S03.E07: ...cheated

[dubbel zout]

Up against Des's team at a debate tournament, Devi takes her competitiveness too far. An opportunity arrives for Eleanor. Pati explains herself to Kamala.

 

[ProudMary]

I had a head scratching mindset when I saw the title of this episode, as we've already seen Devi cheating on Ben with Paxton and vice-versa. I kept wondering who was going to be cheated on this time and with whom. When Devi threw away the other team's prep binder, it was an Aha moment. "OH, I never even thought about THAT type of cheating!" Funny how you can get into a certain mindset.

I'm hoping that Nalini will have her guard up after Rhyah's comments during their conversation in the garage. Something's been off about that "friendship" right from the jump. And while Manish wouldn't have known that the mother of the top student on the rival debate team would be at Devi's house when he brought her home without turning her in after she was caught cheating, the damage has already been done. Rhyah knows. What havoc may she cause with that knowledge?

[shapeshifter]

16 hours ago, ProudMary said:

I had a head scratching mindset when I saw the title of this episode, as we've already seen Devi cheating on Ben with Paxton and vice-versa. I kept wondering who was going to be cheated on this time and with whom. When Devi threw away the other team's prep binder, it was an Aha moment. "OH, I never even thought about THAT type of cheating!" Funny how you can get into a certain mindset.

Same.
 

16 hours ago, ProudMary said:

I'm hoping that Nalini will have her guard up after Rhyah's comments during their conversation in the garage. Something's been off about that "friendship" right from the jump. And while Manish wouldn't have known that the mother of the top student on the rival debate team would be at Devi's house when he brought her home without turning her in after she was caught cheating, the damage has already been done. Rhyah knows. What havoc may she cause with that knowledge?

Ugh. I hate that it looks like they're using Rhyah to break up Devi and Des. They seem perfect together, and both come from a culture where having a really long courtship is the norm, so it doesn't feel to me like a high school crush. 
But more to the point: I've always hated the competition between Ben and Devi if they are supposed to eventually live happily ever after. 

[HappyBerry]

The hardest part for me was believing that Ben would allow their debate team to have such terrible resources. The fact he's very rich is brought up often, and clearly driven to succeed, so there is no way he'd go "eh, the Sherman Oaks Tootler all we have, but whatever". 

[tennisgurl]

Devi and Des are so cute together, but I fear that Rhyah could end up being the end of them. She was right there when Manish told everyone that Devi cheated against her sons team, and she seemed a bit overwhelmed by everything that has happened to Devi, she might think that Devi is a bit "too much" for her son. 

"Their coach is the computer that won jeopardy!" 

"I tried to get its autograph." 

I would think that Sherman Oaks would have plenty of resources, they're in a pretty affluent area, most public schools in places like that are still quite nice. Ben at least would probably insist on having lots of stuff for debate, and his parents are loaded. 

[twoods]

I’m sure that the high school relied on online resources like most public schools do, and since debate is an afterthought at the school they aren’t going to pump more money into it.

[Book Junkie]

Are we not talking about how awful the mom's "friend" was to say how hearing about Devi's issues that stemmed from her trauma of losing her father so suddenly made the friend mention how she should be more grateful that her son is so "easy" and perfect? Cause that was some serious messed up bullshit right there. Yikes!

[possibilities]

16 minutes ago, Book Junkie said:

Are we not talking about how awful the mom's "friend" was to say how hearing about Devi's issues that stemmed from her trauma of losing her father so suddenly made the friend mention how she should be more grateful that her son is so "easy" and perfect? Cause that was some serious messed up bullshit right there. Yikes!

She's awful. 

[ProudMary]

5 hours ago, possibilities said:

She's awful. 

You're totally correct, but as an antagonist, Rhyah's gray character is a very good addition to a great show.

[Paloma]

Am I the only one who teared up a little when Pati invited Manish in the house and said that she now saw that he was good for Kamala? (I don't remember the exact words, even though I just watched the scene--may have to rewatch.) I know that Kamala can make her own decisions without her grandmother's approval, but it's always better if your close family accepts the person you love. And I was more sympathetic to Pati's concerns after hearing her explanation of what her husband was like; that experience combined with the importance of tradition and culture to her makes her worry about Manish understandable. I have liked Manish from his first scene in school and enjoyed his awkward flirting with Kamala before they started dating, and I hope the show gives them a happy ending (or at least leaves them in a happy place, if not a definite ending).

[shapeshifter]

On 8/27/2022 at 2:44 PM, Paloma said:

Am I the only one who teared up a little when Pati invited Manish in the house and said that she now saw that he was good for Kamala? (I don't remember the exact words, even though I just watched the scene--may have to rewatch.) I know that Kamala can make her own decisions without her grandmother's approval, but it's always better if your close family accepts the person you love. And I was more sympathetic to Pati's concerns after hearing her explanation of what her husband was like; that experience combined with the importance of tradition and culture to her makes her worry about Manish understandable. I have liked Manish from his first scene in school and enjoyed his awkward flirting with Kamala before they started dating, and I hope the show gives them a happy ending (or at least leaves them in a happy place, if not a definite ending).

I don't remember if I teared up, but I do like their story.

I wondered if Pati might not have at least considered the advantage of Kamala dating (and potentially marrying) an Indian American born in the U.S. with zero possibility of immigration/deportation woes.
Likewise, I wondered if Kamala would point out Manish's citizenship status to Pati as a positive trait (although I can see Kamala not feeling she should need to defend her choice of bf).
Did the writers/Mindy Kaling deliberately choose to leave out that issue, maybe because it is too complex?
Or would U.S. citizenship not be a concern? Would returning to India to have a family actually be preferable? Or just not an issue? 

I worked at a U.S. college for 20 years where some international students from many countries around the globe struggled to get U.S. citizenship after graduation, and occasionally marriage made that problem go away. I guess I look at Kamala as one of my students.

Edited August 29, 2022 by shapeshifter

[Eri]

On 8/17/2022 at 12:10 AM, HappyBerry said:

The hardest part for me was believing that Ben would allow their debate team to have such terrible resources. The fact he's very rich is brought up often, and clearly driven to succeed, so there is no way he'd go "eh, the Sherman Oaks Tootler all we have, but whatever". 

My thoughts exactly!

This whole episode felt contrived to a point where it was just to show the chemistry between Devi and Playboy (sorry, still don't trust him.)

[Ilovepie]

On 8/26/2022 at 10:05 AM, Book Junkie said:

Are we not talking about how awful the mom's "friend" was to say how hearing about Devi's issues that stemmed from her trauma of losing her father so suddenly made the friend mention how she should be more grateful that her son is so "easy" and perfect? Cause that was some serious messed up bullshit right there. Yikes!

This! Not quite the same, but as someone who has a teen in special ed that has struggled her whole life, it was hard watching this. My best friend from childhood has a kid the same age as my daughter, and he is awesome - football player, super smart, nice, the whole package. Not once has she bragged about him in a way that made me feel bad about my own kid. She is always there to support me in any way I need when we go through stuff with my kid. Nalini needs better friends that can support her and build her up, not make her feel worse about what she's gone through with Devi.

I am glad that teacher boyfriend has been accepted. I love this guy both on this show and Ghosts! His "well, I am a teacher" comment to the grandmother was low key perfect, as was her admonishment to learn more about his culture.

[Scarlett45]

 I just noticed Ben’s GF looks like a 1998 Kristen Dunst. 

[Niuxita]

On 8/26/2022 at 7:38 PM, ProudMary said:

You're totally correct, but as an antagonist, Rhyah's gray character is a very good addition to a great show.

This is my problem with this sudden plot twist. I didn't think she was supposed to be an antagonist. I thought she had been genuinely introduced to give Nalini a female friends since we've seen all the way since season 1 how lonely she is without Mohan. I also thought it fit well within this very female-driven show to randomly establish a close female friendship for the sake of it. But nope, it's all most likely going to be a plot device. What a disappointment, honestly.