Never Have I Ever, a coming of age comedy series featured on Netflix, returned on August 12th for a drama-filled third installment.

The Netflix original series follows the life of American- Indian teen Devi Vishwakumar, played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan , as she copes with her father’s death and attempts to navigate high school. Last season left on a rather positive note for our messy main character, as she ended up with the boy of her dreams; Paxton Hall-Yoshia, who is played by Darren Barret. This left Devi’s second love interest, Ben Gross, played by Jaren Lewison, in envy.

However, within the first episode of the new season, the relationship seems to take a turn for the worse. Not only does Devi have to keep her relationship a secret from her mother, she also has to deal with the constant judgment of classmates who believe Paxton is out of her league. In the midst of Devi’s high school drama, she also continues to attend therapy for the trauma she has from witnessing her father’s death.

Although the new season was rather enjoyable and entertaining, I feel as though the show has become watered down and lost its unique qualities. In earlier season, more of the plot was centered around Devi’s journey toward connecting with her culture. The creators used to include scenes showing the pressure Devi feels to fit in with the Indian community at her temple and the way she is apprehensive to participate in traditional festivals like Ganesh Punji. I’d hoped as the season progressed Devi would gain a form of appreciation for her culture and see it as an aspect that makes her unique. However, it is disappointing to see that Devi still sees many aspects of her culture as “uncool” and refuses to immerse herself.

This season did not disappoint in terms of drama, as the infamous love triangle turned into a love square. It was also refreshing to see the personal growth all the characters made this season, especially Devi, who has made rather questionable decisions in the past. Although ten new episodes were undoubtedly engaging, this season had the potential to be much more.