'Never Have I Ever' S2 Explores Teen Life After Coming Out as Lesbian

From the mind of Mindy Kaling comes Never Have I Ever, Netflix's teen dramedy with a refreshing point of view. 

Season 2 picks up right where the first left off; a mourning Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) has just scattered her father's ashes in the ocean and emotionally locks lips with the well-meaning Ben Gross. Little does she know, she has a romantically charged voicemail from her lifelong crush, Paxton, waiting for her. 

Davi's best friend, the robotics-obsessed Fabiola (played by the charming Lee Rodriguez) developed a crush on a classmate named Eve last season, tenderly came out to her friends and family, and landed a date with her crush. But as all LGBTQ+ folks know, your problems don't stop once you're out.

"In her head, she kind of thought things would get easier after that but it doesn't," Rodriguez tells PRIDE at Devi’s Summer Kickback Netflix event on Tuesday. "She's trying to navigate her new relationship with Eve and trying to fit into her friend group."

In episode one of the new season, Fabiola is dropped into a group text with Eve's queer friends and struggles to understand cultural references that all assume she should know. "What's a Bebe Rexha?" she asks out loud to her friends. At another point, Eve invites her to a watch party for The L Word and Fabiola's confused response is absolutely hilarious. 

"She just feels like she's trying to fit a certain mold that isn't her. You see her make a lot of un-Fabiola-like decisions but you know that as a viewer, you're just like, 'oh sweetheart.' She's very avoidant. She avoids her feelings and she just lets them blow up. You'll see a lot of that, you'll see her struggling."

As the three leading ladies on the series are made up of Indian-American, Asian, and Afro-Latina actors, it means a lot to Rodriguez to be on this show. On a lesser show, characters like these would likely be relegated to sidelined best friend tropes. On Never Have I Ever, they shine, they aren't stereotyped, they have their own lives and storylines, and aren't made one-dimensional for a main white character's benefit. 

"It's so refreshing," Rodriguez reflects. "It really means a lot to me. Not only is it important to have that on-screen representation, but like offscreen. Seeing familiar faces, people of color, you just feel at home. There's this level of comfortability that you just can't get with a non-diverse cast."

That, combined with Fabiola's queer identity, makes the character feels groundbreaking. "It feels really special," says the 21-year-old. "Representing a group of people is so important because everyone wants to feel seen. I feel like I'm in a very special position. I just want to do right by everyone. I just want to be good representation. It's an honor."

Following last season's LGBTQ+ storylines, Rodriguez received an outpouring of love from many queer viewers who say her storyline helped them garner the courage to come out in their own lives. "I wasn't really expecting it," she says.

"I actually got so many DMs, even from cast members. Somebody in their family felt really moved by Fabiola's coming out that it inspired them to come out."

Rodriguez is grateful for the show and this storyline that has impacted people's lives in this profound way. "I reached back out to a lot of those people and I was just telling them how proud I am of them. They have my support, my love. It wasn't something I was expecting or had in mind but I'm really glad Fabiola's storyline did that."

Never Have I Ever Season 2 premieres tomorrow on Netflix. Watch the trailer below: