Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Season 4 of Never Have I Ever.Netflix’sNever Have Everfollows the life of Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and her friends at Sherman Oaks High School in San Fernando Valley, California. Starting out as less than popular, Devi attempts to climb the social hierarchy. This goal leads her to befriend and briefly date Sherman Oaks' most popular student,Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet). Only a year older than Devi, Paxton is liked by everyone in the school. Though, on the surface, Paxton has everything going for him, the show develops his character beyond that of the stereotypical popular jock, making him kind and genuine. Paxton was important from the beginning as Devi’s plan to become popular centered on him. But even after she gave that up, Paxton became an unlikely friend to her, quickly making himself a necessary part of Devi’s life and the show.
Unfortunately, this hits a snag in the final season. With Devi entering her senior year of high school, Paxton is graduated and is not supposed to be around anymore. But the show was not ready to let him go. With a few unlikely events, Paxton returns to Sherman Oaks for another year, keeping his status on the show. But the plot that gets him back home is one of the shows more nonsensical.Never Have I Everis no stranger to plot holes.Season 4 contains several, yet the problems with Paxton’s plot are the most notable because they’re a significant part of his arc.
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How Did ‘Never Have I Ever’ Season 4 Bring Paxton Back?
Season 3left Paxton headed to Arizona State University for his first year of college. Academics were never Paxton’s specialty, and getting into college was a win for him. Although his attending college meant he would no longer be as prevalent in the show, it seemed Paxton had reached a happy conclusion for his character — that is, until Season 4 begins. Paxton’s first year of college doesn’t go as planned. In fact, it can hardly be referred to as his first year. Paxton quickly discovers he doesn’t fit in at ASU and misses his life at Sherman Oaks High, so he drops out of college and returns home to work as the assistant swim coach for the school’s team — which allows him to attend parties, hang out with his old friends, and essentially hold on to his high school life.
While this seems perfect to him, he soon overhears whispers and scorn from his former classmates, which reaffirm his insecurities. Paxton was never set on going to college like Devi, but he was excited to start a new life. It’s just that he finds facing that reality difficult. For so long, everything came easy to Paxton, and it turns out that growing up isn’t one of those things. Fortunately, Devi and the new substitute teacher, Lindsay Thompson (Genneya Walton), change his mind, ultimately giving him the courage to go back to college and try again.
What’s Wrong with Paxton’s Plot in ‘Never Have I Ever’ Season 4?
While, on the surface, the plot makes sense and ties in nicely withDevi’s emotional struggle as she prepares for college, there is one glaring issue: why Paxton dropped out. He skips out on college because no one there seems to like him, which doesn’t add up. It seems thatNever Have I Everforgot how likable it made his character in the first place. He’s athletic, outgoing, attractive, and an all-around nice guy. He’s loyal to his friends and looks out for his sister, Rebecca (Lily D. Moore). Paxton takes time to warm up to people and doesn’t always show off his best qualities, but even so, he is a charming guy on the surface, so why would it be so hard for him to make friends? In reality, Paxton is too attractive for people to completely ignore him.
In his brief appearance, Paxton’s new roommate seems to already have friends at school and isn’t trying to make another, but there would be plenty of people on the ASU campus looking for friends. Through classes and extracurricular activities, Paxton could have met any number of people willing to befriend him, but the show ignores that fact to bring him back to Sherman Oaks. Paxton’s issue is that no one likes him at ASU, but the truth is he doesn’t stay there long enough to know that, as he dropped out after only two weeks. Sure, he was never going to be as popular in college as he was in high school. Paxton essentially ruled the school, doing whatever he wanted, and in college, he couldn’t wield that kind of power, especially as a freshman. He attends a single party before giving up because it’s not like his high school experience.
How Could ‘Never Have I Ever’ Season 4 Have Brought Paxton Back Differently?
Paxton is an interesting character, so it’s not a surprise thatNever Have I Everdidn’t want to lose him for theirfinal season. But instead of allowing him an occasional appearance when visiting or calling his friends, they chose to bring him into the daily life of Sherman Oaks once more. Wanting him back is understandable, but they could have brought him home without such a drastic measure. Even letting him attend school longer before dropping out would have made more sense. Over the series, he’s often neglected to try his hardest in school and has insecurity about his grades. If he’d stayed at ASU longer, he could have flunked out and returned feeling even more like a failure, or he could have returned home due to a family emergency. Paxton is very family-oriented and would unquestioningly sacrifice his spot in college for his family if needed. This could have reasonably brought Paxton home, and he could have hidden the truth from most people, leaving him to face the same rumors of failure. Any of these options would have made more sense than him packing up because the first two weeks didn’t go his way.
While Paxton’s plot line in Season 4 highlights Devi’s struggle with her impending move, it does his character a disservice. Though he ultimately decides to go back to school, and his time as a coach helps him figure out what he wants to do with his life, his quick decision to give up when he first faces a problem seems out of character, not to mention his sudden inability to make friends. Although it brought him back as a regular and welcome presence on the show, Paxton’s storyline begins with a major plot hole that is hard to overlook inNever Have I Ever’s final season.
All seasons ofNever Have I Everare available to stream on Netflix.
