrator type way.