One of Never Have I Ever’s charming USP is the crisp, hilarious pop culture references which feature every other dialogue as witnessed in the first two seasons. Similarly, Never Have I Ever Season 3 – which dropped this week – doesn’t disappoint in that department! From Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to Kanye, all the celebrity newsmakers had a special mention in the Maitreyi Ramakrishnan-led series…
Amongst the many pop culture references, a really witty one was dedicated to Squid Game, the breakout South Korean show which took the entire globe by storm last year. Starring Lee Jung Jae, Park Hae Soo and Ho Yeon Jung, Squid Game also featured an Indian character named Abdul Ali, played by K-drama staple Anupam Tripathi. *SPOILERS ALERT* Ali’s heartbreaking death was referred to in Never Have I Ever Season 3’s finale. In Episode 10 titled Never Have I Ever… lived the dream, we see Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and her grandmother Nirmala (Ranjita Chakravarty) watching an episode of the popular Hwang Dong Hyuk series.
“If they kill off the Indian character, I’m writing to Netflix,” Nirmala laments about Anupam Tripathi’s character Ali, to which Devi logically quips, “Uh, Pati, I think the whole point of Squid Game is that a lot of people have to die.”
Funny, indeed!
Which pop culture reference from Never Have I Ever Season 3 was your favourite? Share your personal picks and what you thought of Never Have I Ever Season 3 with Maryali Magazine in the comments section below.
Meanwhile, Squid Game will be back with a Season 2, with Lee Jung Jae and Lee Byung Hun as Seong Gi Hun and The Front Man, respectively, while Gong Yoo might also mostly reprise his epic cameo role as a salesman. On the other hand, Never Have I Ever will be back with a Season 4, which will also mark an end to the Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher show.
