... been a big, fat liar is the seventh episode in Season 1 of the Netflix series, Never Have I Ever.
Synopsis[]
Devi oversteps several boundaries in an attempt to be a better friend. Eleanor’s reunion with her mother leads to multiple revelations and confessions.
Plot[]
Devi has pretty much been replaced by Jonah Sharpe, who Devi had been planning to ask to be her boyfriend, until she found her chance with Paxton.
Jonah manages to fit into the group because he is trying to figure out how to come out to his family, just as Fabiola is.
Devi missed this massive moment in Fabiola’s life, and she missed the drama about Eleanor finding out about her mom working at the Mexican restaurant, and not being a major star on a cruise liner.
She goes behind Eleanor’s back and asks Eleanor’s mom, Joyce to talk to Eleanor.
Joyce takes Devi’s advice literally and ends up at school in the middle of the day. Her unannounced arrival puts Eleanor in a spot, but they surprisingly manage to make up. It turns out, Joyce got fired from the cruise liner and didn’t want her daughter to see her so low.
But Eleanor doesn’t care because she just wants her mom in her life, no matter what Joyce is doing with it. To make up for her absence, Joyce decides to bake cookies for the school bake sale. Since she doesn’t have a functional oven in the apartment that she shares with four teenagers, Devi offers her kitchen instead.
Joyce turns out to be a ‘cool mom’ type as she doesn’t do much of the baking, though she does eat the cookies. She wants to know all the girls’ gossip. Even though she has a somewhat sarcastic way of addressing Devi’s supposed relationship with Paxton, and somehow already knows that Fabiola is gay, the girls are comfortable telling her about their lives and love lives.
At the bake sale, Joyce arrives with the cookies and immediately makes Devi’s mother, Nalini, and Fabiola’s mother, Elise uneasy. They don’t like Joyce much after she abandoned the three girls in a carnival when they were children.
Then Joyce takes the opportunity to discuss the girl’s romantic lives, and practically outs Fabiola to her mother and unceremoniously announces to Nalini that Devi has been having a physical relationship with Paxton.
To save herself, Devi finally admits that she lied about everything, but that doesn’t stop Nalini from being furious. They leave the bake sale immediately, but Nalini is far more understanding once Devi promises that she hasn’t been anywhere near a boy. Yet.
While, the revelations from Joyce may have made things a bit complicated in the Vishwakumar household, it also gives Fabiola a much-needed moment with her mother. Surprisingly, coming out to Elise isn’t nearly as terrifying as Fabiola thought it would be. Elise is surprised initially, but she takes it very well and accepts Fabiola as she is.
Meanwhile, Eleanor brings Joyce into her world where she invites her to sit in at her drama rehearsal, where she is playing the lead.
The moment Joyce hears that Eleanor has a lead role, her face falls, and it gets worse when she sees Eleanor’s astounding performance. The rehearsal has barely ended, and Joyce has already left LA to look for another chance on Broadway.
Eleanor is so distraught that she leaves the play, vowing never to act again so she can avoid following in her mother’s footsteps. Fabiola doesn’t want Eleanor to give up on her dreams and races to Devi so they can work together to help Eleanor.
However, Paxton texts Devi asking for her help in his house because she owes him for lying about their relationship. But Eleanor is having her meltdown now. Devi has a decision to make which is to leave her friends, whom she just promised to be with through thick and thin, or help Paxton and hopefully get that failed relationship off the ground again. In the end, Devi runs to Paxton’s.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Devi Vishwakumar
- Darren Barnet as Paxton Hall-Yoshida
- John McEnroe as Narrator
- Poorna Jagannathan as Nalini Vishwakumar
Guest Starring[]
- Ramona Young as Eleanor Wong
- Lee Rodriguez as Fabiola Torres
- Jae Suh Park as Joyce Wong
- Tembi Locke as Elise Torres
Co-Starring[]
- Dino Petrera as Jonah Sharpe
- Benjamin Norris as Trent Harrison
- Royal Patel as Young Devi
- Jack Seavor McDonald as Eric Perkins
- Chandler Shen as Young Eleanor
- Aitana Rinab as Zoe Maytag
- Leila Geyfman as Young Fabiola
- Dee Rogers as Student ("Tom")
- Chris Schleicher as Mr. Schleicher
Quotes[]
| “ | I was dumped in Jamaica with nothing but my suitcase and another woman whose husband had fallen off the ship. | ” |
| — Ms. Wong |
| “ | When I got back here, I just wanted to book something else before I tried to see you again. I didn't want you to see me as an out-of-work actor mom. I wanted you to see me as a forensic scientist on Bosch. | ” |
| — Ms. Wong |
| “ | I'm living with four 19-year-olds, and I'm using the oven as my closet right now. | ” |
| — Ms. Wong |
| “ | No, I didn't. I didn't have sex. I was lying. Paxton was never my boyfriend, and we never did anything. No, really. I never kissed him or anyone. I lied to everyone, okay? I'm a big virgin fraud. | ” |
| — Devi |
Trivia[]
- Ben is absent in this episode, which is the first episode he doesn't appear in.